These 19 Actors "Completely Transform From One Role To Another" And I'm Honestly Just Really Impressed With Their Range
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Reddit user u/pretendstoknow recently asked, "What actor is the opposite of typecast, that is they play a completely different role every time?"
Here are the top-voted actors:
1."Christian Bale. Newsies to American Psycho to The Prestige to The Fighter to A Midsummer Night's Dream to The Machinist, and so on."
2."Toni Collette. I can't even recognize her from one film to the next."
"Little Miss Sunshine, Muriel's Wedding, United States of Tara, and so much more."
"Not only is her body of work diverse, it's freaking fearless. She excels in movies many actors wouldn't dare to touch. Plus, she seared into my brain one of her performances. That grieving scene in Hereditary haunts me to this day."
3."Bryan Cranston. Rewatching Malcolm in the Middle right now and that man has some serious comedic chops."
"Don't forget about his roles in Godzilla or Seinfeld. 'Those aren't matzah balls!'"
"Comedy actors and standup comedians tend to do really well in dramatic roles. Bob Odenkirk was fantastic as Saul too and he came from a standup and writing background. Something about being a good comedian lends itself to drama roles really well actually. You have to have a certain understanding of the human spirit to pull off really good jokes and you tend to become a very good actor while doing so."
4."Vivica A. Fox. She nails every role she has. She can do action, comedy, romance, drama, tragedy, farce, sexy, goofy, and intense. Just using her facial expressions she can tell a whole story. In terms of versatility and range, I can't think of anything she can't do well."
5."Andy Serkis. I've taking note of him since he was Gollum. He gets around and hides his face more often than you might think!"
"Black Panther, The Batman, and Planet of the Apes just to name a few"
6."Cate Blanchett. She absolutely chewed the scenery as Hela in Thor: Ragnarok."
"Pinocchio, Blue Jasmine, Lord of the Rings, Don't Look Up, Carol, and so many more."
7."Kathy Bates. Titanic, Misery, Fried Green Tomatoes, About Schmidt, Annie, Fred Claus, Midnight in Paris, American Horror Story, and The Office."
8."Brian Tyree Henry from Atlanta, Eternals, Spiderman: Across The Spider-Verse, Child's Play, Bullet Train, and Causeway."
9."Tilda Swinton. She's a chameleon."
10."Oscar Isaac. Dude feels like he’s always playing a different character. In Moon Knight, he plays three different characters alone and displays some of the most impressive acting I’ve ever seen."
11."Margo Martindale. She's in everything from Cocaine Bear, to Dexter, to BoJack Horseman, and most recently, Your Honor."
12."Willem Dafoe. That man has serious range."
"He was so cute in The Life Aquatic, kind of sweet and goofy. He was frightening in The Grand Budapest Hotel. He was a hero in Platoon."
13."Meryl Streep. She is an incredible chameleon, and disappears into every role she takes on. One of the most gifted actors of her generation."
14."John Lithgow. From terrifying villains in Richochet, Cliffhanger, and Dexter, to goofy lovable alien in 3rd Rock from the Sun."
"And an excellent Winston Churchill."
"And Lord Farquaad from Shrek."
15."Elizabeth Banks. Even when she does play similar characters she manages to make it two wholly different things, and not just because the material is different, that’s her just doing something new each time. As the funny weird presenter in Pitch Perfect, then the funny weird presenter in The Hunger Games, theoretically two sides of the same type of character and both brilliantly acted, but WHOLLY distinct, and not merely because one is a straight comedy and the other more of a drama."
"Anything she can play a comedy version of, she can then go and play a much, much darker take on the same basic premise and have them be totally distinct even if you can see the same shapes."
16."Karl Urban. He’s got such a distinctive look, but he blends into every role so seamlessly that it takes me a while to realize it’s him."
"He’s beat up Bruce Willis in a Bruce Willis action movie called Red, killed love ones of Jason Bourne while Bourne was present, helped save Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok, is one of the good guys in Star Trek, one of the bad guys in Star Wars, and so much more."
17."Helena Bonham Carter. She was more recently Queen Elizabeth’s sister in The Crown. She also played Mrs. Bucket in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. She’s quite motherly and sweet. Very different than Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter franchise. She was also in The King’s Speech as opposed to The Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. I guess they all are kinda quirky roles. But she does all these characters very well."
18."I feel like David Tennant has pretty great range. He's been all over the place in genres."
"I didn’t even think of David Tennent, but honestly you’re so right. I’ve seen him in a bunch of stuff and he really does embody so many different roles so well."
"Casanova, Jessica Jones, Fright Night, Good Omens, The Decoy Bride, Doctor Who, Bad Samaritan, Harry Potter, Broadchurch, Ducktales, Vox Machina, HAMLET. Like. Truly impressive. I don't like watching his evil roles because he's so good at them and it's terrifying."
19."Believe it or not, Mads Mikkelsen. He takes on mostly comedic roles in Denmark. He goes from funny to scary so quickly."
20."Gary Oldman. I have watched him in movies many times only to realize much later that it was him. The man is part chameleon."
"Wait, Sirius Black from the Harry Potter movies, the creepy villain in Leon: The Professional, Commissioner Gordon from Batman Begins, and the over-the-top Zorg from The Fifth Element are all the same dude? WTF!"
"There was a meme doing the rounds not long ago. It went "Imagine one day you are just finishing up your shopping and all of a sudden you hear someone say ''Cut!' and you look down and realize you were Gary Oldman all along. That's how good he is."
And finally...
21."Daniel Day-Lewis. The Oscar committee doesn’t even have to convene in any year that DDL has any role, in any movie, anywhere. Legendary character portrayal of Lincoln, I need to rewatch it soon."
Now it's your turn! Who's an actor that transforms from role to role? Comment below!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
