About

Actors Could Do vs. Couldn't Do is a phrasal template which gained popularity in September 2019 on Twitter in response to a Reuters tweet stating that actress Kirsten Dunst is "best known for her role as Spiderman's girlfriend." The snowclone format, actor could do X movie but other actor couldn't do X movie, was used to show an actor's versatility compared to their often male counterpart.

Origin

On August 30th, Reuters agreed to delete a tweet in which they stated “Kirsten Dunst, best known for her role as Spiderman’s girlfriend, receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame," according to Mashable^[6], and just show the video with the caption "Award-winning actress Kirsten Dunst receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame" instead (shown below).

That same day, Twitter users discussed Reuters tweet and many other comments that under-appreciate Dunst's acting. Twitter user @lindseyromain^[1] tweeted, "between that horrible reuters tweet and that interview where she said no one in hollywood cares about her, i think we should stage a formal kirsten dunst appreciation coup" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 1,900 likes and 185 retweets in four days. The next day, Twitter user @ameliadeew^[2] tweeted, "Kirsten Dunst could do Manchester by the Sea but Casey Affleck couldn’t do Drop Dead Gorgeous" (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 40 likes in three days.

Spread

On August 31st, Twitter user @_agirlisnoone^[3] compared Reese Witherspoon's versatility to Leonardo DiCaprio's using the snowclone (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 140 likes in three days. Twitter user @chastaen^[4] tweeted, "rachel weisz could do james bond but daniel craig couldn’t do the favourite" (shown below, center) which accumulated over 4,600 likes and 800 retweets in three days. Twitter users continued by typically comparing female actors to male actors. @rihannasgayson^[5] compared Megan Fox to Brad Pitt using the phrasal template (shown below, right). The tweet garnered over 1,700 likes and 500 retweets in three days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References