Robin Williams could brighten up just about anything. Showing up in a tiny cameo or hearing his voice in an animated movie; he made things better by never dragging them down.

But, every now and again he would pop up in an unlikely place. He'd play a robot, or a killer — odd choices, even by Williams's eccentric standards. Here are some of the best Robin Williams performances where going against the grain worked — like that time he showed up for a few scenes on that episode of "Louie."

Do you have any other suggestions? Let us know in the comments if you're a fan of Spielberg's "Hook" or Coppola's "Jack."

'Bicentennial Man' (1999)

Williams wore a robot suit throughout this entire movie, which is baffling to think about considering he could have just used a body double and recorded a voice over instead. But no, he was committed to being the titular character, but the movie unfortunately bombed at the box office. Can robots/androids become human? No, but this movie posits that they can, in an extremely cheesy way

'One Hour Photo' (2002)

It naturally makes sense to see family friendly comedies make up a good chunk of Williams's filmography — it's exceedingly rare to see him star in a horror movie. Being the creepy photo technician (back when those were a real job) who terrorizes customers and stares at their photos won him Saturn Award for Best Actor. This is a super short and underrated thriller with a great nightmare scene that will really catch you off guard.

'Insomnia' (2002)

It's a real shame this is the only time Williams teamed up the newly minted Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan. Nolan could use more levity in his films, and who else would've been perfect to liven up the tone a little if not for Robin Williams — unless you're remaking a Norwegian cop drama set in Nightmute, Alaska, where nobody sleeps. "Insomnia" is a real moody mystery/psychological thriller where Al Pacino has to outsmart and outwit Hilary Swank over the shooting of a detective. Williams, cast as creepy dude, got nominated for another Saturn Award.

'Law and Order: SVU' (2008)

We promise this list isn't all Robin Williams being psychopathic serial killers. One of the most famous "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" episodes of has Robin Williams play a man who is willing to kidnap, lie and torture anyone in his path. As an audio engineer, Williams manipulates Stabler and Benson setting off a chain of events with explosives and fake screams. It's a wild ride, and Williams also received an Emmy nomination for Guest Actor, as well as a win for Guest Star at the People's Choice Awards.

'Robots' (2005)

This forgotten about early '00s animated film about robots has a stacked cast: Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Jennifer Coolidge, Jay Leno, Paula Abdul, Al Roker, Stephen Tobolowsky, James Earl Jones, Monica Bellucci, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks and Drew Carey (to name a few) — and a memorable cameo from Robin Williams. The movie might not hold up incredibly well today, it's still fun hearing an all-star cast of actors voicing their characters — which is something you don't get a lot of these days.

Want another movie list to read? Check out some of the wildest alien designs ever made for film.