Actors (trying to) reinvent themselves

danniemcq

Ok so I got to wondering last night what actors have gone from one character to another that changes them completely and who has and hasn't pulled it off.

I was thinking that the worst attempt ever was Frankie Muniz from happy go lucky in Malcolm in the Middle to attempted psycho in Criminal Minds. Every time he was on the screen he just seemed to flop and there was a lot of effort put into him on the show, back-story, motive, makeup and an alright story but he just looked like an angry kid

Compare this to Woody Harrelson who again went from happy go lucky Barman in cheers to psycho is Natural Born Killers. All the same help was given to him as Frankie but he manages to pull it off.

The reason I am using these 2 are the fact that they both played comedy characters in the shows they were in originally and both tried psycho in later ones. Neither are called brilliant actors (although I’m sure there is a massive fan base for them both) so what is the reason for one being able to pull it off and the other fail so miserably? Is this down to the quality of the actor, the director or maybe make up? Did the shaven head help Woody or was it the fact we seen "Malcolm" grow up in front of our eyes?

Sorry if some of you haven’t seen that episode of Criminal Minds but it's one that sticks out in mind.

So what do you think helped most making the change and what other actors stand out as failures or successes in reinventing themselves?

Necronomicon

I remember Elijah Wood talking about how he didn't want to be typecast as a Frodo-type character after The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In fairness he did pretty well to shake the image, landing the roles of Kevin in Sin City and a football hooligan in Green Street soon after the trilogy finished.

Brendog

Yeah that was a dreadful attempt to be the bad guy.
"look at me I'm drawing you and now I'll kill you! p.s my moms a bitch"



That is the reason why hes gotten feck all rolls in the last few years...





Heres on of the best ones. Heath Ledger.
Always played they good guy, the knight in shining armour(literally for A Knights Tale) and then he plays the Joker.

Definitly one of the scariest characters to have ever made it to the big screen. Even scarier than Freddy Kruger and Leatherface

mike65

Henry Fonda for one film only - Once Upon a Time in the West. After that it was back to benign wise men and presidents though.

I dunno if it counts as re-invention or if it was just luck with casting, but Peter Bowles spent the first part of his career playing "suspect" slightly foreign types in film and TV then he got To the Manor Born and became a successful light comedy actor since - Only When I Laugh, Irish RM, Rumpole of the Bailey etc.

sink

Joaquin Phoenix becoming a rap artist springs immediately to mind. Pretty sure he's just trolling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcbA-Pqh1IU

Mickeroo

I thought About Schmidt was a very different type of character for Jack Nicholson to play. Eternal Sunshine was a very different roll for Jim Carrey too, never seen him so subdued in a movie.

For Heath Ledger i think Brokeback Mountain deserves a mention too.

chin_grin

sink wrote: »

Joaquin Phoenix becoming a rap artist springs immediately to mind. Pretty sure he's just trolling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcbA-Pqh1IU

http://www.hollywood.com/news/Joaquin_Phoenixs_Lost_Year/7010310

:rolleyes:

Dempsey

I read abit about Ledgers preparation for the Joker role, he even picked out the makeup and the look to be used for filming. In fairness to Ledger, he never just turned up to read lines and smile for the camera.

If an actor wants to break a typecast or do something thats completely different to what people have seen them do then they need to put in hours of preparation to get it right and believeable. Having a good director, good writers etc can be the difference too

bonerm

Robert DeNiro. Serious actor to crotchety old supporting comedy character.

danniemcq

bonerm wrote: »

Robert DeNiro. Serious actor to crotchety old supporting comedy character.

I think with DeNiro is though he is a brilliant actor. other names mentioned in this thread are nowhere near the quality of DeNiro or have the experience he has had throughout the years

LowOdour

Speaking of Frankie Muniz /Malcolm in the Middle, think Bryan Cranston from the same show has done a remarkable job as Walter White in Breaking Bad. He would have been known as a comic actor...so the character Walt has been a complete reversal for him.

Anakin.S

LowOdour wrote: »

Speaking of Frankie Muniz /Malcolm in the Middle, think Bryan Cranston from the same show has done a remarkable job as Walter White in Breaking Bad. He would have been known as a comic actor...so the character Walt has been a complete reversal for him.

Breaking Bad is a great show but for some reason I don't think the characters are too far apart, maybe its just the dark comedy of breaking bad or both of the characters not having much luck but I don't think Cranston has tried to reinvent himself as an actor going from a comedy to a dark comedy. (I really like him in Breaking Bad, I really like the Show)

clived2

Frankie Muniz is unable to act any role outside of a twelve year old, as his physical body will limit his abilty to portray any other character,

not unless he plays a man trapped in a boys body... which has been done already.

bnt

I think Frankie Muniz gets that his movie roles may be limited - look at what he's done since. He's become a fairly successful racing driver, and now he's drumming in a rock band. He's back on screen this year in indie superhero film Pizza Man. :cool:

When I think of reinvention, I also think of John Travolta, who was at risk of getting stuck in family movie hell before Pulp Fiction. Since then he's also found a niche as a good scenery-munching baddie. Broken Arrow, anyone?

I'm interested in seeing what Sandra Bullock does next. Crash showed she could do more than action and romcoms, and she won the Oscar for The Blind Side, so she can basically do whatever she wants now.

mikhail

clived2 wrote: »

Frankie Muniz is unable to act any role outside of a twelve year old, as his physical body will limit his abilty to portray any other character...

You mean like Michael J. Fox? Muniz might have a surprise or two to come, though I think it'll be a few years if ever.

paddyismaddy

gerard butler from 300 to rom com ****e :rolleyes:

paddyismaddy

paddyismaddy wrote: »

gerard butler from 300 to rom com ****e :rolleyes:

That makes a lot of sense on his part, he manages to pander to both male and female audience through the different roles he plays. A guy is far more likely to see a rom com with Butler in it given his history of action roles than he is to see a Hugh Grant film.

Necronomicon

paddyismaddy wrote: »

gerard butler from 300 to rom com ****e :rolleyes:

Actually it was more like Phantom of the Opera to 300

RoadRunner

mike65 wrote: »

Henry Fonda for one film only - Once Upon a Time in the West.

Such a great movie

Cartman78

I thought Robin Williams was hella creepy in both 'Insomnia' and 'One Hour Photo' - might be interesting to see Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler etc. try some darker roles.

What about a slapstick comedy with di Caprio and Sean Penn in the lead roles? I reckon Leo could do with a break from furrowing his brow and generally having a nervous breakdown in most of his recent films

The Recliner

Joeseph Gordon Levitt was the first that came to mind, there wasn't much to 3rd rock from the sun or 10 things I hate about you and now he is generally the best thing in any movie he is in

Neil Patrick Harris to a certain extent too, he managed to shake off the Dougie Howser image nicely in Harold and Kumar get the Munchies and is excellent in How I met your Mother (not Film I know) and is back in the running for movie roles now

Dermighty

Necronomicon wrote: »

I remember Elijah Wood talking about how he didn't want to be typecast as a Frodo-type character after The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In fairness he did pretty well to shake the image, landing the roles of Kevin in Sin City and a football hooligan in Green Street soon after the trilogy finished.

I thought that was Tobey Maguire

Ah well :P

I think John Travolta did a bit of reinvention. He was good in Pelham 123, though the movie was mediocre. I have to say I don't like the guy though so anything I see him in is painful.

LittleBook

Being a film noir fan, I always think of Dick Powell when the word "re-invented" comes up:

He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event. He went on to star as a boyish crooner in movie musicals such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, Flirtation Walk, and On the Avenue, often appearing opposite Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell.

Powell desperately wanted to expand his range but Warner Bros. wouldn't allow him to do so, although they did (mis)cast him in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) as Lysander. This was to be Powell's only Shakespearean role and one he did not want to play, feeling that he was completely wrong for the part. Finally, reaching his forties and knowing that his young romantic leading man days were behind him he lobbied to play the lead in Double Indemnity. He lost out to Fred MacMurray, another Hollywood nice guy. MacMurray’s success, however, fueled Powell’s resolve to pursue projects with greater range and in 1944, he was cast in the first of a series of films noir, as private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film was a big hit and Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor.

But Jim Carrey and Robin Williams are great examples as well.

Maybe more "comebacks" than "re-inventions" but Mickey Rourke and Robert Downey Jr did great jobs of clawing their careers back too.

Mickeroo

Cartman78 wrote: »

I thought Robin Williams was hella creepy in both 'Insomnia' and 'One Hour Photo' - might be interesting to see Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler etc. try some darker roles.

What about a slapstick comedy with di Caprio and Sean Penn in the lead roles? I reckon Leo could do with a break from furrowing his brow and generally having a nervous breakdown in most of his recent films

I thought Adam Sandler was great in Punch Drunk Love. Although the role wasn't all that different to his others in a way.

Go watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High to see a different side to Sean Penn