Surprising Roles of the Avengers Stars You've Never Seen (But Totally Should)

The Avengers cast are mega famous for their respective roles, which makes it hard to associate them with any other characters they have played in their careers.

These actors have appeared in many different films, but these ones are different, and worth a watch.

Chris Hemsworth in Rush (2013)

The God of Thunder traded in his hammer for the racetrack a year after he joined the Avengers cast, to play a race car driver in this lightning-fast sports-drama biography. Not only did Hemsworth take on the role of British Formula One driver James Hunt, he brought it to life, and received immense praise from critics.

Rush follows the legendary sporting rivalry between James Hunt and Austrian driver Niki Lauda in what many considered the Golden Age of Formula 1, going back and forth between both drivers, delving into their polar-opposite personal lives, to their shared determination to become the greatest driver on the track, no matter the cost.

Robert Downey Jr. in Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)

Downey Jr. is most famous for playing tech-billionaire Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, and he recently starred in Oppenheimer, but that wasn't the first time this Marvel star ventured into the historical genre.

Directed by, and featuring George Clooney, Good Night and Good Luck explores a post-war America, in which there is great fear around the threat of communism. The black-and-white film follows a veteran CBS journalist as he works to counter a controversial U.S. Senator leading an anti-Communist witch hunt and stirring up fear and paranoia among Americans.

The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, and the ending aims to highlight the importance of using broadcasting for relevant news and education, instead of mindless entertainment.

Chris Evans in Sunshine (2007)

Before he was super-soldier Captain America, Chris Evans starred as an engineer with a military background on a space mission in the sci-fi drama, Sunshine. That time, however, he was a cold, 'complete the mission at all costs' character rather than the beloved 'people's hero' that everyone calls 'Cap' in the Marvel movies.

The movie features an ensemble cast including Cillian Murphy, and other names that we now associate with the Marvel universe, like Benedict Wong and Hiroyuki Sanada.

The movie follows a team of international astronauts on a mission to reignite the dying sun, but their quest to save humanity quickly turns deadly, with scorching temperatures, depleting oxygen and an unidentified passenger on board.

The movie is tense, dark and will have you at the edge of your seat until the last minute, but seeing Chris Evans in action makes it well worth the watch.

Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher (2014)

A role in a wrestling movie actually seems quite fitting for Ruffalo, who plays Hulk. So fitting that it earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Ruffalo starred alongside Steve Carroll and Channing Tatum in this psychological sports drama, loosely based off of the true story involving the du Pont family. Ruffalo and Tatum play Olympic gold medalist wrestlers, who are recruited by a multimillionaire and wrestling enthusiast to train a team. Foxcatcher moves in a very different direction than many would expect, exploring the complicated relationship and manipulation between the three men, with the twisted dynamic pushing one of them over the edge.

Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin (2013)

From saving the world from aliens alongside the Avengers, to playing an alien in a low-budget indie flick, the Black Widow actress stepped away from her commercial, action packed comfort zone in Under The Skin.

With less than three lines of dialogue in the entire movie, Under The Skin follows an extraterrestrial disguised as a human, seducing and preying on unsuspecting men in Scotland. The film comments on rape culture, toxic masculinity and xenophobia in a dense, disturbing and thought-provoking way that left the audience booing and cheering at the end of the screening.

Besides the massive lack of budget, the film also featured non-actors that Johansson and the film crew would pick up on the street, along with unscripted sequences and filming with hidden cameras. Under The Skin had audiences divided, and was a Box Office failure, but despite this it received critical acclaim and was named one of the 100 best films of the 21th century by BBC.