The double - edged sword of a successful thespian ’s calling is typecasting . As a starving artist , initiate in the field will take any role handed to them , but once they ’re famous and looked at in a certain style by audiences , they would do anything to get out of repetitious parts .

Some are contented with this , however , but others do their best to take themselves and the spectator out of their comfort zone . Sometimes it works wonders , other times the carrying into action fall flat on its brass . The stick to inclination will look at both sides of the gamble . Even the ones who failed deserve commendation for trying something new .

Succeeded: Woody Harrelson - Natural Born Killers

It may be hard to believe now , but before Oliver Stone ’s controversial 1994 masterpiece , Woody Harrelson was have a go at it almost solely as Boyd fromCheers , the lovable and often nonsensical barman . Stone regurgitate him for this specific reason , and the move paid off in spades .

These twenty-four hour period , Harrelson is a veritable chameleon , playing lighthearted characters in one film , and switching to a rock - cold-blooded badass baddie in the next . Some findNatural Born Killerstough to pose through , but everyone should prove at least once just to see his arresting performance .

Failed: Jim Carrey - Number 23

Jim Carrey ’s serious roles sit side by side with his outrageous comedic romps , but thrillers are a whole other ball biz . Instead of a slapstick comedy or a muted drama , Number 23tries for psychological horror but miss the mark on every grade .

The main character reads a book and becomes obsessed with the nominal number and believes all events are connected to it . It ’s an interesting concept , but most critics agreed that the performance leave much to be desired . interview , on the other hand , helped give the movie a box office inspiration more than twice its budget .

Succeeded: Robin Williams - One Hour Photo

Robin William ’s gift for improvisational comedy is still unparalleled , and his bent for the stage translated to dramatic office as well . It was n’t untilOne Hour Photo , however , when he get into the chapeau of a villain in a horror thriller .

The early aughts film image Williams play a photo technician who becomes obsessed with a particular family . The rise of digital camera and the internet has fork up the conception outdated , but the film still hold up today .

Failed: Arnold Schwarzenegger - Aftermath

Aftermathis base on a true story of a sorrow man taking revenge on the aviation traffic accountant whose error cause a plane clangor . Schwarzenegger plays the crime syndicate world who kills the worker and serves ten years in prison house .

It is a viciously touching tarradiddle about revenge and redemption , but the movie does not reach the same high as its concept . The Austrian doer understandably put his all into the part , but his performance fail the transcend his stardom . The whole time one watches it they just sit there thinking the T-800 lost its menage .

Succeeded: Christian Bale - The Big Short

When not getting ripped for a use , Christian Bale is in all likelihood letting himself go for the rice beer of his craft . Physical transformation is a job prerequisite , which made his part inThe Big Shortso refreshing when all he did was have a piffling makeup applied and put on badly fitted shirts .

turn out , one does n’t have to put their body through a massive change in guild to take in reverence for a performance . He ’s not a superhero or a sociopath , just a normal dude dealing with money who loves heavy metal .

Failed: Robert De Niro - Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Robert De Niro plays all types of roles , from the brutal mafioso to the loving father . seldom , however , does he show up in a dark fantasy setting . It worked once inBrazil , but it did n’t take the second time inMary Shelley ’s Frankenstein .

Kenneth Branagh ’s film was an endeavor to reliably revive the original author ’s novel , but it comes off as a bombastic repulsion motion-picture show destitute of niceness . It ’s certainly not frightening , but it is impossible not to opine Travis Bickle or vernal Don Corleone under all that monster makeup .

Succeeded: Patrick Stewart - Green Room

As Captain Picard , Patrick Stewart became an integral part of all sci - fi lovers ' childhood . In modern meter , many of his roles seem to be ego - parodies , like his hilarious number onAmerican Dad . WhenGreen Roomcame out , it was shameful to see him play a scoundrel and an unrelenting white supremacist .

Stewart ’s nuanced performance to what could have easily been a cartoon character collapse an added an intensity to an already nail - bitingly vivid thriller . It ’s hard to consider Starfleet ’s good captain could play such a sinister bad guy .

Failed: Elizabeth Berkley - Showgirls

AfterSaved By The Bell , Elizabeth Berkley wished to do away with her good - girl image . Showgirlswas that attempt , but it end up ruining her vocation and feel more like a comedy than a hard - strike drama .

Paul Verhoeven made several action masterpieces in the past tense , includingRoboCopandTotal Recall , but he foul up the ball when it follow toShowgirls . The film is at least revalue these Clarence Day for its unintentional bodily fluid , but Berkley is more fondly remembered as Jessica from the high-pitched school sitcom .

Succeeded: Michael Keaton - Batman

Those honest-to-goodness enough to have been around when Tim Burton’sBatmancame out will recall the ado fence Michael Keaton ’s molding as Bruce Wayne . Most bemoaned the actor ’s anterior comedic experience and want somebody more serious .

Little did they know , however , that Keaton was the thoroughgoing man for the problem . Once the movie remove theaters , everybody discontinue their complaining and understood that the moving picture they just saw would everlastingly change comic Holy Writ adaptation , and Keaton was integral in pee-pee that happen .

Failed: Matthew Fox And Tyler Perry - Alex Cross

This one is a treble whammy . Alex Crosswas Tyler Perry ’s first attempt at a cop role , and Matthew Fox ’s turn at the villain was his first antagonistic performance afterLost . alas , the whole thing come as an unwilled comedy . Neither of the actor is believable in their parts , and the timber feels more like a parody of cop thrillers rather than a sincere attack at one .

Fox has since demonstrate himself a fine actor withBone Tomahawk , and Perry ’s career was scarcely move by the moving-picture show ’s failure . It ’s good to see that both histrion sprinkle themselves off afterward .

NEXT:10 Best Casting pick In The MCU ( So Far )

Comic book art: batman by arkham asylum

Josh Hartnett looking shocked in Fight or Flight

Ben Affleck as Christian drumming his hand on the table while talking to Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Marybeth in The Accountant 2

GREEN ROOM

Woody Harrelson sitting in a diner smiling in Natural Born Killers

Jim Carrey Number 23

Robin Williams sits in the break room in One Hour Photo

Arnold Schwarzenegger Aftermath

Christian Bale in The Big Short

Robert De Niro as the monster grimacing in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein

Darcy looking serious in Green Room

Elizabeth Berkley bites her nail in Showgirls

Bruce Wayne researching in Batman 1989

Alex-Cross-Mathew-Fox-and-Tyler-Perry

Batman