10 Serious Actors Who Successfully Made The Jump To Comedy

You may not like John C. Reilly's particular brand of comedy, but you have to respect the guy's ability to transition so swiftly from his roles in deathly serious fare like Gangs of New York, The Good Girl, and Magnolia into a movie that asks him to spend fifteen seconds farting nonstop.

Then again, there was an underlying bizareness to his performance in Boogie Nights that suggested to Taladega Nights and Step Brothers director Adam McCay that Reilly could hold his own opposite Will Ferrell. The two made quite a pair, bouncing off each other with a playful, almost effervescent buffoonery.

After the success of those two outlandish buddy comedies, Reilly has struck out on his own and found his niche playing weirdos of all varieties. The mock biopic Walk Hard found him portraying an amalgamation of every major rock and roll act from the 60s. Life After Beth had him get eaten by his own zombified daughter.

And then there's his work as nimrod Dr. Steve Brule - first on the delightfully absurd Tim and Eric sketch show, and then in his own television special - who would feel right at home in a Monty Python sketch.