When Oscar-winning actors take on unexpected roles...

Cate Blanchett has two Oscars, and frankly we would have given her one for “Tar” as well. She isn’t always serious, or afraid of I.P.-driven blockbusters. After all, she was in “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Even so, we were quite surprised to see that Blanchett would be starring in an adaptation of a video game. Not only that, but “Borderlands” is directed by Eli Roth.

Many would call Meryl Streep the best actor to ever live. She’s the most-nominated actor in Oscars history. In 2008, she was in the serious, dark “Doubt,” which naturally was Oscar fodder. Oh, and she was in a jukebox musical based on the music of ABBA. You know, singing and dancing and stuff.

At this point, it is not surprising when Robert De Niro is in something bad. He’s done plenty of blockbusters and adaptations and such as well. This was not the case in 2000, though. Back then he was a prestigious actor, an Oscar winner, and even 1999’s “Analyze This” was a hit. Then, he played a bad guy in the woeful “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.” That opened the door to a litany of questionable choices.

This could be a case of a film already being on a docket. Hell, it may have already been shot. Swiftly, Halle Berry went from “Monster’s Ball” to “Catwoman.” Jamie Foxx’s career, ostensibly, could have changed after “Ray.” He could have been a prestige guy. Instead, his very next film was “Stealth,” about a robotic stealth plane that goes rogue. Sadly, it’s not even fun.

It’s surprising Philip Seymour Hoffman only won one Oscar. He likely would have won more had his life not been sadly truncated. Hoffman did a lot of serious stuff. Heavy stuff. Out of the blue, he popped up for a cameo role as a bartender in Ricky Gervais’ “The Invention of Lying.” Apparently, Gervais emailed him to ask him to do it, so Hoffman did. That doesn’t make it any less surprising to see him in such a small role.

Leslie Nielsen had already done the comedy thing with “Airplane!.” Part of the humor of that film was serious actors being cast to say silly lines with gravitas. Kennedy won an Oscar for “Cool Hand Luke.” He was a staple of disaster movies in the 1970s. For many, though, he’s known as Ed, Frank Drebin’s captain in the “Naked Gun” movies. He nails the tone well. Better, frankly, than Nielsen by the second and third films in that series.

George Burns was born in 1896. He and his comedy partner, also his wife, Gracie Allen had a TV show in the 1950s. After Gracie’s passing, Burns had to figure out what to do with his career. In 1975, he won an Oscar for “The Sunshine Boys.” It was largely seen as a “congratulations on your long career, and your long life” Oscar. He wasn’t done. Burns starred in “Going in Style” in 1979. He wasn’t done! In 1988, Burns co-starred – co-starred! – in a body-swap comedy called “18 Again!” with Charlie Schlatter. The fact that Burns was still starring in movies in his nineties is what is surprising. Oh, and he would live until 1996.

Yes, these days acclaimed actors being in comic book movies is the norm. Note that we didn’t say it was surprising to see Blanchett in “Thor: Ragnarok.” However, go back to 1989. When Jack Nicholson signed on not to play Batman, but Joker in Tim Burton’s “Batman” film, it was a head-scratcher. People didn’t know what he was doing. Well, what he was doing was taking a fun role that would become iconic in a massive hit that changed the film landscape. Also, he made a ton of cash for it. Nicholson walked so the Blanchetts of the world could run.

Gene Hackman didn’t do a ton of comedy. When he did, it would be something gritty like “Get Shorty.” Light, silly comedy was not his thing. Hackman was a great actor, and a two-time Oscar winner, but by all accounts he was a serious guy on set and not always easy to deal with (his nickname was “Vesuvius.”) Maybe the edge was gone as Hackman got older, and maybe he realized that while making his last film. After co-starring in the toothless political comedy “Welcome to Mooseport” with Ray Romano, Hackman retired. It’s weird to see Hackman in that film, and weirder that it is his final movie.

We don’t know if it is a true story, but it is a fun anecdote so we like to repeat anyway. The story goes that while working on “Batman Forever,” where he played Two-Face, he turned to Jim Carrey, in peak-ham form as Riddler, and said, “I cannot sanction your buffoonery.” He’s one of the few people to do a Marvel movie and say, “This sucks, I’m done.” Knowing all that, try to square his sensibilities with the face he starred in “Man of the House,” a clunky comedy where Jones plays a Texas Ranger protecting a cheerleader team that witnessed a murder.

Javier Bardem is more than the guy who has played menacing villains in “No Country for Old Men” and “Skyfall.” He can also be sexy in a menacing way! While in real life Bardem seems like a nice guy, and he and Penelope Cruz have kids so maybe he wants to make some family-friendly stuff, just look up the poster for “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile.” Look at Bardem on that poster. Then, try to wrap your head around it.

Julie Andrews is synonymous with Mary Poppins. She was Maria in “The Sound of Music.” She’s a beloved icon. On occasion, she would work with Blake Edwards, a comedy director who would bounce between slapstick and satire. “S.O.B.” was polarizing when it was released, and the showbiz satire remains polarizing. Edwards cast Andrews specifically to go against her image, where she even did a scene topless. There's nothing wrong with that. Still, definitely surprising.

We can get a two-fer here! Joan Crawford won an Oscar for “Mildred Pierce,” and her last film is “Trog.” Although by that point her career had completely derailed and it wasn’t super surprising. Faye Dunaway was riding skyhigh in the 1970s, and rightfully so. Then, “Mommie Dearest” happened. Dunaway starring in a biopic of Crawford wasn’t inherently surprising. The problem arose when people saw it. “Mommie Dearest” is considered something of a camp classic, but it was an utter disaster and a true surprise. Honestly? Her career never rebounded.

Susan Sarandon is in many popular movies, and she does have an Oscar for “Dead Man Walking.” In 2012, though, things got a little rough. We’ll overlook “Cloud Atlas,” though in hindsight every actor involved should have earmarked that one as an utter disaster. On paper, “That’s My Boy” was so clearly going to be yet another bad Adam Sandler comedy. Indeed, it turned out profoundly unfunny. Part of the conceit of the movie is that Sandler’s character became a celebrity because he was sexually involved with his teacher when he was in middle school. Who did they get for the thankless role of the older version of this sexual predator? Why, Susan Sarandon of course! To give Sarandon a little credit, the younger version of the character is played by her daughter Eva Amurri. She got her daughter paid.

We just talked trash about “Cloud Atlas,” and now we’re about to talk trash about “Jupiter Ascending.” Not to pile on the Wachowskis, but also they’ve made one good movie total, and the first “Matrix” no longer is as remarkable as it was back then. The year after winning an Oscar for playing Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything,” he was in “Jupiter Ascending.” At least Redmayne got to chew scenery as the villain, which was probably fun. Alas, there is not much fun in the movie, which is not good in the slightest.

We end by piling on Sandler, which is a little more fun. The dude seems mostly interested in going to nice locations with his friends to shoot C-minus comedies. He gets a ton of money for it. Sometimes, he makes a good movie. “Jack and Jill” is not one of those. Sandler plays two roles. Al Pacino, meanwhile, plays himself. To see Pacino playing himself next to Sandler in drag is a sight you have to see to believe.