The realm ofTVis the perfect place for actors to prove how unexpectedly great they can be, shocking audiences with incredible performances that reveal just how underestimated they’ve been. Compared to movies, TV shows often get a little bit more leeway when it comes to casting, with more characters offering more opportunities and smaller budgets necessitating less star power to keep the lights on. Some of thegreatest drama series ever madehave completely re-invented the careers of actors who didn’t get enough respect.
In many cases,TV has carved out a suitable environment forcomedic actors to take serious roles, breaking out of being typecast as comic relief.The downside to being known for comedic characters is that such roles are rarely award-worthy, robbing those stuck languishing in them of the accolades they deserve. Luckily, the small screen is there to re-invigorate the careers of many actors, shocking audiences with what they’re capable of.
10Bryan Cranston As Walter White
Breaking Bad
Few series are as famous for completely turning around the perception of a mainstream actor with a single role.Widely considered to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time,Breaking Badtells the story of Walter White, a down-on-his-luck high school chemistry teacher who resorts to cooking meth to make money for his family after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. As he continues his criminal career, Walter morphs from a dorky Dad to a powerful drug kingpin feared by even the most hardened of criminals.
Thanks to the show, Bryan Cranston’s name now sports a totally different reputation.
Prior toBreaking Bad,Bryan Cranston was best known as Hal from the hit sitcomMalcolm in the Middle.Considering Hal’s lovable antics and reliable presence as the funniest character in an already very comedy-forward show, it was certainly a bold gamble for Vince Gilligan to trust Cranston with shouldering the complex and dark turmoil of Walter White. Thanks to the show, Bryan Cranston’s name now sports a totally different reputation.
9Giancarlo Esposito As Gus Fring
Going further into the realm ofVince Gilligan’s TV shows, making underrated comedic actors into dramatic powerhouses would become a staple of theBreaking Baduniverse.Enter Gus Fring, a character introduced in the later episodes of the season and the most memorable antagonist of the series' run. On the surface, Gus Fring is a quiet, friendly, and polite proprietor of a chain of chicken restaurants. But this entire life is just a front for his cold, ruthless drug empire that Walter White soon becomes embroiled in.
Previously, Giancarlo Esposito was hardly a well-known name, having played goofy side characters with only a handful of lines in films likeDo The Right Thing and Maximum Overdrive.Far from an award-worthy actor, it’s safe to say Esposito’s life was completely transformed by his time as Gus Fring. If anything, he now has the opposite problem, constantly being typecast as similar villains in series likeThe Mandalorian,movies likeCaptain America: Brave New World, and even video games likeFar Cry 6.
8Bob Odenkirk As Jimmy McGill
Better Call Saul
The final stop in the Vince Gilligan-verse in terms of transformative roles for comedic actors is easily Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, a.k.a. Saul Goodman.InBreaking Bad,Saul Goodman is introduced as the ultimate archetypal sleazy lawyer, helping Walter White and Jesse to launder their ill-gotten gains. The prequel seriesBetter Call Saulexplains how he wasn’t always such a scumbag, with Saul Goodman being more of a caricature of himself.
Breaking Badmakes sensible use out of Bob Odenkirk’sSaturday Night Live-tested comedic timing, easily being the funniest character of the original show. However,Better Call Saultruly gave Odenkirk the spotlight to flex his dramatic muscles, expertly navigating intense emotional beats with a surprising level of craft.Since the show’s debut, Bob Odenkirk has gotten his just deserts as more than just a hilarious element of a late-night show’s staff.
7Nick Offerman As Bill
The Last of Us
In recent years,TV series based on video gameshave been having an incredible renaissance, as evidenced by series likeThe Last of Us.One of the show’s most critically-acclaimed episodes is actually more of a bottle story somewhat removed from the main plot, featuring a couple who navigate the post-apocalypse by claiming an entire town to themselves. Nick Offerman stars as Bill, a grouchy survivalist with a softer side who offers an intensely touching character arc.
While Bill certainly has shades of Ron Swanson with his doomsday preparedness, he’s less of a caricature and more of a realistic person who could actually exist, allowing Offerman to offer a better breadth of emotions to the role.
Nick Offerman’s name is practically synonymous with hisParks and Recreationcharacter Ron Swanson, an overtly masculine libertarian known for his love of red meat, firearms, and woodworking.While Bill certainly has shades of Ron Swanson with his doomsday preparedness, he’s less of a caricature and more of a realistic person who could actually exist, allowing Offerman to offer a better breadth of emotions to the role. His heartwarming same-sex romance with Frank is also an improvement on the game’s original storyline.
6Adam Scott As Mark Scout/Mark S.
Severance
AnotherParks and Recreationveteran, Adam Scott’s generational run as Mark inSeverancehas been perhaps the best TV performance of the decade so far.Severancetakes place in a near-future in which the titular procedure creates an entirely separate consciousness in so-called “severed” workers, granting them an entire new personality separate to their normal one meant exclusively for working with sensitive classified data. A severed worker at the mysterious company Lumon, Adam Scott’s Mark soon realizes the company has an eerie interest in his personal life.
InParks and Recreation, Adam Scott’s Ben Wyatt is more of an everyman, but is still mostly relied upon for his comedic delivery.However,Severanceshows just how phenomenal of an actor Scott can be, playing two entirely different characters inhabiting the same body. He sometimes even has to rapidly switch back and forth between the two, riding a roller coaster of emotions. Few other roles can showcase quite a wide acting range as Adam Scott’s Mark Scout and Mark S. inSeverancedoes.
5John Cena As Peacemaker
Peacemaker
Like most wrestlers who break into acting, John Cena became typecast in his movie career quite quickly, butPeacemakerallows more time in the spotlight to make use of his nuanced performance capabilities.A spin-off of theDC Universe movieThe Suicide Squad, James Gunn’sPeacemakerfollows Cena’s titular murderous “hero” as he faces a new alien threat while also battling his tumultuous past. As can be expected, the series leverages full use of Cena’s comedic charm as a brash oaf typical of his movie catalog.
However,Peacemakeractually does include a few dramatic scenes that examine Christopher Smith’s deranged upbringing and lingering PTSD from his abhorrent actions, putting the trigger-happy mercenary in a new light.Never before has Cena been given a platform as long-running and expansive as the show to flex his actual acting capabilities long dormant beneath all the muscles and goofball charm.For a superhero show,Peacemakerisn’t afraid to get into the weeds of morality, morbid humor, and emotional fallout.
4Bill Hader As Barry
Barry
Barrymight have a lot of comedic elements, but Bill Hader’s titular role has a lot of emotional gravitas to navigate over the course of the series.The show centers on Barry Berkman, a highly-skilled hitman from Cleveland who ends up falling in love with Tinsel Town while on a mission in Los Angeles. Dreaming to become an actor, the contract assassin ends up taking an acting class, though escaping from his criminal past won’t prove to be easy over the course of his career change.
Admittedly, Bill Hader technically wasn’t too far from being an award-nominated actor going in toBarry, having earned 4 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his work onSaturday Night Live.But despite being labeled as a dark comedy,Barryarguably leans far harder on the former, urging Hader to expand his repertoire as a serious actor.Barryonly remains as good as it is because of how well Hader is able to navigate those more intentional scenes.
3Jason Bateman As Marty Byrde
Ozark
A shockingly tense drama with a singularly unexpected lead,Ozarkis proof enough that no actor should be discounted for their dramatic talent going into a TV show.Taking place in the eponymous region of rural Missouri,Ozarkposits Jason Batmen as Marty Byrde, a crooked accountant tasked with setting up a money-laundering operation for the Mexican cartel after his previous set-up goes bust. It isn’t long before him and his family become caught up in conflict with the area’s own local criminals.
ThroughoutJason Bateman’s filmography, he’s usually positioned as the exasperated straight man in a hilarious troupe, though he sometimes gets to be a little more wild himself.Yet no one could have guessed he had the acting skills needed to makeOzarkcome to life, never letting the tension ease up and maintaining the terse sense of danger permeating the entire show. If anything,Ozarkalmost seems intent on having as little humor as possible to keep Bateman’s dramatic chops as well-preserved as ever.
2Kristen Bell As Eleanor Shellstrop
The Good Place
The Good Placemight primarily be a comedy, but to say it didn’t give its core cast a chance to shine would be a gross understatement.The quirky supernatural sitcom takes place in a metaphysical afterlife simply called “The Good Place”, in which Kristen Bell’s Eleanor Shellstrop has somehow found herself after dying. Knowing that her life as an Arizona scumbag didn’t earn her a spot in heaven, Eleanor does all she can to learn about ethics from her designated soul mate before the angelic Michael finds out the truth.
Kristen Bell was previously better known as the star of teen dramas likeVeronica MarsandGossip Girl, far from the kinds of roles that would earn her Golden Globe Award nominations likeThe Good Placedid.Considering the earnestness with which Bell is able to imbue the show’s more heartbreaking scenes and the difficult-to-grasp esoteric terror of its various developments, these nominations were more than earned. Kristen Bell is phenomenal with how much change she’s able to imbue in Eleanor over the course ofThe Good Place.
1Matt Smith As Daemon Targaryen
House of the Dragon
After the failure that was the finale ofGame of Thrones, it’s hard to imagine the pressure that might have been placed on the latest incarnation ofthe twisted Targaryen family treeinHouse of the Dragon.Matt Smith stars as Daemon Targaryen, an accomplished wartime general and brother to the king whose chances for the throne are passed over, only to start a typically Targaryen incestuous relationship with his niece in hopes of ascendancy. Daemon is easily one of the most intriguingly evil characters ever introduced to Westeros across either series.
Daemon is a far cry from Matt Smith’s work as the Doctor in the esteemed British sci-fi legacy seriesDoctor Who, where he’s a lovably nerdy incarnation of the time-traveling cornball. The performance of movies likeMorbiusdidn’t help Smith’s case as a serious villain, but he’s been consistently one of the strongest actors throughoutHouse of the Dragon.Hopefully, future seasons can continue to prove Matt Smith’s deserved title as one ofTV’s best antagonists.
