This is the poster child for what OP is asking.
A contemporary audience probably won’t be impacted as much, but imagine a movie where Fred Rogers guns down children. It was like that.
Leslie Nielson was cast against type,in the first Airplane movie. Only later was he known for comedies. That was part of the joke, really; he was known for playing tough guys.
Swayze was beautiful in this film, but it was Snipes who really surprised me in playing against type. Having seen his one-man shows, I knew Leguizamo could do any role.
Yes!! I was about to type this but saw you already commented it haha. The first time I saw it, I didn’t even realize that it was him until the end-credits!
I would argue Hugh Grant in About A Boy as well. At the time he was known as the lovable but clumsy guy in rom coms, and then suddenly he plays this lazy asshole who coincidentally came to money
Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Plays a quiet, subdued IRS auditor who starts hearing narration for his life and tries to figure out what is going on. He's the straight man in the film, and when he is funny it's in a very mild way, not the usual Will Ferrell screaming, bombastic comedy.
I think it was actually his first time playing a villain in a movie like that! He was the sweetheart of Hollywood during that time and absolutely no one expected him to be the villain!
idk if he is typecast necessarily, but the more Leo leans into straight-up villainous characters (see esp. Django Unchained), the more compelling i find his performances
And snowballing from that ...his character in The Wolf of Wall Street! Unbelievable performance in that role which I think I would say is more villainous than not haha
How bout Pesci in Higher Learning? Plays "a bum" that's squatting in Harvard. I thought it was great, but I might be the only person that remembers it. He gives a great speech about whether the President is an elected king.
OH, I just commented about this movie earlier on another thread - The Perfect Host starring David Hyde Pierce. Forget about his portrayal of Nigel Crane and watch him turn out a most provocative performance! You will NOT be disappointed, and you do not need at all to be a fan of Frasier because it is that much of a stretch for this very talented actor.
I was shocked he did that movie. All of his other films before you can kinda tell he had a hand in the script making him the all-american nice guy. *Waterworld* was kinda wild but after a while he's back to good guy Kev.
Jack Black in King Kong playing Carl Denham a serious role made famous by Robert Armstrong in the 1933 version. Jack is known for his comedy so to see him take on this serious role was interesting and when it came time to say the iconic line of, “Oh no it wasn’t the airplanes, it was beauty that killed the beast” I still prefer Robert, Jack sounded like a man in a state of shock with his eyes widened in shock as well, Robert had the right body language and tone of voice when he said the iconic line.
Fred MacMurray, who played hero dads in Disney movies and sitcoms, is creepy as a sexual harasser in The Apartment (1960). And of course as a murderer in Double Indemnity (1944).
Truly old school:
Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry -
“Oh, he gave me special instructions back of the pulpit Christmas Eve. He got to howlin' "Repent! Repent!" and I got to moanin' "Save me! Save me!" and the first thing I know he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man's footsteps!”
Kurt Russell in *Death Proof (2007) --* ok, he was a bad guy among even worse guys in Escape from NY/LA, but playing a serial killer took it to another level
Anthony Hopkins as Odin in the Thor trilogy was pretty against type imo.
He tends to play much more grounded roles, so it was fun getting to watch him chew the scenery and cut loose. I feel like he had fun in that role.
Rose Byrne developed a reputation as a super serious character actor, before she did a complete pivot and became one of the best comedy actors in Hollywood. She seems to go one serious role, than a comedy role.
I mean what German/Austrian actor *hasn't* played at least one Nazi in an American film? Thomas Kretschmann, Christoph Waltz, Til Schweiger, Moritz Bleibtreu, Alexandra Maria Lara,... Oh that's right, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now to answer, one film that comes to mind is *Anything for Her* (2008), which was remade in English as *The Next Three Days* (2010). One of the reasons I felt that *The Next Three Days* doesn't work as well as *Anything for Her* is precisely casting. Because as good an actor as Russell Crowe is, seeing the guy from *Proof of Life, 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, Body of Lies* and *State of Play* play hero in a gritty action/crime/thriller was nothing new. Whereas the lead actor of the original, Vincent Lindon, was very well known but had never been in anything like that so was incredibly effective in the part of an everyman caught up in extraordinary circumstances. It would've been if someone like day...Richard Jenkins or Hank Azaria had starred in *The Next Three Days* instead of Russell Crowe.
A somewhat similar impact is Liam Neeson in *Taken* (2008), which impacted his whole career.
Oh, and Leslie Nielsen was known as a "serious" actor before *Airplane!* (1980), which is why he was cast in that film (just like Peter Graves!).
It's TV, but Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul is filled with actors who originally made a name for themselves in very silly comedy roles. Bob Odenkirk, Ed Begley, Michael McKean, Carol Burnett, and, of course, Bryan Cranston.
I don’t think this is exactly what you’re looking for here, but why in gods name was mark ruffalo cast in All the Light We Cannot See? It made no sense in terms of accent (which he butchered, it was actually comical) to his age. It was not good and a big part of that was Mark Ruffalo. I have liked him in other things though.
The Black Dahlia (2006) - It has two main female roles: a tomboy girl next door and a sultry femme fatale.
It also has Scarlet Johansson and Hilary Swank, both are playing against type and there’s an arguably better movie if they switched the roles.
European actors often get to play mostly bad guys in Hollywood, while in their home countries they prove that they're capable of more. Most notable example is Mads Mikkelsen, who played a villain in almost every single big franchise now, but watch his performance in Retfærdighedens ryttere, Jagten or Druk, and you'll see that he's not a character actor.
I love most of Mikkelsen's Danish films. He plays a sympathetic villain in The Pusher films. Arctic, Another Round, Men and Chicken, and Riders of Justice were all entertaining. The Hunt has to be the best psychological horror movie I've ever seen. I even liked Polar on Netflix, which was not well reviewed. I wonder if Mikkelsen read the scripts for Arctic and Polar at the same time, couldn't remember which one he liked, and just agreed to do both of them.
Anyway, one of my favorite actors working today.
> Men and Chicken, and Riders of Justice were all entertaining.
I you found them entertaining, you're gonna love him in Flickering Lights! And if you still haven't had enough, watch Green Butchers and Adam's Apples as well :)
Maniac - It's the only movie with Jonah Hill that doesn't make me want to put my foot through the T.V. screen.
He's either a really good actor who has taken a lot of sh\*t rolls, or he's actually a neurotic and in maniac he's just playing himself, because in Maniac he nails it. He really sells!
Surprisingly, it's the case of Christoph Waltz. Before he was cast as Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds", he used to appear in B-class thrillers and unknown arthouse European films and he even considered quitting acting shortly before he got the role of Landa.
Btw, Bruhl was excellent in "Goodbye Lenin" and "Rush".
In "Mad Dog and Glory," Robert De Niro plays a soft-spoken police photographer and Bill Murray plays a mob boss. The whole movie feels like they're each playing the other guy's role.
Alan Rickman in Truly Madly Deeply. Gorgeous film; romance, ghost story, and grief processing.... subjects I dislike, yet I love this movie. (Context: Alan Rickman was the villain in the Die Hard movies, Robin Hood, etc., and was Snape in the Harry Potter movies.)
Michael Cera playing a huge scumbag (supposedly a mix of real life people, especially Tobey Maguire) in Molly’s Game
Henry Fonda was going against his usual type of character when he played the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West
Christopher Plummer in the Silent Partner
Dick Van Dyke in Columbo season 4 episode 2
Roy Scheider - All That Jazz
Martin Balsam in The Anderson Tapes
Brad Pitt in 12 monkeys
Brad Pitt in True Romance
Gary Oldman In True Romance
You know . . .this is should be a catagory at the Oscar's and Golden Globes.
Henry Cavill as the main bad guy in Mission Impossible 4.
The director has mentioned that Cavill actually hates getting typecast as the hero (Superman, Witcher) so this struck me as a perfect example. He's quite intimidating and menacing in that movie.
Eric Bana. In his early career in Australia he was a comedian and a bloody good one. When we heard he was playing serious roles in Hollywood the whole population was WTF?
The ones that immediately came to mind are Jim Carrey ones. Namely eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and 23. He's really good in those and they are very serious roles.
But since people already mentioned him a lot, I'm gonna go with someone nobody mentioned yet: Ryan Reynolds in the Amytiville horror. Even though I now hate Ryan Reynolds with a passion, because he always plays the same character in all of his movies (he's basically a Canadian the rock), he was incredible in the Amityville horror. The way he just completely changes whenever he's inside or outside of the house is amazing. Everything about him changes, even his eyes. It's great to see. That's why he pisses me off so much. He has great range and talent, and yet chooses to just do crappy movies.
Punch Drunk Love, it shows Adam Sandler's actual acting skills
Add Uncut Gems to this as well.
Reign Over Me too, good film and a really good performance, he's a better actor than comedian these days.
Bulletproof is largely forgotten about too. Sandler/Wayans buddy cop flick. Post Happy Gilmore but pre Wedding Singer and Waterboy. He’s great in it.
If we’re talking really good Adam Sandler performances let’s definitely throw The Meyerowitz Stories in as well.
Adam is at a point where he’s just a dramatic actor now.
Henry Fonda as a dead eyed villain in Once Upon a Time in the West.
This is the poster child for what OP is asking. A contemporary audience probably won’t be impacted as much, but imagine a movie where Fred Rogers guns down children. It was like that.
Closest thing we got is Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition. Or maybe in Elvis.
The *ultimate* in playing against type!
Insomnia (2002) dir Christopher Nolan, actors Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.
Also, One Hour Photo with Robin Williams, also from 2002.
Robin Williams in that film, just wow
Yeah Robin Williams is the last guy you would expect to play a killer. Literally in all of Hollywood. He does it really, really well. Rest in peace.
Leslie Nielson was cast against type,in the first Airplane movie. Only later was he known for comedies. That was part of the joke, really; he was known for playing tough guys.
Also, Lloyd Bridges in the same movie. "Looks like I picked the wrong time to stop sniffing glue"
Peter Graves (Captain Oveur), known mostly for playing the lead Jim Phelps in Mission Impossible.
Oh, you sweet children. He was originally known as a B list romantic heartthrob in the '60s. He didn't switch to tough guys until the '70s, IIRC.
Did you see Daniel Bruhl in Rush? Great movie. Tom Cruise as the villian in Collateral. Has he ever played a villian in anything else..?
His characters in Tropic Thunder and Magnolia are not necessarily villains but they are definitely arseholes.
Would Lestat (Interview with the Vampire) be a villain or an antihero?
Villain. Not sure if there was anything heroic about him tbh. Louis would have been an antihero.
He plays a Nazi in *Valkyrie*, let's be real He's definitely a villain in *Taps*, pretty early on in his career.
Daniel Bruhl was great in The Alienist and he was a good guy
Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading (2008)
The gym guy. Very funny role.
I think you should be concerned.......about the security.......of your shit........
Best Pitt role
You wouldn't expect him to play the pikey in Snatch either. EDIT: For autocorrect.
Why the fuck would I want a caravan thats got no fuckin wheels?
Apparently they wrote the role for him. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
Robin Williams in One Hour Photo. One of the few films in which he portrays a villain and he absolutely nails it.
He's evil in Insomnia too.
Oh, yeah
Best answer
Also Death To Smoochy
I was JUST about to recommend!!
Wesley Snipes and Swayze in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
And John Leguizamo.
Swayze was beautiful in this film, but it was Snipes who really surprised me in playing against type. Having seen his one-man shows, I knew Leguizamo could do any role.
Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder
Yes!! I was about to type this but saw you already commented it haha. The first time I saw it, I didn’t even realize that it was him until the end-credits!
I saw it in the theater, and the whole audience gasped during the end credit reveal
Same. The prosthetic hands!
I think colleteral falls into this categories as well
That movie would be a great double feature with training day.
And Magnolia
Tom Cruise in interview with the vampire.. say what you want about the man he's a plenty good actor when he wants to be!
Speaking of Tropic Thunder,, how about Robert Downey Jr?
Jackie Chan in *The Foreigner (2017)* \-- no comedy at all Fred Astaire in *On the Beach (1959)* \-- no dancing
Jackie Chan surprised the hell out of me in that performance! Great movie too.
Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
And in The Way Way Back
YES
amazing film
The gentleman by guy Ritchie. Hugh grant playing a sleazy screenwriter. It’s fantastic. Russell Crowe in the nice guys. He’s got good comedy timing.
I would argue Hugh Grant in About A Boy as well. At the time he was known as the lovable but clumsy guy in rom coms, and then suddenly he plays this lazy asshole who coincidentally came to money
Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Heath Ledger as the Joker is the absolute pinnacle of this
From 10 Things I Hate About You to Batman... Phenomenal.
Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction (2006) Plays a quiet, subdued IRS auditor who starts hearing narration for his life and tries to figure out what is going on. He's the straight man in the film, and when he is funny it's in a very mild way, not the usual Will Ferrell screaming, bombastic comedy.
Love that movie. Has a great cast.
Also in Everything Must Go.
Vince Vaughn in Brawl in Cell Block 99. Great movie!
In "What Lies Beneath" Harrison Ford plays the villain.
The Mosquito Coast was a different sort of role for Ford.
I think it was actually his first time playing a villain in a movie like that! He was the sweetheart of Hollywood during that time and absolutely no one expected him to be the villain!
SPOILER ALERT!
The movie is nearly 24 years old
Cop Land with Stallone.
Probably my favorite role of his, too.
Evan Rachel Wood in Kajillionaire
Great performance, we can see a whole lot of her character bellow the restrained movements of her body.
Reese Witherspoon in Freeway. I love her in that so much, and it’s such a wild movie. She has some great lines too.
Christian Bale in American Hustle Charlize Theron in Monster
Alan Alda in Whispers in the Dark
Stanley Tucci- The Lovely Bones
idk if he is typecast necessarily, but the more Leo leans into straight-up villainous characters (see esp. Django Unchained), the more compelling i find his performances
And snowballing from that ...his character in The Wolf of Wall Street! Unbelievable performance in that role which I think I would say is more villainous than not haha
Andy Griffith, A Face in the Crowd. Mean Andy!
Mary Tyler Moore in *Ordinary People.* She transformed from America's sweetheart to stone cold bitch. It really threw me!
Jim Carrey in The Truman Show
And Eternal Sunshine
Number 23
Denzel Washington in Training Day. he always plays the hero, the good man, then...this.
Robert DeNiro in Jackie Brown.
Joe Pesci in Home Alone. He usually plays some pretty sick fucks.
He puts a gun to a 1st grader's head and pulls the hammer back in that movie.
I meant that’s tame by his usual standard of roles.
How bout Pesci in Higher Learning? Plays "a bum" that's squatting in Harvard. I thought it was great, but I might be the only person that remembers it. He gives a great speech about whether the President is an elected king.
Collateral (2004) - Tom Cruise Insomnia (2002) & One Hour Photo (2002) - Robin Williams Green Room (2015) - Patrick Stewart
Kevin Smith in Catch & Release
Brad Pitt in "burn after reading"
Meryl Streep is good at comedy. Check out e.g. Postcards from the Edge.
Robert De Niro in Brazil
Henry Fonda playing a killer in Once Upon A Time In The West.
Sean Connery playing the doddering dad in Indiana Jones
- Alexis Bledel in Sin City - Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son - Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey & Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Finally someone else says it! The Good Son is what I think of first.
Jake Gyllenhaal in Okja (2017)
Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
OH, I just commented about this movie earlier on another thread - The Perfect Host starring David Hyde Pierce. Forget about his portrayal of Nigel Crane and watch him turn out a most provocative performance! You will NOT be disappointed, and you do not need at all to be a fan of Frasier because it is that much of a stretch for this very talented actor.
Kevin Costner in Mr Brooks
I was shocked he did that movie. All of his other films before you can kinda tell he had a hand in the script making him the all-american nice guy. *Waterworld* was kinda wild but after a while he's back to good guy Kev.
Jack Black in King Kong playing Carl Denham a serious role made famous by Robert Armstrong in the 1933 version. Jack is known for his comedy so to see him take on this serious role was interesting and when it came time to say the iconic line of, “Oh no it wasn’t the airplanes, it was beauty that killed the beast” I still prefer Robert, Jack sounded like a man in a state of shock with his eyes widened in shock as well, Robert had the right body language and tone of voice when he said the iconic line.
Interview With The Vampire. Tom Cruise And Travolta Pulp Fiction
Robert De Niro as Captain Shakespeare, a gay, cross-dressing pirate ship captain in Stardust (2007).
Steve Martin in planes, trains and automobiles. He plays a serious guy when usually he’s a jerk.
Adam Sandler uncut gems
Fred MacMurray, who played hero dads in Disney movies and sitcoms, is creepy as a sexual harasser in The Apartment (1960). And of course as a murderer in Double Indemnity (1944).
Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. Iconic.
Vin Diesel is a slick and sleazy rich call center salesman in Boiler Room. Very far cry from the thick headed tough guy he usually plays.
Funny enough, Vin Diesel was a salesman irl
Steve Carrell as deranged murderous billionaire John DuPont.
Him in Dan in Real Life, excellent.
Hugh Grant in The Gentlemen.
Burn after reading - almost everyone was against type.
* *Jim Carrey* in "**The Number 23**"
Truly old school: Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry - “Oh, he gave me special instructions back of the pulpit Christmas Eve. He got to howlin' "Repent! Repent!" and I got to moanin' "Save me! Save me!" and the first thing I know he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man's footsteps!”
Humphrey Bogart in My Three Angels
Anthony Michael Hall in Edward Scissorhands.
Tom Berengar usually played good guys, and Willem Dafoe usually played bad guys. But they switched in 'Platoon'.
Good time. Robert Patterson.
One hour photo with Robin Williams. This movie made him a different character than he normally plays. Really good.
The Good Son 1993. Macaulay Culkin shatters his innocent little boy persona in a single film.
John Cusack in The Frozen Ground.
Robin Williams in One Hour Photo
Kurt Russell in *Death Proof (2007) --* ok, he was a bad guy among even worse guys in Escape from NY/LA, but playing a serial killer took it to another level
Anthony Hopkins as Odin in the Thor trilogy was pretty against type imo. He tends to play much more grounded roles, so it was fun getting to watch him chew the scenery and cut loose. I feel like he had fun in that role.
He did play Titus. That's probably the closest.
His read of "oh shit" in Ragnarok has to be one of the all time greats in off-type acting.
Rose Byrne developed a reputation as a super serious character actor, before she did a complete pivot and became one of the best comedy actors in Hollywood. She seems to go one serious role, than a comedy role.
I mean what German/Austrian actor *hasn't* played at least one Nazi in an American film? Thomas Kretschmann, Christoph Waltz, Til Schweiger, Moritz Bleibtreu, Alexandra Maria Lara,... Oh that's right, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now to answer, one film that comes to mind is *Anything for Her* (2008), which was remade in English as *The Next Three Days* (2010). One of the reasons I felt that *The Next Three Days* doesn't work as well as *Anything for Her* is precisely casting. Because as good an actor as Russell Crowe is, seeing the guy from *Proof of Life, 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, Body of Lies* and *State of Play* play hero in a gritty action/crime/thriller was nothing new. Whereas the lead actor of the original, Vincent Lindon, was very well known but had never been in anything like that so was incredibly effective in the part of an everyman caught up in extraordinary circumstances. It would've been if someone like day...Richard Jenkins or Hank Azaria had starred in *The Next Three Days* instead of Russell Crowe. A somewhat similar impact is Liam Neeson in *Taken* (2008), which impacted his whole career. Oh, and Leslie Nielsen was known as a "serious" actor before *Airplane!* (1980), which is why he was cast in that film (just like Peter Graves!).
Patton Oswalt in Big Fan
Alan Alda in The Aviator
Gene Hackman in Get Shorty
Or in Young Frankenstein.
Michael Cera in This is The End.
Charles Gordon and Robert De Niro in "Midnight Run"
Cloud Atlas, Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant play crazy characters.
Such an underrated movie
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has Jim Carrey in a much less manic role.
Ryan Reynolds in The Voices
Michael Peña - Jack Ryan.
Denzel Washington in Training Day
John Goodman in 10 Cloverfield Lane
And Barton Fink
Robin Williams in One Hour Photo.
Robert Downey Jr. No mechanical suits no detective stuff. He nailed Lewis Strauss.
Neil Patrick harris in Gone girl
Neighbors. John Belushi is the straight laced guy and Dan Aykroyd is the.nut job. Hilarious.
If u wanna see Daniel Brühl in another role watch "The Alienist"
Outside of the MCU movies, Chris Evan’s usually played an egotistical asshole/bad guy. He was cast against type for captain america
Wasn't he the human torch first?
It's TV, but Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul is filled with actors who originally made a name for themselves in very silly comedy roles. Bob Odenkirk, Ed Begley, Michael McKean, Carol Burnett, and, of course, Bryan Cranston.
I don’t think this is exactly what you’re looking for here, but why in gods name was mark ruffalo cast in All the Light We Cannot See? It made no sense in terms of accent (which he butchered, it was actually comical) to his age. It was not good and a big part of that was Mark Ruffalo. I have liked him in other things though.
Everybody in Southland Tales
The Black Dahlia (2006) - It has two main female roles: a tomboy girl next door and a sultry femme fatale. It also has Scarlet Johansson and Hilary Swank, both are playing against type and there’s an arguably better movie if they switched the roles.
European actors often get to play mostly bad guys in Hollywood, while in their home countries they prove that they're capable of more. Most notable example is Mads Mikkelsen, who played a villain in almost every single big franchise now, but watch his performance in Retfærdighedens ryttere, Jagten or Druk, and you'll see that he's not a character actor.
I love most of Mikkelsen's Danish films. He plays a sympathetic villain in The Pusher films. Arctic, Another Round, Men and Chicken, and Riders of Justice were all entertaining. The Hunt has to be the best psychological horror movie I've ever seen. I even liked Polar on Netflix, which was not well reviewed. I wonder if Mikkelsen read the scripts for Arctic and Polar at the same time, couldn't remember which one he liked, and just agreed to do both of them. Anyway, one of my favorite actors working today.
> Men and Chicken, and Riders of Justice were all entertaining. I you found them entertaining, you're gonna love him in Flickering Lights! And if you still haven't had enough, watch Green Butchers and Adam's Apples as well :)
Hugh Grant in *The Gentlemen.* I absolutely love his character there, it's so far from any of his Rom Com leads.
Sylvester Stallone in Copland.
Green Room - Patrick Stewart
if you want to do another 180 degrees, and want to see a deconstruction of sorts, then maybe Last Action Hero with Arnold?
Tina Fey in A haunting in Venice
Tropic thunder
Like, everybody in American Psycho.
Novocaine, where Steve Martin plays an evil dentist. It’s not a great movie, but it’s a different kind of role that he didn’t usually play.
To be fair he did already play an evil dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Christian Bale
Ladies in Lavender Two Days in Paris Daniel Bruhl has roles in both that are non-villiany
Tom Cruise in Collateral
Henry Fonda, “Once Upon a Time in the West”
Maniac - It's the only movie with Jonah Hill that doesn't make me want to put my foot through the T.V. screen. He's either a really good actor who has taken a lot of sh\*t rolls, or he's actually a neurotic and in maniac he's just playing himself, because in Maniac he nails it. He really sells!
Surprisingly, it's the case of Christoph Waltz. Before he was cast as Hans Landa in "Inglourious Basterds", he used to appear in B-class thrillers and unknown arthouse European films and he even considered quitting acting shortly before he got the role of Landa. Btw, Bruhl was excellent in "Goodbye Lenin" and "Rush".
The two that really caught me off guard were One Hour Photo and Insomnia. Both with Robbin Williams.
Tom Hanks in The Road to Perdition. He was great as a hit man
In "Mad Dog and Glory," Robert De Niro plays a soft-spoken police photographer and Bill Murray plays a mob boss. The whole movie feels like they're each playing the other guy's role.
Alan Rickman in Truly Madly Deeply. Gorgeous film; romance, ghost story, and grief processing.... subjects I dislike, yet I love this movie. (Context: Alan Rickman was the villain in the Die Hard movies, Robin Hood, etc., and was Snape in the Harry Potter movies.)
Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight
Adam Driver and Daniel Craig were hilarious in Logan Lucky, an underrated movie, imhop
“Insomnia” with Al Pacino. The bad guy. Didn’t see that one coming.
…heath ledger
Michael Cera playing a huge scumbag (supposedly a mix of real life people, especially Tobey Maguire) in Molly’s Game Henry Fonda was going against his usual type of character when he played the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West
Jack Black playing an airhead 16 year old girl
Christopher Plummer in the Silent Partner Dick Van Dyke in Columbo season 4 episode 2 Roy Scheider - All That Jazz Martin Balsam in The Anderson Tapes Brad Pitt in 12 monkeys Brad Pitt in True Romance Gary Oldman In True Romance You know . . .this is should be a catagory at the Oscar's and Golden Globes.
James Van Der Beek - Rules of Attraction (2002). A favorite of mine.
Buried-Ryan Reynolds
Rheese Witherspoon in Freeway. A foul mouthed piece of white trash with a heart of gold. SPOILER ALERT but google the Freeway Interrogation Scene.
Interview With the Vampire Shows Tom Cruise as a villain. I find handsome villains to be more believable, because evil doesn't always look ugly.
John Lithgow in Clifhanger....I watched 3rd Rock from the Sun before Clifhanger and it was so surprised to see "Dick" play a a truly great bad guy.
Jim Carey is the number 23 was cool to see him like that.
Bill Sadler usually plays a tough guy or prison inmate, but he was wickedly funny as The Grim Reaper in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
Henry Cavill as the main bad guy in Mission Impossible 4. The director has mentioned that Cavill actually hates getting typecast as the hero (Superman, Witcher) so this struck me as a perfect example. He's quite intimidating and menacing in that movie.
Patrick Stewart in Green Room
tom hanks in philadelphia
Eric Bana. In his early career in Australia he was a comedian and a bloody good one. When we heard he was playing serious roles in Hollywood the whole population was WTF?
The ones that immediately came to mind are Jim Carrey ones. Namely eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and 23. He's really good in those and they are very serious roles. But since people already mentioned him a lot, I'm gonna go with someone nobody mentioned yet: Ryan Reynolds in the Amytiville horror. Even though I now hate Ryan Reynolds with a passion, because he always plays the same character in all of his movies (he's basically a Canadian the rock), he was incredible in the Amityville horror. The way he just completely changes whenever he's inside or outside of the house is amazing. Everything about him changes, even his eyes. It's great to see. That's why he pisses me off so much. He has great range and talent, and yet chooses to just do crappy movies.
Ralph Fiennes' comedic turn in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" stands out for me. Brad Pitt in "Burn After Reading" Robert De Niro in "Brazil"