Bryan Cranston was recognizable, if not an outright star. He was Snizard on Power Rangers, Dr. Whatley on Seinfeld, Hal on Malcolm in the Middle. He was a known quantity, a fun, goofy guy. His niche was carved. And then he started playing a chemistry teacher with cancer and revealed to the world that he was secretly just as good, if not better, playing a menacing, dangerous antihero. And everything changed for the guy. This week, we look for other, similar instances of actors going against their type and it working. Somehow we ended up with just movie choices, despite our obvious Breaking Bad inspiration, but oh well, don’t worry about it.
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[toggle title_open=”Spoiled!” title_closed=”Spoilers!” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]10. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon (Batman Begins)
9. Robin Williams as Sy Parrish (One Hour Photo)
8. Jimmy Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson (Vertigo)
7. Humphry Bogart as Fred C. Dobbs (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
6. Robert Downey, Jr. as Kirk Lazarus (Tropic Thunder)
5. Jack Nicholson as Warren R. Schmidt (About Schmidt)
4. Henry Fonda as Frank (One Upon a Time in the West)
3. Albert Brooks as Bernie Rose (Drive)
2. Heath Ledger as the Joker (The Dark Knight)
1. Leslie Nielsen as Dr. Rumack (Airplane!)