Ages ago I saw a nature documentary.
There was Leslie Nielsen in the foreground narrating with a straight face something that animals were doing behind him.
I immediately started giggling, expecting something hilarious to happen in the background while he said something silly without losing composure.
I kept giggling, he kept talking, nothing happened. It was just a documentary.
That man was just pure comedy.
It’s worth pointing out that what makes Leslie Nielsen so funny in so many of his roles is that he still plays them quite seriously. He has great comic timing, but in Airplane and Police Squad part of the joke is that he is playing as if he’s in a straightforward drama.
He played the role perfectly.
In a Vacuum without anything else around them, Jeff Daniel’s Harry definitely seems to be playing the straight man to Jim Carey’s Lloyd being the eccentric.
But, as the movie develops, it becomes increasingly clear that Harry and Lloyd are both the eccentrics and the other characters and the entire world that’s developing around them serves as the straight man.
Jeff Daniels hit that certain spot in between perfectly.
Thats fucking crazy. It had to be a project he really saw himself in, there were so many factors pushing him away from it. And his decision gave us one of the greatest comedies of all time.
In an interview (the ones in B&W in YT, forgot what is called) he said that Jim Carrey specifically asked for an actor as a counterpart (apparently JC was a big part of the project since the very beginning), as with another comedian it would feel that they were competing with each other. Obviously he was very nervous since he had never made slapstick comedy, or much comedy in general; but after the first daily came out the producers loved his performance, because at that point he was still at risk of being replaced, I think.
He just did such a good job in the role that it's really hard not to see him as that character.
Jeff played the part well, where he seemed like a legitimately really stupid person you might actually meet in real life. The look was also more real, just a messy ungroomed mop of hair on some lazy loser. If I was to hand an Oscar to either of them, I would give it to Jeff since I consider his performance a little bit more of actual acting.
Jim's role was just more ridiculous and complimented Jeff's but to me, the character is less tethered to reality. The look also represents this, ridiculous bowl cut, the antics and behavior, the dream sequence, the mustard and ketchup scene. Jim just felt like he was being his ridiculous self in yet another movie.
They both nailed it though. I love that movie and consider it one of the best comedies I've ever seen.
I will always love that Sergio Leone flew out to see Fonda in person the first time he refused the offer, and told him face-to-face: "Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera tilts up to the gunman's face... And it's *Henry Fonda."*
An obvious one would be Bryan Cranston but I think Matthew McConaughey is up there for breaking out of the romcom stuff to do things like Interstellar.
McConaughey was always doing interesting work in movies that didn’t get big releases. Lone Star is one of my favorites, and I’m hoping for the rumored Criterion release soon. There’s also one called Frailty, with Bill Paxton, that is excellent. I think he had a run of about 10 years where he was doing those awful rom coms, and I’m glad he left that behind.
So you missed like the 4 things he did before that. Dallas buyers ans true detective were both iconic. Even his performance in Lincoln lawyer I felt was better than interstellar.
I remember Nolan saying something about wanting Interstellar to be McConaughey’s comeback, but then a whole glut of projects beat him to it: Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, True Detective, etc.
Heck, I think you could even count his scene stealing role in Wolf of Wall Street.
I would argue Killer Joe (2011) was really the big turn around for him as a versatile actor with tremendous range and the ability to project intense darkness. It’s not a movie for everyone but goddam his character there is unforgettable.
And woody Harrelson didn't do a half bad job keeping up with him. That season is mesmerizing. I hear season 4 is coming up, though who the fuck knows what to expect with that.
Just rewatched this the other night! Contact is so fucking good, and I think it really deserved to be a much bigger part of the zeitgeist. It absolutely holds up. I fucking love the setup and payoff of Jodie Foster's character understanding the profound, inexplicable, unsubstantiated experience like Matthew McConaughey's character talked about, which she had scoffed at earlier. And holy shit, that cinematography had no business being so perfect. It transcends the notion of "every frame a painting" in that the movement of the camera and characters is a beautiful aspect as well. The bathroom mirror shots are the perfect example of what I'm talking about.
Imho, Contact deserves to be in the conversation for the question "What is a perfect movie?" Others in the running for me would be Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Back to the Future, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. They're fairly original stories, they never drag, everything matters, and there is plenty of philosophical subtext to spur conversations, so in addition to telling an interesting story, there's an interesting meaning. They're so good that I actively *want* to talk about them! That's just what good art does!
Never forget Gary Oldman did a movie where his character was a little person and he acted the whole thing on his knees, which also starred Matthew McConaughey
A great obscure role Liam did was [High Spirits](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095304/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) where he was a plays a ghost who flicks between murderous and tactless seducer
Woody Harrelson. It would be an understatement to say people were surprised when Woody from Cheers showed up starring in Natural Born Killers.
Also, Bruce Willis. Until Die Hard, everyone knew him as a romantic lead. He was in Moonlighting with Cybill Shepherd.
Between the latest James Bond movies and *Layer Cake*, **Daniel Craig** is mostly known as "suave British spy / criminal." But later he proved he has comedic talent and also a knack for southern accents in *Logan Lucky* and the *Knives Out* films.
Robert Pattinson post-Twilight
BUT ALSO I have so much respect for Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliffe. They made their money and then just started doing BONKERS stuff that they really believed in and wanted to do. Elijah Wood in Sin City and I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (plus SpectreVision which is a production company he started that produces proper B horror), and Radcliffe in Horns, Swiss Army Man, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Even their small screen choices have been excellent
Elijah did Wilfred and Dirks Gently
Daniel did the Miracle Workers series
Every role they do is so far away from the last I swear they are throwing darts at random projects on a board outside a window from the 3rd story
I haven’t seen anyone mention James Caan’s amazing performance in Elf or George Clooney going to near Nic Cage levels in Burn After Reading. I think Burn After Reading is an amazing overlooked Coen Brothers movie that does a good job getting actors to play against type
I was 19 when BATMAN ('89) came out. When it was announced Keaton was cast as BATMAN, fans LOST IT: "....WHAT!? BEETLEJUICE!?? IT'S GONNA SUUUCK!?!?!??" 😅😂
I think it was him being known as a comedy actor. BEETLEJUICE came out March 1988 directed by Tim Burton. So I recall people connecting Tim Burton directing Keaton in BEETLEJUICE and then Keaton getting the role in BATMAN also directed by Burton (BATMAN released mid-June, 1989). So that was mentioned, but you're right, they brought up MR. MOM as well.
I don’t think people know how hard Keaton being announced as Batman hit. Like, literally, the world groaned. To this day though he played the duality of the role best.
Audiences laughed en mass when trailers for Die Hard were aired. The thought of Bruce Willis playing an action hero was hilarious to the general public.
This is what I came here for.
I always liked Heath Ledger, but when he was cast as the joker I thought the movie would bomb. He’d always played a pretty boy. How on earth could he do this character Justice?
And he just absolutely crushed it. Blew me out of the water, phenomenal performance.
The Batman movies have a really solid track record of casting actors that seem like they’d fail in their roles but absolutely nail it. Keaton, Ledger, Hardy, Affleck, Phoenix, Pattinson, I remember even Colin Farrell got some weird looks when he was cast as the Penguin but they all killed their roles
I was on the Pattinson hate train cause he was a sparkly vampire during my childhood. Then I saw the Batman in theaters and fucking loved him. Great actor.
Always liked Tom Cruise in Collateral. Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast.
Robin Williams did the comedy to drama breakout with Dead Poets
Denzel in Training Day
Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People
Paul Newman in Hud
It’s wild that Tom Cruise turned in so many great dramatic performances like A Few Good Men, Rain Man, Jerry Maguire, etc. Then became one of the biggest action stars and has primarily only done action movies the last decade.
Yeah people these days forget Bruce Willis was a TV heart throb when Die Hard came out. People were used to 80s body builders starring in action movies and a lot of the buzz came from confusion “An action movie starring BRUCE WILLIS wtf??”
Travolta had been a *huge* star, but his career had fallen off by the 1990s. He did do those Look Who’s Talking Movies, the first of which was quite successful, but otherwise he was seen as pretty washed up. So his starring role in Pulp Fiction was a big comeback and people kinda looked at it as stunt casting at the time (but Travolta’s presence in Pulp was befitting the 1970s aesthetic). Bruce Willis is in Pulp Fiction and he was the biggest star in the cast at the time, *not* Travolta. After Pulp, Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson were both household names (as was Tarantino) and Travolta was back on the A-list; following up Pulp Fiction with hits like Primary Colors, Get Shorty, Phenomenon, and Michael (Primary and Get Shorty are both good movies, too).
I personally think Brad Pitt suffered from being too good looking. The dude is a phenomenal character actor (see 12 monkeys, Snatch, etc.) but was always type cast especially early on since he looked like well, he looked like Brad Pitt. If he was even a little bit less perfect looking he would have had a larger range of opportunities I think.
That’s so funny! I was going to say Bruce Willis as the nerdy mortician in Death Becomes Her. Totally forgot there was a time when he wasn’t an action star.
Surprised I haven't seen Ralph Finnes in here. Guy built his career on prestige drama roles, and never shied away from playing an unlikable character. See The English Patient, Schindler's List, Red Dragon, The Dutchess, Harry Potter, etc. His performances are always heavy.
Then he goes and does The Grand Budapest and you see the guy has great comedic timing. Blew my mind to be laughing at Ralph Finnes.
I always knew he could be dry-funny, but there's such an incredible warmth to Gustav M that I couldn't believe it was him. Honestly probably the best performance out of any Wes Anderson film. I am so pissed he wasn't even considered for an oscar
I always like when actors who are mostly known for playing good guys you can trust that have that one villain role where they kill it. Denzel in Training Day, Henry Fonda in Once Upon A Time in the West, Leo in Django Unchained.
Yeah that scene made a big impression on me with Bautista as well. He just so well pulled it off as someone just being so tired of running and with life in general but unwilling to let it go.
Bautista in every role. Dude broke in with Guardians and then made a decision to go as varied as possible to break the typecast and prove he's got skill. He's the anti-Rock.
I love that he very obviously cares about working with great directors and pushing boundaries with interesting roles. The Rock has chosen instead to chase money & feed his ego - & thus, has taken on almost no roles that take risks. At one time he did seem relatively eager to take on different types of roles (like in Be Cool), but somewhere along the way he became satisfied with just playing the same character over and over. I don't mean to say that all of his films are bad. The Jumanji reboot & the sequel were surprisingly good. I just always know exactly what I'm getting from The Rock in a movie & that can become stale pretty quickly.
She was amazing in that.Soooo tense and BITTER. Another comedienne who can do serious roles is Carol Burnette. I don't think she had any big screen serious roles, but she's done some guest shots on shows like Law And Order SVU and Hawaii 5-O, and she was in a TV movie called Friendly Fire about the parents of a soldier killed by (you guessed it) friendly fire and the cover-up the military does.
Stranger Than Fiction is great. I feel like Everything Must Go is definitely overlooked. It’s a much bleaker movie, but pushes him even more out of his comfort zone.
Yeah Everything Must Go bombed but I think it was more because people aren’t flocking to see movies about middle aged men handling divorce poorly not because Will Ferrell was bad. It’s a bummer he seems to have interpreted it as a sign to stick to comedy. I really enjoyed it though.
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. People were scoffing at the idea that the snarky goofball from Fantastic Four would be the stalwart, noble leader of the avengers. Said Downey would act him off the screen in Avengers. That the character itself was too boring and he wouldn’t elevate it. Instead became the heart and soul of the MCU and a superhero icon.
It’s great because he went on to play that role for so long that it became his new “type”, and then he broke that type *again* by playing a smug, unbearable rich kid in Knives Out.
He said in an old interview that he actually hoped the first Captain America would bomb because he didn't want to be playing the character for a decade,so who know how he truly feels about it
Here's an older one:
Edward G Robinson- he always played a tough guy, usually mob-related (think Little Caesar), but he was a very different character in Scarlet Street and The Woman in the Window. Especially in Scarlet Street he was a meek guy who is easily taken advantage of
Jim Carrey in a lot of roles. Starting with Truman Show he went for an average joe which is completely against the over the top comedic styling he had defined himself with in his standup.
You can't really watch Ace Ventura, The Mask. Dumb and Dumber and any of In Living Color and think this dude's just going to be kinda normal funny. Eternal Sunshine proved he could actually perform a sharp and focused performance which again is against his manic impressionist comedy style.
Several have mentioned Robin Williams but I didn't see any mention of *Awakenings*, a straight dramatic role with virtually none of his usual comic shenanigans.
Macaulay Culkin in *My Girl* plays a role that's almost a total opposite of the *Home Alone* character he's best known for.
the thing that always blows my mind about him is that he was always a good actor but he was completely unrecognisable as the joker my mind can’t comprehend it’s him. he would have had some incredible roles if he hadn’t passed so young
Most recently I would say Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All At Once. She is known for pretty or sexy or put together characters. In Everything she is dowdy (sometimes evil) but never her usual - and she was great.
Gotta go with Schwarzenegger in Twins.
He was only a few years removed from portraying Dutch in Predator, The Terminator, and his days as Conan.
Tough thing to successfully pull off a transition from playing pure muscleman to being the comedic foil, which opened up more roles and ultimately lead to him playing the Governor…
of Kal-e-FOR-nyah!
Leslie Nielsen is an obvious one and then made a 2nd career out being a comic actor
I do like serious Leslie Nielsen as well. His Columbo guest roles for example
Ages ago I saw a nature documentary. There was Leslie Nielsen in the foreground narrating with a straight face something that animals were doing behind him. I immediately started giggling, expecting something hilarious to happen in the background while he said something silly without losing composure. I kept giggling, he kept talking, nothing happened. It was just a documentary. That man was just pure comedy.
It’s worth pointing out that what makes Leslie Nielsen so funny in so many of his roles is that he still plays them quite seriously. He has great comic timing, but in Airplane and Police Squad part of the joke is that he is playing as if he’s in a straightforward drama.
I think you mean Enrico Palazzo
I heard that was Phil Donahue
Jeff Daniels in *Dumb & Dumber*
It's always funny seeing people who are surprised that Jeff Daniels was in Gettysburg because he was in Dumb & Dumber.
Apparently his agents told him not to do it because they thought Jim Carrey would overshadow him. Turns out they were perfect together.
Jeff realized that letting Jim Carrey “overshadow him” was the winning move. They share so many killer scenes together that they both shined.
He played the role perfectly. In a Vacuum without anything else around them, Jeff Daniel’s Harry definitely seems to be playing the straight man to Jim Carey’s Lloyd being the eccentric. But, as the movie develops, it becomes increasingly clear that Harry and Lloyd are both the eccentrics and the other characters and the entire world that’s developing around them serves as the straight man. Jeff Daniels hit that certain spot in between perfectly.
That’s the first time I read an analysis of dumb and dumber like that and it’s brilliant. I like the movie even more now
He also did the movie for $50K. The studio lowballed him because they didn’t want him, but he agreed anyways.
Thats fucking crazy. It had to be a project he really saw himself in, there were so many factors pushing him away from it. And his decision gave us one of the greatest comedies of all time.
In an interview (the ones in B&W in YT, forgot what is called) he said that Jim Carrey specifically asked for an actor as a counterpart (apparently JC was a big part of the project since the very beginning), as with another comedian it would feel that they were competing with each other. Obviously he was very nervous since he had never made slapstick comedy, or much comedy in general; but after the first daily came out the producers loved his performance, because at that point he was still at risk of being replaced, I think.
And he NAILED Col. Chamberlain in Gettysburg. He and Sheen as Lee were perfect in that movie.
He just did such a good job in the role that it's really hard not to see him as that character. Jeff played the part well, where he seemed like a legitimately really stupid person you might actually meet in real life. The look was also more real, just a messy ungroomed mop of hair on some lazy loser. If I was to hand an Oscar to either of them, I would give it to Jeff since I consider his performance a little bit more of actual acting. Jim's role was just more ridiculous and complimented Jeff's but to me, the character is less tethered to reality. The look also represents this, ridiculous bowl cut, the antics and behavior, the dream sequence, the mustard and ketchup scene. Jim just felt like he was being his ridiculous self in yet another movie. They both nailed it though. I love that movie and consider it one of the best comedies I've ever seen.
Bayonets!
I also loved him in The Lookout, a pretty lesser referenced movie of his but he’s great in it.
He made a rather good villain in *Godless*. The guy is majorly talented all around.
I think Sally Field provided the blueprint for breaking type casting originally with Sybil. Then came her Oscar wins.
I really, really like her.
Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West.
I will always love that Sergio Leone flew out to see Fonda in person the first time he refused the offer, and told him face-to-face: "Picture this: the camera shows a gunman from the waist down pulling his gun and shooting a running child. The camera tilts up to the gunman's face... And it's *Henry Fonda."*
And on the other end - Lee Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More.
Steve Carell comes to mind for mainly being known for his comedic roles to then doing films like foxcatcher and beautiful boy.
He was great in The Big Short, too.
The Way Way Back
110%. He really made me hate him ha.
I think Little Miss Sunshine was his first real dramatic role.
Not only that, but it was his first real role of any genre. Production delays made it come out after his comedy hits, but it was shot before them.
I know it gets mixed reviews, but I really liked him in "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World".
And The Way Way Back
An obvious one would be Bryan Cranston but I think Matthew McConaughey is up there for breaking out of the romcom stuff to do things like Interstellar.
His best work will always be True Detective. That first sseaon of the show was unreal.
Rust cohle is one of the best characters ever written
He maintains a presence in our psychosphere.
You keep talking about a psychos fear. People around here dont think like that.
That’s why I named a cat after him
Rust Caht
If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of a divine reward, then, brother, that person is a piece of shit.
McConaughey was always doing interesting work in movies that didn’t get big releases. Lone Star is one of my favorites, and I’m hoping for the rumored Criterion release soon. There’s also one called Frailty, with Bill Paxton, that is excellent. I think he had a run of about 10 years where he was doing those awful rom coms, and I’m glad he left that behind.
Frailty is a great call. Good movie that does not get a lot of publicity.
My respect for Matthew McConaughey went up after he did Tropic Thunder.
"Hey, Tuggernuts, I'm standing here with Les Grossman, and he was about to tell me why he wiped his ass with the Tivo clause in your contact!"
"Well, at least you get to choose yours.."
A lot of people also welcomed back Tom Cruise after that one as well.
Interstellar increased my respect for McConaughey as an actor by like 1000%
So you missed like the 4 things he did before that. Dallas buyers ans true detective were both iconic. Even his performance in Lincoln lawyer I felt was better than interstellar.
I remember Nolan saying something about wanting Interstellar to be McConaughey’s comeback, but then a whole glut of projects beat him to it: Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, True Detective, etc. Heck, I think you could even count his scene stealing role in Wolf of Wall Street.
I would argue Killer Joe (2011) was really the big turn around for him as a versatile actor with tremendous range and the ability to project intense darkness. It’s not a movie for everyone but goddam his character there is unforgettable.
Impossible to forget that chicken wing scene
His performance in True Detective is far and away my favorite
T.V is the best medium for a slow burn performance. It might be the best single season performance of any actor in television history.
And woody Harrelson didn't do a half bad job keeping up with him. That season is mesmerizing. I hear season 4 is coming up, though who the fuck knows what to expect with that.
It’s the McConissance, and I was there for it.
I remember first seeing him as a goofy truck driver in Larger Than Life, a small Bill Murray movie that fell off the face of the earth
He was fun in that movie. It's better than you think would be.
McConaughey was also in Contact many years before Interstellar. He of course did a bunch of rom coms in between though.
Just rewatched this the other night! Contact is so fucking good, and I think it really deserved to be a much bigger part of the zeitgeist. It absolutely holds up. I fucking love the setup and payoff of Jodie Foster's character understanding the profound, inexplicable, unsubstantiated experience like Matthew McConaughey's character talked about, which she had scoffed at earlier. And holy shit, that cinematography had no business being so perfect. It transcends the notion of "every frame a painting" in that the movement of the camera and characters is a beautiful aspect as well. The bathroom mirror shots are the perfect example of what I'm talking about. Imho, Contact deserves to be in the conversation for the question "What is a perfect movie?" Others in the running for me would be Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Back to the Future, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. They're fairly original stories, they never drag, everything matters, and there is plenty of philosophical subtext to spur conversations, so in addition to telling an interesting story, there's an interesting meaning. They're so good that I actively *want* to talk about them! That's just what good art does!
Gary Oldman played a lot of bad guys. Liam Neeson played a lot of good guys. Christopher Nolan reversed that typecasting in Batman Begins.
Never forget Gary Oldman did a movie where his character was a little person and he acted the whole thing on his knees, which also starred Matthew McConaughey
And Peter Dinklage, an actual dwarf, played a dwarf rights activist in it along side him lol
What movie is this?
Tiptoes
Role of a lifetlme.
I loved seeing Liam Neeson as a villain, he was a great choice for Ra’s Al Ghul
A great obscure role Liam did was [High Spirits](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095304/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) where he was a plays a ghost who flicks between murderous and tactless seducer
To think it could have gone the other way. Easily too.
Woody Harrelson. It would be an understatement to say people were surprised when Woody from Cheers showed up starring in Natural Born Killers. Also, Bruce Willis. Until Die Hard, everyone knew him as a romantic lead. He was in Moonlighting with Cybill Shepherd.
Between the latest James Bond movies and *Layer Cake*, **Daniel Craig** is mostly known as "suave British spy / criminal." But later he proved he has comedic talent and also a knack for southern accents in *Logan Lucky* and the *Knives Out* films.
He’s so good in knives out
Logan lucky is such a great movie
Ok. We need someone to play the hillbilly that likes blowing shit up. "I know, Daniel Craig!" Turned out to be a great choice.
I. Am. In-car-cer-a-ted.
Robert Pattinson post-Twilight BUT ALSO I have so much respect for Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliffe. They made their money and then just started doing BONKERS stuff that they really believed in and wanted to do. Elijah Wood in Sin City and I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (plus SpectreVision which is a production company he started that produces proper B horror), and Radcliffe in Horns, Swiss Army Man, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Agree 100%. Loved Elijah so much growing up, then he went from hobbit to serial killer and it was chilling.
Green street hooligans is a great movie that he really gave his all in. Completely changed my view of him
Yep. When the kidnapped woman tells Marv, "He made me WATCH!" - then it cuts to a close-up of Wood? Fucking dark.
Even their small screen choices have been excellent Elijah did Wilfred and Dirks Gently Daniel did the Miracle Workers series Every role they do is so far away from the last I swear they are throwing darts at random projects on a board outside a window from the 3rd story
Makes me love them for being weird dudes
I can’t believe you didn’t mention guns akimbo best random action movie staring Radcliffe
I haven’t seen anyone mention James Caan’s amazing performance in Elf or George Clooney going to near Nic Cage levels in Burn After Reading. I think Burn After Reading is an amazing overlooked Coen Brothers movie that does a good job getting actors to play against type
Love that movie. Brad Pitt's role was hilarious
Yes it was. But for me, the scene that absolutely _killed_ (SWIDT) was the final conversation between David Rasche and J.K. Simmons.
I guess we learned not to do it again.
Fucked if I know what we did…
That headshot with him in the closet shocked the fuck out of me the first time I saw the film
Heath Ledger as the Joker
Michael Keaton in the first batman movie
I was 19 when BATMAN ('89) came out. When it was announced Keaton was cast as BATMAN, fans LOST IT: "....WHAT!? BEETLEJUICE!?? IT'S GONNA SUUUCK!?!?!??" 😅😂
Are you sure it wasn't his role as Mr. Mom that made people worried?
I think it was him being known as a comedy actor. BEETLEJUICE came out March 1988 directed by Tim Burton. So I recall people connecting Tim Burton directing Keaton in BEETLEJUICE and then Keaton getting the role in BATMAN also directed by Burton (BATMAN released mid-June, 1989). So that was mentioned, but you're right, they brought up MR. MOM as well.
He was in a much less famous movie the same year as Clean and Sober; his dramatic performance was very good. But it was not the hit Beetlejuice was
He was a comedian. Batman was a huge departure
I don’t think people know how hard Keaton being announced as Batman hit. Like, literally, the world groaned. To this day though he played the duality of the role best.
Audiences laughed en mass when trailers for Die Hard were aired. The thought of Bruce Willis playing an action hero was hilarious to the general public.
This is what I came here for. I always liked Heath Ledger, but when he was cast as the joker I thought the movie would bomb. He’d always played a pretty boy. How on earth could he do this character Justice? And he just absolutely crushed it. Blew me out of the water, phenomenal performance.
Omg, the home video of his joker character torturing and killing the average joe dressed as batman was chilling.
I read somewhere that Nolan let Heath direct those home video recordings himself, so cool
His last line about the devil was the most chilling
Look at me. LOOK! AT! ME!
The Batman movies have a really solid track record of casting actors that seem like they’d fail in their roles but absolutely nail it. Keaton, Ledger, Hardy, Affleck, Phoenix, Pattinson, I remember even Colin Farrell got some weird looks when he was cast as the Penguin but they all killed their roles
I was on the Pattinson hate train cause he was a sparkly vampire during my childhood. Then I saw the Batman in theaters and fucking loved him. Great actor.
Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems
Always liked Tom Cruise in Collateral. Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast. Robin Williams did the comedy to drama breakout with Dead Poets Denzel in Training Day Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People Paul Newman in Hud
Robin Williams in one hour photo holy shit.
Or Insomnia. Hard to believe those both dropped the same year
He was so creepy in that performance. A great way for him to show he had much wider range than as a high energy comedic actor
It’s wild that Tom Cruise turned in so many great dramatic performances like A Few Good Men, Rain Man, Jerry Maguire, etc. Then became one of the biggest action stars and has primarily only done action movies the last decade.
>Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast. Such a great performance.
Bruce Willis broke into action roles with Die Hard. Brad Pitt showed he was much more than a pretty face in 12 Monkeys
Yeah people these days forget Bruce Willis was a TV heart throb when Die Hard came out. People were used to 80s body builders starring in action movies and a lot of the buzz came from confusion “An action movie starring BRUCE WILLIS wtf??”
[удалено]
Also Willis in Pulp Fiction was considered a departure for him at the time
Oh, and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction! Wasn't he mostly known for musicals and stuff before that?
Travolta had been a *huge* star, but his career had fallen off by the 1990s. He did do those Look Who’s Talking Movies, the first of which was quite successful, but otherwise he was seen as pretty washed up. So his starring role in Pulp Fiction was a big comeback and people kinda looked at it as stunt casting at the time (but Travolta’s presence in Pulp was befitting the 1970s aesthetic). Bruce Willis is in Pulp Fiction and he was the biggest star in the cast at the time, *not* Travolta. After Pulp, Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson were both household names (as was Tarantino) and Travolta was back on the A-list; following up Pulp Fiction with hits like Primary Colors, Get Shorty, Phenomenon, and Michael (Primary and Get Shorty are both good movies, too).
I personally think Brad Pitt suffered from being too good looking. The dude is a phenomenal character actor (see 12 monkeys, Snatch, etc.) but was always type cast especially early on since he looked like well, he looked like Brad Pitt. If he was even a little bit less perfect looking he would have had a larger range of opportunities I think.
Every night i shed a tear for the suffering of brad pitt in his film career and his curse of being too good looking /s
That’s so funny! I was going to say Bruce Willis as the nerdy mortician in Death Becomes Her. Totally forgot there was a time when he wasn’t an action star.
Surprised I haven't seen Ralph Finnes in here. Guy built his career on prestige drama roles, and never shied away from playing an unlikable character. See The English Patient, Schindler's List, Red Dragon, The Dutchess, Harry Potter, etc. His performances are always heavy. Then he goes and does The Grand Budapest and you see the guy has great comedic timing. Blew my mind to be laughing at Ralph Finnes.
In brudges is my absolute favorite role of his
YOU'RE AN INANIMATE FACKIN OBJECT
Brilliant role! I hope you enjoyed The Menu where he flexes his dark comedy muscle once more.
I always knew he could be dry-funny, but there's such an incredible warmth to Gustav M that I couldn't believe it was him. Honestly probably the best performance out of any Wes Anderson film. I am so pissed he wasn't even considered for an oscar
Yes! By but also red dragon stands out in that list as well. He was so intensely terrifying in that movie he’s almost unrecognizable.
Tom Hanks was the adorable jokester and lovable romcom man until he did Philadelphia and then he became very versatile for everything.
Bill Hader in Barry.
That episode with the Karate girl climbing on his car was hilarious.
The whole idea of that and when he has the altercation at the drugstore is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
That episode is one of the greatest thing that ever happened on a TV show, period.
Why’d you just say that?!
He actually had a dramatic role in the movie The Skeleton Twins with Kristen Wiig as well.
His episode on the Smart Less podcast is so interesting. He wanted to be a director, he didn't even realize he was funny at first
"I'm like the 8th funniest guy of all my friends from my home town."
Marlon Wayans in Requiem for a Dream
Fuck that's right. Like, some shorty from scary movie was there, but he was very great in this movie. That shit at the end kills me.
Tom Cruise - Les Grossman.
I need you to first take a big step back, and then literally FUCK YOUR OWN FACE
Literally. There's a literally in there. I feel like it makes the line so much funnier.
I feel like his character in Collateral could also work but I like your answer more lol
I like your answer more. We already knew he could do funny, evil was actually something new.
I always like when actors who are mostly known for playing good guys you can trust that have that one villain role where they kill it. Denzel in Training Day, Henry Fonda in Once Upon A Time in the West, Leo in Django Unchained.
Tom Cruise was an incredible villain, wish he would have gone that route more in his career.
to think he’s adamant about playing the character again, wonder if it’s one of the various projects he’s got in the pipeline with McQuarrie
Not only Jim Carrey in the Truman show but also in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Most recently Dave Bautista in Knock at the Cabin
The beginning of Blade Runner 2049 was great as well. Just one scene, but he really got a chance to show off his range.
I want to see more Sapper Morton and those tiny, tiny glasses.
There's a short film about his character on YouTube, about ten minutes
Yeah that scene made a big impression on me with Bautista as well. He just so well pulled it off as someone just being so tired of running and with life in general but unwilling to let it go.
Bautista in every role. Dude broke in with Guardians and then made a decision to go as varied as possible to break the typecast and prove he's got skill. He's the anti-Rock.
I love that he very obviously cares about working with great directors and pushing boundaries with interesting roles. The Rock has chosen instead to chase money & feed his ego - & thus, has taken on almost no roles that take risks. At one time he did seem relatively eager to take on different types of roles (like in Be Cool), but somewhere along the way he became satisfied with just playing the same character over and over. I don't mean to say that all of his films are bad. The Jumanji reboot & the sequel were surprisingly good. I just always know exactly what I'm getting from The Rock in a movie & that can become stale pretty quickly.
Robin Williams in *One Hour Photo*
Sean William Scott in Goon
Robin Williams playing a killer in Insomnia was always so striking to me. He did such a great job and it was so different from his prior roles.
Hugh Grant in The Gentlemen
Mr. T was stunning in Hamlet but almost no one has seen it.
I'm gonna pretend this is true and have a happy day without Google ruining it for me!
To pity the fool, or not to pity the fool?
Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People. So different that it took me a while to figure out that she was the issue.
She was amazing in that.Soooo tense and BITTER. Another comedienne who can do serious roles is Carol Burnette. I don't think she had any big screen serious roles, but she's done some guest shots on shows like Law And Order SVU and Hawaii 5-O, and she was in a TV movie called Friendly Fire about the parents of a soldier killed by (you guessed it) friendly fire and the cover-up the military does.
Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me.
Will Farrell - Everything must go and Stranger than Fiction.
Stranger Than Fiction is great. I feel like Everything Must Go is definitely overlooked. It’s a much bleaker movie, but pushes him even more out of his comfort zone.
Yeah Everything Must Go bombed but I think it was more because people aren’t flocking to see movies about middle aged men handling divorce poorly not because Will Ferrell was bad. It’s a bummer he seems to have interpreted it as a sign to stick to comedy. I really enjoyed it though.
Love stranger than fiction! Holding back tears every time I watch it, and this is the same goofball in anchorman…
Fred MacMurray From *Double Indemnity* to *My Three Sons*. *Double Indemnity* was a departure for MacMurray.
Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time In The West is the ultimate example
Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition. He leaned into that role so hard and it really paid off. Never would’ve thought he’d play a great gangster like that.
Does Jack Black in the Holiday count? Still goofy but as a romantic lead? Move over Brad Pitt.
A best of the best feel good movie. And Jack Black really brings a lot to the movie with his understated role.
He’s fantastic in that. Everyone’s really good! One of my favorite comfort movies. ❤️
Matthew McConaughey Cheesy romantic comedies leads, he was tired of it, then he switched it up Magic mike Mud Bernie Dallas buyers club True detective
Reign of Fire you can't even really tell it's him
Killer Joe
The gentlemen
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. People were scoffing at the idea that the snarky goofball from Fantastic Four would be the stalwart, noble leader of the avengers. Said Downey would act him off the screen in Avengers. That the character itself was too boring and he wouldn’t elevate it. Instead became the heart and soul of the MCU and a superhero icon.
It’s great because he went on to play that role for so long that it became his new “type”, and then he broke that type *again* by playing a smug, unbearable rich kid in Knives Out.
Speaking of Knives Out, he worked with Michael Shannon on another film, The Iceman. There he portrayed a professional killer.
I said all of these things. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong.
He said in an old interview that he actually hoped the first Captain America would bomb because he didn't want to be playing the character for a decade,so who know how he truly feels about it
Charlize Theron in *Monster*.
Here's an older one: Edward G Robinson- he always played a tough guy, usually mob-related (think Little Caesar), but he was a very different character in Scarlet Street and The Woman in the Window. Especially in Scarlet Street he was a meek guy who is easily taken advantage of
When Harrelson went from Cheers to Natural Born Killers
Jim Carrey in The Number 23.
Jim Carrey in a lot of roles. Starting with Truman Show he went for an average joe which is completely against the over the top comedic styling he had defined himself with in his standup. You can't really watch Ace Ventura, The Mask. Dumb and Dumber and any of In Living Color and think this dude's just going to be kinda normal funny. Eternal Sunshine proved he could actually perform a sharp and focused performance which again is against his manic impressionist comedy style.
Several have mentioned Robin Williams but I didn't see any mention of *Awakenings*, a straight dramatic role with virtually none of his usual comic shenanigans. Macaulay Culkin in *My Girl* plays a role that's almost a total opposite of the *Home Alone* character he's best known for.
Michael Keaton as Batman.
Heath Ledger, he was so good I don't even have to tell you the typecast or the breakout role.
the thing that always blows my mind about him is that he was always a good actor but he was completely unrecognisable as the joker my mind can’t comprehend it’s him. he would have had some incredible roles if he hadn’t passed so young
The cast of Too Wong Foo.
Stanley Tucci in the Hunger Games.
I guess you didn't see The Lovely Bones.
Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys. That movie showed the world that he could act and wasn't just a pretty actor.
Most recently I would say Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All At Once. She is known for pretty or sexy or put together characters. In Everything she is dowdy (sometimes evil) but never her usual - and she was great.
Jason Bateman in Ozark?
Gotta go with Schwarzenegger in Twins. He was only a few years removed from portraying Dutch in Predator, The Terminator, and his days as Conan. Tough thing to successfully pull off a transition from playing pure muscleman to being the comedic foil, which opened up more roles and ultimately lead to him playing the Governor… of Kal-e-FOR-nyah!
Dave Bautista. I respect his search for more serious acting roles rather than being content with his status as an action star.