Who do you consider to be the best actor?
- Thread starter jbchillin
- Start date
Robert De Niro is pretty much the greatest actor of all time. Especially his work with Scorsese. Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, King of Comedy are all Oscar worthy. His work in Godfather 2 was superb and he was great in so much stuff from the 70's and early 90's. Now he just works and does lots of crap films which is a damn shame.
Pacino can be amazing but has a tendency to over act and chew scenery.
Jack Lemmon could be considered one of the greats just for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Robert Duvall is consistently great in everything he is in and his Magnum Opus was in The Apostle where he should have won every award going.
Bruce Campbell is up there too.
EDIT:
Viggo Mortensen is also pretty amazing. His work with Cronenberg is top notch and he did only what De Niro can do in A History of Violence. He was also great in Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method.
Pacino can be amazing but has a tendency to over act and chew scenery.
Jack Lemmon could be considered one of the greats just for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Robert Duvall is consistently great in everything he is in and his Magnum Opus was in The Apostle where he should have won every award going.
Bruce Campbell is up there too.
EDIT:
Viggo Mortensen is also pretty amazing. His work with Cronenberg is top notch and he did only what De Niro can do in A History of Violence. He was also great in Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method.
Stephen Tucci... He is one of those guys who does everything. Agree with Gary Oldman (of course). Mila Kunis as a female actress can be very, very good... But can be in very, very dumb movies. Of course, Breaking Bad's Bryan Branston popped out of nowhere and decided to be spectacular. These guys are probably our best straight-up actors of our time.
On pure skill I would say perhaps Ed Norton or perhaps Patrick Stewart for obviously different reasons.
However, I was thinking this earlier. In the future, I think history will most likely look at Tom Hanks as this generations greatest actor. Between the skill, consistency in notable roles, overall longevity in such position, it would be tough to make a case against it. At any one point in time over his career you can point to better, more famous actors. However once you look at it in the long view extending beyond a few decades how many can really come close to offering similar, if not more.
However, I was thinking this earlier. In the future, I think history will most likely look at Tom Hanks as this generations greatest actor. Between the skill, consistency in notable roles, overall longevity in such position, it would be tough to make a case against it. At any one point in time over his career you can point to better, more famous actors. However once you look at it in the long view extending beyond a few decades how many can really come close to offering similar, if not more.
I'm surprised at the lack of Kevin Spacey in this thread. Is it just me who thinks he's a great actor?
Robert Downey Jr., Iron man is just the frosting to that brilliant method of acting he has. He can never be uninteresting at all
Morgan Freeman is solid gold
It's hard to really hate Tom Hanks
Liam Neeson is a badass
Ron Perlman is a white version of Morgan freeman (still a good thing)
Morgan Freeman is solid gold
It's hard to really hate Tom Hanks
Liam Neeson is a badass
Ron Perlman is a white version of Morgan freeman (still a good thing)
Not to mention Mason Verger from Hannibal... the man truly was unrecognisable in that, as well as brilliant.Remus said:
OT: I would say the above poster's choice is a good one but I'm going to have to go with my all time favourite actor:
Behold, Ralph Fiennes!
The man is an absolute genius at portraying broken, despotic and downright terrible people. See Spider, Schindler's List, Red Dragon, In Bruges, The English Patient, Harry Potter etc for examples.
Words cannot describe my man love.
Not that big a fan of it, but probably the best thing that ever happened to the L&O franchise... -_-Artina89 said:
Surprised it took this long for that guy to get mentioned... but he's done a couple of very... 'un-DeNiro'-ish films, if you get what I mean. My favourite deNiro film is something that isn't dreadfully popular, but it's a damned moving film: Awakenings.Matt-Sama said:
You missed M! =PProverbial Jon said:
I'm inclined to agree... because different genres have different standout actors/actresses.Asita said:
However, if I was to name a single actor, it'd be Alec Guinness... now there's a career:
Lawrence of Arabia - the King of Iraq
Star Wars - do I really have to say?!
Kind Hearts & Coronets - as eight members of the d'Artoyne family (including one very frumpy woman)
Cromwell - Charles I
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - George Smiley
As British actors go, of the older generation he's definitely one of the most diverse. Quite how he managed to portray Hitler, though, I haven't the faintest idea... -_-
I quite like Sam Rockwell from Moon and if the praise for Seven Psychopaths is to be believed, he's just as good in that.
. I have yet to watch The Usual Suspects.
He's a pretty damn good actor yes. Ironically, I first witnessed his 'acting' in Moon where he plays a computer. L.A. Confidential and Se7en are better examplesCommerford said:
. I have yet to watch The Usual Suspects.
I will. Holds the record for bothlongest performing actor and actor who has starred in the most films if I remember right. He was also part of the group James Bond was based off, and may very well have saved the world from total nazification.Cazza said:
Tom Hanks, Ed Norton, Andrew Garfield, Nicolas Cage, Will Smith, John Turturro and my personal favorite, Barry Pepper.
Although I was over the moon to see him land that particular role, I didn't really consider the character of Mallory to really be one of his stand out roles. Probably not his fault; Craig and Dench overshadow everyone in that movie! I'm looking forward to what happens in future Bond movies though.SckizoBoy said:
There are actors I enjoy more, but the best actor around has to be Daniel Day-Lewis. The man BECOMES the roles he plays in a way that nobody else can, and his range is enormous.
I'm actually a Tom Cruise fan, but the man doesn't have much range. He's always got to be the run-and-gun type, with a hint of crazy. He pulls it off well, but I don't see him on anywhere near the level of the best.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale are two actors who I think deserve a lot more recognition than they get. Bale got his Oscar a couple years ago, but not many people saw the performance that earned it and he was overshadowed by Tom Hardy and Heath Ledger in the last two Batman movies. But both Bale and DiCaprio have been spitting out nothing but gold the past few years, and both are fantastic in my book.
I'm actually a Tom Cruise fan, but the man doesn't have much range. He's always got to be the run-and-gun type, with a hint of crazy. He pulls it off well, but I don't see him on anywhere near the level of the best.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale are two actors who I think deserve a lot more recognition than they get. Bale got his Oscar a couple years ago, but not many people saw the performance that earned it and he was overshadowed by Tom Hardy and Heath Ledger in the last two Batman movies. But both Bale and DiCaprio have been spitting out nothing but gold the past few years, and both are fantastic in my book.
OH MY GOD I FUCKING LOVE THAT MOVIE AEOGINAERPOAehjeyn[E9JY34ojt90ahuj 'payjhDo4600 said:
*ahem*
I would agree, but I think that Robert De Niro and Daniel Day Lewis knock him down from the top spot. Besides, I think Welles is a better director than an actor anyway.
