Moments of "Wow, Hell of an Actor"

[EvilMaggot]

Christian Bale's performance in Equilibrium. The moment he listens to music and just breaks... it's simply beautiful.

Also Liam Neeson in Taken. Especially "I don't know who you are" moment. This man is menacing as hell.

Equilibrium is amazing and HIGHLY underrated

Liam Neeson in "The Grey".. pretty much that entire movie..

 

[Caffiene]

Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black.

Some scenes shes acting against a composite of 3 other characters all played by herself, and you can forget its actually the same actress.

Or the scenes where she plays one character thats poorly trying to act as one of her other characters.

 

[Fox12]

Gandalf, of course. Sir Ian Mckellen is brilliant in everything he does, one of the best actors of his time.

Sir Anthony Hopkins did a brilliant job with Hannibal Lector as well. If you listen to his interviews, he's a very sophisticated and well spoken individual. A master actor with a lot of class.

Like a sir.

 

[Daniel Janhagen]

Linda Cardellini in Freaks & Geeks. She's good in the entire series, but the way she just emotionally breaks (mostly from teenage problems that probably won't matter later, but really do in that moment) hits me so hard, and she does it with nothing but her face, not even needing her voice or music cues. She's awesome there, just awesome.

I've had a fair bit of contempt for the Superman films ever since I first heard about the whole 'spin the earth backwards to reverse time' thing, and I tended to hold the actors in similarly low regard. Then I see this:

(youtube-link removed)

And then I just had to give Reeve due credit for how differently he played Superman and Kent. It's enough to make the Kent disguise actually seem plausible.

That is pretty good, but... the Earth appears to spin backwards because we see time go backwards. It's not that Earth's rotation controls time! Adding time travel to the movie is still really stupid, but it's not AS stupid as that.

edit: I'm not calling you stupid! (I don't know, it's best to be safe...)

 

[prpshrt]

Samuel L. Jackson in Django. The minute he steps into scene you go "Wow, THIS is Samuel L. Jackson!?". And then he steals every scene he's in, and you forget the macho Shaft persona he's been living off since Pulp Fiction. Really amazing and underrated actor. I would've given the Oscar to him rather than Waltz (he already has one for practically the same role, anyway).

I know this may come across as me sounding like I'm either blind or dumb, but it took me a WHILE to realize that was Samuel Jackson when I was watching it. He was fantastic in that role

 

[VoidWanderer]

Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect.

Going from a goof in 'That 70s Show', to the guy who goes through one hell of a character development plot is what makes me realize that this guy can actually act.

 

[Asita]

I've had a fair bit of contempt for the Superman films ever since I first heard about the whole 'spin the earth backwards to reverse time' thing, and I tended to hold the actors in similarly low regard. Then I see this:

(youtube-link removed)

And then I just had to give Reeve due credit for how differently he played Superman and Kent. It's enough to make the Kent disguise actually seem plausible.

That is pretty good, but... the Earth appears to spin backwards because we see time go backwards. It's not that Earth's rotation controls time! Adding time travel to the movie is still really stupid, but it's not AS stupid as that.

I refer you to the scene from the movie itself. Superman starts flying west and circles the globe at an ever increasing speed until it slows down and actually starts to reverse its rotation. How do we know this is presented as a literal event rather than metaphorical/symbolic representation? Once he's brought it back far enough he changes direction and mimics the motion until the Earth started spinning the right way again, an act that would be pointless at best and contradictory at worst if we saw the Earth spinning in reverse as simply indicative of time reversing rather than an actual effect being acted upon the planet. Hence the moment earning my eternal scorn.

 

[Daniel Janhagen]

I've had a fair bit of contempt for the Superman films ever since I first heard about the whole 'spin the earth backwards to reverse time' thing, and I tended to hold the actors in similarly low regard. Then I see this:

(youtube-link removed)

And then I just had to give Reeve due credit for how differently he played Superman and Kent. It's enough to make the Kent disguise actually seem plausible.

That is pretty good, but... the Earth appears to spin backwards because we see time go backwards. It's not that Earth's rotation controls time! Adding time travel to the movie is still really stupid, but it's not AS stupid as that.

I refer you to the scene from the movie itself. Superman starts flying west and circles the globe at an ever increasing speed until it slows down and actually starts to reverse its rotation. How do we know this is presented as a literal event rather than metaphorical/symbolic representation? Once he's brought it back far enough he changes direction and mimics the motion until the Earth started spinning the right way again, an act that would be pointless at best and contradictory at worst if we saw the Earth spinning in reverse as simply indicative of time reversing rather than an actual effect being acted upon the planet. Hence the moment earning my eternal scorn.

He... overshot and went forward in time again? Honestly, I'd forgotten about his changing direction. Maybe it's like Bender's timetravel code, going in one direction moves time in - you know what, I'll concede that this is just as stupid as the key being the rotation of the planet...

Let's get back on topic!

 

[JagermanXcell]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the HEATH LEDGER and his performance as the Joker.
Only he could put so much character he put into such a bastard nihilist, its amazing! Even in death he steals every scene in The Dark Knight.

Christopher Walken, he tends to put a lot of class/humor in his roles in one way or another. Theres never a dull moment with him on screen, Suicide Kings is where he really stood out to me.

And VA Troy Baker (everything he does is great from Booker Dewitt to Joel) but specifically for his role as Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4. He really has that believability as a man just trying to get through high school and be accepted, the moments when Troy Baker acts out the Kanji Social Links are down right astounding. And then there's his shadow... pffft it may be silly but damn he nailed it, even the director of the game prefered him over the japanese VA.

 

[Mikeyfell]

No spoilers but the last scene from Breaking Bad last week.

The one that involved a cell phone call.
Yeah... yeah...
I won't tell you who or what but that scene... man that scene.

Pretty much any scene from that episode. Ozymandias. All of the Emmys I'm calling it right now. 2014 Emmys, every single one is going to Ozymandias.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Recently, I've got to say Bryan Cranston as Walter White.

To go from Hal, from Malcolm in the Middle, to a character like that.

And he pulls it off so fucking well.

Add another one to that.
Every time he does something on screen, I absolutely believe it.

Other than him, Troy Baker.
After playing Bioshock Infinite and The Last Of Us, I think I found a new favorite voice-actor. Both Joel and Booker are, at their most basic, gruff, tough guys. Baker could have used the same voice for both of them but he didn't, and it's great. Then I learned about all that other stuff he does like Excalibur and the Joker and thought "Man, this guy's got some chops!" To be fair, I could be confused and be praising his ability to do a lot of voices instead of his actual acting talent but he's still good either way.

 

[jdavies655]

Matt Smith as the Doctor
he's my favourite doctor and the quirky craziness he brings to it, while still being able to show a serious dark man on the inside makes him just so spectacular that he's my number one

 

[Weaver]

Emma Thompson and her portrayal of Karen Eiffel in Stranger Than Fiction was absolutely incredible. She nailed that character and really brought the movie together in my opinion.

 

[Marter]

I just got out of Blue is the Warmest Color and Adèle Exarchopoulos stole the show. What a talent, and what a find for the filmmakers (not her first role, but it's going to bring her so many accolades).

 

[cojo965]

I got another, Nolan North as Deadpool. Why? Well, look at Nolan himself:

Had a good look? Okay now listen to his Deadpool:


Does that voice sound like it matches the face?

 

[Signa]

Claire Danes in Homeland. I can't remember the last time I've seen a female actor with that kind of screen presence. It turns out, she's been around a while and I'm only noticing her now, even though I appreciated her previous works.

 

[BarbaricGoose]

David from The Last of Us,
I beat the game, read the credits... Wait... that's Nolan North!?

But that might have been more my surprise seeing hearing him in that role.

That shit shocked me too. He was an interesting character, and I NEVER would've guessed. Sounded nothing like him. He also does a pretty good Nathan Fillion: see the male Jedi Consular from The Old Republic. I thought that WAS Nathan Fillion when I first played the game.

Also from TLoU: Joel. Did not know that was Troy Baker.

Oh, and Paul Giamatti in everything.

 

[Maphysto]

Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones.


Addy took that character and made it his like no other actor I've seen. Pretty much every actor or actress in that series is fantastic, but Mark Addy stands out to me for some reason. The nuances in his facial expressions are glorious.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Gary Oldman in... pretty much anything he's ever done. One of the few actors that if I don't catch his name in the opening credits I may not even recognize him. There's "acting" and then there's "being", Mr. Oldman does the second every damn time.
Also Vincent Donofrio. One HELL of an actor who I feel doesn't get enough attention and has a tendency to also make me do a double take because he's so damn good.
Brad Pitt also is talented, and even though Nicolas Cage has made some pretty bad movies he still is a respectable actor. And props to him for taking part of his stage name from a comic book character.
Brandon Lee had so much potential dammit...
Garret Dillahunt from Raising Hope. Versatile actor, and underrated.
Matt Damon never struck me as an action star until the Bourne Identity where he absolutely killed that role... in a good way... never will see him the same after that.
And finally, FINALLY... the Rock for his role in Be Cool. Surprised the hell out of me.

EDIT: Honorable mentions go to Will Smith for his roles in both Seven Pounds and Pursuit of Happyness. The man can truly act when he puts his heart into it.
Also Josh Brolin for multiple roles in the last decade. To think he was once Mikey's (Sean Astin) older brother in Goonies
Oh and Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Even tho I love the man's work I didn't think I'd actually enjoy that movie as much as I did.

 

[Juan Regular]

Emma Thompson and her portrayal of Karen Eiffel in Stranger Than Fiction was absolutely incredible. She nailed that character and really brought the movie together in my opinion.

Not an obvious choice but a good one. She was amazing.
'I don't need a nicotine patch, Penny. I smoke cigarettes.'

Great movie.