Hollywood directors have been casting the most lovable actors as the bad guy for decades just to mess with the viewers’ expectations. You’d never expect Tom Hanks, Paul Rudd, or Chris Evans to play manipulative executives, violent criminals, and spoiled murder suspects, would you? That’s exactly why this trick works.
Jason Bateman Juno
Bateman’s dry humor and positive attitude make him effortless to like, which is exactly why flipping his personality works so well in Juno. When pregnant Juno meets Mark and his wife, Vanessa, Mark initially seems like the cooler potential adoptive parent. He starts off sharing his love for music and movies and talks about following his dreams, abandoning them, but the “fun” adult gradually starts looking more like an immature man who refuses to grow up. His increasingly creepy behavior toward Juno makes everything worse, and by the end, we can clearly see that Mark is not ready to become a parent.
Paul Rudd Mute
Paul Rudd is widely known for playing charming and funny characters, but Mute takes that wholesome personality and twists it into something much uglier. Rudd plays Cactus Bill, a loose-lipped surgeon making money in Berlin’s criminal underworld. He does like cracking jokes, which gives him that familiar Paul Rudd vibe, but Bill is also violent, selfish, and connected to some extremely disturbing people. Thanks to this charming facade, viewers lower their guard before discovering what he is truly capable of.
Bo Burnham Promising Young Woman
Most people know Bo Burnham as a clever, awkward, self-deprecating comedian, so when we saw him in a movie, that’s who we expected to see. In Promising Young Woman, Bo plays Ryan, Cassie’s sweet and apparently harmless new love interest. At first glance, he’s just a regular, funny, and thoughtful guy who only wants the best for Cassie. Then she discovers that Ryan was present during the assault of her best friend Nina and did nothing to stop it. His nice-guy disguise breaks instantly, revealing someone more concerned with protecting his career.
Steve Carell The Way, Way Back
Steve Carell’s portrayal of Michael Scott was brilliantly awkward, and in The Way, Way Back, he uses that same “boss energy” to play a bully. His character, Trent, is dating Duncan’s mom and constantly criticizes the poor kid, undermining him and throwing cruel remarks at him. He slowly chips away at Duncan while presenting himself as the reasonable adult in the room. Seeing Carell play someone so cold and casually nasty is surprisingly uncomfortable.
Elijah Wood Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
After portraying Frodo in Lord of the Rings, Elijah Wood was well-suited for any “harmless good guy” roles, but Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind took a different approach. Wood plays the guy who erases Joel and Clementine’s memories of their relationship. After helping Clementine, he steals personal information from her files and uses it to win her over. He repeats Joel’s words, gives her the same gifts, and recreates moments from a relationship she can no longer remember. What a dick move.
Tom Hanks The Circle
Tom Hanks has been called “America’s dad” so often that watching him play a jerk almost feels illegal. In The Circle, Hanks plays Eamon Bailey, the charismatic head of a huge tech company. He tries to pitch 24/7 surveillance as something progressive and beneficial to society, and just for that, that character deserves all the hate. The viewers know the company is suspicious, but Bailey himself appears so calm and reassuring that it becomes easy to understand why Emma Watson’s character initially believes in his vision.
Chris Evans Knives Out
Chris Evans had played a variety of characters before, but most fans associate him with Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America. Imagine everyone’s surprise when he was cast as a spoiled rich kid in Knives Out. His character is completely self-centered. But when he offers Martha protection, part of us wants to believe that maybe he’s not all rotten after all. Unfortunately, he’s a total piece of crap in the finest of wrappers who will manipulate almost everyone around him.
Michael Cera This Is the End
Michael Cera normally plays awkward nerds who can barely survive an ordinary conversation. This film, This Is the End decides to throw that entire image out the window. Playing an exaggerated fictional version of himself, Cera appears at James Franco’s party all high on drugs and with absolutely no respect for personal boundaries. He is loud, reckless, and bizarrely confident, which is the complete opposite of his usual comfort-zone characters. Watching Cera behave like Hollywood’s worst party guest is one of the movie’s funniest plot twists.
Matt Damon Interstellar
Matt Damon is mostly known as the dependable hero from Good Will Hunting, the Bourne movies, and The Martian. But in Interstellar, Damon plays Dr. Mann, who got stranded on a distant frozen planet. Mann relays a message that the world may be suitable for colonization, giving Cooper and his crew hope that their mission has succeeded. In reality, this bastard faked the data because he was terrified of dying alone. And because we trust Matt Damon, we don’t see Mann’s betrayal coming.
