History PlayingAgainstType / FilmActing

* His role of Col. Tom Parker in "Film/{{Elvis 2022}}" is nothing short of a dubious, highly manipulative conman, a far cry from his earlier roles of morally upright men.

* Creator/TomHanks was well-known for playing sly, comedic characters in '80s comedies. [[TomHanksSyndrome And then came a little film called]] ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', and [[InspirationallyDisadvantaged another film called]] ''Film/ForrestGump''. Since then he became better known for playing upstanding men of integrity in such films as ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', "Film/TheGreenMile" and ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan''. He subverted this new reputation with ''Film/RoadToPerdition'', in which he played a mob hitman (though still a [[HitmanWithAHeart pretty sympathetic one]]).

* Creator/TomHanks was well-known for playing sly, comedic characters in '80s comedies. [[TomHanksSyndrome And then came a little film called]] ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', and [[InspirationallyDisadvantaged another film called]] ''Film/ForrestGump''. Since then he became better known for playing upstanding men of integrity in such films as ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' and ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan''. He subverted this new reputation with ''Film/RoadToPerdition'', in which he played a mob hitman (though still a [[HitmanWithAHeart pretty sympathetic one]]).

* His role of Col. Tom Parker in "Film/{{Elvis}}" is nothing short of a dubious, highly manipulative conman, a far cry from his earlier roles of morally upright men.

* Swedish actor Peter Haber is hugely famous in Sweden for two roles, grizzled, but noble ByTheBookCop Martin Beck in the ''Film/{{Beck}}'' films, and bumbling, [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpsonesque]] but sweet-natured Papa Rudolf in the "Sune"-series. So it come as a ''huge'' surprise when he played Martin Vanger in [[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy ''Men Who Hate Women'']] (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). For our American friends, picture Fred Rogers in the same role, and you understand how jarring the casting choice was to a Swedish audience.

** In ''Series/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' he plays a shiftless and kind of scummy loser/washed up GarageBand musician who makes an effective foil for the heroic and upbeat title character he becomes an unwitting sidekick to.

* Creator/PeterFalk is always a nice, quiet gentleman on screen - always kind and humorous, sometimes a bit rumpled and messy, very often [[Series/{{Columbo}} a cop who combines all of the above]]... Always - except, of course, for his turn in ''Murder, Inc.'', where he rapes, murders, assaults, robs, and threatens half of the cast, playing vicious mob killer Abraham Reles. Falk also played a VillainProtagonist {{Expy}} of UsefulNotes/FidelCastro in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E71TheMirror The Mirror]]" and a mob boss in ''Film/RobinAndTheSevenHoods''.