Top 10 Comedic Performances by Serious Actors
Everybody plays the fool…even the most noble of actors. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Comedic Performances by Serious Actors. For this list, we're focusing on performers that are closely associated with pure drama, but have also stretched their acting muscles by taking on a challenging comedic role.
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Top 10 Comedic Performances By Serious Actors
Top 10 Dramatic Performances by Comedic Actors
Everybody plays the fool…even the most noble of actors. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Comedic Performances by Serious Actors. For this list, we’re focusing on performers that are closely associated with pure drama, but have also stretched their acting muscles by taking on a challenging comedic role.
#10: Brad Pitt as Chad Feldheimer “Burn After Reading” (2008)
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He’s known for his brooding intensity and cocksure grin, yet Brad Pitt channeled his inner meathead for this bizarre Coen Brothers’ black comedy. When the oddball trainer named Chad Feldheimer becomes the unassuming owner of a seemingly top-secret compact disc, his life suddenly takes on a new meaning. With goofball dialogue and equally strange physical mannerisms, the character was a welcome departure from Pitt’s typical dramatic roles, even if the narrative took a dark turn for poor Chad.
#9: Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels “Tootsie” (1982)
Today, it’s commonplace for actors to step into the shoes of the opposite sex. Back in the ‘80s, however, moviegoers weren’t used to watching A-list male performers slap on red lipstick and high heels. Leave it to an actor’s actor like Dustin Hoffman to welcome such a challenge in a comedy about conflicting personas and gender roles. Three years after his Academy Award-winning performance in “Kramer vs. Kramer,” Hoffman wore the figurative (and literal) dress perfectly alongside comic legend Bill Murray and flexed his performance muscles in dual roles.
#8: George C. Scott as Gen. Buck Turgidson “Dr. Strangelove” (1964)
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A few years after winning and declining an Oscar for playing General Patton, George C. Scott served up a legitimately uproarious performance as a different general in “Dr. Strangelove.” Navigating the “war room” during a time of perceived national crisis, General Buck Turgidson conveyed a stern military demeanor while retaining a sense of psychotic paranoia, and that was ideal combo for such a role. After all, supreme nationalism may lead one to have a twisted sense of reality and Stanley Kubrick elicited a brilliant and farcical performance from Scott, who perfectly captured the feeling of a man on edge.
#7: Colin Farrell as Bobby Pellitt “Horrible Bosses” (2011)
Top 10 Colin Farrell Performances
He’s a real SOB with a crippling cocaine habit, standing out as the douchiest of the all the horrible bosses in this comedy. Up until this point, Farrell was mostly known for being a dramatic heartthrob, but that all changed with a devastating comb-over and a jaw-dropping performance as a “dipshit cokehead son.” Farrell was brilliant by physically portraying the nervous ticks of his paranoid character and delivering hilarious one-liners that don’t always make sense, but made us laugh regardless. Farrell let loose and flawlessly fit the bill.
#6: Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski “The Big Lebowski” (1998)
By 1998, filmmakers didn’t exactly have Jeff Bridges on speed dial for comedic roles. The Coen Brothers knew Bridges was the perfect fit for this dark comedy, though, casting him as the ultimate lazy Los Angeleno known as “The Dude.” As said dude, he captured the essence of a California version of a Venetian King in his own unique way. And by that, we mean he was the prototypical slacker, man. Social detachment. Bowling. Weed. Jeff Bridges brought the character to life, even if the dude was perpetually tired.
#5: Meryl Streep as Madeline Ashton “Death Becomes Her” (1992)
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With two Oscar wins already to her name and seven more nominations by 1992, Meryl Streep effectively flipped the script on type casting with the outrageous Madeline Ashton, the Queen Bee of eternal torment. With Goldie Hawn at her side, Streep was paired up with one of the best, as a secretive potion became the defining ingredient of their chaotic existence. Given the outrageous premise, Streep was afforded ample room to remove herself from typical performance ideologies while still playing the role of a “serious” actress.’ And, yes, she killed it.
#4: Ralph Fiennes as Monsieur Gustave H. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014)
When it comes to drama, there’s nobody quite like Ralph Fiennes. He played an SS commander in “Schindler’s List” and made the world weep as “The English Patient.” With such a résumé, he was an ideal casting choice for Wes Anderson’s acclaimed film, in which he portrayed the esteemed Gustave H, a most flamboyant concierge of “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Given a palpable amount of dialogue to work with and the unique framing devices of the director, Fiennes navigated his domain with flair and charm. He was simply marvelous, darlings.
#3: Jeff Daniels as Harry Dunne “Dumb and Dumber” (1994)
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It’s a cinematic crime to be unfamiliar with “Dumb and Dumber,” but what you may not realize is that upon being cast in the Farrelly Brothers classic, Jeff Daniels was coming off roles in the Civil War drama, “Gettysburg” and the action blockbuster “Speed.” Where some folks know Daniels as a prestigious soldier or a SWAT team member, most associate him with... Alongside Jim Carrey, Daniels’ turn as Harry Dunne remains one of the most wonderfully absurd comedic performances of the modern era, as he brought a goofy childlike charm to the intelligence-challenged duo.
#2: Robert De Niro as Paul Vitti “Analyze This” (1999)
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Best known for playing several iconic gangsters in hard-hitting dramas, Robert De Niro decided to lighten things up with “Analyze This.” Under the direction of one Harold Ramis, Bobby D played the conflicted Mafioso Paul Vitti, a man who can’t seem to “remove” the insecurity from his tough guy persona. Coming out around the same time that James Gandolfini and Lorraine Bracco so brilliantly demonstrated a unique patient/psychiatrist relationship on “The Sopranos,” De Niro tossed all the drama aside here and kicked off a new career in comedy. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: - Jon Hamm as Ted “Bridesmaids” (2011) - George Clooney as Ulysses Everett McGill “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2000) - Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum “The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001) - Matt Damon as Mark Whitacre “The Informant!” (2009)
#1: Tom Cruise as Les Grossman “Tropic Thunder” (2008)
Top 20 Comedic Performances By Serious Actors
Tom Cruise has spent his vast career primarily working in drama; but in 2008, he delivered a comedic performance unlike anything we’d seen before as a foul-mouthed, balding movie executive with a love of the music of Flo Rida. In a film full of A-list comedic talent, it was Cruise who stole the thunder and closed the door on all his competition. It was so unusual a departure for the unrecognizable Cruise, that unsuspecting moviegoers were left with their jaws dropped upon learning he was the beefy Les Grossman during the end credits. Do you agree with our list? What is your favorite comedic performance by a serious actor? For more mind-blowing Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
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