Larry Hagman went from bumbling astronaut to ruthless oilman.
John Lithgow as the sweet, lovable Dick Solomon on “Third Rock From the Sun” to the creepy serial killer Trinity on “Dexter.”
**George Clooney **as the forgettable factory worker on “Roseanne” to the hunky Dr. Ross on “E.R.”
Speaking of Buffy alumni, David Boreanaz as hunky vampire “Angel” to hunky FBI agent in “Bones.”
Ooh, and **Matthew Fox **as the older brother, Charlie, on “Party of Five” to Jack, the heroic, tormented doctor on “Lost.”
I know we’re talking about TV roles here, but nothing John Lithgow did after Dr Emilio Lizardo could shock me!
But these characters were not all that different. Buddy Ebsen, yes, but the others were pretty much playing the same character with minor differences.
His Breaking Bad costar did it even more extreme, though much lower profile compared to Cranston. Obviously one of the roles is meth dealer on BB, but at the same time he was a straight arrow Mormon dating (and knocking up) the oldest daughter on Big Love.
No mention of Nathan Fillion, yet?
From Capt. “Tightpant” Malcom Reynolds on Firefly to Rick Castle on Castle.
As well as Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog.
Yep, I came into this thread specifically to talk about Michael C Hall. The guy is an incredible actor.
He also played the chillingly evil Caleb during Buffy’s last season.
Whedon gave other Firefly alumni jobs on Angel: Gina Torres went from kickass warrior woman Zoe to evil alien goddess Jasmine. Adam Baldwin showed more range, going from The Man They Call Jayne to the soft-spoken (but well dressed) minion of Wolfram & Hart’s Senior Partners.
Maybe too long of a time break but Walter Koenig went from playing the likable Chekov on “Star Trek” to the evil Walter Bester on “Babylon 5”.
I was very surprised it took 41 posts for someone to mention Larry Hagman. That’s whom I thought of when I saw the post.
Also played a charming antiques lover in the title role of Lovejoy. Quite a range!
Helen Mirren played DCI Tennison on TV in Prime Suspect, but also succeeded brilliantly in the title role of The Queen, as a Soviet cosmonaut in 2010, as an evil wizard in Excalibur, etc.
The first role I ever saw Paul Reiser in was Aliens, as Burke. Evil fellow. Tried to help the alien and get a little girl killed, etc. Hated that dude. I know he’s been in some sitcoms and such and roles that are light and funny, but to me he’ll always be evil.
Just like Angela Lansbury. After The Manchurian Candidate, I have a hard time seeing her as sweet and grandmotherly.
Nitpick - it’s Alfred Bester, after the writer.
Hugo Weaving: Agent Smith vs Elrond, anyone?
Nigel Hawthorne: Sir Humphrey Appleby vs King George III?
Robby Coltrane: Fitz vs Hagrid vs Zukovsky.
David Jason: from Granville to Trotter to Frost. Not to mention Dangermouse!
The late Phil Hartman did a recurring a character on the Simpson’s (Troy McClure), who you may remember from from such educational films as “Two Minus Three Equals Negative Fun” and “Firecrackers: The Silent Killer”.
Then, he played Bill NcNeal on the brilliant News Radio.
Yep, I agree RealityChuck. I guess I tended to stay within the 10 year parameters and not so much the “very different” part. Indeed, it could be said that Michael Landon always played the same “character” and that Burr in Ironside was basically Perry Mason. Ditto with Michael J. Fox and Charlie Sheen.
Buddy Ebsen, BTW, did play Barnaby Jones in the mostly forgettable movie version of the* Beverly Hillbillie*s in 1993.
Good call. I didn’t watch Dave’s World, so I didn’t think about it. I suppose that John Larroquette’s eponymous show would probably be a better example than Marsha Warfield, since he was on Night Court for the full run.
Speaking of John Larroquette, I was really disappointed that Boston Legal never made any sort of Dan Fielding joke with him.
A short story: The producers of Golden Girls orginally wanted Rue for Rose and Betty for Blanche. When Bea Arthur heard this, she wouldn’t come in to read for Dorothy because “I don’t want the show to be Maude and Vivian meet Sue Ann.”
Rue was waiting to read for Sue Ann when she realized she could play a dynamite Blanche, and decided to ask the producers to read for her. Then the producers told her to go home, because Betty had read for Sue Ann and gotton the Part! She persuaded them to let her read for Blanche, got the part, and the producers asked her to see if she could get Bea to read for Dorothy.
When Rue told Bea about the role switching, she said there was a minute of total silcence, then Bea’s baritone voice said “That sounds interesting.”
And TV history was made.
TV actors.
How about Richard Dawson? He was in Hogan’s Heroes up until 1971, and then started hosting Family Feud in 1976. I suppose he wasn’t technically a “character” on Family Feud - but he certainly is memorable for completely different reasons.