For me I think it was Jack Black in King Kong. I just wasn’t prepared for Jack Black being in a more serious role.
Kind of a cliche answer now, but at the time, everyone was shocked by Heath Ledger’s casting as Joker.
Oh, I have a better one; Angela Lansbury in ‘The Manchurian Candidate’. As far as I know, the only time she has played a villain. And she was fantastic
I never would have expected John Malkovich to want to do the movie ‘Being John Malkovich’. It was such a crazy movie, and he is such a serious actor
Robin Williams in One Hour Photo. He did such an amazing job but it was just so unexpected at first to get over that he was doing a serious role that was a psychopath.
Kevin James as a violent Neo Nazi in ‘Becky’.
And he was actually really good in it!