Reply With QuoteI expect he made the other list as well, but I really rate Di Caprio.
Following on from the thread of the opposite, who can really act?
I guess the word 'acting' means playing a role that they aren't in real life so to qualify they must successfully have played different roles.
I'll start with Johnny Depp. Totally immerses himself in whatever role he plays.
I expect he made the other list as well, but I really rate Di Caprio.
Kate blanchett.
I nearly put him :-)Originally Posted by JasonM
Tom hanks
Tom Hardy
Viggo Mortensen
Kevin Spacey
Daniel Day Lewis.
I know what you mean with Johnny Depp but the more I see him the more I think he now just plays different versions of the same eccentric character and essentially I'm thinking playing himself?
Whilst always good performances, for a number of years he has rarely stepped out of this comfort zone and instead steps into a wacky costume. Pirates of the Caribbean, Mortdecai, Demon Barber, Willy Wonka, Sleepy Hollow, Dark Shadows and Alice in Wonderland.
But to be fair I've not seen Black Mass so I'll reserve final judgement until then.
Brian Cox
Angelica Huston
I'm also a fan of James Spader, but mainly due to Boston Legal
He and Benicio Del Toro did a good job of Fear and Loathing.
Robert De Niro, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver & Men of Honor amazing performances!
Definitely a harder question to answer IMO! And also bound to bring up a little bit of duplication with the other thread, espcially with the confusion between charisma/screen presence and range/acting abilty - not to mention whether you like them or not. I really do think it's difficult to differentiate these.
It's more about whether they can convincingly play against type.
I think Johnny Depp is definitely a good character actor in the sense that he convincingly takes on discernibly different characters, but I also agree he may have started to spread himself a little thin to the extent of recycling quirks etc i.e. there's too much similarity between Jack Sparrow/Willy Wonka/Mortdecai/etc. No doubt, he's very good, though.
Other than going for the obvious (e.g. Daniel Day-Lewis mentioned above - I don't think anyone would argue with that), I think Brad Pitt does a decent job of a range of roles (especially for someone who could just play "hero" roles if he wanted), as does Leonardo DiCaprio (doesn't have massive range, but isn't poor by any strech - I think some people just don't like him), Charlize Theron isn't afraid to throw herself into any role she choses, and (despite many detractors) Tom Cruise is pretty good in my book, as is Bradly Cooper.
Some others, off the top of my head:
Julianne Moore -probably most wouldn't argue with that
Christain Bale - unpopular, but he's talented in my book
Jason Seagel and Jesse Eisenberg were very good in "The End Of The Tour", and both done numerous light roles (but not convinced JE just plays social rejects)
Steve Carrell -he's definitely got range
Steve Buscemi -possibly like Eisenberg (and Tim Roth for that matter)
Marion Cotillard
Amy Adams - similar to a Pitt/Theron, in that she could just play stereotypical female leads, but choses to push herself
Mark Ruffalo - or does he just play "quirky"?
Amy Ryan - "The Office" and "Gone Baby Gone"!
Really?
I think he's average at best.
Sid James
I particularly liked him for his cameo role in Carry on Nurse...or was it another Carry on film?
A truly gritty and convincing actor with huge screen presence.
I'm surprised he was never nominated for an Oscar.
Mark Rylance
Morgan Freeman
Cuba Gooding Jr. A Murder of Crows
Kevin Kline. Sophie's Choice
Joaquin Phoenix. You cheered for him to die in Gladiator and cheered for him to live in The Village
All can make you laugh one minute and cry the next.
Last edited by svaglic; 3rd April 2016 at 21:20.
Anthony Hopkins.
Meryl Streep
I think a lot of jobbing British actors can really act because they seem just to accept work rather than manage their careers. Dame Judi Dench has remarkable range - going effortlessly from Hollywood blockbusters to TV sitcoms to stage work with the RSC. David Thewlis and Jim Broadbent also come to mind.
I also think actors we don't know are more convincing because we don't watch them with any prejudice one way or the other - the casts of Scandinavian detective series - The Killing, The Bridge, etc., are wonderful for that, not once do you feel you are watching actors act.
But currently, for me, the best actor has to be Idris Elba. In The Wire there was never a moment when I doubted I was watching a Philadelphia drug lord on screen, with Luther all I could see was a street-smart London copper; there was absolutely no bleed through between the roles.
For every performance you can rave about, the same actor has turned in a turkey.
Michael Caine: Educating Rita and Jaws 4 (or was it 5?) on the same CV.
And that's the thing with film, nobody sets out to make a terrible film. Film-making is so complicated and there are so many people involved who can make or break your performance, just about anything' possible between agreeing to a script and the finished film.
Bradley Cooper. Not because of his films, but because of the Elephant Man on stage.
I thought he was really good in the following:
The Revenant
Legend
The drop
Lawless
Warrior
I also enjoy him in peaky blinders.
Another actor that has transformed himself in recent years is Matthew Mcconaughey
Christoph Waltz, my favourite actor hands down. His performance in Inglourious Basterds was fantastic and then in Django Unchained was great too. SPECTRE however wasn't his best, maybe I expected too much at that point...
Some of my favourites have been shouted already, but I'm quite surprised nobody has mentioned Edward Norton. From an awkward geek to a violent tough guy quite believably.
Agree. 100%
Last edited by reggie747; 3rd April 2016 at 20:32.
A few that come to mind...
Mark Rufallo
Gene Hackman,
Dustin Hoffman,
off the top of my head that is!
Im sure I will think of some more after a small drink.
Julie Walters, Maggie smith, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Alec Guiness.
Morgan Freeman as already mentioned and Samuel L Jackson too.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Dear dear Larry and Dear darling Jonny, they are from a different age though.
Michael Fassbender
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jake Gyllenhaal immediately come to mind for me...
No idea who any of those are.
The greatest living actor...
Paul Giamatti
And no longer with us, the best actor ever IMO
John Cazale
Helen Mirren
Kenneth Branagh
Emma Thompson
Eva Green
Michael Keaton
I'll second Eva Green!
Fantastic actor in my opinion and his Rhodesian accent, mannerisms, slang and persona in Blood Diamond was spot on.
I agree that (of the 30-something generation) James Franco and Jake Gyllenhaal are very good. JG was brilliant in Nightcrawler.
Likewise, Edward Norton is defintely one of the most versatile of the 40-somethings, and who'd have thought Guy Pearce was going to be so good after Neighbours?
Bobby Cannavale is also proving to be pretty versatile - just watch Vinyl.
I think an honourable mention needs to go to Joe Pesci - going from his comic roles to his utterly terrifying psychopaths in Casino and Goodfellas shows some serious talent (especially given he's all of 5'4" with a squeaky voice - I think he was better than Robert De Niro in both of those movies).
Walton Goggins. The best actor out there in my humble opinion.Timothy Olyphant not too bad either
Meryl Streep - Never puts a foot wrong in my book - Convincing in drama, comedy or even action (The River Wild) roles.
Joaquin Phoenix - Really dominated Gladiator - Probably the most menacing villain I've seen on the screen, imo - but equally good in other, very different, roles.
Kate Blanchett - Maybe I've a soft spot for her (we share a birthday), but she's been great in many films - Like Streep she has a lot of charisma (both lift ANY film), but, if not quite as much, lots of ability and range (Elf one minute, struggling teacher the next) too.
Tommy Lee Jones - Maybe a bit too much himself, but compare No Country For Old Men with MIB and there's a fair range that he can do convincingly.
Johnny Depp - Perhaps not the perfect actor (quiet nuanced characters are not his forte), but he can be suave or manic, romantic or villainous. Probably the most versatile actor of his generation, even if he does seem to be swaying towards caricature these days...
Ben Kingsley - Can anyone argue when he convinced as Ghandi AND the bad in Sexy Beast?
Tom Cruise - Yes, seriously - He does lapse sometimes, but so do some others (notably TLJ and JD), but he's been in some very varied films and been (mostly) credible in them. Perhaps, if I'm pressed, though, he's MORE of a film star than a GREAT actor, but I enjoy most of his performances.
I'm going to hate myself for saying this, but...
Matthew McConaughey - I used to go out of my way to avoid films with him in, so awful was he in some and then I saw "Reign of Fire" (a daft film about Dragons!) - I couldn't believe it was the same person, I had to check and then of course he did Dallas Buyers' Club AND The Lincoln Lawyer and I have to admit now, he can really take on and present very credibly totally different characters.
A lot of actors put in one-off great performances (Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, Bob Hoskins in The Long Good Friday, etc), but they tend to be roles they were 'born to play' and whilst pitch perfect, they struggle to match the performances in different roles (although both example were good in other things).
M.
Last edited by snowman; 4th April 2016 at 12:28.
Another here for Joe Pesci.
John Hurt, Kevin Spacey, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Leonardo De Caprio.
All believable in whatever they do.
Cheers,
Neil.
For me people that always deliver and I that I know I will usually like the film:
Daniel Day Lewis
Leonardo Di Caprio
Tom Hardy
Joaquin Phoenix
Tom Hanks
All awesome in my opinion!
Also add to that Ryan Gosling and Jake Gyllenhaal
And Paul Giamatti
A good observation imo.
- - - Updated - - -
Oh yes!
Russell Crowe, especially in his early work such as Gladiator. Kevin Spacey definitely up there and Denzel Washington is great as well, makes even a mediocre film good with his screen presence
Posting Permissions
