# Poll: What actor surprised you in a role you didn't think they could pull off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082 "2006-05-24T20:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/41 "2006-05-25T14:02:17Z")
David Schwimmer as a Naval officer in Flight of the Intruder. He only has one scene, and he prety much acts exactly as he later would on Friends (maybe a bit less so in the movie), but it sure as hell suprised me to realize who he was. That said, pretty much anything he did in that scene was overshadowed by Wilem Dafoe’s usual Wilem Dafoe-ness in the same scene. Do cartoons count? I was highly suprised to see that Denis Leary played one of the central characters in the Ice Age movies, since he tends to not be the sort to show up in kids movies (although his role in the movie was essentially a G-rated Denis Leary, so it worked quite well) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/42 "2006-05-25T14:03:07Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] Want to second the already mentioned Toby McGuire and Michael Keaton nominations. But my first instinct upon reading this question was definitely Bruce Willis in “Die Hard.” NO ONE I knew thought he could pull off a tough guy action hero role at the time. [/QUOTE] Yet another for Michael Keaton’s Batman- a friend who is a big Batman fan actually lost sleep when the announcement was made. He would also be posting here if he were on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/43 "2006-05-25T14:57:45Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I never think I’m going to like Nick Nolte or Kevin Bacon in anything they do, and I always love them. Even KNOWING I’ve always loved them doesn’t make me go into a film THINKING I’m going to love them…or even LIKE them. But I always do. [/QUOTE] Right on with Kevin Bacon. Until I saw him in [JFK](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0102138/), I never thought too highly of him. But wow, when he said, “You don’t know shit 'cause you’ve never been fucked in the ass!”, I knew we we’re dealing with an _actor_. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/44 "2006-05-25T15:19:50Z")
Jamie Foxx. I had only known him as the obnoxious character he played on his own sitcom and the similarly obnoxious quarterback in _Any Given Sunday_ . With that as a background I was astounded by how well he protrayed Ray Charles in _Ray_ and how well he played the hapless cabbie in _Collateral_. He certainly deserved the Oscar for _Ray_ ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/45 "2006-05-25T15:29:41Z")
I’d only known Heath Ledger from _A Knight’s Tale_ and _10 Things I Hate About You_–maybe _Lords of Dogtown_. I saw the listings for _Brokeback Mountain_ and thought, “Okay, he’s good-looking and all, but come on, _him_?” Still one of the best performances that never won an Oscar, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/46 "2006-05-25T15:58:45Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGauss] Right on with Kevin Bacon. Until I saw him in [JFK](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0102138/), I never thought too highly of him. But wow, when he said, “You don’t know shit 'cause you’ve never been fucked in the ass!”, I knew we we’re dealing with an _actor_. [/QUOTE] Check him out in The Woodsman. He’s awesome. As he was in Stir of Echoes and especially the one where he was in solitary confinement for a long time. What was the name of that. Academy Award performance. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/47 "2006-05-25T16:15:41Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] What was the name of that. Academy Award performance. [/QUOTE] _Murder in the First_, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/48 "2006-05-25T16:36:09Z")
[QUOTE=UrbanChic] _Murder in the First_, I think. [/QUOTE] Ding! Ding! Great movie! ---
**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:** [May 25, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/49 "2006-05-25T16:39:51Z")
Robin Williams as Garp. Up till then, he’d been known as a comedian. The movie also featured break out roles for Glenn Close as Jenny Fields, and John Lithgow was Roberta Muldoon (a role orginally offered to Christopher Reeve!) ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/50 "2006-05-25T16:47:20Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] What’s rarer is when an established serious actor manages to carry off a wacky comedic role. [/QUOTE] \*\*George C. Scott \*\* in _Dr. Strangelove_, perhaps? I’m not sure if this is quite what the OP is looking for, but I thought \*\*Burt Lancaster \*\* and **Tony Curtis** were both tremendous in \*The Sweet Smell of Success \* and proved the old axiom that actors get better at their craft when they play unsympathetic characters. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/51 "2006-05-25T20:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] Quite the contrary, he’d already done several good guy-accessible films early in his career: Kalifornia, True Romance and Se7en all came out before 12 Monkeys. (As did Interview With A Vampire, but that was more targeted to women.) [/QUOTE] Yes, but I hdan’t seen Kalifornia or Se7en, and didn’t remember him from True Romance. Come to think of it, he wan’t really that good in Se7en either. So, it wasn’t just the chick flick thing, it was the chick flick/didn’t seem like a good actor thing. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/52 "2006-05-26T00:00:00Z")
I second **Tom Cruise** in _Interview With the Vampire_ . When I first heard he was playing Lestat, every horror-loving cell in my body cringed. I was amazed at how good he was. And BTW, except for that role, I _still_ can’t stand him! **Charlize Theron** in _Monster_ . I lived in Florida during the whole Wuornos trial and thought there was no way she’d pull it off. She nailed the character perfectly! ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/53 "2006-05-26T00:34:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bippy the Beardless] Serious actors doing good comedy stuff… Bob Hoskins in Rodger Rabit. [/QUOTE] That didn’t surprise me; I first saw Hoskins doing comedy–the British miniseries “Flickers” on Masterpiece Theater, years before his heavy roles like “Mona Lisa”. A lot of British actors switch-hit like that; Judy Dench was on a sitcom for several years. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Billie Piper on the new “Doctor Who”–not that she pulls off an unexpected role, but that she can act at all. I’d heard of her only as a teen pop tart turned tabloid stalking object, sort of a British Britney Spears. But the tart has talent. Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/54 "2006-05-26T01:07:39Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] Sarah Michelle Gellar as “Buffy.” Kristy Swanson is much prettier [/QUOTE] I hope you’ll forgive me for disagreeing with you here. But I do agree about how well she played Buffy. 🙂 I’d like to add to the list Giovanni Ribisi, who surprised me in _The Boiler Room_, since I’d only seen him play Frank Jr. on _Friends_ prior to that. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/55 "2006-05-26T01:29:55Z")
I may be alone here, but I didn’t think Anthony Hopkins was going to come anywhere _close_ to pulling off Nixon. I thought “stunt casting, way too recognizable, etc.” But I’ll be damned if he didn’t do it. I was also pleasantly surprised at how effective Elijah Wood was in **Sin City**. Sure, he didn’t have any lines, but damn was he creepy. And then there was Vinny Barbarino… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/56 "2006-05-26T01:42:19Z")
[QUOTE=ryobserver] Judy Dench was on a sitcom for several years. [/QUOTE] _As Time Goes By_ OWNS me…I first saw it on the Minneapolis PBS station in 1996 and I think I’ve seen about 1/3 of the episodes. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/57 "2006-05-26T03:04:16Z")
Will Smith was captivating and excellent in **Six Degrees of Separation** in a basically dramatic role. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/58 "2006-05-26T03:57:16Z")
Mark Wahlberg in **Boogie Nights**. Apparently (well, according to the notoriously unreliable imdb) Leonardo DiCaprio was offered the role, and while I htink he’s an excellent actor it just wouldn;t have been the same. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/59 "2006-05-26T04:06:49Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] BTW, I think that “Along Came Polly” is one of the most underrated comedies from the past 5 years, and if you like Phillip Seymour Hoffman AT ALL, I consider it _essential viewing_. [/QUOTE] Word. This probably counts as another surprising performance, too, if you’ve only ever seen him in serious roles. “Let it rain!” ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082/60 "2006-05-26T04:21:58Z")
Johnny Depp in _Ed Wood_. He always plays such moody characters but in this movie he was vivacious, enthusiastic, and even goofy. It was the first time I realized he could actually act… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-what-actor-surprised-you-in-a-role-you-didnt-think-they-could-pull-off/358082.md?page=4)