10 Greatest Dramatic Performances by Comedic Actors, Ranked
When a comedian tries their hand at more dramatic roles, it usually results in some surprising performances that go on to leave an indelible mark on the audience. But why do comedians often excel at drama, too? As artists, comedians often have a great understanding of human emotion and concepts like vulnerability and timing, which, when applied to more dramatic roles, are as efficient at evoking sadness of shock as they are at evoking laughter in a comedy. When a comedian steps into more serious material, the results are often iconic, so here are our 10 favorite performances of this kind, ranked.
10
Melissa McCarthy in ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ (2018)
In 2018, Melissa McCarthy was already on everybody’s radar for being a talented comedian with an Oscar nomination for Bridesmaids in 2012. What no one saw coming, though, was that her next Oscar nod would be for a dramatic role. In Can You Ever Forgive Me?, McCarthy is mostly unrecognizable as real-life writer Lee Israel, who turned to literary forgery out of desperation. McCarthy’s trademark sarcasm and dry wits are there, but targeted at something different and used sparingly as she paints Israel as a bitter and deeply lonely person who, needing something good to happen for once, makes the wrong choice.
9
Steve Carell in ‘Foxcatcher’ (2014)
It’s hard for some not to think of Steve Carell as Michael Scott in The Office, but, after he left the hit sitcom, it was like he was determined to prove he could be more. He had already proven he could go beyond comedy in Little Miss Sunshine, but it was in Foxcatcher that he cemented his status as a capable dramatic character actor. As John du Pont, Carell shines through the prosthetics, giving a chilling portrait of entitlement and delusion. Foxcatcher earned Carell his first Oscar nomination, immediately raising the industry’s attention to him as more than just the guy who made people laugh with cringe-inducing antics. More dramatic roles followed in The Big Short and Beautiful Boy, but it all started when he played a hollow rich guy who thought he could buy greatness.
8
Jonah Hill in ‘Moneyball’ (2011)
When he co-starred in Moneyball alongside Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill had already built himself a reputation as one of the funniest actors of his generation with hits like Superbad, but it was the role of Peter Brand, a shy, statistics-obsessed analyst, that made Hollywood take him seriously. It earned Hill his first Oscar nomination, with him holding his own acting opposite Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman by underplaying every scene and highlighting Brand’s awkwardness, making him almost cartoonish while also making it easier to absorb the technical aspects of what is going on. He went on to score other dramatic roles in his career and establish his own voice as one worth being heard beyond comedy.
7
Will Ferrell in ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ (2006)
Although Stranger Than Fiction does have elements of a comedy, Will Ferrell‘s role as strict IRS agent Harold Crick is his first and best statement as a capable dramatic actor. Instead of the loud bits we’re used to seeing him do in his comedies, he plays Harold as a quiet and uptight man who suddenly realizes that his life is being narrated by an unseen author. Ferrell went on to star in other more serious movies, like 2010’s Everything Must Go, but the existential tone in Stranger Than Fiction provides him with a broader canvas. He even keeps some of his comedic chops in how Harold acts, but it’s all about fitting within the overall theme of the movie rather than played for laughs.
6
Awkwafina in ‘The Farewell’ (2019)
When The Farewell came out in 2019, Awkwafina had barely broken out with roles in Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s Eight, so taking a dramatic role in Lulu Wang‘s acclaimed drama was a bold swing, but she proved she can deliver a layered emotional performance besides her usual over-the-top comedy. The film follows Billi, a young woman caught between two cultures as she struggles with her family’s decision to follow tradition and keep her grandmother’s terminal diagnosis a secret. Fewer films capture so well what being bi-cultural feels like, with Billi questioning the morality of this decision as someone who grew up in the US, but is part of a traditional Chinese family.
5
Owen Wilson in ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ (2007)
Fewer actors ever had a run like Owen Wilson in the 2000s, when he established himself as a Hollywood comedy powerhouse. At the same time, his partnership with Wes Anderson gave him the opportunity to work in more complex roles, The Darjeeling Limited being arguably the best one. Here, he trades his easygoing charm and quick wit for introspection, vulnerability, and control, and says “wow” only once.
Francis is the oldest of three estranged brothers who reunite to search for their mother in India after their father dies. There are touches of Anderson’s light-hearted comedy, but the story is all about coming to terms with not being able to fix everything, which resonates perfectly through the image of Wilson’s bandaged face as he accepts that he “still got some healing to do.” Everyone with siblings and turbulent families can certainly relate.
4
Adam Sandler in ‘Punch-Drunk Love’ (2002)
Although people usually associate him with Netflix comedies, Adam Sandler has also proved himself in dramas and thrillers more than once before. He was recently snubbed for an Oscar for Uncut Gems, but, way before that, he could’ve gotten his first nod for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Punch-Drunk Love. It may technically be a romantic comedy, but Sandler’s work leans more on drama, sadness, and confusion than anything else, making it his most complex role yet.
In Punch-Drunk Love, Anderson weaponizes Sandler’s persona, transforming his comedic bits into emotional rawness. As the chronically lonely and unstable Barry Egan, Sandler is simultaneously unsettling and deeply sympathetic, and feels particularly real precisely because it subverts the audience’s expectations of Sandler. It’s a bold and unforgettable performance, the first time Sandler showed what he could do when given a serious script.
3
Robin Williams in ‘Dead Poets Society’ (1989)
Robin Williams played a few great serious roles in his career, like Good Will Hunting and One Hour Photo, but his best and most memorable is certainly as English teacher John Keating in Dead Poets Society, where he gets to use the qualities that make him a great comedian and seamlessly apply them to drama, especially his timing, loud manners, and warm empathy.
At the strict, all-male Welton Academy, Keating inspires his students—and the audience—to defy the world’s expectations by being true to themselves. While Williams can be somewhat caricaturesque at times, there’s none of that in Keating, whom he imbues with a lot of heart and honesty instead. He plays it with a mix of levity and gravitas that is irresistible not only to the students, but especially for the audience, too.
2
Bill Murray in ‘Lost in Translation’ (2003)
By the time Lost in Translation premiered, Bill Murray was already an icon of sardonic humor and deadpan delivery, but Sofia Coppola’s film recontextualizes those traits into something deeply personal and poignant. Murray plays Bob Harris, a faded movie star doing a whiskey commercial in Tokyo to ignore his midlife crisis who ends up finding a true connection with Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young woman who’s undergoing a similar crisis.
Lost in Translation is really a movie about loneliness in the modern world and the feeling that you may never quite fit anywhere. Most people may be okay with drowning themselves in a constant feeling of simulated happiness, but what of those who can’t? This is the feeling that Murray perfectly inhabits as Harris, turning his deadpan comedy into a blasé attitude towards everything until Charlott comes along. He has other great dramatic roles, but none quite like Harris.
1
Jim Carrey in ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (2004)
All the actors on this list excelled in drama because they took their comedic talents to another direction, but what makes Jim Carrey‘s performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind truly incomparable is that there is none of his comedic persona in it. As Joel Barish, Carrey is timid and contained, but with an underlying desperation for connection that is unlike any other dramatic role he ever played.
When filming, Carrey was himself undergoing a similar situation to Joel’s, which prompted director Michel Gondry to tell him that he looked “so beautiful, so broken” and ask him to “not get better.” While that’s problematic in itself, Carrey’s performance is rooted in that sentiment, helping to ground the film’s sci-fi approach to relationships in deeply human feelings and truth. All of Carrey’s ability to add emotional depth to his characters is channeled toward Joel’s relationship with himself and Clementine (Kate Winslet) in ways that no other comedic actor has done in a drama before.
