I would have thought Leslie Nielsen's type was this type of comedy spoofs, so against type for him would be something like Forbidden Planet (1956).
This movie was the one that launched him into comedy.
Part of the comic appeal of Airplane was putting well-known dramatic faces (who would have fit well in a serious "Airport" style disaster movie) into a comedic farce... such as Leslie Nielson, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves.