What Makes A Great Actor?

[miss_yt]

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.

Comments

[arcessita.livejournal.com]

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

Nikola Tesla over here. :)

reposted to fix italics

[armageddonkitty.livejournal.com]

Nikola Tesla is pretty high on my list of "Dead Guys I'd Fuck."

Wayne Pygram (as Scorpius on Farscape) and Walter Koening (as Alfred Bester in Babylon 5

I loved them both. Scorpius was so good because every once in a while they'd do something ridiculous with him while still maintaining the character. Koening... just delivered a beautifully creepy, evil, beaurocratic, menacing smile... *shudder*

But I'd have to say my current #1 on the list is still Gregory Peck.

On the female side, the last few days/weeks it's been Brett Summers because we've been watching a zillion episodes of Matchgame (73, 74, PM, etc). The Game Show Network rules.

[armageddonkitty.livejournal.com]

PS, I still say that Johnny Depp IS the finest actor of his generation, bar none. People mock that becuase he's so pretty, but it's flat-out true.

I heard in an interview once that he doesn't feel in character until he's got the hair down right. Once the hair is perfect for the character, he can drop into it easily.

I do a similar thing with roleplaying. Until I have the right name for a PC, I can't write for it. It has to have a name with the correct connotations and sounds.

Robert Downey Jr. could have given Depp a run for his money and did for quite a while... Except when Depp grew up, Downey Jr. never did. He can't deliver quality consistantly, and it's very sad to see.