# Actors Who Impress More Playing Against Type **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 20, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373 "2021-12-20T18:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/41 "2021-12-21T14:23:41Z")
Ben Kingsley is great as Trevor in two of the Marvel movies. He was set up to be portraying the Mandarin, which is kind of a great reference to the fact that he played Gandhi even though he is not the correct race. In the end, it is revealed he is a massive cowardly and pathetic actor. He’s great in both movies his character appears in. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/42 "2021-12-21T14:38:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Perhaps similarly, the serious actors in _Airplane!_ (including but not limited to Leslie Nielsen) weren’t so much playing against type as they were playing _to_ type in a different sort of movie. Fair point, but it’s worth noting that Nielsen was a serious dramatic actor until _Airplane!_ and then _Police Squad!_ - now he’s **mostly** remembered for making goofball comedies. See also: Harry Morgan, who went from _Dragnet_-type roles to _MASH_ despite initial concerns that he couldn’t do “funny”. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/43 "2021-12-21T14:45:00Z")
Bruce Willis has done it more than once. First he was seen as a comic actor. Then he played against type and did Die Hard. He was then seen as just an action star. He then played against type again when he did Pulp Fiction and The Sixth Sense and showed he could be a dramatic actor. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/44 "2021-12-21T14:54:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Ben Kingsley is great as Trevor in two of the Marvel movies. He was set up to be portraying the Mandarin,… Which two is he in? He was hysterical in _Iron Man 3_, but I must not have seen the other one. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/45 "2021-12-21T14:57:59Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > the fact that he played Gandhi even though he is not the correct race. The Ben Kingsley who was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji? _That_ Ben Kingsley? ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/46 "2021-12-21T15:02:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Which two is he in? He was hysterical in _Iron Man 3_ , but I must not have seen the other one. He reprises the role in _Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings_. In between, he’s also in the Marvel One Shot cinematic short, _All Hail the King_, which bridges his character’s appearance in the the two films. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/47 "2021-12-21T15:27:07Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Perhaps similarly, the serious actors in _Airplane!_ (including but not limited to Leslie Nielsen) weren’t so much playing against type as they were playing _to_ type in a different sort of movie. It might even be worth having a separate thread of actors playing to type in intentionally ridiculous or over the top performances. But similarly, Jason Statham plays an absurd version of every character he plays in the movie Spy with hilarious results. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/48 "2021-12-21T15:34:49Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > > [@alovem](#): > > > > How about Leonardo DiCaprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? > > Well how about DiCaprio in **Django Unchained**? > Playing a sadistic plantation / slave owner with aplomb, even improvising around [cutting his hand open](https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/hollywood-news/leonardo-dicaprio-used-real-blood-in-django-unchaineds-dinner-scene.html) in an accident. > > IMO it’s a shame he didn’t get a best supporting character nomination, instead it went to…Christoph Waltz doing Christoph Waltz. A bit off topic, but comedian Roy Wood Jr does a hilarious take on DiCaprio’s performance in Djengo Unchained. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kdxoe7jZdVc/maxresdefault.jpg "Leonardo DiCaprio Is an Underrated White Ally - Roy Wood Jr.: Imperfect Messenger") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdxoe7jZdVc) “Called Jaime Fox a n\*\*\* to his face! Not an empty chair! They didn’t CGI Jaime Fox in later! …in FRONT of Samuel L Jackson! Bravery!” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/49 "2021-12-21T15:43:24Z")
Michael McKean in **Better Call Saul**. Having only seen him in comic roles over 40+ years, it was a surprise how great he was in a dramatic role. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/50 "2021-12-21T15:59:01Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Sacha Baron Cohen in _Hugo_ He was also excellent in the Netflix series “The Spy”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/51 "2021-12-21T16:01:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Which two is he in? He was hysterical in _Iron Man 3_ , but I must not have seen the other one. In Shang-Chi, we learn that the main villain…is…The Mandarin. Wait. Wasn’t that the bad guy in Iron Man 3? It is explained that the main villain of Iron Man 3 took that title, but was not actually the Mandarin. And for some reason, they kidnapped Trevor since he was part of that mess. I forget why even though I’ve seen Shang-Chi twice. It’s a great movie, by the way. You should see it immediately. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/52 "2021-12-21T18:08:44Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > In Shang-Chi, we learn that the main villain…is…The Mandarin. Wait. Wasn’t that the bad guy in Iron Man 3? It is explained that the main villain of Iron Man 3 took that title, but was not actually the Mandarin. > > And for some reason, they kidnapped Trevor since he was part of that mess. I forget why even though I’ve seen Shang-Chi twice. Spoilers, just in case: The armed group that kidnaps Tony Stark in _Iron Man_ is the Ten Rings. We don’t learn much about them in that movie, other than that they are an armed extremist group with fighters of various nationalities that is secretly purchasing arms from Stark Industries. In _Iron Man 3_, Aldrich Killian sets up a fake Mandarin, leading a fake Ten Rings group, to cover his own Extremis program, and create a demand for his super-soldiers. That movie establishes that “the Mandarin” is an underworld rumor, and that very little is known about the Ten Rings. Killian seems to think that the Mandarin is a fairy tale, and that the Ten Rings is a minor group that was more or less destroyed by the events depicted in _Iron Man_, so they’re convenient covers for his own activities. The Marvel One Shot cinematic short, _All Hail the King_, establishes that the Mandarin is very real, and that the Ten Rings is still active, and is _far_ more widespread and capable that anyone realized. They kidnap Trevor Slattery from a maximum security prison in an elaborate assault, in order to torture him to death in retaliation for his role in stealing the Mandarin’s name and making it a mockery. _Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings_ reveals the true Mandarin and the true nature of the Ten Rings organization. It also reveals that after capturing Slattery, instead of torturing him to death, the members of the Ten Rings become so enamored of his acting ability that they keep him around as their in-house entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/53 "2021-12-21T18:13:14Z")
Will Ferrel in _The Shrink Next Doo_r. We’re just a few episodes in, but he’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/54 "2021-12-21T19:00:28Z")
Ferrel was also fantastic in _Stranger than Fiction_. Saw it off Netflix, with _Bullets over Broadway_ as my other rental, which coincidentally also has a major theme about great art not being more important than human life. They worked surprisingly well as unintended companion pieces. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/55 "2021-12-21T19:44:59Z")
Jerry Lewis was quite good in _The King of Comedy._ ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/56 "2021-12-21T21:50:03Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > In the thread talking about this show, people were saying how good Nayyar was in an episode of “Criminal: UK” and was unrecognizable to those who know him as Raj. Well, I can vouch for that. I have watched both series and really enjoyed the episode [Sandeep](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12952238/reference) but until I read this I hadn’t realized who played the role. And he was excellent. Sarah Silverman was harrowing as a drug addict mother in _I Smile Back._ I thought that AdamSandler’s best dramatic role was in Judd Apatow’s _Funny People_ where, oddly enough, he is probably playing someone more like Adam Sandler than the routine Adam Sandler that he plays in every other Adam Sandler movie. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/57 "2021-12-21T22:48:48Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > See also: Harry Morgan, who went from _Dragnet_ -type roles to _MASH_ despite initial concerns that he couldn’t do “funny”. He was hilarious in 1967 _The Flim-Flam Man_. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/58 "2021-12-21T22:50:14Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Bruce Willis has done it more than once. First he was seen as a comic actor. Then he played against type and did Die Hard. He was then seen as just an action star. He then played against type again when he did Pulp Fiction and The Sixth Sense and showed he could be a dramatic actor. Not to mention _Twelve Monkeys_. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/59 "2021-12-21T23:26:09Z")
Steve Buscemi as Donny in _The Big Lebowski_. I think it’s the first time I ever saw him where he didn’t play an aggravated grouch. He’s really the only likable character in the film. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373/60 "2021-12-21T23:45:20Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Arnold was good in Kindergarten Cop, a comedy. He was absolutely outstanding in [**Maggie**](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1881002/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_18) with Abigail Breslin. He hired an acting coach and it paid off big time, IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-impress-more-playing-against-type/956373.md?page=4)