10 Amazing Roles That Saved Typecast Actors

4. Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odd8Zdhuj9o Tom Cruise has had two reliable roles throughout his career; he began as the impossibly charming, good-looking heart-throb type character, and then evolved in a spate of roles - perhaps most crucially, Top Gun - to become an action star, a role he still excels in to an extent. Cruise has proven himself apt in talkier, more dramatic fare, such as Oscar-nominated turns as paralysed Vietnam war vet Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July and as motivational speaker Frank T.J. Mackey in Paul Thomas Anderson's amazing Magnolia, though truly broke out of his mould in 2008's Tropic Thunder by proving that he could handle comedy as well. Decked out in a fat suit, bald cap, glasses and prosthetic "fat hands", Cruise's appearance is altered significantly for this riotous role as a highly-strung movie executive, getting arguably the film's biggest laugh in the clip above, as he berates militia leader Flaming Dragon. Cruise has continued to demonstrate his sense of humour by playing hair metal sexpot Stacee Jaxx in the musical Rock of Ages last year.