Not to detract from this thread of How do some actors end up type-cast?:
I’m wondering what actors you’ve seen where you felt they could play a wide range of believable roles. The kinds of actors who are so good that you are surprised that it was them when you saw the credits.
Sam Rockwell is a good example of this for me. He plays a wide range of characters.
Chris Pratt was unrecognizable in ‘the Kid’
Jenette Goldstein played a tough Latina in Aliens, an Irish mother in Titanic, a vampire matriarch in Near Dark, and the foster mother of humanity’s savior in Terminator 2. She’s never really became a big star, but I think she has some pretty good range as an actor.
I came in to say Sam Rockwell. For some reason he and Billy Crudup are often in some movie that I am enjoying when suddenly I realize, “Oh, that’s…”
Danial Day Lewis and Christian Bale are the first to come to mind.
Sam Rockwell was who I first thought of when I saw this thread’s title.
Gary Oldman also comes to mind. He played a dirty DEA agent in Leon the Professional, Dracula, Zorg in the Fifth Element, Jim Gordon in a bunch of Batman movies, he even played a convincing Harry Truman in Oppenheimer.
Brad Pitt has good range, too. He can play a serious detective in Seven, the intense Tyler Durden in Fight Club, the complete whackadoodle Jeffrey Goines in 12 Monkeys, and the comedic operative Ladybug in Bullet Train, along with many other roles.
Christian Bale is a force of nature …if you’ve not seen him in Empire of the Sun you’ve missed the birth of one of the most versatile actors ever. He was only 12.
I hardly recognized him in Cheney and he was marvelous in Ford vs Ferrari.
…
Helen Mirren has a crazy range. Her filmography is astonishing. 61 movies over 60 years acting and numerous other roles …Prime Suspect notably,
Dame Helen Mirren is an English actor. In a career spanning 60 years, she is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, five Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, an Olivier Award and a Tony Award.
She’s a quintessential character actor; she hasn’t done a lot of acting lately save for so e voice work but even in small roles she puts in a memorable performance even when she is almost unrecognizable. She also has some great stories about working on Cameron films; she and Carrie Henn (‘Newt’ from Aliens) did a live audience podcast a couple of years ago with Matt Gourley, and while I usually give up on those about ten minutes in because they aren’t that interesting this one was interesting enough that I listened all the way through..
Vice; he’s not only unrecognizable as Bale, but virtually a dead ringer for Dick Cheney in appearance, manner, and intonation. The film also has Sam Rockwell as possibly the most authentic rendition of George W. Bush, and Amy Adams (another very versatile actor) as Lynne Cheney.
Stranger
Yes Vice thanks.
The work outs Christian puts his body through every day are astonishing.
What a contrast between Cheneys rotundness and his lean frame in Ford/Ferrari.
Enjoyed him in his Batman rounds and also in The Big Short
That movie taught me you can know the outcome and STILL be on the edge of your seat.
Good list here
I guess Michael Caine has to be in this list. His biography is a wonderful read. 160 films - yikes…way more than I knew.
Sleuth was brilliant. I’d forgotten he was in Zulu but loved the movie. Cider House Rules another of my favs tho not for Michael.
Charlize on the bed was luscious 
Didn’t realize Caine won his second Oscar for that film.
https://collider.com/best-michael-caine-movies-ranked/
He’s so good I hardly recognise him in some parts - most notably as Churchill in the Darkest Hour:
Yes excellent choice. Oldman is hilarious in Slow Horses.
Beat me to it. He did a great job in The Darkest Hour.
Trivia: Winston Churchill smoked “Romeo y Julietas,” at size 7x47(*), from Havana. For the movie, Oldman also smoked “Romeo y Julietas,” at size 7x47 from Havana. Nice touch of realism.
(*) Cigar size “7x47” means “7 inches long by 47/64ths of an inch wide.” That particular size has since become known in the cigar world as a “Churchill” size.
Agnes Moorehead played a variety of roles, and expertly I might add. In addition to her talents, I think part of her success was due to not being overly “distinctive looking.” Even if you were familiar with her works, she may not be immediately recognizable. I’d be watching a movie and say, “Hey, wait a second… isn’t that Agnes Moorehead?”
Stephen Root comes to my mind. His list of credits, including a lot of voice work, is long and pretty impressive. I first saw him in News Radio and absolutely didn’t recognize him in Office Space, nor did I realize he did a couple of voices on King of the Hill. I’m not a big movie-goer, but I expect more than once I’d have said “Isn’t he that guy…?”
I didn’t recognize him in See How They Run, a film featuring two English murder investigators, neither (as it turns out) played by English actors.
Soairse Ronan (sp?) is also amazingly different in, say, that film plus Brooklyn and Lady Bird.
That was downright eerie, like watching a behind the scenes documentary (although that overdub when Bale is holding his drink in front of his mouth was a little strange.)
For me, his voice gives him away. In, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, he is almost unrecognizable, until he opens his mouth. Strangest western you’ll ever see.
Yeah, that’s what I was gonna add (as well as the aforementioned Gary Oldman). Moorehead is so ingrained in my memory as Endora with the wig and all the makeup, that I often don’t even notice her in older movies until I see the credits–although her voice can give her away.
She is NOT the woman in that twilighty show about that zone, I don’t care what they say. That woman is from The Magnificent Ambersons.
Most of the usual suspects have been named, but I’ll add two more. I just saw the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” a week ago, and Ed Norton was unrecognizable in the role of Pete Seeger, he WAS Pete Seeger. Should have won the best supporting actor Oscar for it. If you check his credits on IMDB, you see that he can play anything from a psychopath in “American History X” to one of the kindest persons who ever lived on this earth (Pete Seeger).
Another candidate is Alan Rickman. I haven’t seen a lot of his films, but in any I did see he was believable and authentic in a wide variety of characters.
I expected this to end with “Sheldon Mopes”.