20 Movie Stars Who Tried Unconventional Roles And Succeeded

Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction

“I never liked his comedies, and then he does this, and it turns out he’s good at drama! And I end up loving a Will Ferrell movie!”

—j1z1

Bill Hader in IT: Chapter Two

“His acting was SO amazing. His mix of comedic and dramatic performances? *chefs kiss*”

—booknerd320

Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl

“Such a great movie that pulled her in the complete opposite direction from ‘Rachel’.”

—emilyjoon

Daniel Craig in Logan Lucky

“I’m used to seeing him in serious roles but I loved him as the wild Joe Bang.”

—a487fb74c2

Octavia Spencer in Ma

“When I saw the trailer I was surprised to learn that Octavia was playing the villain – I was so used to seeing her in roles where she played someone super caring, so this was refreshing.”

–hanifahrahman

Jack Black in King Kong

“Definitely a surprise at how good his dramatic acting is.”

—manonamountain

Jason Statham in Spy

“I know he basically played a caricature of all of his normal roles, but he was so gloriously hilarious. It’s delightful to see him be funny on purpose.”

—huffletough

Ryan Reynolds in The Amityville Horror

“I read one time that he made the kids leave him alone between filming for preparing for the role and that they were scared of him. I love him in everything, especially The Change-Up, and it’s a huge difference to see him that serious.”

—lynzzeerae

Kate McKinnon in Bombshell

“I’ve only ever seen her play completely comedic roles, so I didn’t expect to see her in such a serious film, but she totally pulled it off.”

–hanifahrahman

Robert De Niro in Stardust

“He was legendary in it.”

—kebmillbrae

Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones

“His character is absolutely bone-chilling.”

—indy1989

Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

“She plays a cynical, aggressive, alcoholic, struggling writer in 1990s New York. Totally unrecognisable. It’s a shame she is more known for being the token comedic sidekick because she is OUTSTANDING in this.”

—ailsafoley14

Samuel L. Jackson in Unicorn Store

“We’re so used to his bad@$$ persona that that role was a total shock, but I loved it.”

—duct_tape_heart

Jim Carrey in The Truman Show

“It was refreshing to see him step out of pure comedy and explore drama/dystopia. Plus, he nailed it because it’s one of my favourite movies.”

—hiitsnicetomeetyou

And of course, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

“It shows that humour isn’t his only advantage when it comes to acting. In The Truman Show, he still used a lot of humour, but in Eternal Sunshine he became quite the opposite of himself, playing a boring and quiet guy. It was refreshing to see him so calm and collected, using his dramatics very well.”

—skylerisnotinteresting

Donald Glover in The Martian

“He is one of the funniest people on Community, but then he showed us his serious acting skills.”

—savvymarie

Adam Driver in Logan Lucky

“He was HILARIOUS!”

—shellbell1130

Tilda Swinton in Trainwreck

“It was refreshing to see her in a comedy playing kind of a trashy character. I thought she was brilliant in it.”

—silentword

Steve Carrell in Little Miss Sunshine

“He never loses his signature charm, but this role as a man barely hanging on after a suicide attempt is so stellar. He has some amazing monologues and emotional moments in this.”

—emmajanep3

Sacha Baron Cohen in The Trial of the Chicago 7

“The film is great, and he blew me away – I could not believe he was the same guy that played Borat. He is a seriously underrated actor.”

—katelinrene1988

2 comments

  1. known for being the token comedic sidekick – how did she release all those same movies where she is the lead? Fucken stupid.
    Danny Glover is not an actor. Doesnt desrve to be on film. One of those actors that think his career is tops so it shows in his actions. Went to his head. Just because people think he is, made him think he is an actor. Him and that robot ruined Solo.
    Samual javkson is the fucken same in EVERY movie. Even that one thats mentioned on here. HE IS A ONE NOTE ACTOR. He cant act worth a shit and any movie is automatically ruined soon as he appears. ONE NOT ACTOR thats over rated. Same same same same shit in EVERY SINGLE MOVIE. The retard considered himself of the best actors ever THEN the retard acts with James in glass. Here is Sam acting one note as he always has doing a movie with someone WHO DOES 23 DIFFERENT CHARACTERS FOR ONE MOVIE.

  2. the great pretender

    20 people who pretend to be other people pretend real good in other movies

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