Typecast Reveals Bias

A story about an acting class exercise that reveals how people naturally typecast others based on appearance, and how this relates to personal branding and market positioning.

The Exercise Setup

• Students sit in circle with journals
• Each person looks at others and writes down their "typecast" - what roles they think that person would naturally play
• Teacher reveals everyone's typecast one by one
• Other students read what they wrote about that person

Cody Ko's Personal Experience

• Others wrote typecasts for him including:
  • Influencer
  • Cokehead
  • DJ
  • "Sells coke in bathroom"
  • Generally portrayed as a "douchebag" type character
• His reaction: Initially shocking but proved somewhat prophetic
  • Actually became an influencer later
  • Actually became a DJ later

Key Lesson About Typecasting

• Need to "lean into your typecast" early in acting career
• Have to "do what you look like" to get foot in door
• Can't fight natural perceptions initially
• Must embrace how others see you before branching out

Broader Applications

• Demonstrates how people make quick judgments based on appearance
• Shows value of understanding and leveraging your natural "type"
• Reveals importance of working with, rather than against, market perceptions
• Illustrates how initial positioning can lead to actual opportunities