A bit confused about the usage of どころ?

Question

I'm having trouble understanding when どころ is used more for emphasis/to show an extreme example, compared to when it's used to negate something. Also, when would it be used to negate something in an extreme manner?

難しい役どころを、なおかつ真摯に向き合っている

In that particular sentence, I would have understood the first part as "The role is far from difficult" but it seems like it would contrast the second part unless I'm understanding it incorrectly, so would it just mean "The role is extremely difficult"?

There's also some context that might change the meaning of that sentence, but I was just generally confused about どころ. Thanks!

EDIT: Maybe a better comparison would be "馬鹿どころではない" vs. "紳士どころではない" What makes it "He isn't a fool" over "He's far from being a fool," and "He's far from being a gentleman" over "He isn't a gentleman"?

Answer 1

The ～どころではない idiom you mentioned is irrelevant here.

役どころ is a noun phrase which means role. This どころ is a sort of suffix which means part, place or something like that. Some examples:

• 寄りどころ the thing one mentally relies on
• 頑張りどころ the difficult part one has to work hard
• 勘どころ knack, key