After making us laugh in When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers and several Academy Awardshosting gigs, Billy Crystal is bringing the drama with the new series Before, which premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, October 25.
In what the streamer calls an “atmospheric, character-driven psychological thriller” Crystal plays Eli, a child psychiatrist and recent widower who encounters a troubled young boy seemingly connected to Eli’s past.
Our bet is that Crystal will deliver a powerful dramatic performance, much like these other comedic stars who wowed us with their more serious screen roles. Here are our picks for the best dramatic turns from otherwise comedic actors.
13. Jennifer Aniston in The Morning Show
Aniston’s first big TV gig post-Friends is a powerhouse performance. In The Morning Show, she plays Alex Levy, a morning news anchor who gets her due respect in the wake of a network scandal that should ring familiar to Today viewers.
12. Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Michael Scott was probably far from any Office fan’s mind when they watched Carell in this true-crime film. Carell plays wealthy wrestling fan John du Pont, whose fixation on two Olympic medal-decorated brothers turns deadly.
11. Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems
Amid all the puerile movies in Sandler’s filmography are diamonds in the rough like Uncut Gems, in which he disappears into a role as a jewelry store owner struggling to pay off his debts. And if you like Sandler’s performance in that film, be sure to check him out in Punch-Drunk Love.
10. Bill Murray in Lost in Translation
We may never know what Murray’s character whispers to Scarlett Johansson’s at the end of this romantic dramedy. But we do know Murray moved us in his role as Bob, a fading m ovie star finding new connection during a Tokyo-set midlife crisis. (Murray’s karaoke in the film is just a bonus.)
9. Awkwafina in The Farewell
This Crazy Rich Asians scene-stealer went more somber in The Farewell, playing Billi, a woman whose grandmother, Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen), is dying. The tension is that Billi’s family has elected not to tell Nai Nai about her terminal illness, and Billi has to continue the charade on a trip to China.
8. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting
Williams put the brakes on his high-energy comedy schtick for his Academy Award-winning role as Dr. Sean Maguire, a psychologist who helps a troubled math genius (played by Matt Damon). In the subdued monologue seen here, for example, Sean explains the difference between intellect and experience.
7. Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
This film, based on a true story, follows abrasive, alcoholic author Lee Israel, who finds a new calling (and a new income stream) forging letters by literary types more famous than she. But with McCarthy in the lead role, you almost want to root for the ruse.
6. Katey Sagal in Sons of Anarchy
After playing lovable moms on Married… With Children and 8 Simple Rules, Sagal played a more menacing matriarch in this motorcycle gang drama. As Gemma Teller Morrow, she’ll do anything — and use whatever object is in arm’s reach — to protect her family.
5. Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
It was a toss-up between Carrey in The Truman Show and Carrey in Eternal Sunshine, but we’re giving it to the latter, in which the funnyman plays it straight as Joel Barish, a man who regrets signing up for a procedure to erase memories of his ex. Just like Clementine (Kate Winslet), Carrey’s performance is unforgettable.
4. Mo’Nique in Precious
Viewers were stunned by this stand-up comedian’s terrifying and tragic turn as Mary, the abusive mother in this drama film. Oscar voters were, too, awarding Mo’Nique the trophy for Best Supporting Actress. (And speaking of casting surprises, check out a de-glammed Mariah Carey in this clip, too.)
3. Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul
In Breaking Bad’s acclaimed spinoff, this sketch-comedy veteran continues his role as a con artist and criminal defense lawyer who only sometimes gets himself out of the trouble he causes himself. That’s Jimmy McGill, a.k.a. Saul Goodman, as in, “It’s all good, man!”
2. Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple
Around the time her comedy career earned her a Grammy Award and got her started on the path to EGOT glory, Goldberg took a turn for the dramatic in The Color Purple. In the film, she plays Celie, a Black woman enduring abuse and bigotry in the early-20th-century South.
1. Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad
After years on Malcolm in the Middle, Cranston swapped comedy for drama as Breaking Bad’s Walter White, a chemistry teacher who becomes a drug lord as his desperation and devotion to his family turns into a hunger for power. The actor’s four Emmy Awards for the performance somehow seem like too few.
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