# Successful transitions from wimp to badass **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012 "2004-05-25T17:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/1 "2004-05-25T17:10:18Z")
What actors do you think have succesfully made the transition to “badass” after starring in roles where their characters were unrealistically (and even sickeningly) “good”? Usually these roles were prime-time family entertainment, so there’d be a lot of cartoon violence with no one ever actually getting hurt. Fer example, Kevin Sorbo starred as Hercules. They tried to make him complex, but basically he came across as repulsively good, and he really can’t rise above that. Even though they’ve tried for a harder edge in Andromeda, it just doesn’t work. He’s still a Good Guy, even if he does shoot to kill. Who else: ``` Obviously Scott Bakula. Quantum Leap to Enterprise. Nope -- can't rise above it. If you ask me, this bit of casting ruined the series from the git go. Bruce Boxleitner. From Scarecrow and Mrs. King to Sheridan in Babylon 5. This one is debatable, but he never did it for me. I never really bought him as the hard-edged military guy. He smirked too much. Richard Dean Anderson From MacGuyver to Jack O'Neill on Stargate SG-1. I'd say this was just about the most successful transition. (I used to hate it that MacGuyver would be fleeing from hordes of badguys with automatic weapons; would knock one out, and then would * leave the freaking gun lying there * ). But I totally buy him as the tough (but not that smart) Colonel O'Neill. And while we're on the subject of Stargate, Kurt Russell has certainly made the transition from "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" to Snake Plissken, Jack Burton, and other hardasses. He doesn't have much range, but what range he has is pretty damn bad. ``` ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/2 "2004-05-25T17:13:58Z")
Bruce Campbell as Ash in Evil Dead, and then Bruce Campbell as Ash in Evil Dead 2. Ash… or ‘Ashley’ as he was called… was pretty much a pansy in Evil Dead. By the time the end of evil Dead 2 rolls around, he’s got some serious mojo. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/3 "2004-05-25T17:24:29Z")
Well, if actors doing the same role count, I’d say Alexis Denisoff did a pretty amazing job transitioning Mr. Wyndam-Pryce from “Rogue Demon Hunter” Wesley to bad-ass mofo Wes. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/4 "2004-05-25T17:28:56Z")
Alexis Denisoff changed from a silly-ass goody-goody in **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** to a hardass on **Angel**. The character change was handled over time, and quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/5 "2004-05-25T17:36:45Z")
The googly-eyed boy singer [Dick Powell](http://imdb.com/name/nm0694090/) of _42nd Street_ and _Footlight Parade_, and the steely, hard-bitten Dick Powell of _Murder, My Sweet_ and _Johnny O’Clock_. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/6 "2004-05-25T17:50:25Z")
Michael Chiklis from the doughy and friendly Comish to Vic Mackey on The Shield ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/7 "2004-05-25T17:54:35Z")
I don’t know if I’d call David Addison from Moonlighting exactly a wimp, but Bruce Willis did successfully move from a smirking, wise-cracking ladies man to a hard-assed action hero in Die Hard. Sylvester Stallone was doing the simple-minded but good-hearted Rocky in one series of movies while being Rambo in another series. Let’s not forget just about anyone who did any version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/8 "2004-05-25T18:11:06Z")
George Clooney started off playing Mr. Sickeningly Sweet Guy in various crappy and/or smarmy sitcoms in the 80s ( **Facts of Life** for one). But he went on to play some pretty hard-edged roles in movies like \*\*Out of Sight \*\* and **Three Kings**. Whether he is convincing as a hard-ass is, of course, a point of debate. I’d say sometimes yes, sometimes no. (He sure as hell ain’t Batman!) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/9 "2004-05-25T18:23:57Z")
Renee O’Connor started off as a wimpy sidekick to Xena’s badass bitch, but by the end of the series she was mopping up the floor with bad guys in every episode. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/10 "2004-05-25T18:35:08Z")
I think if this were given out as an award, it would be called the Anthony Michael Hall Award. Going from that loser in \*Sixteen Candles \* and \*Weird Science \* to a jock football player in \*Johnny Be Good \* to the current hardass in _The Dead Zone_ on USA, he personifies “wimp to badass.” ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/11 "2004-05-25T18:42:37Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I don’t know if I’d call David Addison from Moonlighting exactly a wimp, but Bruce Willis did successfully move from a smirking, wise-cracking ladies man to a hard-assed action hero in Die Hard. It may not seem like a huge change in retrospect, but it was at the time (for me at least) and really abrupt. I can remember watching the trailer for _Die Hard_ and saying, “_Bruce Willis_? What are they thinking?” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/12 "2004-05-25T18:58:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Richard Dean Anderson From MacGuyver to Jack O’Neill on Stargate SG-1. I’d say this was just about the most successful transition. (I used to hate it that MacGuyver would be fleeing from hordes of badguys with automatic weapons; would knock one out, and then would leave the freaking gun lying there ). But I totally buy him as the tough (but not that smart) Colonel O’Neill. I would contest this one. Richard Dean Anderson didn’t transition into a tough guy; MacGuyver was already a tough guy. He was just a _smart_ tough guy. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/13 "2004-05-25T19:04:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would contest this one. Richard Dean Anderson didn’t transition into a tough guy; MacGuyver was already a tough guy. He was just a _smart_ tough guy. He still didn’t have an edge, though. MacGuyver was a pacifist, and rarely got angry. I wouldn’t consider him a badass. ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/14 "2004-05-25T19:06:14Z")
In the same movie category, Wesley made a pretty serious jump from the Farm Boy to the Dread Pirate Roberts in _The Princess Bride_. How about Brad Pitt? He’s considered to be a Hollywood pretty boy, but I thought he was very believable in both _Fight Club_ and _Troy_. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/15 "2004-05-25T19:12:42Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I think if this were given out as an award, it would be called the Anthony Michael Hall Award. Going from that loser in \*Sixteen Candles \* and \*Weird Science \* to a jock football player in \*Johnny Be Good \* to the current hardass in _The Dead Zone_ on USA, he personifies “wimp to badass.” He also played a jock football player in _Edward Scissorhands_; a real jerk too. He frames Edward and tries to kill him. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/16 "2004-05-25T19:28:45Z")
Don Adams went from being the voice of the happy go lucky Tennessee Tuxedo to become the hardbitten, brutally cynical secret agent Maxwell Smart. 🙂 Seriously, I think Leonardo de Caprio is trying to do it. He started off with “cute kid” and “romantic hunk” roles, and in none of his early roles, as far as I can tell, was he the bad guy. Then, recently, he’s been the con artist antihero of “Catch Me if You Can”, and the hard bitten gang leader out for revenge in “Gangs of New York”. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/17 "2004-05-25T20:01:28Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Seriously, I think Leonardo de Caprio is trying to do it. He started off with “cute kid” and “romantic hunk” roles He may have played the cute kid very early in his career (see: Family Ties), but his roles in \*Basketball Diaries \* and \*What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? \* came before any of his romantic hunk roles. Those were meaty, dark, disturbing/complex characters. Also, his role in _The Quick and the Dead_ was mid-heartthrob period. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/18 "2004-05-25T20:10:22Z")
Edward Norton is a prime example. In his first film, Primal Fear, he made the ultimate transition from wimp to badass in the same role! He’s done other wimpy roles (Everyone Says I Love You, Death To Smoochy) and other badass roles, most notably American History X. Fight Club is just one more Norton movie where he starts out as another wimp and becomes another brutal badass. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/19 "2004-05-25T22:09:39Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > Edward Norton is a prime example. In his first film, Primal Fear, he made the ultimate transition from wimp to badass in the same role! He’s done other wimpy roles (Everyone Says I Love You, Death To Smoochy) and other badass roles, most notably American History X. Fight Club is just one more Norton movie where he starts out as another wimp and becomes another brutal badass. Heh, in **Death to Smoochy** , it implies he _was_ a bad ass before he took his anger management classes and created Smoochy…so I guess that would be example of moving the opposite direction… ---
**Author:** ![knarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@knarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knarf)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012/20 "2004-05-25T22:38:08Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I think if this were given out as an award, it would be called the Anthony Michael Hall Award. Going from that loser in \*Sixteen Candles \* and \*Weird Science \* to a jock football player in \*Johnny Be Good \* to the current hardass in _The Dead Zone_ on USA, he personifies “wimp to badass.” Ah, you beat me to it 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/successful-transitions-from-wimp-to-badass/247012.md?page=2)