# Actors known for dramatic roles that find later success in comedy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459 "2012-04-30T23:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/1 "2012-04-30T23:55:11Z")
This may have been done many times before, but I’m not great at searching the archives. You often hear about comedic actors that surprisingly prove to have great dramatic chops when given the right role (Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Tom Hanks), but I rarely hear the opposite mentioned - great dramatic actors becoming successful in comedy - even though comedy tends to be regarded as being harder to perform than drama. So who are some examples of an actor or actress who becomes known mainly as a dramatic performer that later become successful in comedic roles. I think the most obvious example, at least of recent years, is **Alec Baldwin’s** role on 30 Rock. Before then, he was known mostly as a dramatic actor that was very funny on SNL from time to time. I’d love to hear some more examples without anyone resorting to copying and pasting a list of names from Wikipedia or someplace. That’s no fun for anyone. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/2 "2012-05-01T00:01:07Z")
Leslie Nielsen is an obvious one, though he wasn’t particularly well-known before Airplane! He was a solid dramatic character actor, never a star. Of course, the point of Airplane! was that he did his lines as if there were no humor in them at all. ---
**Author:** ![Isaacedwardleibowitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecb155/32.png) [@Isaacedwardleibowitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isaacedwardleibowitz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/3 "2012-05-01T00:01:15Z")
[Leslie Nielsen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Nielsen) comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/4 "2012-05-01T00:01:18Z")
Leslie Nielsen I think is the poster child for this. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/5 "2012-05-01T00:01:42Z")
Edit: And in the time it takes to post, I’m beaten twice. Edited Edit: Three times. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/6 "2012-05-01T00:02:42Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Leslie Nielsen I think is the poster child for this. Shatner is another example. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/7 "2012-05-01T00:03:51Z")
Ha! I won one of these for once. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/8 "2012-05-01T00:12:05Z")
Some of Nielson’s co-stars in Airplane! were also known as dramatic actors, like Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves. Bridges did at least two other comedic turns in Hot Shots 1 and 2. Turns out Graves had a few appearances in comedies prior to Airplane. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/9 "2012-05-01T00:19:09Z")
I’d say Leslie Nielsen. I’m surprised noone’s mentioned him yet. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/10 "2012-05-01T00:28:44Z")
I just want to tell you Leslie Nielsen, we’re all counting on you. Going back a bit, John Barrymore traded on his guilded age matinee idol status for Depression screwball comedies. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/11 "2012-05-01T00:32:28Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’d say Leslie Nielsen. I’m surprised noone’s mentioned him yet. Oh, no! That’s just what they’re **expecting** us to do! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/12 "2012-05-01T00:38:01Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Shatner is another example. Kirk acted pretty funny to me. but yeah he was much better on Boston Legal than any other thing he did. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/13 "2012-05-01T02:07:58Z")
Would Harry Morgan qualify? Surely Col. Potter, while not a barrel of laffs, was far more of a comedic character than Det. Gannon. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/14 "2012-05-01T03:00:50Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Would Harry Morgan qualify? Surely Col. Potter, while not a barrel of laffs, was far more of a comedic character than Det. Gannon. Gannon was a comedic sidekick role, so part almost drama and part comedic. he did do drama in movies. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/15 "2012-05-01T03:03:23Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > You often hear about comedic actors that surprisingly prove to have great dramatic chops when given the right role (Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Tom Hanks), but I rarely hear the opposite mentioned - great dramatic actors becoming successful in comedy - even though comedy tends to be regarded as being harder to perform than drama. Why “even though”? If comedy is harder than drama (and I believe it is), then that would explain why actors have a harder time crossing from drama to comedy than vice versa. Anyway, I was going to suggest Johnny Depp, but I’m actually not sure how many of his roles should be classified. Looking at his earlier major film roles, the title characters in _Edward Scissorhands_ and _What’s Eating Gilbert Grape_ were (quirky) dramatic roles, but in _Benny & Joon_ and _Ed Wood_ were his characters more dramatic or more comedic? Depp has definitely done straight drama, but I’m not sure he’s ever starred in a movie that’s primarily a comedy and not a dramedy or action/comedy – although judging from the trailer the upcoming _Dark Shadows_ movie is a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/16 "2012-05-01T03:10:48Z")
Apparently Garrett Dillahunt is best known to people as a goon and a villain but on Raising Hope, he’s a charming goofball with a penchant for physical comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/17 "2012-05-01T03:10:58Z")
Possibly De Niro, although it looks like most of his recent work has been thrillers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/18 "2012-05-01T03:29:20Z")
John C. Reilly Vince Vaughn ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/19 "2012-05-01T05:53:00Z")
Ernest Borgnine best actor winner for Marty, later McHales Navy Spencer Tracy took a comedic turn in It’s a Mad Mad Mad World. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459/20 "2012-05-01T06:14:43Z")
AFAICT Meryl Streep has been well received in comedies like _She-Devil_ and _Prime_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-known-for-dramatic-roles-that-find-later-success-in-comedy/620459.md?page=2)