Actors

It’s tough to select my favorite actors because there is just so many of them. It’s a male-dominated Hollywood after all. As you will probably notice, I like my character actors and value those who can bring something new in each of their characters. I will probably keep adding to this list as names pop into my head and when I have time…


	7. Chris Cooper: Another character actor who has made a living being that amazing supporting actor that no one really notices because he does his job so well. He played the gay neighbor in American Beauty (1999), the John Laroche character in Adaptation (2002) for which he won as Oscar and Jake Gyllenhaal's dad in October Sky (1999). He was also in both Bourne movies and portrayed real life traitor Robert Hanssen in Breach (2007). Although Cooper rarely ever gets the chance to be a lead role, he proved in Breach and Married Life (2008) that he is as potent in a leading role as in a supporting one. Below are some of the scenes he appears in American Beauty.
	6. Ed Harris: A fantastic 4-time Oscar nominated supporting actor, Ed Harris has had an amazing career and been in some really solid movies among which Apollo 13 (1995), The Truman Show (1999), Pollock (2001), The Hours (2003) and Gone Baby Gone (2007). Ed Harris is an interesting actor because he can make his characters tough yet gentle, convincingly conveying self-doubt and personal flaws with subtlety and nuance. More than anything, there was two roles that made me a Ed Harris fan forever. It was his German sniper role in Enemy at the Gates (2001) and his turn as a rogue Marine General in The Rock (1996) that won me over. He brought depth and sympathy to those characters who were on the bad guy's side. Below is the great opening minutes of the movie. Ed Harris looks badass as a Marine officer.
	5. Daniel Day-Lewis: One of the few method actors around, British man Daniel Day Lewis went mainstream in the US playing an American frontiersman in The Last of the Mohicans (1992) which is to this day one of my very favorite movie of all-time. He learned how to track and hunt animals and carried a 12-pound period gun at all time with him to get himself in-character. Some day, a movie will be made about Daniel Day-Lewis simply because when you think of the stereotype about method actors, it describes him perfectly. Day-Lewis is so consummate with his craft that he literally stays in character offstage for the entire duration of shooting. He used to get frequent mental breakdowns and even passed out on-stage when he played Hamlet seeing the ghost of his father. When playing Christy Brown, a paralyzed writer confined to a wheelchair, he literally stayed in the wheelchair offstage and had to be wheeled around everywhere by the crew. For Gangs of New York, he would constantly give nasty stares at his co-star Leonardo Di Caprio. After his movies are done shooting, he goes through a bout of depression because of how much he has invested in a character and it takes weeks for him to recover. No matter how insane that is, you can't deny the results: He is simply astounding in every movie he has been in. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1989 for his turn as Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989). He single-handedly pulled Gangs of New York (2002) from mediocrity and gave an Oscar winning performance that people will continue to talk about decades from today in There will be Blood (2007). The only downer is that we don't get too see him all that often... Day-Lewis has been in only 10 movies in the last 20 years. Basically, one every other year which is the time he approximately needs to research and prepare for a role. Here is an interview of Daniel Day-Lewis by the New York Times.
	4. Viggo Mortensen: An actor's actor, Mortensen has had an impressive career and very few people realize he has been around for a very long time. He started with low-key TV shows all the way back in 1984! Most people probably remember him most as Aragorn in the epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings but it was all the way back in 1995 with Crimson Tide that I started to notice him. He had the fate of the entire world in his hands after all! He has since put up an incredible list of roles on his belt with his incredibly intense turn as Master Chief John James Urgayle in GI Jane (1997) among one of his most memorable before The Lord of the Rings put him on the map as a lead actor. After the trilogy, he was casted as the lead in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence (2005), a reflective and devastating study of violence as well as Eastern Promises (2007) co-starring Naomi Watts, as a Russian mobster. As you can notice, he's been a badass in quite a bunch of movies. Mortensen is a spectacular performer because he always manages to bring introspective depth and complexity to his characters. No doubt, he will be around entertaining us for decades to come.
	3. Robert Downey Jr.: RDJ is an incredibly talented actor who saw success very early on, which may have contributed to his long battle with alcohol and drug abuse. His Oscar-nominated interpretation of Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992) is a proof of what he could already do nearly 20 years ago. He had a small role in the critically acclaimed Good Night an Good Luck (2005), was hilarious in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and was perfectly cast as Ironman (2008) and as "the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude" in Tropic Thunder (2008). Watch for him in the upcoming Sherlock Holmes (December 25, 2009) and Ironman 2 next year.
	2. Russell Crowe: Little known in the US before his turn as the bad-tempered and violent cop "Bud" White in L.A Confidential (1997), the Australian actor has padded his resume impressively since. He is a three-time Oscar nominee for his roles in The Insider (1999), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and Gladiator (2000), winning the award for the latter. He also was the lead in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), Cinderella Man (2005), American Gangster (2007), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and State of Play (2009) among others. Amazing list of movies which all performed well at the box office but also were received well by critics. The striking thing about Crowe when you watch his interviews is that he is a very intelligent and articulate man. He also has great presence on-screen and chooses his movies very carefully. Watch for him as Robin Hood in the movie of the same name which is slated to come out in May 2010. Below, one scene from 3:10 to Yuma and an interview from Inside the Actors Studio (First part only, you can find the rest by clicking on the youtube).
	1. Gary Oldman: You may find it surprising that Commissioner Gordon would be so high on the list. The British-born Gary Oldman is the ultimate character actor. I simply love this guy because he can play anything and everything! He literally disappears into his roles and you often realize only much later that he was in the movie. That's talent. He has had as accomplished a career as you are going to see, playing wildly diverse roles successfully. Not too many actors can say they have played Count Dracula, Lee Harvey Oswald, Beethoven, a violent pimp, a corrupt DEA agent, a congressman, a corporate tyrant, a Russian terrorist, Harry Potter's godfather, or Batman close friend James Gordon. Oldman brings versatility, intensity, and something new to every single one of his characters. He is arguably the most talented actor alive. Here is my one of my favorite Gary Oldman interpretation: corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield (WARNING: VIOLENCE)