# Best Performances "Against Type" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performances-against-type/848938 "2020-03-05T00:16:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performances-against-type/848938/81 "2020-05-08T18:18:46Z")
The mention of Wallace Shawn in another thread reminded my that I had had just seen him in an episode of _Mr. Robot_. I have always thought of Shawn as more of a comedic actor, but here he was playing a goon working for the Dark Army and played it completely straight. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performances-against-type/848938/82 "2020-05-08T18:39:50Z")
It’s a lot older than these, but I was stunned as a kid when I saw Ed Wynn in _The Diary of Anne Frank_. Wynn was the wacky comedian who appeared in Disney’s _Babes in Toyland_ and as Uncle Albert in _Mary Poppins_, and at the Western Revue at Disneyland. His big time playing “The Perfect Fool” was long, long before, but he was still well-known as a comedian (The character of King Candy in _Wreck-it Ralph_ was based on him and his mannerisms). He appeared in TV commercials in character. So it was weird to see him playing a part totally straight and realistically. This wasn’t his first or only such role. He’d been in _Requiem for a Heavyweight_ and others, including episodes of _The Twilight Zone_ – except for those he wasn’t so serious. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performances-against-type/848938/83 "2020-05-08T18:54:06Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Sascha Baron Cohen’s performance in The Spy was convincing, sensitive and subtle. These three words have NEVER been used in relation to any of his earlier work. You missed _Hugo_? ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performances-against-type/848938/84 "2020-05-09T10:47:19Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …Also **George C. Scott** in _Dr. Strangelove_. That’s another comedy that’s played mostly straight, but Scott has the gung ho turned up to 11 and he’s excellent. I read somewhere that he was unhappy about it, though. Stanley Kubrick wanted the character to be over-the-top, and was having trouble getting the performance he wanted. He asked Scott to do a few takes as broadly as possible, with the promise that he wouldn’t use them, and then put them in the film anyway. I don’t know if Scott got over his objection; the finished film is clearly a masterpiece. > … Kudos to Kubrick for getting what he needed. George C. Scott is absolutely frickin’ hilarious in that film, and over-the-top fit the proceedings perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performances-against-type/848938/85 "2020-05-09T10:52:36Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Steve Coogan is well known as a comedic actor and writer. Especially as his character Alan Partridge. > > But he’s done some serious stuff, most notably _Philomena_ which he he co-wrote, produced, and starred in. It won Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture… Hold your horses there, cowboy. \*Philomena \*received four Oscar nominations, but no wins. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-performances-against-type/848938.md?page=4)