One of the worst things that can happen to an actor is to get constantly typecast. If
someone becomes associated with playing a certain kind of role, like Michael Cera did
for Arrested Development and Superbad, it’s hard for audiences to see them as any other
kind of character. That’s why it’s best for actors to establish a wide range of performances
in order to not get pigeonholed into specific roles. Some are better at this than others.
Here are 10 Actors with Incredible Range Jared Leto
After gaining teen heartthrob status for his role in My So Called Life, it would have been
easy for Jared Leto to continue down that path, instead he made less obvious choices,
appearing in offbeat films like Fight Club, American Psycho, and Requiem for a Dream,
all of which now have cult status. After gaining 67 pounds to play John Lennon’s assassin
in Chapter 27, Leto took a break from film to concentrate on music. Five years later
Leto returned to movies to play a transgendered woman in Dallas Buyers Club. The role earned
him an Oscar and gave him the acting bug again. A barely recognizable Leto will soon be seen
going full method in this summer’s Suicide Squad.
Charlize Theron As much as we all love her, Charlize Theron
has avoided playing the love interest. Instead of making mediocre romantic comedies, Theron
mostly made a name for herself by holding her own in male dominated action films like
The Yards and The Italian Job before landing the role that demanded recognition for her
serious talents. It was a lot more than makeup that made Theron virtually unrecognizable
in Monster, the true story of an abused woman turned killer that would earn Theron an Oscar.
She’s consistently puts out versatile work, and is probably the only person who could
steal a Mad Max movie from Mad Max. Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt is far too good looking to be as talented as he is. People who don’t watch
his riskier films probably assume this is where all of his appeal ends, but Pitt has
worked hard to shed his pretty boy image. Even early in his career he was taking different
roles like the stoner roommate in True Romance, but it wasn’t until his manic, twitchy performance
in 12 Monkeys that most audiences realized he was a force to be reckoned with. Pitt can
play subtle and introverted in art films like Tree of Life, or he can be silly while scalping
Nazis in Inglorious Basterds. He’s used his star power for good by supporting independent
filmmakers and appearing in films outside the Hollywood box. You really never know where
Pitt will pop up next. Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger appeared in less than 20 films before he died at age 28, but in his short
career he demonstrated more range than most actors do in decades of work. If you look
at his most famous roles, you’ll find a sensitive bad boy, a knight in shining armour,
a closeted cowboy, and the scariest super villain ever committed to screen. It felt
like Ledger was just getting started and it’s sad to think what could have been if he’d
been able to continue on his exciting career trajectory, but at least he made the best
of the time he had. Cate Blanchett
There’s a timeless quality to Cate Blachett that makes it hard to believe she only started
appearing in films in 1997. It wasn’t long until she gained worldwide acclaim for her
portrayal of the Queen in 1998’s Elizabeth. From the angelic Galadriel in Lord of the
Rings to the hard-nosed Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, directors
count on Blanchett to pull off whatever outlandish requirements they seek. Disappearing into
her roles and mastering any accent, most people would probably have a hard time telling you
where she’s from or realize that she’s already been nominated six Oscars and counting…
Gary Oldman Is there an actor who embodies the idea of
the performer as a chameleon better than Gary Oldman? In the 90s he played a slew of villains
that most audiences didn’t even realize were the same actor. This included films like
Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, True Romance and Bram Stoker’s Dracula,
to name just a few. His villainous persona made him the perfect choice for Sirius Black
in the Harry Potter films. Black is terrifying at first, but when his true side is revealed
we feel like Harry and his friends are perfectly safe with him. As Oldman has become an older
man, his image has softened somewhat, though he was still an inspired choice the goodhearted
Commissioner Gordon in Batman Begins. Edward Norton
Not many actors can boast proving their range in their very first role. How is this possible
you ask? In 1996 Edward Norton wowed audiences with his performance in Primal Fear as an
accused murderer suffering from multiple personality disorder. Norton effortlessly goes from stuttering
and meek to commanding and intimidating. It's a creepy performance that Norton arguably
topped a couple years later when he played a beefed up neo Nazi in American History X.
Since then Norton has tried his hand at everything, from quirky comedies like Moonrise Kingdom,
to blockbuster action flicks like The Incredible Hulk.
Emily Blunt Playing everything from British royalty to
American farmer, few actresses are able to genre hop the way Emily Blunt does. When she
first made us laugh in The Devil Wears Prada, we had no idea she’d soon be making us cry
in The Young Victoria or gasp in action flicks like Looper, The Edge of Tomorrow and Sicario.
Despite these wide ranging characters, Blunt doesn't feel the need to make drastic or constant
changes to her appearance, letting her performance create her characters, not her looks.
Denzel Washington Depending on the role, Denzel Washington can
either be the most comforting presence on screen or the scariest. You believe him as
the famous civil rights activist in Malcolm X and you fear him as a dirty cop in Training
Day. He seems to oscillate between hard hitting drama, and hitting hard in action roles. Denzel
cites shakespearean dialect in Much Ado About Nothing with just as much conviction as his
trash talk on the court in He Got Game. Once he commands a role, it’s impossible to imagine
anyone else in it. Christian Bale
While it’s now difficult to separate Christian Bale from his cape that he crusaded in for
three films, at the time of his casting he was far from an obvious choice. He was best
known for playing narcissistic serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Apart
from the similar name, the only thing this character shared with Batman was a muscular
physique, which Bale had recently shed to play an emaciated insomniac in The Machinist.
In addition to his physical transformations, Bale has tackled just about every genre. His
most recent Oscar nominated turn in The Big Short proves that Bale continues to be an
actor who’s impossible to nail down. As performers who have continually broadened
their horizons and tried new things, these actors all created opportunities for themselves
that otherwise might not have been there. What actors do you think have demonstrated
the biggest range? Did we miss anyone? Let us know in the comments below and be sure
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