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10 Actor Reinventions
On 20th
July 2015, THE GUNMAN arrives
on DVD and Blu-ray. With such a diverse acclaimed cast, including
Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, Idris Elba and Ray Winstone, the film
reminds us of the beauty of reinvention on the big screen. In
Hollywood you can go from a string of small roles to being the
starring lead overnight. To celebrate its release, on digital
platforms from 13th July, 2015 and on Blu-ray and DVD from 20th July
2015, courtesy of STUDIOCANAL, we’ve compiled a list of some of the
best actor reinventions over the years.
Sean
Penn
Sean Penn
appeared in a 1974 episode of the Little House
on the Prairie television series as an extra
when his father, Leo, directed some of the episodes. He launched his
film career with the 1981 action-drama Taps,
where he played a military high school cadet. He went on to become a
member of the Hollywood A-List starring in intense feature dramas
including Mystic River,
Milk (for which he won
Best Actor Oscars), 21 Grams,
Fair Game, The
Interpreter, Gangster
Squad, and The Tree of
Life. In THE GUNMAN, Penn has reinvented
himself as an actor, swapping his intense dramatic side, for an all
action, flying kicking alter ego out to save the world with a
combination of intellect and heavy duty weaponry.
Liam
Neeson
Liam
Neeson broke onto the scene playing rather cool and collected
characters, which had a tendency of veer on the serious side of
things. Early in his career, roles in iconic films like Gangs
of New York, Michael Collins and Schindler’s List made
him the ideal dramatic character with an intensity you were sucked
into. Fast forward to the present day and Neeson is now an iconic
action star. Whether he’s starring in Taken,
Non-Stop, or Run All
Night one thing is for sure- he’s taking
care of business, and his opponents are one step away from their
imminent doom.
Matthew
McConaughey
The
handsome Texas native, Matthew McConaughey made a name for himself
playing a string of leading men in a number of predictable, but
always entertaining romantic comedies. Whether he was starring in The
Wedding Planner or How
to Lose a Guy in 10 Days he had the ladies
swooning over his looks rather than his acting. After consciously
deciding to revamp his career he took off, and now has become a real
Hollywood star even nabbing himself an Oscar for his role in Dallas
Buyers Club. Between his most recent
performances in Interstellar
and True Detective
McConaughey is garnering a whole new kind of attention and praise for
his acting abilities.
Mark
Wahlberg
If
reinventions garnered awards Mark Walberg would be winning big. Not
only has he reinvented himself once, but he managed to do it twice
successfully. The Boston native has come a long way from his rough
criminal past. His first reinvention landed him in music as part of
the New Kids on the Block,
but eventually he branched out into hip hop with his group Marky
Mark and the Funky
Bunch. Just when everyone thought they had
him and all figured out he blew them away with his acting. From
Three Kings, The
Perfect Storm, to The
Departed, Walberg proves with every role he’s
got this acting thing down.
Robert
Downey Jr.
In his
heyday Robert Downey Jr. demonstrated some serious acting abilities
in roles like Less than Zero and
Chaplin. Showing in both cases the diverse
array of characters he was capable of playing. His public battle with
drugs took him off the map for a while, but he surfaced with multiple
hit comedic roles in films like Tropic
Thunder, and Kiss
Kiss, Bang Bang.
His reinvention was capitulated into blockbuster success when he took
on the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man,
and since then he’s been having one smash hit after another as part
of the Marvel franchise.
Will
Smith
Will Smith
entered our hearts as the bright colour wearing over the top rapper
many of us fondly remember as the Fresh Prince
of Bel Air. He made a career out of being
everyone’s favourite funny man with not a serious bone in him. If
only we knew then that he would completely reinvent himself into
major Hollywood name. From his parts in The
Pursuit of Happyness, I
Am Legend, Ali, and
Enemy of the State,
he has proven to be more than capable of
playing a range of characters. Nowadays Will Smith is a real leading
man with box office presence.
Bryan
Cranston
Bryan
Cranston started off his career playing Hal on the iconic hit sitcom
Malcolm in the Middle.
After playing the family patriarch for seven great seasons it was
hard to imagine Cranston being anyone else other than the comedic
dad, who always made us laugh. However Cranston proved us wrong when
he became Walter White in the smash hit Breaking
Bad, earning four Emmys and a Golden Globe
for the role. Not only did he show us another side of himself, but he
completely reinvented his career.
Hugh
Laurie
Looking at
Hugh Laurie’s career success now it’s hard to believe he had his
start in the comedy genre. In the United Kingdom he is best known
from his comedic success as Bertie Wooster, the other have the duo of
Jeeves and Wooster.
Laurie has undergone a full transformation, now playing characters
with a lot less humour and more wit and seriousness. Between his
impeccable American accent and hit roles in cult favourites like
House, and Veep,
Laurie has become a legitimate star.
Jaime
Foxx
Jaime Foxx
spent most of the 90s as a reigning comedy king. He even had a
successful sitcom baring his namesake. Somewhere in between making
everyone laugh Jaime Foxx transformed into a serious actor. His
complete career revamp won him an Oscar for his role in Ray
solidifying his star power. Any
Given Sunday, Collateral, and Dreamgirls
are just some of the amazing roles he’s
taken on over the years impressing us time and time again with his
acting skills.
Andrew
Garfield
Andrew got
his career started playing the boy next door in the British
television series Sugar Rush. Fast-forward some years followed by a
career shift to America and Garfield has become a major a box office
success. The Social Network was
his breakout role that really displayed his acting abilities.
Followed by taking on the iconic role of Spider-Man, long gone are
the days of Garfield playing the generic boy next door roles.
THE
GUNMAN is released on digital platforms
from 13th July, 2015 and on Blu-ray and DVD from 20th July 2015,
courtesy of STUDIOCANAL
