# Actors Who Can Only Do Drama or Comedy But Not Both **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428 "2006-11-22T15:42:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/21 "2006-11-23T09:52:43Z")
[QUOTE=minlokwat] … \*\*Ralph Fiennes \*\* as someone who can’t hit both ways… [/QUOTE] Dunno… he managed pretty well as the voice of Victor Quartermaine in _Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/22 "2006-11-23T10:04:37Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] Which proves my point because De Niro in **Midnight Run** was the no-nonsense comic foil to Grodin’s character. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but that relies on an unfairly restrictive definition of “comedy”, in that one has to act like a clown to be recognized as a comedic actor. It rules out any dry, sarcastic or understated but nevertheless humorous performances. In that film, DeNiro loses patience with his boss during a phone call and snaps “If you don’t shut up, I’m gonna shoot this guy and dump his body in a swamp!” punctuating with a little shake of his head to show Grodin and the audience that he doesn’t really mean it. That was damn funny. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/23 "2006-11-23T12:33:36Z")
[QUOTE=DataZak] **Robin Williams** can’t do drama. In fact, nowadays he can’t even do comedy. He was only funny when he was snorting that white stuff. [/QUOTE] See, I’ve always seen it the other way. His finest work was all in dramas, like “The Fisher King,” “Good Will Hunting” and “Awakenings.” (I will grant he has been in many awful dramas as well.) But I have always found Williams, as a comedian, to be tiresome. I’ve never understood why people think he’s so hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/24 "2006-11-23T13:10:42Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] Dude, haven’t you seen _The King Of Comedy_? He was…okay, your point is well taken. DeNiro is just…disturbing when he does comedy. [/QUOTE] _King of Comedy_ wasn’t a comedy. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/25 "2006-11-23T14:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Leslie Nielsen played the captain in the Poseidon Adventure. If you go back and watch it now, his scenes come off just like Airplane on a boat. Hi-larious. [/QUOTE] Right. I’ve used the Leslie Nielsen - Gene Hackman connection from **Poseidon Adventure** too many times to count when doing the Kevin Bacon Game. Looking back on how his career has evolved, that role in the PA is a hoot. Remember when he’s in the bridge, they’re battening down the hatches or whatever and about to get creamed by this massive wave and then he turns to the first mate and says, “By the way, happy New Year,” in the same authoritative baritone he always uses. With the fuller context of what his career has become, that line is a howler. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/26 "2006-11-23T16:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Yeah, but that relies on an unfairly restrictive definition of “comedy”, in that one has to act like a clown to be recognized as a comedic actor. It rules out any dry, sarcastic or understated but nevertheless humorous performances. In that film, DeNiro loses patience with his boss during a phone call and snaps “If you don’t shut up, I’m gonna shoot this guy and dump his body in a swamp!” punctuating with a little shake of his head to show Grodin and the audience that he doesn’t really mean it. That was damn funny. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but he’s just riffing off of the tough guy character he plays in other films. He’s “funny” in _The Godfather, Part II_ as well, when the landlord comes to apologize to him and is intimidated by his silence. He’s amusing in _Ronin_ when snapping out Mamet dialog: “I once took out a guy’s appendix with a grapefruit spoon.” He’s seriously funny in _Brazil_ as “Harry” Tuttle, the renegate “terrorist” repairman: “I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there’s trouble, a man alone. Now they got the whole country sectioned off, you can’t make a move without a form.” But he’s always funny by being the straight man in an absurd situation. When he plays the former CIA agent in the excreble _Meet The Parents_ and is interrogating his future son-in-law, he’s just playing the same character, straight, that he’s been playing since every film after _Raging Bull_. He’s good, but he’s not a comedian; he’s a straight man in an amusing situation. (His character in _Midnight Run_ isn’t really all that funny, either; he’s street-smart, and that makes him seem funny, but he’s really kind of sad and pathetic. He’s lost his wife and child, and his dreams have been reduced to getting out of the skip-tracer business and running a diner.) [QUOTE=twickster] _King of Comedy_ wasn’t a comedy. [/QUOTE] Er, yeah…that’s kind of the point. DeNiro, being funny, isn’t funny. It’s creepy and disturbing; Travis Bickle with a celebrity obsession. DeNiro, being the straight man in a funny situation–like in _Casino_–can be hilarious. But when he plays for laughs–I’m thinking of his anxiety attack scenes in _Analyze This_ (and I’m so sorry I had to bring that film into this discussion)–the results are just painful and hollow. DeNiro is funniest when you’re not sure whether you should be laughing or not. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/27 "2006-11-23T17:03:57Z")
[QUOTE=Stranger On A Train] Yeah, but he’s just riffing off of the tough guy character he plays in other films. He’s “funny” in _The Godfather, Part II_ as well, when the landlord comes to apologize to him and is intimidated by his silence. He’s amusing in _Ronin_ when snapping out Mamet dialog: “I once took out a guy’s appendix with a grapefruit spoon.” He’s seriously funny in _Brazil_ as “Harry” Tuttle, the renegate “terrorist” repairman: “I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there’s trouble, a man alone. Now they got the whole country sectioned off, you can’t make a move without a form.” But he’s always funny by being the straight man in an absurd situation. When he plays the former CIA agent in the excreble _Meet The Parents_ and is interrogating his future son-in-law, he’s just playing the same character, straight, that he’s been playing since every film after _Raging Bull_. He’s good, but he’s not a comedian; he’s a straight man in an amusing situation. (His character in _Midnight Run_ isn’t really all that funny, either; he’s street-smart, and that makes him seem funny, but he’s really kind of sad and pathetic. He’s lost his wife and child, and his dreams have been reduced to getting out of the skip-tracer business and running a diner.) [/QUOTE] He doesn’t have to be a comedian; he just has to be funny. Your list makes it pretty clear that DeNiro can do comedy. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/28 "2006-11-24T01:03:19Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Leslie Nielsen played the captain in the Poseidon Adventure. If you go back and watch it now, his scenes come off just like Airplane on a boat. Hi-larious. Oh, **medstar** check out this [review](http://www.sff.net/people/doylemacdonald/r_behind.htm) of Behind Enemy Lines. [/QUOTE] I read the review and I’ll agree that compared with real-world U.S. Navy situations, this movie was unrealistic. However, this was a movie, not a documentary and I thought Owen Wilson did a good job. He was appropriately crisp and purposeful when he was evading the Tracker and he was funny when he was talking to Gene Hackman in his stoner hippy demeanor. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/29 "2006-11-24T01:42:11Z")
I don’t imagine Don Knotts would have fared too well in a dramatic role. Not that I don’t think he lacked the talent to pull off drama - I just think the audience’s preconceptions/expectations would get in the way. I don’t think Oprah Winfrey would be able to do anything with a comedic role. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/30 "2006-11-24T02:47:56Z")
without insulting the millions of people that love this guy, myself included, I don’t think **Tom Hanks** could do comedy. I just can’t see it. If he has done it, then I haven’t seen it or its been QUITE A LONG TIME. I know he was a crossdresser on TV for a while but I’m to young to remember it and too lazy to go look it up. Same goes for Tom Cruise. Although his choices in laugh are pretty funny. But he, no, Tom Cruise isn’t funny. Just to add one more, **The Governator** can’t do a comedy. **Jingle All The Way** sucked. Poor Arrnold. Its probably because he’s Austrian. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/31 "2006-11-24T06:04:38Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] without insulting the millions of people that love this guy, myself included, I don’t think **Tom Hanks** could do comedy. I just can’t see it. If he has done it, then I haven’t seen it or its been QUITE A LONG TIME. I know he was a crossdresser on TV for a while but I’m to young to remember it and too lazy to go look it up. [/quote] Ah, youth. Hanks was hilarious in _Bachelor Party_. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/32 "2006-11-24T08:11:08Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Ah, youth. Hanks was hilarious in _Bachelor Party_. [/QUOTE] And Big, and Splash, and Dragnet, and Volunteers and Toy Story… ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/33 "2006-11-24T08:57:02Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Dunno… he managed pretty well as the voice of Victor Quartermaine in _Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_. [/QUOTE] I agree. That was a fun casting. It’s obviously easier to guess somebody can’t do both drama or comedy if you’ve only seen the actor do either. I wouldn’t guess guess mr. Voldemort to ever do comedy, but perhaps it’s better to wait and see him actually try it. I personally thought Nicole Kidman was pretty cute in recent Bewitched. She was more focused than both Will Ferrell and Steve Carell. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/34 "2006-11-24T09:19:26Z")
[QUOTE=Yookeroo] He doesn’t have to be a comedian; he just has to be funny. Your list makes it pretty clear that DeNiro can do comedy. [/QUOTE] He _could_ do comedy, back before the Pod People got him and replaced him with a second-rate hack. Fact of the matter is, De Niro hasn’t delivered a good performance in over a decade, comedic or not. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/35 "2006-11-24T10:58:08Z")
[QUOTE=Yookeroo] He doesn’t have to be a comedian; he just has to be funny. Your list makes it pretty clear that DeNiro can do comedy. [/QUOTE] I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree, although only at a semantic level. DeNiro can “do comedy” in the sense of being the straight man in an absurd situation; he’s funny 'cause he doesn’t get (or isn’t in on) the joke, _a la_ _Brazil_. (It’s bizarre that you’d have to have renegade repairmen to keep things working, but DeNiro treats it like it’s a normal thing to do.) When, as in _Analyze This_ (Og, I hate admitting that I’ve seen that film), where the roles are reversed (Billy Crystal plays the straight man and DeNiro is supposed to be the joker), he’s just painfully unfunny; a characture of himself, and not in a good way. [QUOTE=Surbey] Just to add one more, **The Governator** can’t do a comedy. **Jingle All The Way** sucked. Poor Arrnold. Its probably because he’s Austrian. [/QUOTE] Okay, bad movie all around. Try _True Lies_:Samir: Is there anything you’d like to tell me before we start? Harry: Yeah: I’m going to kill you pretty soon. _beat_ First I’m gonna use you as a human shield, then I gonna kill this guard over there, with the Patterson trocar on the table. Then I was thinking about breaking your neck. Samir: And how are you going to do all that? Harry: You know my handcuffs? Samir: Hmm… Harry: [hold his hands up] I picked them. This is perhaps a bit disingenous, because he essentially falls into the same type of role as DeNiro above; playing the straight man in a totally absurd situation. But totally amusing as the Bond-type superspy who relishes being a suburban dad and is oblivious to how frustrated his wife and child are. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/36 "2006-11-24T13:15:34Z")
My first thought was **Fran Drescher**. I cannot see her doing drama. Maybe it’s the voice. Her real life certainly has had enough drama in it. Robin Williams is brilliant in comedy or drama. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/37 "2006-11-24T14:46:32Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] without insulting the millions of people that love this guy, myself included, I don’t think **Tom Hanks** could do comedy. I just can’t see it. If he has done it, then I haven’t seen it or its been QUITE A LONG TIME. I know he was a crossdresser on TV for a while but I’m to young to remember it and too lazy to go look it up. [/QUOTE] Tom Hanks used to _only_ do comedy. It took a while before people would even consider him as a dramtic actor. [link](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000158/) That Thing You Do! (1996) … Mr. White Toy Story (1995) (voice) … Woody Apollo 13 (1995) … Jim Lovell … aka Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version) Forrest Gump (1994) … Forrest Gump “Sunday Night Clive” (1 episode, 1994) … aka Clive James (USA) - Episode #1.1 (1994) TV Episode Vault of Horror I (1994) (TV) Philadelphia (1993) … Andrew Beckett “Fallen Angels” … Trouble Boy #1 (1 episode, 1993) - I’ll Be Waiting (1993) TV Episode … Trouble Boy #1 Sleepless in Seattle (1993) … Sam Baldwin A League of Their Own (1992) … Jimmy Dugan “Tales from the Crypt” … Baxter (1 episode, 1992) … aka HBO’s Tales from the Crypt - None But the Lonely Heart (1992) TV Episode … Baxter Radio Flyer (1992) (uncredited) … Older Mike The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) … Sherman McCoy Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) … Joe Banks Turner & Hooch (1989) … Det. Scott Turner The 'burbs (1989) … Ray Peterson Punchline (1988) … Steven Gold Big (1988) … Josh Dragnet (1987) … Pep Streebeck Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986) … David Bradley Nothing in Common (1986) … David Basner The Money Pit (1986) … Walter Fielding, Jr. Volunteers (1985) … Lawrence Whatley Bourne III The Man with One Red Shoe (1985) … Richard Harlan Drew Bachelor Party (1984) … Rick Gassko Splash (1984) … Allen Bauer “Family Ties” … Ned Donnelly (3 episodes, 1983-1984) - Say Uncle (1984) TV Episode … Ned Donnelly - The Fugitive: Part 2 (1983) TV Episode … Ned Donnelly - The Fugitive: Part 1 (1983) TV Episode … Ned Donnelly “Happy Days” … Dr. Dwayne Twitchell (1 episode, 1982) … aka Happy Days Again (USA: syndication title) - A Little Case of Revenge (1982) TV Episode … Dr. Dwayne Twitchell “Taxi” … Gordon (1 episode, 1982) - The Road Not Taken: Part 1 (1982) TV Episode … Gordon “Bosom Buddies” … Kip ‘Buffy’ Wilson / … (4 episodes, 1980-1981) - All You Need Is Love (1981) TV Episode … Kip ‘Buffy’ Wilson - One for You, One for Me (1981) TV Episode … Kip Wilson - My Brother, My Sister, Myself (1980) TV Episode … Kip ‘Buffy’ Wilson - Pilot (1980) TV Episode ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428/38 "2006-11-24T15:59:15Z")
Of course, some are just “typed” to death. ZaSu Pitts was equally brilliant at comedy and drama, but was so well-known as a comedienne that audiences started giggling at the sight of her, which lost her more and more (and eventually all) dramatic possibilities. Oddly, Billie Burke _was_ given some opportunities to show what she could do in drama: see her in _Christopher Strong_, for instance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-can-only-do-drama-or-comedy-but-not-both/381428.md?page=1)