10 Actors Who Won Everyone Over With ONE Performance
7. Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Bradley Cooper made it clear that he wanted to be more than "the hot one from The Hangover," and so after appearing in a bevy of broad studio comedies throughout the 2000s, won the male lead in David O. Russell's 2012 dramedy Silver Linings Playbook.
For anyone unconvinced by the prospect of Cooper appearing in a proper dramatic role, this film was all they needed to do a total 180 on the guy.
His turn as Pat, a bipolar man struggling to accept his recent divorce, well and truly transformed him from The Hangover Guy into a genuine actor's actor who would be underestimated only at one's own peril.
Much like Kirsten Dunst's work in Melancholia, Cooper nimbly avoids mental illness acting cliches, rendering Pat in highly empathetic terms, in turn scoring his first Best Actor nomination.
This success led Cooper to largely veer away from more conventional studio fare and focus his talents on serious acting work in the likes of American Hustle, American Sniper, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, and most recently Maestro.
Between his work as an actor, director, writer, and producer, Cooper now has a stonking 12 Oscar nominations to his name, and it's just a matter of time before he scoops a gong for himself.