[ThirdOfFive]

Here's a challenge...

What three actors (male, female, American, non-American, current, non-current) did the best job of acting in a movie role that was NOT what you'd usually expect to see them in, and why. I know...pretty open-ended...but examples would be John Wayne and westerns, Sharon Stone as sex bombs, Tom Cruise and action movies, etc.

My favorites are as follows:

1. Joe Pesci as attorney Vinny Gambini in "My Cousin Vinny". Pesci is the quintessential gangster type, and his many credits in various gangster roles are legendary. But as Attorney Vinny Gambini he was hilarious, and in large part because he played the most comedic scenes with a perfectly straight face.

2. Steve Martin as the fraudulent faith healer Jonas Nightengale in "Leap of Faith". I'd never seen Martin in roles other than comedic (or on TV variety shows playing his banjo), but his performance as the moneygrubbing oversexed conman Nightengale was, in my opinion, outstanding. His supporting cast didn't hurt either, particularly Debra Winger, who IMO has never gotten the recognition she has deserved.

3. Donald Sutherland as the tank commander Sgt. Oddball in the (sort of) comedy "Kelly's Heroes". Sutherland has appeared as the suave, sinister bad guy in countless movies (most recently in The Hunger Games movies) but his role as Oddball was hilarious. His focus on "positive waves" of thought, urging others to "keep the faith" and his playing music over his tank loudspeakers to calm people down as they went into battle were all priceless. A hippie 20 years before his time.

Anyhow, those are my three.

Yours?

[Golfer222]

Robin Williams- Insomnia

[Taltarzac725]

Heath Ledger - Wikipedia

Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Kathy Bates - Wikipedia

Kathy Bates in Misery.

She kind of changed her image after her role in Misery.

Also really like Robin Williams as the street urchin mob boss in August Rush - Wikipedia. My younger brother's 2nd wife's first kid is one of these children. He is no longer acting though. I mean my nephew.