What Makes A Great Actor?

Last night I watched Carol Reed's The Third Man. It's one of those movies - you know, the kind they don't make 'em like anymore. While watching it I decided that Orson Welles is my official Famous Dead Guy I Have A Crush On[1]. He was quite a radical back in his day and got in trouble with everyone from Hollywood execs to William Randolph Hearst to Senator Joseph McCarthy and the FBI. He was a mad genius when it came to stage and film and, of course, a hell of an actor. He had an aura about him that was irresistably fascinating and a little unsettling. He seemed to be completely immersed in the role he was playing while at the same time he transcended it, letting his own force of personality shine through. I can think of very few contemporary actors who have the same kind of presence: Vincent D'Onofrio of Law and Order: Criminal Intent is one of them[2]. The others I can think of are Wayne Pygram (as Scorpius on Farscape) and Walter Koening (as Alfred Bester in Babylon 5)[3]). And neither were as good as Welles.

Of course, Welles himself might have said that this was because you can't acheive a truly masterful screen performance in color, only in black and white. I wonder...


[1] Every geeky girl who takes a reasonable interest in history has one of these.

[2] He actually bears a strong physical resemblence to Welles, too.

[3] It can be argued that they don't count because they were playing well-written fascinating and unsettling characters: I contend that bringing them to life in a convincing way could not have been easy. And yeah, funny that two of my picks are villains.