- 6/21/2025
Sometimes the most unexpected casting choices turn out to be pure gold. From comedy stars taking on dark, dramatic roles to pop icons surprising audiences with their acting chops, these performances defied expectations and won hearts. Join us as we explore some of the most memorable actors who broke typecasting molds and nailed their roles against all odds. Prepare to be amazed by these incredible transformations!
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00:01Oh, hello.
00:03Wow.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:07And today, we're counting down our picks for the actors who were cast completely against type
00:12and turned out to be perfect for the role.
00:14I find her hard to talk to.
00:16Me too.
00:17She thinks I'm dumb.
00:18Me too.
00:19Number 10. Adam Sandler, Punch Drunk Love.
00:22Up until writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson cast him as a bachelor with an anger problem,
00:27Adam Sandler was famous for playing an extremely angry character for laughs.
00:30No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:35Anderson actually realized the actor was right for the role while watching him in the Saturday
00:39Night Live sketch, The Denise Show.
00:41What did I do wrong, Denise?
00:42Just tell me and I'll stop doing it.
00:44Hello, Brian.
00:45This is your father.
00:46What?
00:47What the hell's wrong with you?
00:48You're embarrassing the family.
00:50But the way Sandler's persona was used in the movie is completely different than anything
00:54he had done before.
00:55I have a love in my life.
00:57It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.
01:03I would say that's that, Mattress Man.
01:05Sandler and the film itself were cited in several year-end awards and top 10 lists.
01:10Since then, its star has gone on to balance his broad comedic work with dramatic turns
01:14in movies like Uncut Gems.
01:16I know that.
01:17I was stupid.
01:18I'm done.
01:19I'm done.
01:20It means nothing.
01:21It meant nothing.
01:21Number 9. Bill Hader, Barry.
01:24Don't say anything, all right?
01:26Don't say anything.
01:27I'm just going to lay low, man.
01:28Just be quiet.
01:29This HBO series is a dark comedy about a contract killer who develops a passion for acting.
01:34You are a real actor.
01:36I am?
01:37Yes.
01:38The entire show is a big swing as far as tonal balance is concerned.
01:42Barry's co-creator and star, Bill Hader, also played larger-than-life characters every
01:46week on Saturday Night Live.
01:47Still, crafting an uproarious caricature like Stefan probably doesn't make him the obvious
01:53choice to play a depressed and lethal assassin.
01:55The Chicago deal is still on the table.
01:58I got a guy out there.
02:00He's literally glued to the car.
02:02He got Ronnie.
02:04Cut to four seasons, two Emmys, and several nominations later, and Hader has turned in
02:09one of the most accomplished, unexpectedly funny, and complicated performances on TV.
02:14I basically, I went like this, I was like, Sally, you gotta help my friend.
02:18Like, I said it that loud.
02:21Sure.
02:22Number 8.
02:23Selena Gomez.
02:24Only murders in the building.
02:25And if we want to take down Demas before 7 a.m., first, is that what we're gonna do?
02:31A nod or a no, guys?
02:32Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:33Steve Martin and Martin Short are a classic duo.
02:37They've worked together quite a few times over the years, and they're also part of the
02:41same age cohort.
02:42That is my girlfriend you're talking about.
02:44We had sex.
02:45I don't know if I said that.
02:45Please stop talking.
02:47What threw people for a loop was the additional casting of pop idol and ex-Disney star Selena
02:52Gomez.
02:52Playing the true crime-obsessed Mabel Mora, Gomez plays surprisingly well against the two
02:57veteran actors.
02:58She injects some millennial irony to balance their boomer humor.
03:02Since then, she's earned Golden Globe and Emmy nods for her work.
03:05Hey!
03:06Hey!
03:06Can I come with you to the funeral?
03:08Yeah!
03:08Please, God, yes, we need you.
03:10Number 7, Steve Carell, Foxcatcher.
03:13I don't want you to call me Mr. DuPont or sir anymore.
03:17I consider us friends, and most of my friends will call me Eagle or Golden Eagle.
03:25Based on the real-life murder of Olympic wrestler David Schultz, this 2014 drama didn't just require
03:30its lead to undergo dramatic makeup effects.
03:33To play murderer and wrestling enthusiast John DuPont, Steve Carell had to do a total 180
03:38from his comedy persona.
03:39I am giving them a dream, and I am giving America hope.
03:47Having just exited the office, Carell was at a crossroads in his career.
03:51With Foxcatcher, suddenly, he proved his chops not just as a dramatic actor.
03:55He could even play the villain if the role called for it.
03:58Carell was nominated for an Oscar for the performance, and it ushered in a new era of dramatic roles
04:03for the actor.
04:04Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump.
04:09Number 6, Ariana Grande, Wicked.
04:11And it is my intention to major in sorcery.
04:15So if at some point you wanted to address the, um, problem,
04:22problem, perhaps I could help.
04:25Most musicals that get the Hollywood treatment do end up going with established screen stars
04:38over performers known for theater.
04:40But Broadway fans were probably more than skeptical when Ariana Grande was cast in the role
04:45originated by Kristen Chenoweth.
04:47As the standoffish magic student, Galinda, Grande would have to tap into a higher vocal
04:51register than the one she generally uses in her music.
04:54But the acting is the real surprise.
04:56She plays the broad comic tones of the character to pitch perfect effect while still making
05:01her feel human.
05:02I've decided to make you my new project.
05:04Oh, you really don't have to do that.
05:05I know.
05:07That's what makes me so nice.
05:10Her deft handling of the role earned her several awards and helped make Wicked one of the top
05:15five highest grossing movies of 2024.
05:18Popular.
05:20I'll help you be popular.
05:22Number five, Robin Williams, One Hour Photo.
05:26You have one shot left.
05:28Oh, that's okay.
05:28Oh, it's a shame to waste it.
05:30Oh, no, really, it's fine.
05:31Oh, no, please.
05:32I'm horrible.
05:33If you asked movie lovers who the funniest actor of all time was, many would probably
05:37say Robin Williams.
05:39The man's very existence was comedy.
05:41While his Oscar-winning role in Good Will Hunting was a dramatic stretch, it still relies
05:45on his natural warmth.
05:46That's not the case with the thriller One Hour Photo.
05:49The word snapshot was first used in 1808 by an English sportsman by the name of Sir Andrew
05:55Hawker.
05:57He noted in his diary that almost every bird he shot that day was taken by snapshot.
06:02In it, Williams plays Cy, a lonely photo counter-employee who becomes dangerously obsessed with a family
06:09whose pictures he's printed.
06:10In 2002, he made another villainous turn in Christopher Nolan's Insomnia.
06:15But as Cy, his character is not simply evil.
06:18He's also sad.
06:19You would never treat your children like animals.
06:22Number four, Kristen Stewart, Spencer.
06:24Keep your curtains closed.
06:25Close my curtains.
06:27Yes.
06:28Maybe.
06:33No.
06:34Despite doing tremendous work since her days as Bella Swan, this Twilight co-star is still
06:39having to live down some of her early performances.
06:41No matter how much Kristen Stewart has dazzled us since, few thought such a quintessentially
06:46American actress could do justice to a figure as quintessentially British as Princess Diana.
06:50Oh, Maggie, it's all just a bit of fun, isn't it?
06:52In Spencer, Stewart plays the doomed princess as she deals with a particularly torturous
06:58holiday with her royal in-laws.
06:59Stewart was lauded for the film, earning an Oscar nomination, with critics citing her
07:03performance as the linchpin keeping the irreverent haunting movie together.
07:07Okay, but you have to stay with me.
07:12You can't leave me.
07:14Number three, Betty White, The Golden Girls.
07:17Listen, if there's ever a night where you can't sleep, I'll come to your room and sing
07:20kumbaya.
07:21For many viewers, Rose Nyland was this TV legend's defining performance.
07:26But before landing her most famous role, Betty White's most recent credits were in series
07:31like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Mama's Family.
07:33Both of those characters were selfish man-eaters.
07:37So, when The Golden Girls came along, she was initially offered the part of Blanche Devereaux,
07:41the vain, man-hungry Southern belle.
07:44But White was much more interested in playing Rose Nyland, the sweet but dim-witted Midwesterner.
07:49Then we better hurry, because the Strawberry Blizzard special at the Dairy Queen only lasts
07:53till five.
07:55Co-star Rue McClanahan was on the same page, wanting instead to play Blanche.
07:59The whole show came together once the two actresses traded roles.
08:02I am absolutely speechless, except for the one that I have prepared.
08:09Laughter from the audience.
08:12Number 2.
08:13Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad.
08:15I saw your setup.
08:16Ridiculous.
08:17You and I will not make garbage.
08:20We will produce a chemically pure and stable product that performs as advertised.
08:24For years, we knew him for his role as a father who would do anything for his family,
08:29even if it meant going behind his wife's back.
08:31Yes, of course, we're talking about Bryan Cranston's incredible work on Malcolm in the Middle.
08:40Before he became an absolute legend as anti-hero Walter White,
08:46Cranston was seen as just an inept but lovable sitcom dad.
08:49Then, two years later, he was cooking up something very, very different on AMC's Breaking Bad.
08:55There was an almost meta quality about watching a guy we thought was a decent and goofy father
08:59figure become this hardened criminal kingpin.
09:01You clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in.
09:06I am not in danger, Skylar.
09:08I am the danger.
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09:25Number 1.
09:27Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
09:28I know why you choose to have your little group therapy sessions in broad daylight.
09:36I know why you're afraid to go out at night.
09:41The Batman.
09:42It's not easy to redefine a character and make an entire culture shift with one singular performance.
09:48Heath Ledger did just that with his unhinged, totally committed depiction of the Joker.
09:53You remind me of my father.
09:56I hated my father.
09:58Major stars had done superhero movies before, but this kind of psychologically complex supervillain
10:03was not the norm.
10:05Ledger's reputation as an actor was only growing.
10:07I'm going to make this pencil disappear.
10:14It's...
10:14It's gone.
10:16The role of a Batman villain was not exactly what everyone thought his career trajectory
10:21would look like after making prestigious movies like Brokeback Mountain and I'm Not There.
10:25The stellar writing and his complete transformation made the role a perfect storm of dramatic skill
10:30and instantly iconic moments.
10:32What's a weird casting that surprised you?
10:39Let us know what we missed in the comments.
10:40This is a good proposal, Mr. Nitty.
10:43I will work only for you and you know I can do a good job.
10:46I can do a good job.
11:01And I will work only for you and you know I can do a good job.
11:06But if you have a amazing job, what should I have done?
11:09I will work only for you and I'll work only for you and I can do a good job.
11:13I will work only for you and I will work only for you because I am not there.
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