10 Unusual Film Roles That Helped Actors Avoid Being Typecast

3. Brad Pitt - 12 Monkeys

At the beginning of Brad Pitt's career, he had built up a reputation as a stunningly beautiful, golden-haired man, who was good at sensitive roles in romantic films and not much else. After he did A River Runs Through It, Interview with a Vampire, and Legends of the Fall in quick succession, he seemed stuck in that very specific place where attractive men spend their careers doing fluffy period films. Harmless, to be sure, but not a major acting threat. Then he took on the project 12 Monkeys, and everything changed. Based on the French short film La Jetee, 12 Monkeys was a science fiction film by Terry Gilliam about a man sent back in time to prevent a man-made virus that would decimate the world's population. Pitt played the mentally unstable Jeffrey Goines, the unhinged man who would found the terrorist organization the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, responsible for the creation of the virus. His chilling performance was a far cry from the gentle, sensitive pretty boys Pitt had played in the past, and it forced people to take him seriously as an actor. Without 12 Monkeys, you don't get Tyler Durden and Fight Club, and many of the other iconic roles he's known for today.