8 Times Comedic Actors Gave Unexpectedly Great Dramatic Performances

Patton Oswalt in Big Fan

In his new book, Silver Screen Fiend, Patton Oswalt harkens back to the four years after he moved to Los Angeles to pursue comedy in the big city. He found a refuge at the New Beverly Cinema, which showed classic films, and became a cinema buff. At the same time, Oswalt began getting tiny, one-line parts in Hollywood movies. In the book’s most memorable chapter, he recounts his first experience on a Hollywood set, for the Kelsey Grammar submarine flick, Down Periscope. Mostly delegated to being a background extra, Oswalt did manage to get a line of dialogue.

The actor spent many years in bit parts, so it was quite the surprise when he drew rave reviews for the 2009 dark comedy Big Fan. In the film, he plays Paul Aufiero, a diehard New York Giants fan and sad sack whose life takes a turn for the worse when one of the team’s star players beats him up.

The role, with its sardonic humor and nerdy passion, seemed like well-worn territory for Oswalt. But Big Fan was a dark character study that became increasingly harder to laugh at. The actor sunk to some deranged, difficult places, revealing the underside of sports fandom with blunt honesty. It was a bleak, uncompromising turn that likely led to another great role, in Young Adult, two years later.