Incredible Mag

What Makes A Good Actor A Great One For The Genre?

Russell Crowe – pictured here posing with fans – has landed many roles over the years – but few have required him to take up ice skating!

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">When you think back to the greatest movies of all time&comma; what is it that makes them great exactly&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Obviously&comma; there are many different factors such as a great plot and storyline&comma; a great score&comma; excellent editing and that whole &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Je ne sais quoi” &&num;8211&semi; exactly what that the best movies of all time have&period; The one obvious we’re missing so far is the actors and their acting ability – but we’ll come back to that in amoment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Firstly&comma; let’s have a look at some of the movies that have been agreed almost universally to belong on the list of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;best ever”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">On most such lists&comma; you’ll find G1 and G2 in the top few&period; We’re referring&comma; of course&comma; to the Godfather parts one and two from the early 70s directed by Francis Ford Coppola&period; There was a third Godfather movie to complete the trilogy in 1990 – but the less said about that piece of movie &OpenCurlyQuote;art’&comma; the better&period; It could never match up to the first two Godfather movies which were and still are simply sublime – surpassing all other movies before or since in so many ways for those of us who are fans&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">All the afore-mentioned factors made the two movies great – but it was the actors who contributed their bit too&period; Al Pacino and Marlon Brando&comma; in particular&comma; played their roles to wonderful effect as the ageing Don and his youngest son – the one who would go on to inherit the family &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;business”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Forgetting the Actor in Favour of the Role<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Perhaps what made their roles great in addition to the plot&comma; script&comma; score and overall creative treatment was the fact that they were believable&period; This really sets great actors apart from the rest&period; When you’re watching the first two Godfather movies&comma; you’re truly lost in the moment&period; You aren’t thinking continually of who the actors are &lpar;or were&rpar; in real life – despite the fact that both are household names all around the world&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Marlon Brando&comma; in particular&comma; is considered to be one of the most gifted actors of all time – so for him to get past the credibility gap is even harder&period; Yet he manages this&period; For the first few minutes of his appearance when you’re watching The Godfather for the first time&comma; you may be thinking of him as the actor rather than the role – but that pretty soon fizzles away when left with the purer image of the older Don Corleone &lpar;he was also played to good effect in his younger years by Robert de Niro&comma; of course&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">So it’s all about forgetting who the actor is in favour of the role and the actors who achieve this are rare – particularly the really big names&period; So without wishing to insult any particular actor&comma; for example&comma; it’s difficult to watch a movie with Tom Cruise or Nicholas Cage in it – without forgetting who the actor is&period; They somehow fail to lose themselves in the role&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>When you Remember the Actor but it’s Great Anyway<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">And yet it’s more complex than that&period; There would surely be no-one out there who would argue that Daniel Day-Lewis isn’t one of the all-time greats&period; This is exemplified by his three Oscars from &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;My Left Foot”&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;There Will Be Blood” and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Lincoln” from last year&period; But with all three films – as you’re watching them&comma; you’re very aware that the role is being played by Daniel Day-Lewis&comma; despite the fact that he’s so obviously a gifted actor thatdeeply blends intoeach character&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">So it has to be something more fundamental than pure believability&period; After all&comma; if ever there was an actor who perfects the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;method” acting roleof being the character&comma; it’s Daniel Day-Lewis&period; It is said that during the making of My Left Foot&comma; for example&comma; the movie’s on-set technicians would get aggravated by the actor’s refusal to get out of the wheelchair as he arrived on set to get over the wiring etc&period;&comma; so the technicians had to carry Day-Lewis&comma; chair and all&comma; into position&excl; This&comma; of course&comma; is what true method acting is all about&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Maybe we’re Trying Too Hard&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Quite what it is that makes these actors great&comma; then&comma; is hard to define&period; But perhaps we’re trying too hard&quest;For people who appreciate excellent movies&comma; it may be a moot point and we all have different views on art – so perhaps there are no rights and wrongs&period; Some people may regard Tom Cruise as one of the all-time acting greats&comma; for example&period; But when he started alongside the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman&comma; where the latter had a relatively minor role in the 1999 movie&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Magnolia”&comma; it was the minor role that proved more memorable &lpar;though this was one of Tom Cruise’s better films it has to be said&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Now Tom Cruise is an actor who has always been famous for his action roles – and there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism now and again&period; Indeed&comma; many people regard such movies as being an art form all of their own – regardless of how terrible and clichéd they might be&period; In fact – with some movies&comma; they’re so far out they’re in &&num;8211&semi; in a kitsch sort of way&period; So seeing a younger Tom Cruise acting in a genre appropriate for his physique&comma; his famous good looks and his acting abilities&comma; is appropriate&period;We &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;expect” these kinds of roles and these kinds of performances and those who love Tom Cruise aren’t disappointed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Stepping Outside the Expected<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">But when the actor stepped out of the stereotype for &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Born on the fourth of July” for example&comma; this still worked well&period; In fact&comma; this was probably the finest moment of Tom Cruise’s long career&period; In fact&comma; he was nominated for an Oscar for &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Best Actor in a Leading Role” but the winner that year &lpar;1989&rpar;&comma; coincidentally&comma; was the afore-mentioned Daniel Day-Lewis for &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;My Left Foot”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Yet there are manyexamples of when actors have stepped outside the roles we expect of them and it hasn’t come off&period; And perhaps surprisingly&comma; one such role was that of Daniel Day-Lewis as the former Provisional IRA Volunteer turned boxer&comma; Danny Flynn in the 1997 movie&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Boxer”&period; Flynn is attempting trying to go straight following his release from prison when he returns to Belfast after a 14-year absence and re-joins his old trainer&period; But don’t watch it if you’re a Daniel Day-Lewis fan&comma; as the film is pretty terrible – despite theimpressive 80&percnt; rating on Rotten Tomatoes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Yet interestingly&comma; this wasn’t the actor’s fault – he plays the role to excellent effect&period; It’s just that the plot&comma; the script and whole creative treatment felt a little clichéd&period; It really wasn’t down to the fact that Daniel Day-Lewis stepped out of his more traditional roles into the world of sport – in other words&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Funniest Sports Roles<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">So there we are&semi; what makes a good actor great is certainly something about complete credibility in the role in which he or she has agreed to play&period; But the choice of these roles is clearly as important as well – and most actors considered to be all-time greats have had their fair share of howlers or complete dross too – particularly in their early acting days&comma; when their lack of box-office potential and simultaneous need to eat meant they had to take on pretty much anything &lpar;does anyone remember Jeremy Irons in the UK kids’ TV show &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Playaway” for example&quest;&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">But while we’re on the subject of sports&comma; and for a little light-hearted relief from all this serious analysis of acting&comma; let’s have a look at a few of the worst ever sports roles played by actors &lpar;and no – Daniel Day-Lewis’s boxer doesn’t make the shortlist&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-380 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2014&sol;09&sol;good-actor2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"What Makes A Good Actor A Great One For The Genre&quest;" width&equals;"504" height&equals;"337" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Russell Crowein&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Mystery&comma; Alaska”<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The competition for worst ever is fierce to say the least&comma; but somewhere near the top of this pile ofdross has to be Russell Crowe’s role in the 1999 comedy-drama &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Mystery&comma; Alaska”&period; This is a story about an Alaskan amateur ice hockey team&comma; from the smalltown of Mystery&comma; which gets to play a one-off exhibition game against the National Hockey League&comma; the New York Rangers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">But don’t worry about the plot and storyline because this movie is far from good from an overall perspective&period; But it’s worth watching to see how bad Russell Crowe is at ice skating&period; In particular&comma; when he skates up next to his wife&comma; she’s clearly holding the Aussie actor up – so comedic it most certainly is&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Tim Robbins in &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Bull Durham”<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">To say baseball is big business in the United States is to flirt with understatement&period; It’s also gradually becoming bigger all around the planet – particularly in countries outside the USA where it’s legal to gamble on the sport&period; With Betfair &&num;8211&semi; which is now the world’s largest gambling exchange &&num;8211&semi; for example&comma; millions are wagered on US baseball each week during the regular season and likely millions more when the play-offs and the post-season begins&period; And this is to say nothing of all the sponsorship deals&comma; and all the rest of the enormous commerciality that the sport represents all around the planet&period; So when you’re making a blockbuster movie about the great sport of baseball – you certainly need a great deal of the afore-mentioned credibility in the roles right&quest; After all – this is big business and a great baseball movie has to encapsulate all this&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Well seemingly not always&period;Quite why thewriter&sol;director of the 1988 movie &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Bull Durham”&comma; Ron Shelton&comma; cast Tim Robbins in a playing role&comma; we’ll never know&period; Now Tim Robbins is an excellent all-round actor&comma; memorable for &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Shawshank Redemption” and many other great movies&period; He’s particularly good in dry&comma; deadpan roles in comedies&period; But he’s not a baseball player&comma; as we saw to hilarious effect in Bull Durham&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The movie is about the baseball team the Durham Bulls and their fans&period; The Bulls are a minor-league team from Durham&comma; North Carolina&period; The movie also starred Kevin Costner as &&num;8220&semi;Crash&&num;8221&semi; Davis&comma; a veteran brought in to teach newbie pitcher &&num;8220&semi;Nuke&&num;8221&semi; Laloosh &lpar;played by Tim Robbins&rpar;&period; Now Costner could play baseball and reputedly was able to bag two real home runs during filming&period; But Tim Robbins was no real pitcher as you’ll soon see when he takes the mound as Nuke Laloosh – flailing his arms around all over the place&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The film&comma; on the other hand&comma; was a commercial success on a small budget and is a great one to watch whether you’re a baseball fan or not&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Madonna in &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A League of Their Own”<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Another baseball movie that’s also great to watch if you enjoy a good guffaw at the actors’ playing abilities or otherwise&period; With Madonna in &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A League of Their Own”&comma; the hilarity reaches giddy proportions as the Queen of Pop looks so uninspired in the real baseball scenes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Michael J&period; Fox in &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Teen Wolf”<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">And last but certainly not least&comma; there’s Michael J&period; Fox in &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Teen Wolf”playing a high school basketball player – or not as the case may be&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Talk about credibility – the diminutive actor clearly has never played basketball so quite why he was cast is anyone’s guess&period; At some points in this 1985 fantasy comedy– which centres around high school student &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Scott Howard” &lpar;played by Fox&rpar;&comma; who finds out that his family has a rather strange genetic lineage when he turns into a werewolf -the actor can be seen dribbling a basketball quite comfortably&period; The problem is&comma; that the balls is bouncing up to his head level – so inept is he at playing&period; And when you think of what must have ended up on the cutting room floor – it’s even funnier&period; It’s great fun to watch though&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">So there we are – do great actors need to stay in genre&quest; Seemingly not always – but be careful with the sports movies … please&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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