Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
09-22-17, 07:41 AM
#1
Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
Which performers do you think have made the most impressive transition from being a comedic actor to a dramatic actor?
My top three would have to be:
Bill Murray
From Stripes/Ghostbusters/Groundhog Day etc. to Rushmore/Lost in Translation/Broken Flowers, etc.
Steve Carrell
Never thought he would have the dramatic chops to pull off stuff like Foxcatcher and The Big Short but he has proven to be surprisingly good in dramatic roles.
Michael Keaton
Went from Night Shift/Beetlejuice/Mr. Mom etc. to Clean and Sober/Batman/Game 6 and then career revival with Birdman/Spotlight/The Founder.
And then there's also Jim Carrey, who was great in Man on the Moon but seemed to lose interest in dramatic roles after flopping in The Number 23.
My top three would have to be:
Bill Murray
From Stripes/Ghostbusters/Groundhog Day etc. to Rushmore/Lost in Translation/Broken Flowers, etc.
Steve Carrell
Never thought he would have the dramatic chops to pull off stuff like Foxcatcher and The Big Short but he has proven to be surprisingly good in dramatic roles.
Michael Keaton
Went from Night Shift/Beetlejuice/Mr. Mom etc. to Clean and Sober/Batman/Game 6 and then career revival with Birdman/Spotlight/The Founder.
And then there's also Jim Carrey, who was great in Man on the Moon but seemed to lose interest in dramatic roles after flopping in The Number 23.
09-22-17, 08:07 AM
#4
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
Tom Hanks
Woody Allen
Woody Allen
09-22-17, 08:31 AM
#5
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
Jack Lemmon
09-22-17, 10:51 AM
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
For me both Robin Williams and Bill Murray are FAR more entertaining when they do low key/dry humor roles and dramatic roles.
09-22-17, 11:16 AM
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
What serious drama roles did Bill Murray ever do?
Likewise Peter Sellers and Woody Allen. Woody has made some serious dramas but I don't think he acted in them.
Likewise Peter Sellers and Woody Allen. Woody has made some serious dramas but I don't think he acted in them.
09-22-17, 11:27 AM
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09-22-17, 11:42 AM
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
Lost in Translation is melancholy, but it is definitely a comedy. He did do one drama that I just thought of: The Razors Edge. It was some kind of personal passion project for him. I wouldn't call it a successful transition.
09-22-17, 12:25 PM
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09-22-17, 02:00 PM
#16
Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
Bob Hope starred as Jimmy Walker, Mayor of New York in the late '20s, in the biopic, BEAU JAMES (1957):
George Burns in GOING IN STYLE:
Red Buttons won an Oscar for his dramatic role in SAYONARA (1957):
Danny Kaye in the TV movie, "Skokie":
Ed Wynn, after three decades in vaudeville, film, radio and TV comedy, did dramatic roles in three 1950s movies: THE GREAT MAN, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.
George Burns in GOING IN STYLE:
Red Buttons won an Oscar for his dramatic role in SAYONARA (1957):
Danny Kaye in the TV movie, "Skokie":
Ed Wynn, after three decades in vaudeville, film, radio and TV comedy, did dramatic roles in three 1950s movies: THE GREAT MAN, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.
Last edited by Ash Ketchum; 09-22-17 at 02:09 PM.
09-22-17, 02:47 PM
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09-22-17, 02:55 PM
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
I think he had the hardest transition to drama but pulled it off. This guy was Mork from Ork and his whole schtick on talk shows was to just go crazy like he was on speed. Then he goes and does Dead Poet's Society, Awakenings and Good Will Hunting as a mild mannered man and is totally believable.
09-22-17, 03:02 PM
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09-22-17, 03:46 PM
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
I think he had the hardest transition to drama but pulled it off. This guy was Mork from Ork and his whole schtick on talk shows was to just go crazy like he was on speed. Then he goes and does Dead Poet's Society, Awakenings and Good Will Hunting as a mild mannered man and is totally believable.
09-22-17, 06:13 PM
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
Broken Flowers---Comedy · As the extremely withdrawn Don Johnston is dumped by his latest woman, he receives an anonymous letter from a former
Broken Flowers is a 2005 French-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch
09-22-17, 06:42 PM
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09-22-17, 07:36 PM
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09-22-17, 08:01 PM
#24
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Re: Actors who successfully transitioned from comedy to drama roles?
I think he had the hardest transition to drama but pulled it off. This guy was Mork from Ork and his whole schtick on talk shows was to just go crazy like he was on speed. Then he goes and does Dead Poet's Society, Awakenings and Good Will Hunting as a mild mannered man and is totally believable.
In fact, if you got through his filmography, he was constantly doing strong dramatic work, including Moscow on the Hudson, Seize the Day, etc. Even Good Morning Vietnam is ultimately a drama with comedic moments.
