10 Unusual Film Roles That Helped Actors Avoid Being Typecast

6. Matthew McConaughey - Killer Joe

Matthew McConaughey, the master of the career Renaissance. Look, if you had told us ten years ago that in 2014 Matthew McConaughey would have an Oscar to his name, we probably would have told you to go home and play some more naked bongos. But here we stand, and he's now one of the most respected actors of his generation. Up until a few years ago, he was the king of the mediocre rom com. If Kate Hudson or Jennifer Aniston was in it, so was he. But then he just stopped and switched gears. He stopped saying yes to terrible movies, and started doing smaller indie films. Dallas Buyers Club and Mud were the films that confirmed his new status in Hollywood, but Killer Joe was the movie that announced to the world that this was not the same old Matthew McConaughey. He plays a police detective who moonlights as a contract killer, hired to murder a young man's mother for her insurance policy. The film didn't bank a whole lot, but it was well-received by critics, and heralded a new age of McConaughey. Since then, he's been nothing but perfect in all of his films, proving once in for all that a man can change his stars.