And the award for best actor in the world goes to..........

Alive or dead....(and I don't mean acting style) ?

Christian Ronaldo in The Fall Guy.

Reward - a yacht as he spends most of his time on the deck. 

IMO, the best actors are the ones who truly inhabit the character they're playing, making them entirely credible - however incredible the rest of the movies/their fellow actors are being. A superb performance can save an otherwise ordinary film.

As mentioned in another thread, Philip Seymour Hoffman is a genius at this - he steals scenes in every movie he's in, and has played a really wide range of roles yet made them all 'his own' (to use dreadful X-Factor parlance). Robert Mitchum had a similar gift.

Then again, there are actors (Steve Buscemi springs to mind) who are always watchable, but tend to end up playing very similar characters, making them not a great deal different from the big 'stars' - Tom Cruise; Tom Hanks etc - who just seem to end up playing different versions of the same person. 

Being choosy about the movies you make - and the directors you work with -  is a skill, as well as acting ability!

Ravey Gravey Davy:

Christian Ronaldo in The Fall Guy.

Reward - a yacht as he spends most of his time on the deck. 

 

terrible thing, envy.

Clare Newsome:

Then again, there are actors (Steve Buscemi springs to mind) who are always watchable, but tend to end up playing very similar characters

Agree with Clare on this one. There's a big diff between on screen charisma ( Connery, Pacino, etc.) and really good actors (De Niro, Hokins, Freeman,PSH etc.). It's hard to seperate the performance from the content sometimes and objectivity becomes v difficult.

JohnDuncan:

Clare Newsome:

Then again, there are actors (Steve Buscemi springs to mind) who are always watchable, but tend to end up playing very similar characters

Steve Buscemi, primarily.

Or William H Macy.

Or John Cusack.

Or Hugh Grant (minus the watchability)

Clare Newsome:

JohnDuncan:

Clare Newsome:

Then again, there are actors (Steve Buscemi springs to mind) who are always watchable, but tend to end up playing very similar characters

Steve Buscemi, primarily.

Or William H Macy.

Or John Cusack.

Or Hugh Grant (minus the watchability)

andyb190:

Alive or dead....(and I don't mean acting style) ?

I've just thought of another example of an actor that's really inhabited very different characters yet made each one individual: David Jason.

Now, before you splutter your coffee over the screen in disbelief, consider the evidence:

Granville in Open All Hours

Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses

Pa Larkin in The Darling Buds of May

Inspector Frost in A Touch of Frost

All characters given real personality over several series (not just 2 hours) of screen time. OK, so it's all 'light entertainment', but the man's a genius!

Clare Newsome:

I've just thought of another example of an actor that's really inhabited very different characters yet made each one individual: David Jason.

Now, before you splutter your coffee over the screen in disbelief, consider the evidence:

Granville in Open All Hours

Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses

Pa Larkin in The Darling Buds of May

Inspector Frost in A Touch of Frost

All characters given real personality over several series (not just 2 hours) of screen time. OK, so it's all 'light entertainment', but the man's a genius!

Where do you put Tim Robbins in the scheme of things ? Loved him in Shawshank but there's always a little too much of Tim in the other roles he's played. 

Daniel Day Lewis. Fruit cake on screen, fruit cake in real life. But a good fruit cake.

Octopo:

Daniel Day Lewis. Fruit cake on screen, fruit cake in real life. But a good fruit cake.

He is, indeed, impressive. Just slightly spoiled sometimes, IMHO, by being a touch too 'method'.

Reminds me of the story when Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman were filming Marathon Man, and Dustin had stayed up for nights on end to get the necessary dischevelled, exhausted demeanor. Larry was pupported to say "Try acting, dear boy - it's so much easier". 

Clare Newsome:

OK, so it's all 'light entertainment', but the man's a genius!

For the same reason.. Ronnie Barker. Absolutely peerless 

As far as putting effort in for the role surely this goes to Christian Bale for The Machinist - Scary how thin he made himself!!