8. Leslie Nielsen Airplane!
In the Citizen Kane of stunt-casting, I present to you Leslie Nielsen. Before Airplane came out, Nielsen was better known for serious, strait-laced roles such as the Captain of the Poseidon. Being fair, he was built perfectly for the part tall, authoritative and in possession of that magical dramatic combo of a furrowed brow and soothing dulcet tones, he was practically built to be in charge and frown at everything. This combination made it even more hilarious when he finally decided to go off at the deep-end. Combining deadpan wit with terrific lines, the super-serious Nielsen could make anything sound hilarious, even if the zingers werent half as good as they were here. Yet they were, creating a perfect storm of hilarity whether he was telling you what a hospital was or if he simply didnt want you to call him Shirley, channelling all that nonplussed authority into an increasingly ludicrous situation made for comedy gold that youd never seen before. Theres a reason Nielsen was able to launch a successful comedic career after this he was just so damn good at it. But lets be honest if you looked at his past roles, could you really see this coming? My answer would be no.