10 Comic Actors Who Excelled In Serious Roles

2. Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell is not only one of the funniest men today, he is one of the funniest men ever. Period. Even the downright ridiculous roles he takes up, he somehow seems to turn them to gold. I'm not sure how many other actors would be able to turn an adult elf discovering the real world for the first time into a lovable character that we all love without making it seem utterly dumb. He also has the power to take on darker characters, like he did for the movie Everything Must Go. Not one of his biggest hits, and probably not even recognized by most readers because of the indie status, but one of my favorites nonetheless. Not only is Ferrell able to portray an alcoholic that loses his job and wife on the same day, he is able to create something out of basically nothing. Don't get me wrong, the short story it's based off of (Why Don't You Dance) is a pretty good short story that can make me think a bit, but it also is only a page and a half long. Now I know that Peter Jackson could probably make a trilogy of movies off this short story, but the fact that Ferrell was able to take a page and a half of substance and turn it into that character was brilliant.