10 Unusual Film Roles That Helped Actors Avoid Being Typecast

8. Daniel Radcliffe - Kill Your Darlings

Credit where credit's due, Dan Radcliffe has never been the actor who would settle for being typecast. He learned at a very young age that if he didn't start early and be proactive, he was going to be Harry Potter for the rest of his life, and nothing else. So even while still filming the Harry Potter movies, he took risks. He worked on Broadway and the West End, doing Equus and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, two shows that are as far apart from one another as they are from Harry Potter. But in terms of film performances, his really big leap was Kill Your Darlings. He played eccentric Beat poet Allen Ginsberg during his first years at Columbia University in New York, and he did a marvelous job. Radcliffe nailed the accent, imbued the well-known historical figure with real emotions, and didn't shy away from the more controversial elements of the story (ie Ginsberg's sexual relationship with Lucien Carr). With that performance under his belt, he's opened new doors for himself and earned the respect of the industry for his fearless refusal to be defined by the bespectacled wizarding hero.