Unlike Liam Neeson, some actors specialize in one genre, with many sticking with comedies and others with action movies. However, the best actors spread their wings and take chances in different genres, and the best of them have mastered multiple genres. Liam Neeson’s career follows this trajectory as he heads into the big 2025 comedy sequel, The Naked Gun.
This includes everything from comedies and action films to dramas, horror, as heroes and villains. Over the years, several actors have proven themselves in various genres, and some have won significant awards for their portrayal of diverse characters. Liam Neeson is a great example, going from dramas and action movies to comedies.
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Liam Neeson
Date Of Birth: June 7, 1952
Liam Neeson has enjoyed a unique career. He began his career in more fantasy-styled movies, such as Excalibur (1981) and Krull (1983). He later starred in Sam Raimi’s original superhero movie, Darkman, in 1990. However, he achieved his biggest success playing Oskar Schindler in the drama Schindler’s List (1993).
Neeson earned his only Oscar nomination for Schindler’s List, and he went on to play historical drama roles in movies like Nell, Rob Roy, Michael Collins, and Les Misérables. Then, things changed when he landed the role of a Jedi in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, entering the big-budget sci-fi action genre.
Following his villainous role in Batman Begins, Neeson emerged as a major action star.
He followed that up with a horror movie (The Haunting) and a romantic comedy (Love Actually) before returning to historical dramas with the critically acclaimed Kinsey. However, after that, his career changed forever. Following his villainous role in Batman Begins, Neeson emerged as a major action star, with Taken being his most notable success.
Neeson said that his action roles are coming to an end, and it appears he might be returning to comedy, thanks to 2025’s The Naked Gun.
9
Tom Hanks
Date Of Birth: July 9, 1956
Tom Hanks is someone who transitioned from a great comedy actor to one of the greatest drama actors in Hollywood history. Hanks got his breakout work on sitcoms, with his most significant role coming in ʙosoм Buddies. This led to big-screen comedies like Splash, Bachelor Party, The ‘Burbs, Big, and Turner & Hooch.
It seemed that Hanks was destined to be a career comedy actor, but he took a different direction in the 1990s and became an Oscar-winning actor. After a notable role in A League of Their Own, he took on a role in the romantic comedy-drama Sleepless in Seattle, followed by his biggest drama role at the time in Philadelphia.
Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as a gay lawyer with AIDS in Philadelphia, and that changed his career. He won his second Oscar one year later for Forrest Gump and earned nominations later for Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
However, Hanks continued to experiment with different genres. He did animation (Toy Story), action (The Da Vinci Code), sci-fi (Cloud Atlas), and Westerns (News of the World). While Tom Hanks’ horror experience is limited, and he rarely plays villains, Hanks is an actor who has done it all.
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Keanu Reeves
Date Of Birth: September 2, 1964
When Keanu Reeves began his career, his most notable role was in the comedy Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and it seemed he was destined to play a slacker comedy character for the rest of his career. However, he shocked fans with his 1991 indie drama My Own Private Idaho.
Reeves proved how great he was acting alongside River Phoenix, who was one of the best actors of his generation before his untimely death. The same year, he also showed his skills in the action genre with the starring role in Point Break. Since then, Reeves has done everything.
He was in one of the 1990s’ best action movies (Speed), a horror drama (The Devil’s Advocate), and one of the best sci-fi movies of all time (The Matrix). Adding his extremely successful action movie franchise, John Wick, to the mix, Reeves remains a versatile and beloved actor across all genres.
7
Ian McKellen
Date Of Birth: May 25, 1939
Ian McKellen is a classically trained English actor who has won a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Olivier Awards. However, he has never won an Oscar, despite two nominations. Despite this, he remains known as one of cinema’s most celebrated and talented actors.
McKellen has experience in Shakespeare productions, but he has done so much more than that. He has starred in historical dramas (Gods and Monsters, Amadeus) and horror movies (The Keep, Apt Pupil), but his greatest acclaim comes in more geek-centric properties.
He played the heroic Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings franchise and the villainous Magneto in the X-Men comic book movies. Whether he was good or bad, in fantasies or real-life epics, McKellen mastered it all.
6
Robert De Niro
Date Of Birth: August 17, 1943
For many movie fans, Robert De Niro is one of the best examples of mobsters and criminals in crime dramas. This is because his earliest successful roles were in movies of that nature, specifically those directed by Martin Scorsese. He broke out in The Godfather Part II, where he played a young Don Corleone rising through the ranks of the mafia.
He then took on darker roles in movies like Taxi Driver and Cape Fear. However, De Niro was also willing to stretch his acting muscles in things like the sports biopic Raging Bull, the surreal fantasy Brazil, and the buddy comedy Midnight Run.
By the time the 1990s came around, De Niro had mastered most movie genres. In that decade, he took on action movies (Backdraft), dramas (Awakenings), more mobster movies (Goodfellas and Casino), action thrillers (Heat), and satires (Wag the Dog).
De Niro had a couple of surprises in the 2000s. He shocked all his fans by starring in the broad comedy Meet the Parents in 2000, and then worked in straight horror movies (Godsend) and even comic book adaptations (Joker).
5
Nicole Kidman
Date Of Birth: June 20, 1967
When Nicole Kidman got her start, she appeared in the Australian psychological thriller ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Calm, which caught the attention of Hollywood. She arrived in America and took on various roles in action movies (Days of Thunder), comic book movies (Batman Forever), and romantic fantasies (Practical Magic).
She has since moved on to show her talent in almost every genre imaginable. She earned an Oscar nomination for the musical Moulin Rouge! and a second for the period drama The Hours. She starred in the horror movie The Others, the fantasy film The Golden Compᴀss, the family film Paddington, and appeared in TV shows like Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers.
4
Helen Mirren
Date Of Birth: July 26, 1945
Helen Mirren has a somewhat similar career to Ian McKellen. She has been acting for six decades, beginning her career in theater before transitioning to movies. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and played Queen Elizabeth on stage many years before reprising the role on the big screen.
Her first major movie role was in the comedy-drama Age of Consent, and she went on to star in several films that drew on her theater experience, such as Caligula and Hamlet. However, she branched out into fantasy (Excalibur), dramas (The Mosquito Coast), and sci-fi (2010: The Year We Make Contact).
Over the last two decades, Mirren has shown her range, starring in period dramas (Gosford Park), action comedies (Red), biopics (The Queen), action thrillers (F9, Fast X), comic book movies (Shazam! Fury of the Gods), and comedies (Barbie). She has earned four Oscar nominations, winning for The Queen.
3
Sandra Bullock
Date Of Birth: July 26, 1964
Sandra Bullock got her start acting in the late 1980s and gained early attention for a sci-fi action-comedy called Demolition Man, co-starring alongside Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone. This pushed Bullock into the action genre, where Bullock became a superstar by starring with Keanu Reeves in the film Speed.
However, Bullock quickly pivoted and took a role in the romantic comedy While You Were Sleeping, which proved that she was a star in the romance movie genre as well. This made her one of the ’90s biggest stars, with follow-ups like A Time to Kill and Hope Floats.
She has always been a huge comedy star, with movies like Miss Congeniality, The Proposal, The Heat, and The Lost City proving her popularity. She also has horror movies (Bird Box) and dramas (Crash) in her past, but her most notable role came in the biographical drama The Blind Side, for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress.
2
Morgan Freeman
Date Of Birth: June 1, 1937
Morgan Freeman is an exceptional actor who continues to deliver outstanding performances at the age of 88. He got his start working on children’s television with roles in the PBS series The Electric Company. In the 80s, he worked on the soap opera Another World, and in 1987, he finally achieved success with Street Smart, earning an Oscar nomination.
Finally, he landed his breakout role in the 1989 movie Glory, a story about an African-American regiment during the Civil War. This led to some mᴀssive roles for Freeman, including the dramas Driving Miss Daisy and Lean On Me, the Western Unforgiven, and the historical fantasy Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Morgan Freeman also had major roles in various films, including the Stephen King drama The Shawshank Redemption, the superhero movies of The Dark Knight trilogy, comedies such as Bruce Almighty, action movies like RED, and thrillers like Seven.
1
Jamie Lee Curtis
Date Of Birth: November 22, 1958
Jamie Lee Curtis is a second-generation actor who has taken on roles in a variety of movies. However, she got her start in the genre that her mother helped create. Janet Leigh starred in the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie Psycho, which was considered the grandfather of the slasher genre. Her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, starred in Halloween, one of the first successful slashers.
It seemed that Curtis was going to get typecast in horror movies, as she followed up with roles in The Fog, Prom Night, and Terror Train. She also appeared in seven total Halloween movies over her career. However, she has accomplished even more and achieved success along the way.
In 1983, Curtis took on her first significant comedy movie role in Trading Places, and she proved she was great in these movies as well. Other great genre examples include A Fish Called Wanda, and Freaky Friday. She has also starred in action movies (True Lies), fantasy films (Everything Everywhere All At Once), and mysteries (Knives Out) throughout her career.
