This is a great question and one that has a direct impact on your showreel. The long story short is that your showreel is a reflection of YOU as an actor. That's the easiest way to think of it.
But let's hit this with some more detail shall we?
A common misconception of a showreel is that you should aim to show as much EMOTION as possible. As actors it's easy to become a little obsessed with the idea of showing emotion, after all we spend our days learning how to better connect emotionally to imaginary circumstances. However when it comes to our showreel we need to try and paint a picture of ourselves in the kinds of roles that we are not only aiming to play, but those roles that we are currently capable of playing. I.e. Play to your market.
In this sense type casting can work in your favour, if we think about this in terms of marketing strategy, in order to build your brand you first of all need to have a signature product. Let's look at some examples.
Coke started out with one drink, imagine if they'd entered the market place with Fanta, Dr Pepper and whatever other drinks they have in their arsenal. They'd have been pushing themselves in too many directions and ended up chasing their tails! As it was they brought out Coca Cola, and nailed it! Now they are a huge company and part of a major conglomerate.
I'm not saying to stick to just one character type, however you need to have in mind the main personality type that you are best equipped physically and emotionally to play. Reinforce it with one or 2 clips that will show variation then add something that will give you the variety you are looking for.
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