10 Actors Who Reinvented Themselves In Unexpected Ways
1. Leslie Nielsen
The late great Leslie Nielsen is widely regarded as one of the greatest comedy actors in cinema history.
As Lieutenant Frank Drebin in both Police Squad! and the subsequent Naked Gun movies, Nielsen was a comedic tour de force with his impressive arsenal of dry one-liners and physical humour.
He also made us chuckle in Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Spy Hard, and the Scary/Superhero Movies. And who could forget the utter delight that is Airplane!
A straight man and comedic foil all rolled into one, Nielsen stole the show aboard that doomed flight, delivering some of the movie's most memorable gags.
But, did you know that before this, he was a completely serious actor?
The star was already in his mid-fifties when he appeared in Airplane! and had had a substantial career playing dramatic parts. He starred in '60s sci-fi flick Forbidden Planet, as well as ocean-based disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure.
Making Airplane! was a huge risk for Nielsen, but thank God he took it. His work in comedy far outweighs anything he did in any other genre, and the legacy of laughs he left behind is nothing short of wonderful.