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Started By
Message
re: Actors who can only play themselves.
Posted on 1/12/10 at 9:46 am to Crimsonpanther13
Posted on 1/12/10 at 9:46 am to Crimsonpanther13
Harrison Ford
1
Posted on 1/12/10 at 9:58 am to Crimsonpanther13
quote:
1. George Clooney
Clooney is damn good. Maybe his early roles were playing himself but he's really started to spread his wings of late.
Posted on 1/12/10 at 9:59 am to iwyLSUiwy
quote:
now I'm lost. are you with me or against me lol?
Not really either. I just thought your post was in response to the other poster who doesn't like Lewis and I read that you feel the same way about Cruise.
My point is that all actors play themselves to some degree and I think thats what I like about them. Cruise is not the same character in "Collateral" as he is in "All the Right Moves"
quote:
ok how do we make cruise german??" and all they could come up with was "lets put an eye patch on him".
quote:
director of valkyrie
His fault
Posted on 1/12/10 at 9:59 am to USMCTiger03
quote:
Wow. One of the most celebrated and non-character roles of its decade, not to mention many others.
Worst vote after DD Lewis, and close to that one.
Not even the same. DDL is a character actor. Tom Hanks = Tom Hanks
Posted on 1/12/10 at 10:04 am to iwyLSUiwy
why the hell couldnt tom cruise muster a german accent in valkyrie(sp?)
Posted on 1/12/10 at 10:14 am to iwyLSUiwy
Sean Connery
Posted on 1/12/10 at 10:35 am to Crimsonpanther13
Johnny Depp
But in his, and other "good" actors listed in the thread, defense, 95% of actors play themselves or a slight variation of it. Most people want to see Tom Hanks, they don't want to see Tom Hanks the crazy, psycho, child molester. They go to movies to see Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, etc.
Heck, I think that if Tom Hanks was never an actor, and was mentally challenged, he'd probably be a lot like Forrest Gump IRL.
Hanks, Pacino, Denzel, Depp, Crowe, and on and on. A lot of "A" list stars fall into the category because they are A-listers, and people want to see "them" not the character.
Usually, actors that bump that trend are middle of the road in terms of popularity (or even foreign for us), and can risk being a chameleon in a role: Don Cheadle, Jack Nicholson (in his early years), Gary Oldman, Leo DiCaprio (I would say he has recently entered the great actor list, bucking the middle of the road trend a little), Brando, Toshiro Mifune, Kinski, etc.
I love Jimmy Stewart, I think he is the actor that has embodied American cinema like no other. I call him the greatest American actor for his influence on the craft and on film (and even his dedication to military service, family life, etc.) The man is a legend, and will always be. With that said Gary Oldman is a much better actor overall.
But in his, and other "good" actors listed in the thread, defense, 95% of actors play themselves or a slight variation of it. Most people want to see Tom Hanks, they don't want to see Tom Hanks the crazy, psycho, child molester. They go to movies to see Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, etc.
Heck, I think that if Tom Hanks was never an actor, and was mentally challenged, he'd probably be a lot like Forrest Gump IRL.
Hanks, Pacino, Denzel, Depp, Crowe, and on and on. A lot of "A" list stars fall into the category because they are A-listers, and people want to see "them" not the character.
Usually, actors that bump that trend are middle of the road in terms of popularity (or even foreign for us), and can risk being a chameleon in a role: Don Cheadle, Jack Nicholson (in his early years), Gary Oldman, Leo DiCaprio (I would say he has recently entered the great actor list, bucking the middle of the road trend a little), Brando, Toshiro Mifune, Kinski, etc.
I love Jimmy Stewart, I think he is the actor that has embodied American cinema like no other. I call him the greatest American actor for his influence on the craft and on film (and even his dedication to military service, family life, etc.) The man is a legend, and will always be. With that said Gary Oldman is a much better actor overall.
This post was edited on 1/12/10 at 10:44 am
Posted on 1/12/10 at 10:57 am to USMCTiger03
quote:
Not as much as people seem to think. He's only done about 2-4 in the past decade, while he's made about 5-10 other good movies (i.e.-U-571, Marshall, Reign of Fire, )
He hasn't really tested himself in anything since Frailty. I'd like to see him do a smaller scale movie where he really immerses himself into it. Everything he does is big, wide release, typical studio fare. I think he'd do well in another small-scale flick. Maybe he just doesn't want to do one.
Posted on 1/12/10 at 10:59 am to Crimsonpanther13
John Cusack
Posted on 1/12/10 at 11:04 am to rondo
three pages and no mention of "drunk a-hole" billy bob thronton? 
slingblade is an exception, but like my boy RDJ said, "never go full retard"
slingblade is an exception, but like my boy RDJ said, "never go full retard"
This post was edited on 1/12/10 at 11:06 am
Posted on 1/12/10 at 1:47 pm to Roaad
quote:
Daniel Day Lewis. . .at least I assume so, based on the fact that he keeps playing the same character.
Best actor alive.
Posted on 1/12/10 at 1:49 pm to Roaad
quote:
Daniel Day Lewis. . .at least I assume so, based on the fact that he keeps playing the same character.
Bill Murray
Terrible choices.
Posted on 1/12/10 at 1:52 pm to OMLandshark
I don't know, Murray is getting into that territory for me, minus his cameo in Get Smart. He's been playing the old man version of Michael Cera for a while now.
Bill, stop trying to be quirky and make me laugh, please.
Bill, stop trying to be quirky and make me laugh, please.
Posted on 1/12/10 at 3:25 pm to truthbetold
Jack Black
Except King Kong
Except King Kong
Posted on 1/12/10 at 3:47 pm to ISDSTiger
(no message)
This post was edited on 10/23/10 at 9:16 am
Posted on 1/12/10 at 4:12 pm to Crimsonpanther13
Wil Smith
Posted on 1/12/10 at 4:35 pm to LeonPhelps
someone mentioned tom hanks, i would really try to see him play a bad guy of some sort
This post was edited on 1/12/10 at 4:52 pm
Posted on 1/12/10 at 4:48 pm to TexasTiger34
quote:
Christopher Walken
this
Posted on 1/12/10 at 4:54 pm to Bro Montana
quote:
Harrison Ford
Ab-so-fricking-lutely
Posted on 1/12/10 at 5:02 pm to Freauxzen
quote:
Johnny Depp
Not sure I agree totally, although the rest of your post makes an interesting point. "Leading men" have to bring a good deal of themselves to the screen. That's what makes them bankable. True character actors not only are able, but are required, to show real acting chops. Hackman, Chris Cooper, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and others come to mind.
That said, I think
quote:
Hanks, Pacino, Denzel, Depp, Crowe,
. . . have all shown versatility and have real talent. As far as Depp is concerned, "Donnie Brasco", "Sleepy Hollow", and "Edward Scissorhands" are pretty varied roles, IMO.
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