10 Unusual Film Roles That Helped Actors Avoid Being Typecast

2. Edward Norton - Moonrise Kingdom

Edward Norton is pretty well known for playing men who have some pretty serious emotional issues. When you look at his filmography, you see a lot of criminals, Neo-Nazis, and people who are generally a little bit unstable. Even when he starred in Death to Smoochy and played a lovable children's entertainer, there was always a hint of a dark past, like when he mentions that he went to court-ordered anger management classes (exactly what he did, we'll never know) and his explosive interaction with Danny Devito's character towards the end of the film. Moonrise Kingdom has none of that. He plays a mild-mannered troop leader/math teacher, and there's nothing underneath the surface except more kindness and a healthy state of mind. In a weird way, it's almost a twist that there actually is nothing bad or creepy about this character -- he's just a genuinely good person. Over the years, we all kind of collectively forgot that Norton could play a goofy, sweet, average guy. And while his darker roles are certainly more flashy, sometimes it's nice to see these kinds of performances just to remind audiences that they're capable of doing different things.