9. Brad Pitt 12 Monkeys
For the longest time, nobody took Brad Pitt too seriously. He was dismissed as a pretty-boy actor, a sort of Robert Redford-lite who got by through sheer photogenic power. These days, we know this does the man a disservice hes consistently surprising in all sorts of dramas, and has rocked our worlds in many eclectic roles, be it Terrence Malicks auteur efforts, the pensive films of Andrew Dominik or quite simply, as Tyler Durden. Yet the 90s were a different time and place, filled with terrible cargo shorts and the Spice Girls. So when Pitt churned out 12 Monkeys, most people were surprised. Of course, there were the happy few who had seen him as Early Gayce in Kalifornia, and they got to feel incredibly smug with themselves. Yet in the most part, people just didnt know where this came from Pitt went from a pretty boy to a damn serious actor, all through his tic-laden, sanity-churning performance as Jeffrey Goines. Paired with Willis slightly subdued protagonist, Pitt had to do most of the scenery-chewing heavy lifting, and he did it with gusto. Not many people get to break their reputations, but from this point on, whenever anyone dismissed him as just a face he could point to the Golden Globe on his mantelpiece. That shuts most people up, really.