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| Forums Index -> Out of Genre Experience -> Greatest Actor of All Time |
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 Posted:
Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:10 am
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Joined: 27 Mar 2010
Posts: 19
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I could only narrow this to five,and you all should know there body of work.
Jack Nicholson
Nick Nolte
Clint Eastwood
Denzel Washington
Christopher Lee |
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| Posted:
Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:28 pm
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Joined: 15 Mar 2010
Posts: 264
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I'm going to try and level the playing field a bit by throwing some Brits in.
First one that ever comes to mind when mentioning great actors is Laurence Olivier. Funny, Hoffman being mentioned before, I always remember the anecdote from Marathon Man. Hoffman has to play a character who's had no sleep for days, so - method actor that he is (or cheat, depending on your perspective) - in order to prepare for the scene, he doesn't sleep for days. Olivier sees him on set, looking like shit, asks him what gives and Hoffman tells him. "My dear boy," says Olivier, "why don't you just act?" Priceless.
Personally, I never cared much for the method. Get your lines right and don't bump into the furniture, that's all you need to know.
Another actor I find endlessly watchable is Richard Burton. So much screen presence and such a voice.
And then we have Richard Harris. Watch him in This Sporting Life - it's a one man masterclass.
Alec Guinness. His body of work speaks for itself.
America tends to turn out personalities when it comes to acting - Cary Grant (a Brit by birth, granted), John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson etc. Britain, though, we turn out grafters who know their trade and can bury their personality very easily in order to take on the demands of the role. |
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| Posted:
Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:34 pm
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Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 8052
Location: Bronx, New York
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| Karloff wrote: | I'm going to try and level the playing field a bit by throwing some Brits in.
First one that ever comes to mind when mentioning great actors is Laurence Olivier. Funny, Hoffman being mentioned before, I always remember the anecdote from Marathon Man. Hoffman has to play a character who's had no sleep for days, so - method actor that he is (or cheat, depending on your perspective) - in order to prepare for the scene, he doesn't sleep for days. Olivier sees him on set, looking like shit, asks him what gives and Hoffman tells him. "My dear boy," says Olivier, "why don't you just act?" Priceless.
Personally, I never cared much for the method. Get your lines right and don't bump into the furniture, that's all you need to know.
Another actor I find endlessly watchable is Richard Burton. So much screen presence and such a voice.
And then we have Richard Harris. Watch him in This Sporting Life - it's a one man masterclass.
Alec Guinness. His body of work speaks for itself.
America tends to turn out personalities when it comes to acting - Cary Grant (a Brit by birth, granted), John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson etc. Britain, though, we turn out grafters who know their trade and can bury their personality very easily in order to take on the demands of the role. |
Hmmm, we definitely have to talk more often.
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"We are bad guys. That means we've got more to do other than bullying companies. It's fun to lead a bad man's life." |
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