17 Actors Who Have Had Such Radically Different Roles, People Have A Hard Time Believing It's Actually Them

Henry Cavill had a glow-up.

Recently, we asked members of the BuzzFeed community about times they were surprised to see their fave actor in another role, simply because they'd never clocked them before! Here are some of the best responses:

1. Sebastian Stan

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, The CW

"Considering all of his success in the MCU, I was pretty gagged when I went back to watch OG Gossip Girl and Seb was in it. He plays Carter Baizen and he's great, but it's a veryyyy different role from Bucky!"

—yeahsurejan

2. Catherine Keener

Universal Pictures

"Did you clock that the evil mom in Get Out is also Steve Carell's love interest in The 40-Year-Old Virgin? Because I didn't!"

—izzyfe

3. Tom Ellis

Netflix, BBC

"Started watching Miranda, and it stars Tom Ellis from Lucifer! We never get to see many British shows here in Australia, and it was super weird to spot him because he's a little bit dorky and completely different from the suave Devil on Lucifer."

—Monnie

4. Rainn Wilson

NBC, DreamWorks Pictures

"Basically the entire cast of Galaxy Quest — which is the point — but specifically RAINN FREAKING WILSON."

—rsmith8235

"He's nothing like Dwight in that film!"

—Benjamin Dzialdowski

5. Daniel Kaluuya

Universal Pictures, E4

"Rewatching Skins and seeing Daniel Kaluuya as Posh Kenneth is so weird to me now."

—Hanifah Rahman

6. Sarah Drew

ABC, Fox

"I recently found out that Sarah Drew — who plays Dr. April Kepner on Grey's Anatomy — also played Suzy Pepper on Glee in the episode 'Ballad'!"

—fuzzywuzzykoala

7. Ian McElhinney

Channel 4, HBO

"The first time I watched Derry Girls, I was trying to work out where I recognised Grandpa Joe from. Turns out he was Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones!"

—Bagel

8. Sarah Paulson

Netflix, ABC

"I was rewatching Desperate Housewives recently, and seeing Sarah Paulson playing Lynette's sister blew my mind!"

—beckichino

9. Chris Evans

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Universal Pictures

"Captain America is one of the exes in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 🤯."

—Hello Costello

10. Jon Bernthal

Netflix

"Jon Bernthal popping up in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt after playing Frank Castle in The Punisher caught me off guard."

—Ezra

11. Imelda Staunton

Pathé Distribution, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros.

"Imelda Staunton is the cook in Nanny McPhee and Bunty in Chicken Run. I mainly know her as Umbridge, so my mind was blown when I found this out!"

—hobbitgirl96

"She's the main character in Vera Drake — a film we had to watch in school as part of religious studies — and we all were shocked that Umbridge could be nice 😂."

—SenpaiNoticedU

12. Jesse Plemons

Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th Century Fox

"It took me a few watches as well as seeing him in his later work — like Black Mirror, Game Night, and The Irishman — to finally realise that Jesse Plemons also played Ox from Like Mike. Amazing actor!"

—bundtcake12

13. Sandra Oh

Sony Pictures Releasing, ABC

"The other day, I watched Sandra Oh in a horror movie and I didn't even realise it! My friend made me watch it again, and only then did I clock her. I guess I just was surprised that she was doing a horror film."

—Ada Enechi

14. Lesley Nicol

ABC, ITV

"She plays Mrs. Patmore on Downton Abbey — a meek, reserved woman from the early 1900s. Then I saw her in five episodes of the short-lived show The Catch, playing a ruthless mob boss in modern times. The roles couldn’t have been more opposite, and it was so jarring!"

—aditson

15. Karl Urban

Amazon Prime Video, New Line Cinema

"When I tell you I was shocked to connect the dots that Karl Urban, one of the main characters in The Boys, also played Éomer in The Lord of the Rings films. I couldn't believe I didn't clock it straight away, but he looks so different!"

—Sam Cleal

16. Hannah Waddingham

Apple TV+, HBO

"The owner of the football team on Ted Lasso is the same actor as the 'SHAME, SHAME, SHAME' woman on Game of Thrones 🤯."

—Megzzzz

17. Henry Cavill

Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures

"Can you believe that he plays Humphrey in Stardust lol?"

—Sam Cleal

Did we leave anyone out? Let us in the know in the comments!

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