People Are Sharing The Roles That Made Them Change Their Mind About An Actor

NGL, some of these are blasphemous...

We've all done it: Maybe you saw an actor in a role or two that was average or adequate at best. Or, maybe, they were inadvertently typecast by the industry. Either way, you might have thought, "They don't have the range."

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But then — much to your surprise — they absolutely blew you and your preconceived notions of them away with a stellar portrayal, bringing us to this post's topic. Redditor u/HollynMagruder734 recently asked, "What role caused you to sit up and realize you underestimated an actor? And why?" Scroll below to see some of the top-rated responses:

1. Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society

Touchstone Pictures / Via youtube.com

"Robin Williams — Dead Poet Society. He was a brilliant comedian and played many funny roles, always lots of energy. And then this."

—u/nawmynameisclarence

2. Matthew McConaughey in Mud

Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

"The McConaissance would come shortly thereafter, but this film opened my eyes."

—u/Oxynewbdone

"Came here to say this. McConaughey in Mud blew my mind. Where did that come from? Turns out he’s not just a silly, crazy, hot dude."

—u/dcmaven

3. Bill Hader in Barry

HBO / Via youtube.com

"I was just used to seeing him as a funny man on SNL, but damn that guy can really act."

—u/greentofu402

4. David Tennant in Jessica Jones

Marvel Studios / Netflix / Via youtube.com

"I’d always liked him, and liked the stuff he did, so it was a deeply unsettling gut punch to see him absolutely nail his portrayal of a horrible, terrifying character."

—u/SpookyVoidCat

5. Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse

A24 / Via youtube.com

"Going toe to toe with Willem Defoe is no small feat. Especially with no other supporting cast."

—u/Justice-Gorsuch

"Came here to say the same and throw in his role in Good Time."

—u/The6thNightmare

6. Marlon Wayans in Requiem for a Dream

Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

—u/elbows2nose

"Definitely. I've seen him mainly in Scary Movie and A Haunted House, so when I watched Requiem for a Dream, I was like WHAAAAAT HE'S ACTUALLY GOOD."

—u/R3d_0x

7. Steve Carell in Foxcatcher

Sony Pictures Classics / Via youtube.com

"Steve Carell in Foxcatcher and The Big Short — never knew he could make anything other than comedy (which he did pretty well)."

—u/Much_Committee_9355

"The Way Way Back is another really good one where he plays a total piece of shit."

—u/DapperdanUEM

8. Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street

Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com

"Channing Tatum was hilarious in 21 Jump Street. Not just the handsome meathead I assumed he was."

—u/BetterTreat

9. Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad

AMC Networks / Via youtube.com

"Bryan Cranston and Bob Odenkirk both blew me away in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. I previously thought of them as 'just' sitcom/sketch show comedians, but they did an amazing job there."

—u/Cunnilingus_Academy

10. James McAvoy in Split

Blumhouse Productions / Via youtube.com

"I liked him but didn't know how brilliant he was until Split."

—u/charlie_wonka

"Can't believe I had to scroll further than, 'opening Reddit' to find this comment. My wife and I have always enjoyed movies with him, but when we saw Split, we were both just slack-jawed the entire time. He should have won an Oscar for that role."

—u/Frankensteins_Friend

11. Regina Hall in Nine Perfect Strangers

Hulu / Via youtube.com

"I'd only known Regina from her comedic roles in movies like Girls Trip and Scary Movie 2, but was pleasantly surprised by her captivating performance in Nine Perfect Strangers. It's a superb, bone-chilling thriller, while packing an emotional punch."

—natalie oganesyan

12. Nicolas Cage in 8MM

Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com

"I usually have trouble taking him seriously but damn if he doesn't nail that role. Usually Nicolas Cage in a movie is 'Nicolas Cage as Nicolas Cage in Nicolas Cage Is in This Movie Lol,' but he can definitely break out of that cage when the need arises."

—u/GargantuanCake

13. Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

"I thought he just alternated between gritty/serious roles and typical eye-candy love interest. When I saw what a brilliant, purely comic actor he was, I realized what an insane rage he has. Bastard."

—u/distantapplause

14. Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs

Miramax / Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

"I saw an interview from Michael Madsen a few months ago where he was talking about Reservoir Dogs, and he was originally upset he was costarring with Tim Roth. He even thought to himself, 'Who is Tim Roth?' And then the dude totally blew him out of the water."

—u/PlaguePandemic2000

15. Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

—u/Aggietallboy

"I think a lot of people would say that their opinion of him changed just a bit earlier with Se7en. But for me, I agree. 12 Monkeys was amazing, and he was just phenomenal."

—u/Captain_Hampockets

16. Selena Gomez in Only Murders in the Building

Hulu / Via youtube.com

"We all know and love Selena's role in Wizards of Waverly Place, but I wasn't quite sure how her performance would fit in with Martin Short and Steve Martin's in this eclectic true-crime/comedy series. Turns out, she channels what she's learned in the Disney series to play a version of a grown-up Alex Russo: completely deadpan, stylish, and a little hard to categorize."

—natalie oganesyan

17. Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction

Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com

"(And then again in Everything Must Go and A Deadly Adoption.) I kind of wrote him off as someone who only does a particular kind of comedy, but I’m always impressed when he does a different style of movie."

—u/MultipleDinosaurs

18. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

"I really didn't enjoy his previous rom-coms, and I didn't find anything particularly amazing about his performances in them. So I was completely blown away by him in The Dark Knight. Like glued to the screen, utterly mesmerized by how compelling he made that character."

—u/AnnieAbattoir

"Yep. I remember a lot of complaints when people found out about the casting, but just about everyone shut up once they saw his performance."

—u/dinosore

"Came to post this. He was a B-list pretty boy, although I did enjoy A Knight's Tale — but because of his casting as the Joker, I had super-low expectations for The Dark Knight, and then HOLY FUCK IT WAS THE BEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER MADE, and a huge part of that was Heath Ledger."

—u/method8888

19. Also Heath in Brokeback Mountain

Focus Features / Via youtube.com

"I didn't know he had that kind of range. I just saw him as the romantic interest in rom-coms before that."

—u/angry_centipede

20. Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street

Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

"For an actor known for playing comedy roles, which are in their own right exceptional, he nailed The Wolf of Wall Street."

—u/iron-1556

21. Henry Cavill in The Witcher

Netflix / Via youtube.com

"Never been a big fan of Superman, so his role in [Man of Steel] didn’t impress me any, but I don’t think anyone could play the witcher any better."

—u/Depleted-Hero

22. Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems

A24 / Via youtube.com

"When people at work told me it’s a great movie, my first thought was Really? Adam Sandler? The guy who plays the same douchey, yet well-meaning, man-child in every movie? Nah I’m good. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised."

—u/TrinixDMorrison

23. Elizabeth Olsen in WandaVision

Marvel Studios / Disney+ / Via youtube.com

"Because she really had to look tenderly and cry over a man who, behind the scenes, was dressed like a strawberry in a bald cap without laughing."

—u/Loaf-Memes

24. Chadwick Boseman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Netflix / Via youtube.com

"He was good in 42. And then as Black Panther, I was like, 'OK, so he’s good as a superhero.' Then I watched Ma Rainey, and my jaw was on the floor the whole time. If there was ever someone who was robbed of an Oscar, it was him."

—u/elykskroob

25. Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook

The Weinstein Company / Via youtube.com

—u/pocketradish

"Came here for this. I hated him as an actor prior to seeing this movie."

—u/PorkChop-Sandwiches-

"That movie is one of my favorites! He's great at playing a manic, obsessed guy with always a hint of optimism, and a sick way to try to make things go the way he wants."

—u/SloeJohnson

26. Tom Cruise in Collateral

Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks Pictures / Via youtube.com

—u/Upper-Job5130

"I came here looking for this mention. Collateral is an awesome movie; so atmospheric, it manages to make LA at night seem almost ethereal. Tom's performance utterly changed my view of the kind of roles he was capable of playing. Vincent is not your average one-dimensional bad guy, he has this weariness about him that builds over time, and I'm certain that was something Tom added to the character to bring him off the page a little more."

—u/JWREES

27. Blake Lively in A Simple Favor

Lionsgate / Via youtube.com

"She's always been good, but that was one of the best performances of the year. Really blew me away."

—u/Slothlife1

28. Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

"I'm not even a Les Mis fan, but I barely recognized him for the first half hour, and damn, he can sing! Huge change from Wolverine."

—u/cheapdisorder

29. Jim Carrey in The Truman Show

Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

"I went from seeing Jim Carrey in The Mask, Ace Ventura, and all of those to seeing him in The Truman Show. Wow."

—u/LicoriceSucks

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Are there any actors you underestimated until a certain role of theirs? Let me know in the comments!