Robust identities or nonentities? Typecasting in the feature-film labor market

This article addresses two seemingly incompatible claims about identity: (a) complex, multivalent identities are advantageous because they afford greater flexibility versus (b) simple, focused identities are advantageous because they facilitate valuation. Following Faulkner, it is hypothesized that a focused identity is helpful in gaining entree into an arena but subsequently leads to increasing limitations. The labor market for feature-film actors is analyzed via career patterns recorded in the Internet Movie Database and interviews with key informants, allowing the article to distinguish between typecasting effects and those due to underlying skill differences or social networks. Important implications are drawn for research on identity formation in various social arenas, on categorical boundaries in external labor markets, and on the actor-position interplay inherent in market dynamics.