The Greatest Living Actor

Post by **Cail** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:49 am

Montresor wrote:So, I assume this is limited to actors who appear in English-language films?

Yes.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:59 am

OH, you better believe I saw Heaven's Prisoners!!!! Teri Hatcher totally naked? Like I'm gonna miss that! She was on Rosie talking about it. The historic house they used in it was closed to the usual tours during filming. So she's up on that balcony, naked, when she looks over and sees like twenty tourists looking at her with stunned faces.

And Rosie says, "Well, you're gorgeous. If I looked like you, I'd be naked right now."

Post by **Loredoctor** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:21 am

Fist, you're perverted

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:23 am

Aw, shucks. *trying to look humble*

Post by **The Dreaming** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 1:01 pm

Robert Downy Jr.
Sam Rockwell
Brendon Gleeson
Ian Holm
Phillip Seymore Hoffman
Sacha Baron Cohen
Nicholas Cage (HUGELY UNDERRATED!)
Alan Rickman
Kenneth Brannah
Ralph Fiennes
Liam Neeson
Ben Kingsley
Dustin Hoffman
Robert Duvall

And goddamn this list is starting to get long. I haven't even begun to think of actresses yet. (Gonna have to go with the obvious probably, Meryl Streep)

Post by **danlo** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:35 pm

Sacha Baron Cohen?

You're kidding right?

Post by **The Dreaming** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:10 pm

I'm serious as a heart attack. Not just because of Ali G./Borat, but Talledega Nights and Sweeney Todd too. I think he is one of the greatest comedic stars of the new generation.

Post by **danlo** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:19 pm

I need to broaden my horizons-never have seen or wanted to see the first three you mentioned-he seems like a total idiot to me...

Post by **The Dreaming** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:14 am

danlo wrote:I need to broaden my horizons-never have seen or wanted to see the first three you mentioned-he seems like a total idiot to me...

That's at lest 80 percent of the joke. He is nearly always in character in public. (Much Like Paul Rubens, before his indecent) He is one of the first people in ages I would call a brilliant comedic actor, rather than a good comedian in film.

Post by **Zahir** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 3:22 pm

Kevin Kline (this is especially true if you've had the great good fortune to see him on stage)
Molly Parker--easily one of the best and most fearless actors in the world right now.
Michelle Williams--never mind Dawson's Creek check her out in things like If These Walls Could Talk 2 and Dick as well as countless other films she's done. A major talent.
Judi Dench
Michelle Pfeiffer
Alan Rickman
Hugh Laurie
Kevin Spacey
Maggie Gyllanhal
Maggie Smith

Post by **Cagliostro** » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:59 pm

One of my favorites of the moment is Toni Colette. I'm an actor watcher, and I'm pretty good at naming them, but Toni escaped me for the longest time until I read an article in Entertainment Weekly about her a few years back and realized all the movies she was in that I had seen and was wowed at how much she disappeared into each and every role. She definitely belongs on this list in my opinion.

Post by **The Dreaming** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:56 pm

Kline is another example of someone I would call a brilliant comedic actor. If I had to pick an absolute *favorite* actor, it would probably be Ian Holm. He is just delightful in everything he is in. If I had to pick a favorite movie star (there is a difference!) it would probably be Nicholas Cage.

Post by **Cail** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:59 pm

Kline is a damn entertaining actor, but I always feel like I'm watching Kevin Kline when I see him in anything, especially his dramatic work. That said, I can watch The January Man over and over again.

Post by **Zarathustra** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 2:17 am

I'm having a tough time coming up with a list. There are plenty of actors I like, but they seem to play the same role all the time. To me, that just says they are playing themselves, not a character. They are surviving on their personal charisma, not their acting ability.

So I'm trying to come up with actors who have played lots of different types of characters, and seemed natural in every one.

I'm thinking Tom Hanks.

Post by **Dromond** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:05 am

Robert duvall is the best, imo. as Malik says, too many seem to play 'themselves' again and again... Deniro is a great example of this.

Duvall is like a chameleon, he truly changes, and gives perfomances that blow you away, time and again.

Hands down, the best living.

Post by **SleeplessOne** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:38 am

not sure about the 'greatest living actors', but Forest Whitaker and Steve Buscemi are two whom I really enjoy watching. Australian David Wenham is great too, although he hasnt been cast in anything great internationally yet ..

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:58 am

Dromond wrote:Duvall is like a chameleon, he truly changes, and gives perfomances that blow you away, time and again.

Duvall is very underrated, though I think De Niro is more than capable of playing other characters. If you look at his roles there's a lot of variation--taxi driver, boxer, mob boss, etc., some less and more sympathetic than others. Comparing him in GoodFellas to Raging Bull or The Deer Hunter to The Godfather, Part II you've got a lot of range.

Post by **Dromond** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:34 am

Lord Foul wrote:
Dromond wrote:Duvall is like a chameleon, he truly changes, and gives perfomances that blow you away, time and again.
Duvall is very underrated, though I think De Niro is more than capable of playing other characters. If you look at his roles there's a lot of variation--taxi driver, boxer, mob boss, etc., some less and more sympathetic than others. Comparing him in GoodFellas to Raging Bull or The Deer Hunter to The Godfather, Part II you've got a lot of range.

Outside of Raging Bull I really don't see it. Very good acting, yes... but all De Niro being De Niro.

Post by **Lord Mhoram** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:48 pm

Daniel Day-Lewis. Nobody does method acting as intensely and as meticulously as he does. More than any other actor in films today, he becomes his character. His range is stunning, and the vast majority of his films are absolutely superb. Most other actors are amateurs compared to him.

Post by **Mortice Root** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:50 pm

Ed Norton. To me, he seems both completely natural in all of his roles, and completely different from one role to the next. There are lots of people I enjoy watching, but very few actors who I forget are acting. He's one.

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

The Greatest Living Actor

The Greatest Living Actor