UnlikeLiam Neeson, some actors specialize in one genre, with many sticking with comedies andothers 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 trajectoryas 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.
10Liam Neeson
Date Of Birth: July 23, 2025
Liam Neeson has enjoyed a unique career. He began his career in more fantasy-styled movies, such asExcalibur(1981) andKrull(1983). He later starred in Sam Raimi’s original superhero movie,Darkman,in 1990. However,he achieved his biggest success playing Oskar Schindlerin the dramaSchindler’s List(1993).
Neeson earned his only Oscar nomination forSchindler’s List,and he went on to play historical drama roles in movies likeNell,Rob Roy,Michael Collins, andLes Misérables. Then, things changed when he landed the role of a Jedi inStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,entering the big-budget sci-fi action genre.
Following his villainous role inBatman 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 acclaimedKinsey. However, after that, his career changed forever. Following his villainous role inBatman Begins,Neeson emerged as a major action star, withTakenbeing his most notablesuccess.
Neeson said that his action roles are coming to an end, and it appears he might be returning to comedy,thanks to 2025’sThe Naked Gun.
9Tom Hanks
Date Of Birth: June 18, 2025
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 inBosom Buddies.This led to big-screen comedies likeSplash,Bachelor Party,The ‘Burbs, Big,andTurner & 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 inA League of Their Own, he took on a role in the romantic comedy-dramaSleepless in Seattle,followed by his biggest drama role at the time inPhiladelphia.
Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actorfor his role as a gay lawyer with AIDS inPhiladelphia,and that changed his career.He won his second Oscar one year later forForrest Gumpand earned nominations later forSaving Private Ryan, Cast Away,andA 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.
8Keanu Reeves
Date Of Birth: Jul 16, 2025
When Keanu Reeves began his career, his most notable rolewas in the comedyBill 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 dramaMy 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 inPoint 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 successfulaction movie franchise,John Wick,to the mix, Reeves remains a versatile and beloved actor across all genres.
7Ian McKellen
Date Of Birth: July 08, 2025
Ian McKellen is a classically trained English actorwho 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 inThe Lord of the Ringsfranchise and thevillainous Magneto in theX-Mencomic book movies.Whether he was good or bad, in fantasies or real-life epics, McKellen mastered it all.
6Robert De Niro
Date Of Birth: June 09, 2025
For many movie fans,Robert De Niro is one of the best examples of mobstersand 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 inThe 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 likeTaxi DriverandCape Fear. However, De Niro was also willing to stretch his acting muscles in things like the sports biopicRaging Bull,the surreal fantasyBrazil,and the buddy comedyMidnight 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 (GoodfellasandCasino), action thrillers (Heat), and satires (Wag the Dog).
De Niro had a couple of surprises in the 2000s. He shocked all his fans bystarring in the broad comedyMeet the Parentsin 2000, and then worked in straight horror movies (Godsend) and even comic book adaptations (Joker).
5Nicole Kidman
Date Of Birth: August 01, 2025
When Nicole Kidman got her start, sheappeared in the Australian psychological thrillerDead 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 musicalMoulin Rouge!and a second for the period dramaThe Hours. She starred in the horror movieThe Others,the fantasy filmThe Golden Compass,the family filmPaddington,and appeared in TV shows likeBig Little LiesandNine Perfect Strangers.
4Helen Mirren
Date Of Birth: July 24, 2025
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 andplayed Queen Elizabeth on stage many years beforereprising the role on the big screen.
Her first major movie role was in the comedy-dramaAge of Consent,and she went on to star in several films that drew on her theater experience, such asCaligulaandHamlet.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 forThe Queen.
3Sandra Bullock
Date Of Birth: August 14, 2025
Sandra Bullock got her start acting in the late 1980s and gained early attention for a sci-fi action-comedy calledDemolition Man,co-starring alongside Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone. This pushed Bullock into the action genre, whereBullock became a superstar by starring with Keanu Reevesin the filmSpeed.
However, Bullock quickly pivoted and took a role in the romantic comedyWhile 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 ATime to KillandHope Floats.
She has always been a huge comedy star, with movies likeMiss Congeniality,The Proposal,The Heat,andThe Lost Cityproving her popularity. She also has horror movies (Bird Box) and dramas (Crash) in her past, but her most notable role came inthe biographical dramaThe Blind Side,for which she won an Oscar for Best Actress.
2Morgan Freeman
Date Of Birth: June 20, 2025
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 seriesThe Electric Company.In the 80s, he worked on the soap operaAnother World, and in 1987,he finally achieved success withStreet Smart,earning an Oscar nomination.
Finally, he landed his breakout role in the 1989 movieGlory,a story about an African-American regiment during the Civil War. This led to some massive roles for Freeman, including the dramasDriving Miss DaisyandLean On Me,the WesternUnforgiven,and the historical fantasyRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Morgan Freeman also had major rolesin various films, including the Stephen King dramaThe Shawshank Redemption, the superhero movies ofThe Dark Knight trilogy,comedies such asBruce Almighty,action movies likeRED, and thrillers likeSeven.
1Jamie Lee Curtis
Date Of Birth: June 10, 2025
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 moviePsycho,which was considered the grandfather of the slasher genre. Her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, starred inHalloween,one of the first successful slashers.
It seemed that Curtis was going to get typecast in horror movies, as she followed up with roles inThe Fog,Prom Night,andTerror Train.She also appeared in seven totalHalloweenmovies over her career. However, she has accomplished even more and achieved success along the way.
In 1983,Curtis took on her first significant comedy movierole inTrading Places,and she proved she was great in these movies as well.Other great genre examplesincludeA Fish Called Wanda, andFreaky Friday.She has also starred in action movies (True Lies), fantasy films (Everything Everywhere All At Once), and mysteries (Knives Out) throughout her career.
