25 Comedic Actors Who Became Fantastic Dramatic Actors

PocketEpiphany Published 05/18/2022 in Funny

Normally, actors stay in their lanes. We get comedians in comedies and dramatic actors in dramas. Easy, right? Sometimes, though, comedy actors blow us away when they go dramatic. And here are just a few of our faves, as put together by AskReddit.

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1. John Goodman His performance in 10 Cloverfield Lane was nothing short of perfection. The look of pure evil in his eyes when he killed that guy was horror at it's finest.
2. Cranston did a spectacular job in Breaking Bad. I was never a big fan of Malcolm in the Middle (it was just ok), but going back through old Seinfelds on Netflix and Cranston as the dentist is hilarious.
3. Gene Wilder to me is special. He’s what my model of a complex sensitive man was growing up. Somehow not conventionally good-looking but sexy in that 70s way. Tender, sometimes furious, frantic, sophisticated, intelligent— and sings and dances. I loved him so much. And with Pryor, forget it. Even their mediocre films had such beautiful chemistry.
4. Bob OdenkirkHe seems kinda surprised about it, watching his interviews. But damn he does both well in the same role.
5. Kurt Russell was a Disney comedy actor for about 10 years until he did a TV movie about a mass shooter then hooked up with John Carpenter.
6. Olivia Coleman. Loved her in Hot Fuzz but was pleasantly surprised by her in the Favourite.
7. Hugh Laurie. Went from A bit of Fry and Laurie to Blackadder and then out of nowhere, House MD and then again with Night Manager.That man knows acting!
8. John Lithgow. Seeing him in Dexter was a decent mindf*ck.
9. Bill Hader has been good in Barry.
10. Woody Harrelson. Great on Cheers and now has had several Oscar nominations.
11. Tom Hanks, if you remember him from his early career in the early 1980s, he was a talented comedy actor... but no way would I have imagined him doing dramas, let alone starring in them, let alone a string of hits.
12. Robin Williams. His performance in One Hour Photo is creepy as hell. The dude was absolutely a phenomenal actor no matter the genre. Insomnia has another great performance of his as well.
13. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a long way from his “3rd Rock from the Sun” days.
14. Steve Carell. I loved him in Little Miss Sunshine!
15. Steve Buscemi. His performance in Boardwalk Empire was superb. Definitely disappoints me that he doesn't get more dramatic roles. Shook.
16. Jason Bateman. He has this way of making an insult sound like a compliment. F*cking gold.
17. Katey Sagal. From Peggy Bundy to Gemma Teller.
18. Jeff Daniels. Dumb & Dumber vs. The Newsroom.
19. Jim Carrey. I actually don’t like his comedy, but I love The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Truman Show.
20. Steve Martin transcends acting. He is a great comedian, comedy actor, and dramatic actor, yes. But, he’s also a great musician, artist, writer, and I assume some kind of scientist.
21. Jackie Gleason, from his own entertainment show, to the Honeymooners, to the Sherriff in Cannonball Express, has done some fantastic roles, Minnesota Fats, but one you might have seen is the 1986 film Nothing in Common with Tom Hanks.Gleason is so good, you can sense Hanks soaking up all the acting chops.
22. Donald Glover.
23. Sacha Baron CohenI wanted to see him as Freddie Mercury so bad.
24. Emma Stone. She went from Superbad and Zombieland to winning an Oscar for best actress.
25. Jonah Hill. So he and the director of 21 Jump Street basically had to bully Channing Tatum into reading for that movie, because Channing had never done a comedy before and didn't think he could pull it off. Turns out he was so funny that Jonah Hill was almost offended, because the short fat guy is supposed to be the funny one, not the big tall handsome guy. Jonah thought it was just a little unfair that a guy who looked like Channing could also be a natural comedic talent.

1. John Goodman His performance in 10 Cloverfield Lane was nothing short of perfection. The look of pure evil in his eyes when he killed that guy was horror at it's finest.
2. Cranston did a spectacular job in Breaking Bad. I was never a big fan of Malcolm in the Middle (it was just ok), but going back through old Seinfelds on Netflix and Cranston as the dentist is hilarious.
3. Gene Wilder to me is special. He’s what my model of a complex sensitive man was growing up. Somehow not conventionally good-looking but sexy in that 70s way. Tender, sometimes furious, frantic, sophisticated, intelligent— and sings and dances. I loved him so much. And with Pryor, forget it. Even their mediocre films had such beautiful chemistry.
4. Bob OdenkirkHe seems kinda surprised about it, watching his interviews. But damn he does both well in the same role.
5. Kurt Russell was a Disney comedy actor for about 10 years until he did a TV movie about a mass shooter then hooked up with John Carpenter.
6. Olivia Coleman. Loved her in Hot Fuzz but was pleasantly surprised by her in the Favourite.
7. Hugh Laurie. Went from A bit of Fry and Laurie to Blackadder and then out of nowhere, House MD and then again with Night Manager.That man knows acting!
8. John Lithgow. Seeing him in Dexter was a decent mindf*ck.
9. Bill Hader has been good in Barry.
10. Woody Harrelson. Great on Cheers and now has had several Oscar nominations.
11. Tom Hanks, if you remember him from his early career in the early 1980s, he was a talented comedy actor... but no way would I have imagined him doing dramas, let alone starring in them, let alone a string of hits.
12. Robin Williams. His performance in One Hour Photo is creepy as hell. The dude was absolutely a phenomenal actor no matter the genre. Insomnia has another great performance of his as well.
13. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a long way from his “3rd Rock from the Sun” days.
14. Steve Carell. I loved him in Little Miss Sunshine!
15. Steve Buscemi. His performance in Boardwalk Empire was superb. Definitely disappoints me that he doesn't get more dramatic roles. Shook.
16. Jason Bateman. He has this way of making an insult sound like a compliment. F*cking gold.
17. Katey Sagal. From Peggy Bundy to Gemma Teller.
18. Jeff Daniels. Dumb & Dumber vs. The Newsroom.
19. Jim Carrey. I actually don’t like his comedy, but I love The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Truman Show.
20. Steve Martin transcends acting. He is a great comedian, comedy actor, and dramatic actor, yes. But, he’s also a great musician, artist, writer, and I assume some kind of scientist.
21. Jackie Gleason, from his own entertainment show, to the Honeymooners, to the Sherriff in Cannonball Express, has done some fantastic roles, Minnesota Fats, but one you might have seen is the 1986 film Nothing in Common with Tom Hanks.Gleason is so good, you can sense Hanks soaking up all the acting chops.
22. Donald Glover.
23. Sacha Baron CohenI wanted to see him as Freddie Mercury so bad.
24. Emma Stone. She went from Superbad and Zombieland to winning an Oscar for best actress.
25. Jonah Hill. So he and the director of 21 Jump Street basically had to bully Channing Tatum into reading for that movie, because Channing had never done a comedy before and didn't think he could pull it off. Turns out he was so funny that Jonah Hill was almost offended, because the short fat guy is supposed to be the funny one, not the big tall handsome guy. Jonah thought it was just a little unfair that a guy who looked like Channing could also be a natural comedic talent.

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John Goodman His performance in 10 Cloverfield Lane was nothing short of perfection. The look of pure evil in his eyes when he killed that guy was horror at it's finest.

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25 Comedic Actors Who Became Fantastic Dramatic Actors

1. John Goodman His performance in 10 Cloverfield Lane was nothing short of perfection. The look of pure evil in his eyes when he killed that guy was horror at it's finest.

2. Cranston did a spectacular job in Breaking Bad. I was never a big fan of Malcolm in the Middle (it was just ok), but going back through old Seinfelds on Netflix and Cranston as the dentist is hilarious.

4. Bob OdenkirkHe seems kinda surprised about it, watching his interviews. But damn he does both well in the same role.

5. Kurt Russell was a Disney comedy actor for about 10 years until he did a TV movie about a mass shooter then hooked up with John Carpenter.

6. Olivia Coleman. Loved her in Hot Fuzz but was pleasantly surprised by her in the Favourite.

7. Hugh Laurie. Went from A bit of Fry and Laurie to Blackadder and then out of nowhere, House MD and then again with Night Manager.That man knows acting!

8. John Lithgow. Seeing him in Dexter was a decent mindf*ck.

9. Bill Hader has been good in Barry.

10. Woody Harrelson. Great on Cheers and now has had several Oscar nominations.

11. Tom Hanks, if you remember him from his early career in the early 1980s, he was a talented comedy actor... but no way would I have imagined him doing dramas, let alone starring in them, let alone a string of hits.

12. Robin Williams. His performance in One Hour Photo is creepy as hell. The dude was absolutely a phenomenal actor no matter the genre. Insomnia has another great performance of his as well.

13. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a long way from his “3rd Rock from the Sun” days.

14. Steve Carell. I loved him in Little Miss Sunshine!

15. Steve Buscemi. His performance in Boardwalk Empire was superb. Definitely disappoints me that he doesn't get more dramatic roles. Shook.

16. Jason Bateman. He has this way of making an insult sound like a compliment. F*cking gold.

17. Katey Sagal. From Peggy Bundy to Gemma Teller.

18. Jeff Daniels. Dumb & Dumber vs. The Newsroom.

19. Jim Carrey. I actually don’t like his comedy, but I love The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Truman Show.

20. Steve Martin transcends acting. He is a great comedian, comedy actor, and dramatic actor, yes. But, he’s also a great musician, artist, writer, and I assume some kind of scientist.

22. Donald Glover.

23. Sacha Baron CohenI wanted to see him as Freddie Mercury so bad.

24. Emma Stone. She went from Superbad and Zombieland to winning an Oscar for best actress.

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