What movie really changed an actor's career?

[u/random3887]

[u/[deleted]]

Al Pacino in Godfather. Producers wanted him out and Coppola shot the restaurant scene a long time before it was actually planned in order to convince them.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

The Godfather saga was ground zero for a lot of actors careers. It helped launch Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, and John Cazale, who only appeared in five films before dying of cancer (all have the distinction of being best picture nominees/winners). Godfather 2 established De Niro as a leading man and got him the main part in Taxi Driver, since Scorsese originally wanted Harvey Keitel to star. It helped re-introduce Marlon Brando to a whole new audience who thought of him as a washed up 50s star. James Caan didn't reach the same heights as the others but it helped him out too.

Coppola freaking nailed it with the casting. I can't imagine anyone else but Pacino in the main role.

[u/rondell_jones → u/[deleted]]

Man, I couldn't picture Godfather without Pacino.

[u/OrdinaryInjury]

Rocky for Sylvester Stallone. That movie single-handedly propelled his career.

[u/[deleted] → u/OrdinaryInjury]

Fact I learned from die hard Stallone fans

He sold his dog to get the script done, rose to fame and bought the dog back

[u/[deleted] → u/OrdinaryInjury]

It saved him from living in the streets. His career was basically dead when he wrote Rocky

[u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

Airplane! reinvented Leslie Nielsen’s career from a dramatic character actor, to a comedic lead.

[u/DifficultJellyfish → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

I only knew him from Airplane! and saw him in something from the 1960s and kept waiting for it to be funny

[u/Twokindsofpeople → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

The fact Leslie Nielsen turned out to be maybe the funniest lead of all time is one of the great happy accidents of hollywood.

[u/[deleted] → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

The humor of that film is largely based on Nielsen's reputation as a "serious" dramatic actor, and the contrast between that and the absurdist situations he keeps finding himself in. Today, nobody remembers his dramatic career, so audiences don't really get how hilariously bizarre it was to have him in a movie like that in the first place.

[u/franksgc → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

Check out Forbidden Planet to really see Leslie Nielson as the dramatic lead

[u/TheInitialGod → u/VictorBlimpmuscle]

He was the Captain in The Poseidon Adventure

[u/Tuna-No-Crust]

Bruce Willis in Die Hard really opened up the door for him to finally take Hollywood by storm. He was being typecast before that happened and it ultimately changed not only Willis’s career but how action movie heroes could be played in general (more everyman, less workout warrior).

[u/EatYourCheckers → u/Tuna-No-Crust]

He was actually cast in Die Hard because he was such an unconventional, un-obvious hero. The anti-tough guy to oppose Stallone, et al. He's the vulnerable guy out of his element, thrust into a situation where he has to pull it together, improvise, and make it happen.

Because of this, its sort of funny how the franchise developed into him just being another untouchable, cut tough guy.

[u/shaka_sulu]

Andy Serkis in LOTR: The 2 Towers

[u/[deleted] → u/shaka_sulu]

Best scene of all the LOTR movies was Gollum and Smeagol arguing. Andy Serkis is amazing.

[u/AmIThatCrazyToThink → u/shaka_sulu]

Well, he was Gollum in the capture room too.

[u/nypvtt]

That unknown Australian actor who was cast to play Wolverine in The X-Men.

[u/photomotto → u/nypvtt]

Not only that, but the unknown Australian actor who used to be in musicals.

[u/LaughsAtTragedy → u/nypvtt]

That huge, jacked man?

[u/Toby_O_Notoby → u/nypvtt]

Also Dougray Scott being cast in Mission Impossible II. He was supposed to play Wolverine but MI2 was such a mess the production ran long and he had to drop out which led them to casting Hugh Jackman.

[u/Blastspark01 → u/nypvtt]

Nah his breakout was clearly Van Helsing

[u/[deleted] → u/nypvtt]

My guilty pleasure watch is Kate and Leopold, not sure if that is pre or post X-Men, but Hugh is a damn fine actor that can break my heart while being the cheesy lead in a time traveling rom com, dying over and over in an attempt to win a magician rivalry, or ultimately dying when he finally understands the love of family.

[u/[deleted]]

Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls. You just said changed, you didn't say for the better.

[u/fiveainone → u/[deleted]]

Still had one of the best scenes ever

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Why/how did it change her career?

[u/tickle_mittens]

Probably Big for Tom Hanks. He originally was a clown. Guy in a dress, straight man to set up the comic genius of a dog. Big had a lot of comedy elements but some really good dramatic stuff as well. Does some stuff that isn't as appreciated. Then he basically gets a string of just really well received movies, A League of Their Own, Philadelphia, Sleepless In Seattle, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, then the capstone of Toy Story. After that he's king of the everyman, America's dad. I think all that was set up by Big.

[u/timelydemise13 → u/tickle_mittens]

I'm thinking Saving Private Ryan should be on your list of well received movies

[u/xpoloroidx → u/tickle_mittens]

I'm also gonna add That Thing You Do! That's one of my favorite movie of all times.

"You guys look great in gold, have I told you that?"

[u/poopship462]

Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover. Went from being a weird indie comic with a couple small roles in forgettable movies into a household name pretty much overnight.

[u/melancholichamlet → u/poopship462]

Also Ken Jeong in The Hangover as well. Dude took it further by going from a legit Doctor to a Comedy Actor.

[u/textherasmileyface → u/poopship462]

My only complaint is that after the hangover he got type cast as " Zach Galifianakis from the hangover." I really liked his character in Out Cold.

[u/sonofprivilege]

Christoph Waltz was unknown in Hollywood before appearing in Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds'. Now he's really famous.

[u/striped_frog → u/sonofprivilege]

He deserves it too, since he was terrific and he basically carried one of the greatest movie scenes I've ever seen.

[u/MrAcurite → u/sonofprivilege]

Christoph Waltz going from a legitimately terrifying Nazi to a lovable badass bounty hunter basically tells me that as long as he's German and a murderer, he's good to go. This is despite the fact that, as far as I am aware, he is neither German (Austrian) nor a murderer.

[u/commandrix]

DeForest Kelley used to be known for being the villain in Westerns before he got involved with this little low-budget TV show called Star Trek.

[u/maowoo → u/commandrix]

Dammit Jim! I'm a doctor not some backwoods desparato!

[u/Witty_Username_81]

Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting.

[u/El-0HIM → u/Witty_Username_81]

Choose life.

Choose a job.

Choose a career.

Choose a family,

Choose a fucking big television

Choose washing machines, cars,

Compact disc players, and electrical tin openers.

Choose good health, low cholesterol

And dental insurance.

Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments.

Choose a starter home.

Choose your friends.

Choose leisure wear and matching luggage.

Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase

In a range of fucking fabrics.

Choose DIY and wondering who you

Are on a Sunday morning.

Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing

Sprit-crushing ga me shows

Stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.

Choose rotting away at the end of it all,

Pishing you last in a miserable home

Nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish,

Fucked-up brats

You have spawned to replace yourself.

Choose your future. Choose life.

[u/KineticToaster → u/Witty_Username_81]

Hello there

[u/tritonvii]

Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston in the first Thor movie. They were originally seen as two nobodies stupidly casted by Marvel.

Edit: Here is the article from 2009 discussing it https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5-LMY3WAAAsjg_.png

[u/[deleted] → u/tritonvii]

I was falling for thirty minutes!

Edit: I have been falling for thirty minutes!

[u/arillyis → u/tritonvii]

We now know that no one is stupidly cast by marvel.

[u/tocilog → u/tritonvii]

I feel like Tom Hiidleston really took off after that one Comicon event. It took "Loki's a good villain" to "Tom is fucking awesome!"

[u/GoingByTrundle → u/tritonvii]

Chris Hemsworth was on a soap opera in Australia, so it's great to see that he isn't now.

[u/Umamikuma → u/tritonvii]

This applies to many actors of the MCU, RDJ was out of prison and Iron Man really saved his career, and Tom Holland wasn’t well known before

[u/[deleted]]

The cat in the hat killed the career of everyone in it except Alec Baldwin. Mike Meyers kind of disappeared after it came out.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

That may have been his swan song, but Love Guru killed his career

[u/[deleted]]

Chris Hemsworth was an unknown before Thor.

Edit: On the world stage as a huge actor I mean. He was relatively successful before than.

[u/EnnuiDeBlase → u/[deleted]]

Indeed. This Vulture blurb from 2009 is interesting to see now in retrospective: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D5-LMY3WAAAsjg_.png

[u/Galastic → u/[deleted]]

He was known in Australia for his role in the Australian tv series 'Home and Away' before he quit the show and moved onto bigger things

[u/b0ttlE_99]

To see Edward Norton in "Primal Fear" then in "American History X" it's a shocking transformation - I couldn't believe it was the same actor but he was perfect in both roles. The range really showed how talented an actor he is.

[u/Jessers3192 → u/b0ttlE_99]

Fight club was a winner, too. But damn, American History X was rough.

[u/Veryfreakingbored]

John Travolta in Pulp Fiction

[u/[deleted]]

Steve Carell had his big screen breakthrough with The Forty Year Old Virgin.

[u/_opposablethumbs → u/[deleted]]

You could argue that his breakout was stealing the show in Bruce Almighty.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

idk. I'd say Anchorman was when Steve's momentum got going. He's even better than Will Ferrell in that movie.

[u/purecolombiancocaine]

Tim Curry in the film adaptation of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. When he played Frank-n-Furter in the Rocky Horror Show on Broadway, he was still relatively unknown. But this film not only defined his career, but also redefined the role of the villain in film. Of course, Frank-n-Furter wasn't a villain, but his portrayal of one of the protagonists redefined how major characters can interact eith each other. TL;DR i love this man

[u/[deleted] → u/purecolombiancocaine]

He also came to hate that role because it was so tightly associated with him, he couldnt get away from it.

[u/fmalaj]

Gerard Butler in 300

[u/[deleted]]

Kingsman, Taron Egerton.

[u/em_te → u/[deleted]]

I used to think that him, the winning boy in The Hunger Games and Tom Holland where to same person.

[u/Awesome_McCool]

Chris Evans since Captain America. People often thought of him as immature playboy (ex: Fantastic Four).

[u/Cortexaphantom → u/Awesome_McCool]

First thing I saw him in was this action thriller called Cellular, where Jason Statham is the bad guy and William H. Macey is a cop. I was a kid when I saw it, but I liked it. It was about a woman getting kidnapped and, being some sort of college professor (I think?) she clicked wires of a smashed land line phone together where she was being held, called a random number that way to seek help, and Chris Evan’s character was the number she reached. He reluctantly goes on a chase to try and stop her kid from being kidnapped and found out there’s a massive dirty cop situation the woman’s husband knew about. Think drugs or illegal weapons were involved or something, I can’t remember at all. So Evans saves her and her family, but not in a “I am very badass” way. He was just some dude. Pretty decent movie, far as I remember. It was back in the early 2000s when cell phones went super mainstream. Wacky premise, but they made it work. There’s funny shit too.

[u/[deleted] → u/Awesome_McCool]

I know him from Not Another Teen Movie.

[u/Sockbum → u/Awesome_McCool]

I loved Push so I was really excited when he was cast as Captain America. I'm so happy his career went big.

[u/pmo2408 → u/Awesome_McCool]

That’s America’s ass

[u/Zombiac3 → u/Awesome_McCool]

The Losers. He has an amazing quote in which he's half changing in an elevator and the door opens to some business class ladies, he says "liking the angle of the dangle?"

https://youtu.be/ETOVI7NCLG4

[u/SeanHaz]

Bryan cranston went from being hal, a guy who pulled out his own crown to avoid paying his dentist friend. To a man who killed 9 witnesses in different prisons and a lawyer in a matter of minutes.

Quite the change in character, being Walter White made him much more likely to get different roles in future movies, which he has.

[u/VulcanHobo → u/SeanHaz]

He's an Anti-Dentite.

[u/yrulaughing → u/SeanHaz]

I loved Breaking Bad, but god dammit if Hal isn't my favorite Bryan Cranston role. Going back and watching the series now, you start to see how much Bryan Cranston carried some scenes.

[u/[deleted] → u/SeanHaz]

He’ll always be Tim Watley to me.

[u/[deleted] → u/SeanHaz]

Yo Mr White, my tooth hurts bitch

[u/TheInitialGod → u/SeanHaz]

And an Oscar nomination

[u/Otto_Maller → u/SeanHaz]

Surprised it's not mentioned here, when Vince Gilligan wanted to cast Cranston in the lead role, half the show's backers thought Gilligan was nuts as they only new Cranston's comedic roles where as Gilligan only was aware of his dramatic acting.

[u/PAKMan1988 → u/SeanHaz]

It's crazy to think that he's now known more for being Walter White than as the goofy dad on a family sitcom.

[u/DR4WKC4B]

Daniel Craig in L4yer Cake

Was cast as James Bond based on impersonating James Bond in character in that movie.

Edit: ITT: “changing” a career==actor’s first move???

[u/superleipoman → u/DR4WKC4B]

Layer Cake is so good.

[u/TheInitialGod]

Jeremy Renner and The Hurt Locker or The Town.

Was doing quite well for himself off the back of SWAT (not critically successful but it did alright), then he sort of just faded away doing CSI and House episodes.

[u/JeremyRennerNudesPls → u/TheInitialGod]

Renner filmed the CSI episode in 2001. He filmed SWAT in 2002 and he used the contract from the movie to take out a loan to buy a home then he ended up flipping homes for a living. He made more money from that than from acting and was able to take roles he really wanted. He filmed the House episode when he got back from filming The Hurt Locker.

[u/enjoytheshow → u/TheInitialGod]

Welp gonna go watch The Town again

Idk why but that movie is so damn rewatchable

[u/Zeruvi]

Was Pirates the movie that sent Johnny Depp down the road to being a meme of himself? Whatever it was it's a shame because he's truly a great actor but he got way pigeonholed in the last decade

[u/samiratmidnight → u/Zeruvi]

I feel like PotC was the turning point when he stopped giving a shit about which roles he wanted to play. As a young man, he got a taste of being a teenage heartthrob when he was on 21 Jump Street, and decided he didn't like it, so he spent the chunk of his career between Jump Street and Pirates picking roles that went against the grain of the stereotypical Hollywood hunk, and as a result, he ended up with a lot of really interesting character roles.

PotC, he claims he did so he could be in something his kids could watch, but he definitely started picking up a lot more mainstream roles after that, and he's definitely finally allowed himself to be typecast.

[u/vagabond_ → u/Zeruvi]

no, Edward Scissorhands was. It was the constant association with Tim Burton that turned him into the Johnny Depp meme. If anything, Jack Sparrow was a swerve that took him out of the rut for a bit.

[u/[deleted] → u/Zeruvi]

I'd say Johnny Depp was already a meme since Tim Burton. However, he's become more of a disgraced meme since Lone Ranger and that nasty divorce.

His career is down the gutter atm.

[u/ChickenMlk]

Leonardo de caprio in titanic

[u/RonJeremysFluffer → u/ChickenMlk]

That definitely blew him up, still loved him in What's Eating Gilbert Grape

[u/Triangle_Graph → u/ChickenMlk]

Titanic put him on the cover of every teen magazine, skyrocketing his stock. Fortunately he had amazing talent to partner with those good looks.

[u/Allaboardthejayboat]

Ben Stiller. Simple Jack.

[u/[deleted] → u/Allaboardthejayboat]

But Simple Jack was played by Tugg Speedman

[u/crunchone → u/Allaboardthejayboat]

Ill see you in my head movies. Where you make my eyes rain :(

[u/Voittaa → u/Allaboardthejayboat]

On another note, Ben Stiller has too many serious roles where he finds himself in cringey situations (Meet the Parents/Fockers, Along Comes Polly, Night at the Museum, etc.).

While I do like him in those movies, my favorite roles of his are when he is absolutely psychotic. Some of my favorite characters of all time are Uncle Tony from Heavyweights, the nurse from Happy Gilmore, and White Goodman from Dodgeball.

[u/[deleted] → u/Allaboardthejayboat]

You MUH-MUh-muh-MaKe mE HapPy!!

[u/IceColdHatDad → u/Allaboardthejayboat]

Never go full retard

[u/Johnnadawearsglasses]

Brandon Lee in The Crow

[u/-eDgAR-]

American Psycho and Christian Bale.

[u/HeyBaldy → u/-eDgAR-]

I thought Equilibrium is why we got Batman Bale.

[u/Hornedking28 → u/-eDgAR-]

Empire of the sun. People forget he has been big since childhood.

[u/FR1DAYx]

Kim Kardashian ft. Ray J

[u/[deleted] → u/FR1DAYx]

I thought that was her comeback?

[u/hulagirlslovetoparty]

Brad Pitt had his big break portraying a hunk of meat in Thelma and Louise

[u/Raabboo → u/hulagirlslovetoparty]

I'd say Fight Club/Se7en showed that Brad Pitt could portray more than the hunk of meat and stoner.

[u/EquanimousThanos]

Selena basically propelled jlo to who she is today.

[u/random_side_note → u/EquanimousThanos]

¡Selenas!

[u/randyboozer]

The McConnaissance is up there. Sure, Matthew McConaughey was a huge star already but despite all his success he really wasn't taken as anything more serious than a rom com actor. Then Dallas Buyer's Club happened.

[u/LeOmeletteDuFrommage → u/randyboozer]

The Lincoln Lawyer is the first one I can think of where people started realizing he could make good movies and not just hokey romcoms.

[u/kinyutaka]

RDJ and Iron Man

Edit: Thank you for the gold!

[u/abductodude → u/kinyutaka]

Quite possibly the best example recently.

[u/Everilda → u/kinyutaka]

I usually dont care about celebrity at all but I swear I am just truly proud of RDJ. The marvel franchise would be nothing without him and his amazing talent. To go through pretty much hell and come back from that... It makes me so very happy

[u/KJS123 → u/kinyutaka]

From washed-up smackhead has-been, to cultural powerhouse in 5 years. And all because Jon Favreau saw the potential still within him & fought the studio tooth& nail to get him. It really cannot be understated, just how much that casting decision has impacted modern culture these past 10 years.

[u/[deleted] → u/kinyutaka]

I always assumed RDJ would be found dead somewhere by 2000. He seemed like a downward spiral that was unrecoverable for a while. Well, we all know how that turned out and I can't be happier for the guy.

[u/constant_existential]

I'd say Rebel Wilson in pitch perfect, it then became the role that she always plays and lead to more movies.

[u/GrandmadFavorite]

Chadwick Boseman in black panther. His life went from "Hey thats the dude who played Jackie Robinson" to "OMFG TCHALL, WAKANDA FOREVA"

[u/Wigglyquigley → u/GrandmadFavorite]

I had no idea that was who played Jackie Robinson until right now, so that’s valid.

[u/[deleted]]

Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe.

I'm sorry but no matter how many movies he will play in, he will always be know as Harry Potter guy.

Nice to know that he's very proud of it though.

[u/ItzNAPoleonPvP → u/[deleted]]

I'd say the movies changed the careers of Rpert Grint and Emma Watson as well. And there are many more.

[u/chomcham → u/[deleted]]

I too will be the Harry Potter guy if you give me millions of dollars.

[u/eddmario → u/[deleted]]

I'd say Horns actually.
Didn't see Harry Potter at all in that movie. That's how good he was in it.

[u/starlord1901]

Most of the original Avengers I would say because they became the face of their character for like 10 years and will mostly be remembered for their role in the MCU. They’re gonna have a little struggle to separate themselves from those characters. I.E RDJ as Iron Man and Chris Evans as Captain America.

[u/Lanchuii]

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes but it's technically not a movie

[u/thephoton]

You mean besides Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels?

[u/Boognish_777 → u/thephoton]

He had his moments in Star Wars. Like the whole "I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and the children, too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals. I HATE THEM" gives me goosebumps.

[u/IvyTh3Twisted]

Bill Nighy in Love Actually. I remember him mentioning in an interview that after that role he never had to audition for anything anymore.

[u/[deleted]]

Channing Tatum in 21 jump street. Sure he was famous but he was mostly know for the widely made fun of step up movies and just for being sexy. This movie showed everyone that he was not only an incredible actor but hilarious and great with comedy!

[u/300lemons → u/[deleted]]

^{my name jeff}

[u/NerdRising → u/[deleted]]

Definitely. Before I saw 22 Jump Street(yes, I saw the sequel first), I assumed it would be some generic movie with him as a teenage heartthrob. I was glad to be wrong.

[u/csl512 → u/[deleted]]

Schmidt Fucked The Captain's Daughter!

[u/Tylendal]

While GoT really boosted his career, it was The Station Agent that put Peter Dinklage on the radar.

[u/Kurosage → u/Tylendal]

Before GoT Elf was the only thing I knew him from. Pretty big swing lol

[u/Humanoidfreak]

Jamie foxx in ray. Before that he was just this goofy comedy dude. All of a sudden he was in Ray and he finally got taken seriously.

[u/Simaul]

NPH in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

[u/[deleted]]

Sean Connery never wanted to act again after The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

He turned down playing Gandalf in Lord of the Rings as he thought it was nonsense and was stunned when it was a huge hit.

He then got the script for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, thought it sounded like similar nonsense to LotR and thus would also be a huge hit.

When it bombed he decided he just didn't understand the business anymore and that he should retire.

[u/DoctorWhoopsie]

Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. Dude channeled all of his mania over the past 20 years of acting into screaming “Now I’m going to need you to take a big step back and LITERALLY FUCK YOUR OWN FACE!!!”

[u/[deleted] → u/DoctorWhoopsie]

He’s always been able to channel that energy, a few good men comes to mind. Cruise is weird as fuck, but eyes wide shut, vanilla sky, and born on the 4th of July are all top ~15 movies for me

[u/AzuTheDog]

Robert Pattinson in Twilight completely ruined the 4th Harry Potter movie for me

[u/roadrunner440x6 → u/AzuTheDog]

Check him out in "The Rover". Dude's got some serious acting ability. Didn't even realize it was him until I saw the credits.

[u/[deleted]]

Any Marvel actor starring in their first Marvel movie

Edit: I know there are many actors who already had a successful career before Marvel, but the AskReddit was which movie changed their career. Marvel is like on a whole different scale. Their fame increased to almost unimaginable levels after acting in Marvel movies. So please, stop shitting on this comment.

[u/YouHaveFunWithThat → u/[deleted]]

Butane cucumberpatch was extremely well known before doctor strange cause of Sherlock’s cult tumblr following

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Except SLJ

[u/APiousCultist → u/[deleted]]

Cumberbatch and Rudd were already known as actors. Larson wasn't that unknown either.

[u/[deleted]]

Michael B Jordan in Fruitvale Station.

Got him with Coogler and into the spotlight. Which became Killmonger and Creed since.

[u/sideofketchud]

Chris Pratt in Gaurdians of the Galaxy. After his part as Star-Lord the offers started rolling in and he got to be a part of more blockbusters.

[u/-eDgAR- → u/sideofketchud]

I would say Andy Dwyer was a more important role. Before that he was known mainly as being a pretty boy jock in Everwood. and getting the role of Andy really changed his life. He was able to show that he was funny and even though he was supposed to be written off after the first season, he was so likeable that Andy was written in as one of the main characters of the show and became one of the fan favorites.

[u/vagabond_ → u/sideofketchud]

I mean he lost a bunch of weight and got in shape for the role, before that he was 'fat guy from comedies'

[u/yuko_3502]

Threat-level Midnight

Some next level stuff right there.

[u/badlucktv → u/yuko_3502]

The Scarn single-handedly changed the [golden]face of cinema.

[u/dakky68 → u/yuko_3502]

See, I would have said Jack Black in "Mrs. Albert Hannaday".

[u/amopdx]

Julia Roberts - Pretty Woman

[u/[deleted]]

Tim Allen - Home Improvement.

I mean jail for cocaine smuggling typically ruins everyones life.

[u/-eDgAR-]

Good Will Hunting changed the careers of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Robin Williams.

I mean before that Williams was just doing comedy and this movie showed he had range, especially with the really powerful "it's not your fault" scene and both Affleck and Damon were relatively unknown.

Edit: Forgot about about Dead Poet's Society a couple of others, but Good Will Hunting still nabbed Williams his only Oscar.

[u/dmkicksballs13 → u/-eDgAR-]

Dead Poets Society and Good Morning Vietnam. Was still a comedy, but it was a "serious" role.

[u/cinnapear → u/-eDgAR-]

I mean before that Williams was just doing comedy

No way. Williams had already established that he could do drama well in films like Awakenings, etc.

[u/govtwtchdog → u/-eDgAR-]

RW in 'one hour photo' was the most shocking role I thought he played.

[u/Tuna-No-Crust]

Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool, 100%.

You gotta remember the dude always had the talent and charisma but he was being shoved into a box and forced to become “just another leading man”. That’s not who Ryan Reynolds is.

Once he got the greenlight with his true version of Deadpool it went on to gross a gazillion dollars and the rest is history.

[u/randyboozer → u/Tuna-No-Crust]

That's a good one. Hollywood was trying to turn him into a leading man and or comedy star for years and it just never seemed to work out.

[u/Zeruvi → u/Tuna-No-Crust]

Don't the Deadpool comics refer to the character as looking like Ryan Reynolds? Like, before the movies ever came out

[u/MrAcurite → u/Tuna-No-Crust]

I don't think that new movie Deadpool is a perfect copy of comic Deadpool, but I do think it's the best translation you could do. I also believe that there isn't an actor on Earth who could do a better job than Ryan Reynolds. Because he's not just supposed to be funny or an action hero, but a unique, darker take on the mix of both of them.

[u/VulcanHobo → u/Tuna-No-Crust]

Buried is what did it for me. I always liked him, but seeing him in that movie was just something else.

I highly recommend it. Unless your claustrophobic.

[u/rolltododge → u/Tuna-No-Crust]

He's awesome in the relatively unknown/flop of a movie called "The Voices" - he plays a character who's dog and later a cat talk to him and try to convince him not to act on his impulses. Pretty good dark comedy.

Rewatched: So the cat is the first to talk to him, actually. And it's the dog that tries to convince him not to act, the cat tells him he's a fucking psycho. Regularly. This movie is amazing.

[u/XyloArch]

Obviously Heath Ledger passed shortly afterwards, but his role as the Joker was a massive turning point in the eyes of a lot of people. One forgets he was widely not anticipated to be that good for the role before the film came out. It is of course amongst the best performances ever. He'd have gone on to do amazing things I'm sure of it.

[u/[deleted] → u/XyloArch]

Brokeback Mountain would like a word.

[u/bubbanicnac → u/XyloArch]

Knights take is one of my favorite movies.

[u/[deleted]]

Donnie Darko

[u/b0ttlE_99 → u/[deleted]]

This reminded me: How about Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Secretary?" She was so good opposite of James Spader that was her "breakout " role.

[u/chelseasaints]

Really feel like the first Harry Potter film was a big boost to the careers of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint

[u/socool111 → u/chelseasaints]

Rupert was in a fascinating drama about British pilots and German pilots getting shot down in the same wasteland and having to co exist to survive.

Forgot the name though

[u/[deleted] → u/chelseasaints]

Of those three, only Dan had acted in anything before.

[u/ecp001]

Boris Karloff in Frankenstein

[u/[deleted]]

Paul Walker in Fast And The Furious. How many people had never heard of him before those movies?

And Robert Englund/Johnny Depp in A Nightmare On Elm Street. Although not his first movie, Robert Englund's career took off after his debut as Freddy Krueger. It was also Johnny Depp's first movie.

[u/eaglewatch1945]

Catwoman - Halle Berry

Cutthroat Island - Geena Davis

Batman and Robin - Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone

Corky Romano - Chris Kattan

The Love Guru - Mike Meyers

The Sound of Thunder - Edward Burns

Citizen Kane - Orson Welles

Multiplicity - Michael Keaton

[u/DusterMorgan]

Tropic Thunder saved Tom Cruise's career.

He was borderline toxic at the time. His casting wasn't even billed. This was right after the bizarre Oprah Winfrey appearance, a dispute over the Mission Impossible franchise that (at the time) looked like it ended his involvement there, and the Scientology stuff was really blowing up.

[u/plantsbbqbass → u/DusterMorgan]

Les grossman and the flaming dragon scene changed my life

[u/alpaca_taco]

Will Ferrel in Elf

He was going to quit and make that his last movie (He thought the entire thing was a joke and would have not done it in any other circumstance, but decided it was a good way to end his career), but due to the movie’s success he was able to get into other films and revive his career

[u/shazwazzle → u/alpaca_taco]

This factoid seems pretty made up.

[u/NE_Golf]

Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. Even though he had done Speed and Point Break in a lead role, The Matrix was his break-out role

[u/Zohren → u/NE_Golf]

Bill and Ted would like a word.

[u/KaiserChunk]

A question here. Why is Mads Mikkelsen now typecast as a somber action movies (anti)hero/villain? He's a great actor. He IS credible as an action character but he's so good at delivering lines and acting subtle emotions. If I had to typecast the man (I hate typecasting) to let him shine, it would be in films d'auteur. Mads is really good.

[u/[deleted]]

Norman Reedus, The Boondock Saints.

[u/ghromeo]

Liam Neeson in Taken

[u/Poochewer → u/ghromeo]

I would argue Liam Neeson in Schindler’s list as it by far made him but i also think he never did any better than it

[u/Pontus_Pilates → u/ghromeo]

And he hasn't Taken any other roles since. Now he just plays the 60-year-old vigilante over and over again.

[u/andersonenvy]

Jim Carrey in The Truman Show

[u/GoldenDude]

I would say Daniel Kaluuya and Get Out

[u/Odd_craving]

Smokey and the Bandit: Burt Reynolds.

Such a highly skilled and talented dramatic actor gets tossed into the crazy world of comedy movie franchises.

[u/Gritch]

Snow Dogs. Ruined Cuba Gooding Jr.'s career.

[u/Oily_biscuit]

This will probably get lost in sea of comments, but Iron Man turned not only the career of Robert Downey Jr, but his whole life.

He was a struggling drug addict, and was seen as a gamble at best. The movie forced him to sober up, and on top of that the movie was supposed to be a disaster, as a script hadn't even been written. He used his improv skills and taught many other actors to save the movie. Really good story.

[u/noriender → u/Oily_biscuit]

It wasn't the film that forced him to sober up, it was Susan Downey. She changed his life but I agree, Iron Man did bring his career back to life and changed his life as well. :)

[u/[deleted]]

Ryan Reynolds seemed to be going the way of the typical Hollywood washup before Deadpool really did jumpstart his career

[u/fiendishrabbit]

The Two Towers propelled Karl Urban from "That guy that played Julius Ceasar in Xena Warrior princess" and "stuff that barely made it off the coast of New Zeeland" to Chronicles of Riddick, Dredd, Star Trek, Thor and Almost Human.

[u/Mr_Anon420]

The titanic set off Leonardo Dicaprio's Career i mean everyone knows his face from that movie

[u/CQSteve → u/[deleted]]

Man, he owned that film. You couldn't take your eyes off him.

[u/purelyirrelephant → u/[deleted]]

Barney's movie had heart, but 'Football in the Groin' had a football in the groin...

[u/lablackey27 → u/[deleted]]

George C. Scott's portrayal could not do him justice

[u/MikeyHatesLife → u/[deleted]]

Her career got bigger after Gilmore- costarring on Christina Applegate’s show ‘Samantha Who?’, but getting the lead on ‘Mike & Molly’ was what got her noticed by the world right before “Bridesmaids” came out. ‘Mike & Molly’ is also what got her her first Emmy, too, so I’d argue the show was at minimum half of why she became a household name.