10 Actors Who Reinvented Themselves In Unexpected Ways
These actors completely changed their careers, and thank God they did.
There are few worse things that can happen to an actor than getting typecast.
Okay, that's not strictly speaking true. They could get robbed at gunpoint or fall into a vat of boiling oil, but professionally speaking it's a pretty horrible fate.
Whilst it must be flattering to a certain extent to be considered first choice for a certain type of character, it must also get frustrating after a while not being allowed to show any sort of range or diversity in your work.
These ten performers were all in danger of that happening to them, but thankfully they were able to realise this and shift their public perception in very surprising ways.
Whether they started out in comedy and successfully migrated over to more serious parts (or vice versa), whether they grew out of more childish roles and matured as a performer, or whether they did something else entirely, these ten guys and gals were all seen in one particular way before things changed forever.
You can never judge a book by its cover, and you certainly can't judge an actor by only a few of their movies.
10. Anne Hathaway
Before we get started, isn't it crazy that there's a famous actress today who shares a name with the wife of William Shakespeare?
That's got no bearing on what we're about to discuss, it's just weird.
Anyway, the not-Shakespeare's-wife version of Anne Hathaway got her start in teen comedy-drama Get Real in the late '90s. Then came her big breakout movie role - Princess Mia Thermopolis of Genovia in Disney's The Princess Diaries.
The movie made Hathaway a huge star and led to her starring in similar family movies like Ella Enchanted and the Princess Diaries sequel. She also starred in the upbeat, comedic romp that was Brokeback Mountain in 2005... wait a second.
As the troubled wife of Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Hathaway gave a performance nobody was expecting and completely changed the trajectory of her career.
Sure, she would continue to play fluffy roles in things like Valentine's Day and Love & Other Drugs, but Brokeback opened the door for her to take on more dramatic parts in Les Misérables and Interstellar.
Basically, Anne Hathaway can do whatever she wants now, and that's completely fine with us.