Actors and Actresses who ALWAYS deliver

Cruise almost always delivers.  Whatever you think of him, I don't think anyone can deny how DEDICATED the man is to his work.  Sometimes, this comes through a little too clearly which results in a performance that reeks of effort, but still...

Jeff Bridges
Stanley Tucci
Mark Strong
Maggie Smith
Sigourney Weaver
Bill Murray

 

 The first few that spring to mind. True, some of these are unquestionably 'greats' but you can set your watch by all of 'em.

Alternate title, The Character Actor Thread

 

J. T. Walsh and William H. Macy.

 

I'll add to that list with a bit of a varied and disparate list of my own. The only real criteria here for me is I'm yet to not enjoy these people in whatever I've seen them in...

 

Geoffrey Rush

 

Cate Blanchett

 

Sir Ian McKellen

 

Daniel Day Lewis 

 

Ralph Fiennes

 

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

 

Paul Giamatti

 

Sam Rockwell

 

Jeffrey Wright

 

Chris Cooper

 

Richard Jenkins

 

Tom Wilkinson

 

Guy Pearce

 

Tilda Swinton

 

Amy Adams

 

Kate Winslett

 

Sean Penn

 

Tom C Reilly

 

Francis McDormand

 

Judi Dench

 

Michelle Williams

 

Matt Damon

 

Paddy Consadine

 

Jim Broadbent

 

...and Michael Fucking Caine.

 

 

Oh yes, and some guy named George Clooney as well.

 

Damn, I wish JT Walsh was still alive and working.  I loved his condescending smarm.  Perhaps even moreso than Kevin Spacey's!

Gary Oldman!

 

Dude he's hands-down my favorite actor on earth, but with performances on his cv like The Scarlet Letter and Lost In Space? That said, I suppose if you're working on the premise he always delivers entertainment, rather than always being good, then yeah, I guess he really does belong at the top of the list really.

Fair enough then. Gary (and Bucho) for the win really.

Anyone brave enough to start an Actors who always deliver Draft? I would love to see and be in that.

I pretty much went by the old "I'm yet to not enjoy these people in whatever I've seen them in" criteria and I have to say that even in cack films I've loved watching Gary.

 

Alan Rickman is right on his heels.

Kurt Russell

Denzel Washington

Kevin Bacon

Actors who can always make a character work on some level? Hi, his name is James Stewart. Whether being hopelessly optimistic to playing the lovable sap to his post-Korea efforts where he gets DARK (seriously, Shenandoah and The Naked Spur--in the latter he straight up admits that he's come to enjoy killing), he always brought it to the table. Even in his later, more cameo-driven roles, he still does the footwork to make his roles feel like people instead of cartoons, or worse, dead space. He's got three scenes in The Shootist, and he nails every one of them.

Clancy Brown.  He never every fails to bring the goods.

Michael Ironside.  Nobody can chew scenery like him, except for...

Brian Blessed.  The consumate ham.

FASSBENDER.

Blessed never 'delivers'. He DOMINATES. He is the acting equivalent of the 'What is good in life' speech in Conan the Barbarian.

Edited by Workyticket - 1/11/12 at 4:01am

So far yes, along with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton while we're at it - and hell, Nick fuckin Nolte while I'm reminded of him.

I don't know which movie you saw, but he was fucking awesome n Lost In Space, which is all the more impressive given what he ha to work with.

Ralph Fiennes.  He is consistently fantastic, regardless of the role.  Even in THE AVENGERS he was watchable...that's impressive.

Look, Gary is a master thesp, able to disappear into roles when required - but he is also a world class ham when called upon as well. LIS falls into the latter category and while I enjoy some of his moments, it's pure unadulterated paycheque work and I think that shows.

 

For Oldman ham greatness I'd point you in the direction of his work with Luc Besson. For the moment the method man turned into a bit of a ham for the first time? State Of Grace.

This fucker.

 

Nutty cult member? Sure...but he's also a motherf*cking PRO. (Click to show)

Christopher Walken

Fucker should have won an Oscar for this scene:

Dustin Hoffman

Really, watch Hook. That man made the movie watchable (and with certain friends quotable).

- Everyone knows my ham is world-class.

 

- Everyone?

 

 

I wholeheartedly agree with Jimmy Stewart, Brian Blessed, and Tom Wilkinson.

 

And let me add David Strathairn, Peter Postlethwaite, and of course his right honorable hugeness Mr. Neeson.*

 

While I'm here, a very special mention for James Nesbitt and the OUTSTANDING Peter Mullan.  Nesbitt can do comedy, the charming leading man, menace, and CRUSHING heartbreak.  His last few moments in Five Minutes of Heaven are exemplary. 

 

And Peter Mullan.  From evil to gruff to tender and everywhere in between, the man is a virtuoso.  From his interviews I've always thought of him as rather rough-hewn but cuddly, but his Death Eater in Deathly Hallows Part 1 was genuinely terrifying. 

 

As for ladies: 

 

Emma Thompson

Thelma Ritter

Jean Arthur

Olivia Williams

 

(On a related note, My Favorite Year is on TCM right now.  "I'M A MOVIE STAR, NOT AN ACTOR!")

 

 

 

 

 

 

*and of course Ewan

 

 

 

 

Excellent call on Strathairn.

 

Now, you wanna talk about actors who deliver?

I give you Bruce "Gravitas Guaranteed" Greenwood

 

Glenn Close also knows how to deliver.

I'm surprised at the number of actors listed in this thread that in my opinion, more closely resembled someone belonging in the Great Actors That Just Aren't Very Good thread, although the "great" is debatable.

 

In all seriousness, if the bulk of the characters you play all seem like a version of the same character, are you really acting?  What's different?

 

Cruise, Clooney, Gosling, Will Smith and others all seem to play the same character a fair amount of the time.  In my opinion, that's not acting folks!  If that's the case, I'm one of the worlds greatest actors because everyday I play a different character, one who's alot like yesterdays's charcater but ignore that.

Of course you're welcome to your opinion.

 

It is incorrect tho.

Tilda Swinton is, for me, the goods.  I can't think of a single poor performance from her.

Ham greatness aside, the point of the thread is actors who bring their A game in shitty movies, so I'd point you away from Leon (one of my all-time favorites) and back to Lost in Space. It's the definition of a shitty movie, and yes, it is a paycheck role, but I would maintain that he did the best with what he was given. The paycheck aspect only "shows" when you consider the role in the context of his filmography, but never in his performance. How could any other actor do better? You're not going to wrest pathos or much of anything other than ham out of the part.

And with that, I end what will be the only defense of Lost in Space in the whole of the Internet.

I do hear you, and on that level he definitely qualifies - hell he's literally the only reason I can stomach sitting through it when it comes on TV. That and seeing young Jared Harris at the end.

Somewhere on this website, http://www.mattleblanc.net/, a fan has prepared a dissertation for this day. But I am afraid to explore that true heart of darkness.

 

Um, no it most definitely is not.  But I certainly do appreciate you taking the time to claim that your OPINION is the only correct one.  An opinion by definition is a personal view, therefore there is no "incorrect".  Whether it be your taste in food, music, or by jove evern MOVIES, your opinion is relevant and valid to YOU.  You cannot however expect everyone to hold that same opinion or intelligently expect it to be the ONLY opinion.

 

I stand on my statement unwaveringly.  And I enjoy most of Clooney & Smith's outings.  Cruise I'm on the fence about, but by and large other than Tropic Thunder - same old same old.  Gosling is the drizzling goose shits.  Affecting a fake New York accent for a film is great, admitting you are doing it in your daily life, in my opionion makes you a douche.  And I hated Drive.  Sorry cinephiles.

 

Really enjoyed Ides of March though starring both so go figure.  Actually enjoyed Crazy Stupid Love as well.

 

Opinions are great, there is no incorrect.  But respecting other's opinion rather than labeling them "incorrect" is far and way the more mature stance.

Oh yes they're like assholes tis true.

 

Lets just call Rabbit Season, Duck Season on this one and move along shall we - I think you have a very specific view of what 'acting' entails that seems pretty damn narrow and limited to me, but hey, it's your worldview, have at it.

 

I'll respect informed opinions. Take or leave Gosling, Clooney, et al, but they are doing far more than playing themselves in each role. Nuance abounds.

Hate to say it, but I agree on Cruise. Have not seen Collateral or his stretchier roles.

I find humor in your myopic viewpoint that my opinion, rahter than be respected mus tbe narrow and limtied as long as it doesn't conform to yours.  So, in one post where I mentioned that a few actors seem to be playing versions of the same role over and over (narrow and limited perhaps) rather than taking on broader scoped roles, you ASSume to know with ANY degree whatsoever what my views specific or otherwise on "acting" or anything else for that matter are?

 

I think your myopic, immature and arrogant viewpoint precludes you from accepting other opinions as valid thus leaving you with delusions of grandeur in that your opinion is rather fact and therefore the only possible stance to avoide feelings on inadequacy.

Fun isn't it?
 

 

Jesus dude I told you you were welcome to your opinion and offered an opinion of my own on your view. I think your take is limited - but again, that's just my opinion anyway. Purely subjective. I'm not calling you a poo-poo head and I've offered a live and let live approach and you've still got a boner. Take an Ambien or something.

Again, you seem unable to take a live and let live approach.  It's more along the lines of live and let live but let me ass on some assumptions with negative conotations and insult you since you don't agree with me and didn't appreciate my ridiculous retort.

 

I suggest you consult again with your physician and have him reevaluate your dosage of Zyprexa or Thorazine.  Perhaps that would help your maladjusted, sociopathic behavior. 

 

See, still fun.

Dude seriously - you're welcome to your opinion. I'm not here to shit on you. The End.

 

fucks sake.

To steal a line from Modern Family, "Meryl Streep could play Batman!".

I'd add Cristhian Bale to the list; he may have some bad movies, but i've never seen him make a bad performance.

The Rock. Still always the best thing about really depressingly mediocre films.

 

Has Brendan Gleeson put forth a bad performance this century? I dont think he has.

 

The Rock has such natural charisma, that im amazed/grateful he hasnt gotten involved into politics; hell, he could be the first wrestler elected president if he did, Camacho be damned.

I have never, ever seen Brad Dourif phone in a performance. He is the far and away the best thing about most of the films o his CV, and if there were justice in this world he'd be following John Hawkes into the Belated Recognition Club over the next three or four years.

1) Michael Douglas - I havn't seen his recent DTV work, but I could always count on him to deliver the goods. I even paid to see crap like "The Sentinel" because of Michael.

2) Vincent Cassel - he just might be my favorite actor. And if I worked in Hollywood, I'd cast him in everything I made.

Andy Serkis.

 

Yeah, I'll be that guy.

I'll back you up. I admit I haven't watched everything he's ever done but the guy keeps pulling rabbits out of hats, again and again.