Surprise performances by actors

faceman

What is it that makes bad or average actors have a one off movie or scene that is mind blowingly good. The best example i can think of is alec baldwin in Glengary Glenross. Hes a bad actor but his brief performance in the movie is best in his career and a fine performance by anyone's standard!!

Was it because he was surrounded by such talent like lemmon, pacino, pryce etc. (Note i didnt say spacey as he was not the big name he is now)

What do you think? Any other examples?

Peyton Manning

I thought Ludacris was very good in Crash.

Karl Hungus

faceman wrote:

Was it because he was surrounded by such talent like lemmon, pacino, pryce etc. (Note i didnt say spacey as he was not the big name he is now)

What does talent have to do with being a big name?

DaBreno

Sylvester Stallone in Copland.

Throw in Rocky and you feel ol Sly had a bit of talent that was horribly wasted as he picked up cheques for Stop or my Mom will Shoot! Why??

faceman

Karl Hungus wrote:

What does talent have to do with being a big name?

nothing at all. the point i was making that the intimidation factor of working alongside spacey back then would not have been as high as it is now.

gustavo

Archimedes wrote:

I thought Ludacris was very good in Crash.

I'll second that and also to continue the theme I thought Puff Daddy was great in Monsters Ball a performance I was waiting to hate .

Stallone is a fine actor, and I have always believed so. How he did'nt get at least an oscar nomination for Copland is beyond me. He was also excellant in D-Tox, before someone decided that running down dark corridors would help the film.

J.R.HARTLEY

faceman wrote:

Was it because he was surrounded by such talent like lemmon, pacino, pryce etc. (Note i didnt say spacey as he was not the big name he is now)

What do you think? Any other examples?

well it is an old saying that working alongside or opposite the best can up your game no matter what your industry is, footbal, acting etc.

Miguel_Sanchez

Ben Affleck in Dazed and Confused.

Giruilla

Miley from Glenroe in Alexander, well i was just suprised to see him.
Also Van Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, usualy hate Kilmer (especially in Heat, ugh) but he was brilliant and funny in that.

Franky Boy

Willem dafoe in the life aquatic!

Hes a bad actor but his brief performance in the movie is best in his career and a fine performance by anyone's standard!!


Since when is Alec Baldwin a bad actor????

Giruilla

Deleted User wrote:

Since when is Alec Baldwin a bad actor????

Since the Shadow

columok

A certain Scary Movie star in Requiem for a Dream.

Excellent performance from somebody I normally loathe.

Miguel_Sanchez

Franky Boy wrote:

Willem dafoe in the life aquatic!

Dafoe's a good actor. He was great in Auto Focus there recently.

Although I will admit that Life Aquatic was a great change from his usual sort of character.

Franky Boy

Can't stand him.He's just doesn't deliver a credible performance for me.But I thought that he was great in Life Aquatic!

Giruilla

He was cool in Inside Man too. i love everything he does anyway tbh!

foxyboxer

keira knightley in pride and prejudice....she CAN act!

humanji

I think Stallone in Copland was fantastic. He can act when he puts his mind to it. Back in the day when he wrote and/or directed a few of films like Rocky and Paradise Alley, he really showed a lot of talent, but then seemed to get handed some really dodgy roles.

Actually, speaking of Glengary Glenross, I thought that Jack Lemon was surprisingly good in it. I had only ever seen him in comedy roles before like the Odd Couple and Some Like It Hot, so I never knew he could really act, and he was amazing in this film.

J.R.HARTLEY

jomanji wrote:

I had only ever seen him in comedy roles before like the Odd Couple and Some Like It Hot, .

check oiut the days of wine and roses, another stonkin' performance from Jack,

Pugsley

Nick Nolte was surprisingly good in Hotel Rwanda, he was terrable in everything else Ive seen him in though. Don Cheadle also put in an excellent performance in that film.

Dudess

Brucie in The Sixth Sense.

Morlar

Tom Berenger in Platoon - he has been in some turkeys but can act when he wants to.

Maxwell

Sharon Stone in Casino

She was rubbish in roles before this film......and has been rubbish in roles after it, but she really put in a good performance