This list explores comedic actors, who I feel, have made a successful dramatic turn. The two criteria for the list are: the actor had to first come to public recognition as a comedic performer before taking on a dramatic role and that they made at least one successful dramatic turn. To be clear, this is not a ranking. I have simply chosen 12 comedic actors who I believe excelled in their dramatic turns.
Also, there are potential spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.
BILL HADER & KRISTEN WIIG
Film: The Skeleton Twins
Okay. I know what you’re thinking. This is a cheat so I can add one more performer to the list. Well, you’re absolutely right. So, I guess, consider this list to be a baker’s dozen. However, since these performances go hand in hand and because they are in the same film, I will allow it. The film follows estranged twins Milo and Maggie who are seemingly reunited by fate after they both attempt suicide on the same day. I know it sounds like a real yuk fest, but the film manages to strike the right balance between tragedy and comedy. The brilliant casting of Hader and Wiig allows them to not only nail the dark humor, but also to explore the reality of what it is like to have depression, and how each person copes differently.
Hader plays Milo, a struggling actor with a flair for the dramatic and a bit of a drinking problem. Disillusioned that he didn’t make it as an actor and is all alone, he often gets drunk, and as he tells his sister, “I get depressed about my life and I do stupid things.” After a pretty nasty breakup, Milo slits his wrists in his bathtub, only to be saved after a neighbor complains about his loud music. Maggie, on the other hand, is staring down at a handful of pills, contemplating the end, when she learns Milo is in the hospital. Despite a ten-year absence from each other’s lives, Maggie visits Milo in the hospital and insists he stays with her in upstate New York.
Unlike her brother, Maggie seems to have her life put together. She has been married to Lance (Luke Wilson) for two years and is “trying” to have a baby with him. While it’s clear that she loves her husband, it is just as clear that she is facing an internal struggle. Her life has not turned out the way she had hoped and she seems just to be coasting through it. Despite the love she has for Lance, she is a serial cheater, a fact that tears her up inside. For her, it’s like an addiction. She can’t help herself but feels incredibly guilty afterward. To make matters worse, while Lance thinks that they are trying for a baby, Maggie has secretly been taking birth control, not quite sure if she even wants to be a mother. The scene that perfectly captures this feeling is right after Maggie has slept with her scuba teacher. She sits in her car, screams at the top of her lungs, and repeatedly hits the steering wheel.
As the twins reunite, we learn more about their past and how their upbringing affected them. Their father was their biggest cheerleader. He taught them to always stay together and to have each other’s backs. But even their father succumbed to his demons and eventually committed suicide, leaving them with their self-absorbed mother. It becomes clear that all these years later, they are not over their father’s death. I believe that’s why they are so casual about suicide and suicide attempts. It’s as if his death normalized it for them. We can dive even further into Milo’s past specifically when he begins a secretive affair with Rich (Ty Burrell), a former lover with a checkered past.
Throughout the film, there are a couple of scenes that display true powerhouse acting. The first is on Halloween night. Maggie and Milo dress up and go around the neighborhood talking, laughing, and having an overall great time. The scene culminates with a sweet, tender dance at a bar. While Milo is in the men’s room, Maggie is looking through photos on his phone. The atmosphere completely changes when he gets a call from Rich. You see the fury in her eyes as she realizes he has been sneaking around with him. Maggie abruptly leaves the bar. Milo follows her out, trying to figure out what is wrong. Maggie confronts him about seeing Rich again and more unsettling things about his character are revealed. Maggie reminds him of everything that went down with Rich the first time and how she was the one who was there for him. Milo angrily reminds Maggie that she’d always had a boyfriend, but he was lonely and believed early on that Rich loved him. Maggie, in tears, tells him that he is delusional, before walking away.
The next powerful scene takes place shortly after. Milo has a “dude’s day” with Lance and begins to bond with him. After Lance expresses how excited he is to be a father and how nervous he is that Maggie hasn’t gotten pregnant yet, he lets Maggie’s secret slip. When she returns home from work, Lance confronts Maggie about her hidden birth control. Maggie comes clean, telling him that she’s not ready to be a mother. Additionally, she admits that she has been with three other men since they’ve been married, effectively ending their marriage. Luke Wilson was surprisingly good in this scene too. You see the pain in Lance’s eyes as he walks away without saying a word. Maggie storms outside and confronts Milo about interfering with her marriage. “What marriage?” Milo asks. “If you think that’s a marriage, then you’re fucking nuts.” Yelling, they then put everything on the table and both say things to the other they wish they could take back.
Now, that’s not to say this movie is completely dark. There are great moments of levity sprinkled throughout. Probably the most iconic scene from the movie is when the twins lip sync to Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” It’s a bit tense when the scene starts. Maggie is upset at Milo for bursting into her bedroom in the middle of the night while drunk. Milo gives it his all as he lip-syncs and uses expressive hand motions. Eventually, it becomes impossible for Maggie not to join in, melting the tensions away. It’s a funny, yet beautiful scene.
In my opinion, this is just a great film. Unfortunately, I don’t think a large percentage of the population has seen the movie. Hader and Wiig give mesmerizing performances and Wilson and Burrell aren’t too shabby either. I hope that one day, we see Wiig and Hader take on more dramatic roles. And because I wanted to focus solely on film, I intentionally neglected to mention Hader’s stellar performance in his HBO masterpiece, Barry. The man won two consecutive Emmy awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, but I’m not quite sure Hader would have gotten to that level as a performer without acting in this film. As one of my favorite TV shows of all time, I could go on about Barry for much longer, but that will be the end of that. If you have not seen this film, I highly encourage you to check it out.
Check this out: The Skeleton Twins (8/10) Movie CLIP – You Ruined My Marriage (2014) HD
