In the thriller “Mr. Brooks,” opening Friday, Kevin Costner stars as a serial killer. That’s not what you’d expect from the actor best known for idolizing baseball and dancing with wolves. But Costner’s career has cooled, and giving audiences something unexpected could be a savvy comeback strategy.
Just ask Ben Kingsley, who won an Academy Award for his lead performance in “Gandhi” (1982) and a nomination for a supporting role in “Bugsy” (1991) before his buzz began to erode. But Kingsley’s startling turn as the thuggish Don Logan in “Sexy Beast” (2000) put him back on the pop-culture radar, and his sensitive portrayal of an ethically challenged immigrant in “House of Sand and Fog” (2003) confirmed his career revival. In “You Kill Me,” scheduled to open this summer, Kingsley plays a comically conflicted hit man.
No matter how successful an actor is, there’s always the possibility that he or she will suddenly stumble — and face the challenge of making a comeback.
Before “Sea of Love” (1989), Al Pacino’s career had all but dried up. Before “Pretty Woman” and “Internal Affairs” (both 1990), Richard Gere couldn’t get arrested. Before “Pulp Fiction” (1994), audiences had just about closed the book on John Travolta. Even the great Meryl Streep was in danger of slipping into irrelevance before “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006) put her back in style.
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