Roles where actors broke their molds
Last updated: February 12, 2026
Many actors find a niche they’re good at and usually stick with it most of their career. They stay as the funny sidekick in a comedy or as the buff action hero in exciting action movies. But sometimes we may see actors take on a role that goes beyond that niche, which can give an interesting contrast when the comedian suddenly plays a psycho. In this list there are four actors who have done just that.
Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Unrecognizable, both in role and appearance, Steve Carell takes up the role as multi-millionaire John du Pont in the dramatized retelling of Team Foxcatcher. The U.S. wrestling team which was training for the Olympic Games in 1988. John led the team through his self-destructive behaviour, risking it all for his team to win.
The movie follows brothers Mark and Dave Schultz as they join the team to achieve glory in the wrestling world. But the more involved they get with John, the more they’re torn about what lengths they’re willing to go to achieve victory
Robin Williams in One Hour Photo
Throughout his career Robin Williams has made us both laugh and cry in the roles he portrayed. More often than not they were comedies with a lot of heart beneath the surface. However he also delved into drama with movies like Dead Poets Society. So the real surprise was to see him in a psychological thriller, playing the psycho. A regular family goes to get their photos developed regularly from birthdays, vacation trips and Christmases. They hand in the film roll and receive the photos. But unbeknownst to them the man developing the photos started to grow an unhealthy obsession with the family throughout the years. And soon, he might not be satisfied with only pictures anymore.
Hugh Grant in Heretic
The roles he played in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually are some of Hugh Grant's most well-known roles. All of them are romcom movies. Throughout the years he has expanded his acting and has played both villain and hero. But never has he been as realistically unnerving as in Heretic. When two young women are going door to door to teach people about their faith they somehow end up on the doorstep of Mr Reed, a seemingly kind and interesting man. However Mr Reed seems to want to teach the young pair about religion instead, and especially its own contradiction. He does this through psychological torment that soon turns violent.
Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black
Daniel Radcliffe was still fresh off Harry Potter in 2012. That’s why it came as a surprise to many when he debuted his continued acting career in this gothic ghost story.
As a young lawyer travels to a remote village to deal with a recently deceased client's papers, he starts to discover dark secrets in the house he’s staying at. In the village children have unexpectedly started jumping out of windows. And the lawyer starts to suspect it may have something to do with the shadow of a woman dressed in black, that he has seen floating around in the hallways and on the property.
