# Character chameleons: great acting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510 "2011-10-04T02:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/61 "2011-10-04T22:22:24Z")
So many great ideas so far. Thanks, I’m working on compiling clips. Though many I just can’t use. Drama teachers can get away with stuff regular classroom teachers can’t, but showing Deadwood to a class of 6th graders isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/62 "2011-10-04T22:36:06Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > It’s hard to believe that the gentle Hamish Macbeth, or Gaz from The Full Monty, were played by the same man, Robert Carlyle, who was genuinely scary as Begbie in Trainspotting. Perhaps [Hitler](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346293/)would be more acceptable for school children. Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/63 "2011-10-05T03:52:09Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > How’d you forget me mentioning him on the first page? 😉 Sorry, I got white line fever skimming through all the names! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/64 "2011-10-05T03:53:23Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Oh, and of course **Lon Chaney, Sr.** was the \*master \*at that sort of thing. Well, you could do Lon Jr. too- first as the Wolfman, then as Lenny in _ **Of Mice and Men.** _ ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/65 "2011-10-05T04:59:54Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > So many great ideas so far. Thanks, I’m working on compiling clips. Though many I just can’t use. Drama teachers can get away with stuff regular classroom teachers can’t, but showing Deadwood to a class of 6th graders isn’t one of them. For that age range I actually think Jason Isaacs is one of the best suggestions - it’s traditional in British pantomime (of which Peter Pan is a staple) for the Dad and Captain Hook to be played by the same actor, which is interesting in itself, but I bet a lot of people didn’t even realise it with him. And of course it’s a totally acceptable film to show to 6th-graders and could make for very short demonstrative clips. But if you could include Garrett Dillahunt that would be even better. Someone else mentioned him earlier, but I don’t think they included his role in the Sarah Connor Chronicles or Burn Notice. The latter he was only in for two episodes, but he was a pivotal character and really believable as a psycho, but you’d never know that from his role in Raising Hope. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/66 "2011-10-05T13:09:36Z")
A pre-Glee Jane Lynch played a psychiatrist on Two and A Half Men, and later Spencer Reid’s psychotic mother on Criminal Minds. ---
**Author:** ![spanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@spanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spanna)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/67 "2011-10-05T13:35:48Z")
If you don’t mind UK TV David Jason [David Jason - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jason) Open All Hours Inspector Frost Only Fools and Horses Porridge In Darling Buds of May ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/68 "2011-10-05T13:44:41Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Good one. I loved him in the Showtime series “Brotherhood” where he played an irish gangster in Rhode Island. Almost couldn’t believe he was the same guy that played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. One of the reasons I love him as an actor is that he is frequently cast as a villain and he’s still able to make all of his villains very distinct. Even comparing his portrayal of Lucius Malfoy and Col. Tavington in **The Patriot** (both of which are pretty cartoonishly 100% pure evil stock villains on paper), he makes them out to be distinct people with different psychologies and mannerisms even when he’s not speaking. That’s impressive. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/69 "2011-10-05T13:47:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Just do a review of the acting career of [J.K. Simmons](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0799777/). Most of your students will be surprised to learn that all of those parts were played by the same guy. Heck, even his voiceover work is radically varied. Cave Johnson, meet Yellow M&M. I think Hugh Laurie is probably the easiest example to do a quick compare-and-contrast; House is familiar enough that anyone seeing him as Bertie Wooster will be quite surprised. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/70 "2011-10-05T14:02:33Z")
How about Ted Levine- you could show him as the psychopath saying “It puts the lotion on its skin” in \*\*\*Silence of the Lambs \*\*\*and then as the sane, idealistic Mr. Starbuck In Moby Dick, or as the cop in the TV series _ **Monk.** _ Or show Robert DeNiro as both the homicidal Travis Bickle in \*\*\*Taxi Driver \*\*\*and the schlemiel in _ **The King of Comedy** _. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/71 "2011-10-05T14:14:26Z")
Or Sean Penn as the stoner/surfer Spicoli in _ **Fast Times at Ridgmont High** _, followed by one of his serious roles… like a convicted killer in _ **Dead Man Walking.** _ ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/72 "2011-10-05T14:15:13Z")
Adam Sandler (:dubious: yeah, I know) in **Punch Drunk Love** vs. everything else he’s ever done. Turns out he can actually be a decent actor if he wanted. Doesn’t really work for the OPs purpose as it’s really more of an overall-whole-movie performance rather than a short demonstrative clip, but he’s someone the OPs students would be familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/73 "2011-10-05T14:25:31Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > One of the reasons I love him as an actor is that he is frequently cast as a villain and he’s still able to make all of his villains very distinct. Even comparing his portrayal of Lucius Malfoy and Col. Tavington in **The Patriot** (both of which are pretty cartoonishly 100% pure evil stock villains on paper), he makes them out to be distinct people with different psychologies and mannerisms even when he’s not speaking. That’s impressive. Not that I really liked the movie much, but Isaacs’ role in “Soldier” was another cartoonishly evil character, but a totally different sort than either Malfoy or Tavington. I figure it’s just another data point in his favor. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/74 "2011-10-05T15:18:56Z")
How about some lovable sitcom icons stretching? 1. Show Jackie Gleason doing some of his over-the-top physical comedy on _ **The Honeymooners** _, and then show him as Minnesota Fats in _ **The Hustler** _. 2. Show Andy Griffith as sweet Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, and then follow it with the fascist wannabe “Lonesome Rhodes” from _ **A Face in the Crowd** _ 3. Jack Klugman as sloppy Oscar madison on _ **The Odd Couple** _, and then Klugman as a juror in _ **Twelve Angry Men** _. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/75 "2011-10-05T15:21:29Z")
Fran Drescher as Spinal Tap’s Bobbi Fleckman and The Nanny (on one episode of which she played both roles). ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/76 "2011-10-05T17:38:41Z")
I’d show a clip of Bill Murray light comedy, like Ghostbusters, Stripes, etc. Then I’d show Robert De Niro in Raging Bull or a clip of Taxi Driver you could get away with - anything where he’s fierce and powerful. Then I’d show them Mad Dog and Glory, with Di Nero as the meek nerd, struggling to get from under Murray’s viscious crime boss - in the end of the movie Murray beats the crap out of De Niro. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/77 "2011-10-05T19:29:46Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > …For that matter, Brad Dourif in that movie as well, though I don’t think I’d consider him a great actor. Not to mention, Brad Dourif seems to always play psychos of one sort or another. He played a murderer in Star Trek Voyager. He played a convicted murderer in an episode of the X Files. He played some kind of wacko in Babylon 5. He played a bad guy in the LOTR movies. I assume he was a patient in Cuckoo’s Nest (it’s been years since I saw it). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/78 "2011-10-05T19:34:51Z")
Oh! For that matter, **Divine** , as both Dawn Davenport and Earl Peterson in _Female Trouble_! A lot of people are stunned when they realize that is the same actor, esp. as he has sex with himself. And, Divine as Edna Turnblad and Arvin Hodgepile in _Hairspray_. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/79 "2011-10-05T20:44:26Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Not that I really liked the movie much, but Isaacs’ role in “Soldier” was another cartoonishly evil character, but a totally different sort than either Malfoy or Tavington. I figure it’s just another data point in his favor. Thanks, I’ll have to look for that! I’ve seen him in all kinds of crazy things (except I’ve never seen **Sweet November** , in which he plays IIRC a cross-dresser) because I love him as an actor so much. > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Not to mention, Brad Dourif seems to always play psychos of one sort or another. He played a murderer in Star Trek Voyager. He played a convicted murderer in an episode of the X Files. He played some kind of wacko in Babylon 5. He played a bad guy in the LOTR movies. I assume he was a patient in Cuckoo’s Nest (it’s been years since I saw it). Brad Dourif was fantastic in **Deadwood** , playing against type as the town doctor, one of the few thoroughly decent human beings in that town. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510/80 "2011-10-05T21:55:55Z")
Any of the guys from To Wong Foo and their other roles, but particularly Wesley Snipes as Noxeema and then as Blade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/character-chameleons-great-acting/598510.md?page=5)