History PlayingAgainstType / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/CobraKai'': Creator/PeytonRList is a Disney Channel alumna, and mostly played nice girls from fairly well-off socio-economic backgrounds. In ''Cobra Kai'', her character (Tory) is a jealous, aggressive, vindictive, violent bitch from TheWrongSideOfTheTracks.

* Nicholas Brendon in mostly known for playing the {{adorkable}}, [[{{Nerd}} nerdy]], [[PluckyComicRelief funny guy]] (''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', ''Series/CriminalMinds''), so when he appears ''Series/PrivatePractice'' as the rapist of one of the main characters, it's quite shocking.

* Creator/EmiliaFox was either known as Dr Nikki Alexander on ''Series/SilentWitness'' or else IllGirl yet kindly adoptive mother Sylvia in ''Literature/BalletShoes''. Then came her memorable role as BigBad LadyOfBlackMagic Morgause in ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}''.

* Also recurring actor Kevin Tighe. He turned to darker roles like his ''Lost'' character after fearing playing Roy Desoto on ''{{Series/Emergency}}'' in the 70s would result in this trope.

* Nicholas Brendon in mostly known for playing the {{adorkable}}, [[HollywoodNerd nerdy]], [[PluckyComicRelief funny guy]] (''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', ''Series/CriminalMinds''), so when he appears ''Series/PrivatePractice'' as the rapist of one of the main characters, it's quite shocking.

** Creator/NathanFillion turned up as the villainous Caleb in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' after playing roguish hero Captain Malcom Reynolds on ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. Not to mention the JerkJock DesignatedHero [[HeroAntagonist Antagonist]] Captain Hammer in ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog''.

* On ''Series/{{Haven}},'' the show's ultimate BigBad is a quiet, soft-spoken, AffablyEvil sociopath...played by Creator/WilliamShatner, most known for his heroice LargeHam performances. It led to a HeReallyCanAct response from viewers, because he nails the part and is genuinely ''terrifying.''

** Creator/DougHutchison made his name playing psychopathic villains: [[ImAHumanitarian Tooms]] on ''Series/TheXFiles'', Catherine's DarkMessiah kidnapper on ''Series/{{Millennium}}'', and sadistic guard Percy Wetmore in ''Film/TheGreenMile''. So it comes as a surprise that Horace Goodspeed is a well-meaning hippy ("Namaste!") whose greatest flaw is his failure to stand up to the more evil DHARMA members (i.e. most of them).

* Creator/BobSaget, best known as playing Danny Tanner on ''Series/FullHouse'' and serving as the original host of ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'', was and still is an incredibly vulgar stand-up comedian. He once stated in an interview he took the "clean" jobs because he needed the money for his family.
** So does he need the money again, now that he's the narrator in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''?
** He also seemed to enjoy the dissonance and shock value that comes from people who only know his "wholesome" work discovering his stand-up comedy.

*** His role as the titular ''John Doe: Vigilante'' actually subverts this, as while the man is a SerialKiller, his victims are AssholeVictims--child abusers/molesters, rapists, abusive husbands/boyfriends.

* Creator/BrendaSong's breakout role was on Nick's ''Series/OneHundredDeedsForEddieMcDowd'' where she played an AsianAndNerdy character. Now she pretty much always plays {{Asian Airhead}}s. ''Way'' more bizarrely, she's a bitchy, sociopathic girlfriend of the lead of ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', who goes to such extremes as ''lighting a bed on fire.'' And makes it believable. Whoa, ''[[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]].

* In an interesting variant in Series/TeenWolf, it's the fact that Creator/DougJones ''never'' dons any prosthetics during his appearance as Barrow. Which is pretty shocking considering not only his penchant for doing so in other works and the prevalence of such effects on this show.

---> "The Bundy role. . .was a stretch. I was glad when I could put that one away when it was done."
** 15 years later, he gave an equally scary performance as another infamous murderer--[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Capano Thomas Capano]] in the 2001 miniseries ''And Never Let Her Go''. A review flat-out described him as "all evil".

* In a case of a ''production company'' PlayingAgainstType, Creator/QuinnMartin Productions (which specialised in law-and-order shows throughout its 27-year existence) made science fiction series ''Series/TheInvadersTVSeries'', the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII series ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (based on the movie of the same name) and the horror anthology ''Tales Of The Unexpected'' ([[Series/TalesOfTheUnexpected not that one]]). The company's only theatrical feature (1971's ''The Mephisto Waltz'') was more going against type, since it was a horror movie.

* Andy Griffith, best known as either kindly small-town sheriff [[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow Andy Taylor]] or folksy defense attorney [[Series/{{Matlock}} Ben Matlock]], went years without playing villainous characters after he rose to fame on television, but broke the streak in 1974's ''Pray for the Wildcats'' where he'a a psychopathic ad executive who takes several employees (played by Creator/WilliamShatner, [[Series/TheBradyBunch Robert Reed]], and [[Film/{{Starcrash}} Marjoe Gortner]]) out dirtbiking in the Baja California Desert. He's full-on {{Jerkass}} in here [[spoiler: and he tries to run down and kill Shatner's character. ]] In the early 1980s, meanwhile he was cast as John Wallace in ''Murder in Coweta County''; the movie was the true story of John Wallace, a wealthy but sadistic landowner who kills one of his sharecroppers for stealing his cattle (by he and his goons beating up the hapless farmer, then {{pistol whipping}} him so hard he caused his gun to discharge), and it took a hard-nosed sheriff (Music/JohnnyCash) to bring him to justice.

* Kaley Cuoco frequently plays quirky sitcom characters - [[DumbBlonde Bridget]] in ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', [[OnlySaneMan Penny]] in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', [[LovableAlphaBitch Brandy]] in ''WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers''. In the eighth season of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' her character Billie starts out seeming like her typical type - then [[DarkAndTroubledPast we learn the truth]] and [[CerebusSyndrome things really change]].
* In a case of a ''production company'' PlayingAgainstType, QM Productions (which specialised in law-and-order shows throughout its 27-year existence) made ''Series/TheInvaders'', the WWII series ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (based on the movie of the same name) and the horror anthology ''Tales Of The Unexpected'' ([[Series/TalesOfTheUnexpected not that one]]). The company's only theatrical feature (1971's ''The Mephisto Waltz'') was more going against type, since it was a horror movie.

* The legendary Creator/NedBeatty has made his entire career playing nice guys, loveable goofballs, and forgetful nudniks who wouldn't hurt a fly. Yet in the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode "Sweet Jane", he turns in an [[AffablyEvil absolutely chilling, completely charming]] performance as Doctor Dave, a gentle pediatric dentist who not only was a kind and considerate dentist who made sure his patients first visit wasn't pain-filled and traumatic, but was also a vicious serial killer responsible for the deaths of at least five victims. (Like Buddy Hackett above, this also extends to animation - Beatty voices the avuncular and ''completely'' evil Lotso in ''Toy Story 3''.)

* Kevin Tighe has been doing this for a few decades now, because he is so connected with his ''{{Series/Emergency}}'' character Roy Desoto. With Roy being a big hero type, he has often played villains since then.

* Can you say "Samantha Stephens took an axe and gave her mother 40 whacks?" ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' star Creator/ElizabethMontgomery played the title character of an Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie titled ''The Legend of Lizzie Borden''.

* What do Creator/AmyAdams, Dan Lauria, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brian Austin Green, Creator/DeanCain, Tori Spelling, Shawn Ashmore, and Creator/MaggieLawson have in common? They're all ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' villains, of course.

* Jenna Leigh Green is best remembered for playing Libby, a certain cheerleader who used to be the {{Trope Namer|s}} for AlphaBitch, on ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''. However, in the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "Wednesday's Women", Green plays the younger version of an [[spoiler:undercover schoolteacher who taught African-Americans kids in the Jim Crow-era South]] who [[spoiler:[[ItsAllMyFault feels guilty]] in recruiting her [[WideEyedIdealist best friend]] who ends getting murdered after they're found out]].