Your favorite actor who you never thought would be a really good actor...

[old mark]

Mos Def..."Something The Lord Made"..."16 Blocks"...he is an amazing talent.
Turns out he has been acting since age 14!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_Def

He is one of the best I have ever seen.

mark

[OmahaBlueDog]

1. Robert Downey Jr. seemed to define lightweight. Then he did "Chaplin"

Incredible talent as long as he can stay sober.

[old mark]

4. He is another one...When he wants to, he can be GREAT!...nt

[underpants]

12. That he didn't win the Oscar for Chaplin was a crime

they should go back and give him an award for that.

While they are at it take Louis Gossett Jr.'s back and give it to R. Lee Ermey.

[fishwax]

18. I thought Denzel should have won that year

But giving it to Al Pacino was clearly a "sorry we've passed you over so many times" award.

[underpants]

25. Hoo ah!

I agree. That was a lifetime achievement award for Pacino. The funniest thing was he really didn't get the Hoo-UH! right.

[MiddleFingerMom]

2. Tommy Lee Jones started with a whole slew of cheesy portrayals in cheesy B movies...

.
.
.
...and, IMneverHO... developed into quite an actor.
.
.
.

[nolabear]

3. Marky Mark Wahlberg.

Who'd have thunk it?

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

5. same with Jon Bon Jovi

he's been good in the movies I've seen him in.....

[Throd]

8. "The Basketball Diaries" changed my mind about him.

[Chan790]

9. Donnie too.

[cbdo2007]

36. agree - I really like Mark Wahlberg and used to think he was just a gimmick.

[Frank Cannon]

6. George Clooney

Always thought he was a lightweight bobble-head on ER. Then when he did Solaris, I could see he had real potential. Since then he's proven himself as both an actor AND a director.

And this is going to sound blasphemous, but I wouldn't mind him seeing return to the Batman role in an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns. I think he could do a really good job with it. It wasn't his fault that his original shot sucked on ice. I blame it on the director, who had no freaking clue what Batman was all about.

[Throd]

7. Robin Williams when he isn't playing Robin Williams

[Orrex]

10. To date, his only two performances that truly stunned me

Insomnia and One Hour Photo, and for that matter Awakenings was another gem.

Everything else is either recycled Mork (Fisher King, Good Will Hunting) or some variation on the sensitive oddball archetype (Patch Adams, Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society).

[blogslut]

11. I won't say he's my favorite

But for as much as I want to hate him, Tom Cruise as a very good actor.

[givemebackmycountry]

13. Dwight Yoakum

"Sling Blade"

[old mark]

20. He surprises me, too- he did a western that he wrote, directed and starred in...

one of the most bizzare westerns of all time, South of Heaven, West of Hell...he also produced it and wrote the music for the soundtrack.

You should see it, but be prepared-it is one of the most wierdly funny films I have ever seen.

mark

[XemaSab]

14. Natalie Portman

I saw her in Star Wars and I was like "What a board," but she kicked ass in Black Swan.

[Kat45]

32. Really? Then you must not have seen "The Professional"

She was really good in that and she was just a kid then. (I believe it was in 1994.)

[Haole Girl]

15. I really never thought Robert Downey Jr was that great....

but I've really grown to love him, as an actor, over the past few years.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. I wouldn't call them my favorites, but I expect great things from them:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jesse Eisenberg.

[nuxvomica]

28. Have you seen Eisenberg's audition for "127 Hours"?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/video/item/jesse-eisenbergs-127-hours-audition/
:rofl:

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. That's hilarious.

I think for this age of kids who are wired into computers, he is perfect for the era.

[av8rdave]

17. Philip Seymour Hoffman

I guess I just never really paid much attention to him until I saw his portrayal of Truman Capote.

Amazing performance, IMO.

[cbdo2007]

37. He was great in Boogie Nights.

[Swede]

19. Justin Timberlake surprised the hell out of me in Alpha Dog.

I only recently saw it,and he was good.

[Skittles]

23. I SWEAR, Swede

I was going to cite the same name / movie

I've never cared for Mr. Timberlake's singing but I thought he had definite acting chops when I saw Alpha Dog - and he's got awesome comedic timing as evidenced by his SNL skits. Yes INDEED.

[bigwillq]

27. Thought that movie was great.

And JT was very good in it.

[MilesColtrane]

21. He was great in "The Woodsman", a deeply disturbing film.

...not a false moment from him in the whole movie.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN-EeV2Fs64

[Duer 157099]

22. Brad Dourif

Wait, hear me out.

I think everyone figured he had peaked as Billy Babbit, and he pretty much had, but then he played Doc Cochran in Deadwood and I'm constantly amazed at what a good job he did. He and Ian McShane made Deadwood just brilliant. Well, and everyone else too. The whole cast was great.

[old mark]

24. Actually, Ian McShane is another one-I remembered him from the BBC series

Lovejoy...but he was way above that on Deadwood...


mark

[WinkyDink]

31. Ian is the cat's pj's! Saw him on B'way twice in 2009, got an autograph. He sings, too!

http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=310693

[wickerwoman]

33. He was great in Mississippi Burning too.

[Graybeard]

26. Matt Dillon

I thought when he outgrew the "troubled teen" movies he would fade away. But he has become a very good actor and IMO excellent in films like Wild Things, There's Something About Mary and Crash.

[Dr. Strange]

30. Weird Al Yankovich

He redefines acting in UHF.

[wickerwoman]

34. Rampage Jackson was really good in The A-Team.

He brought a lot more to it than he had to and Mr. T is a tough act to follow.

[Orsino]

35. I dunno. Jackie Earle Haley, maybe?

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0355097/

The Bad News Bears kid gave a searing performance in Watchmen. He's not really the main character, but he owns that flick.

[KamaAina]

38. Tom Hanks

who, you will recall, cut his teeth on "Bachelor Party". :eyes:

[Mad_Dem_X]

47. Before that, on TV's "Bosom Buddies"

Yeah, who would have thought he'd be a two-time Oscar winner?

[annabanana]

39. Dan Akroyd . . . n/t

[DerekG]

40. Heath Ledger

I thought he was a lightweight pretty boy, until I saw Brokeback Mountain and Candy.

And then, of course, he gave a final performance that terrified the world.

[RagAss]

41. Gary Oldman....nah...I always thought he'd be great.

[RagAss]

42. dupe

[Quantess]

43. Mila Jovovich

she was a teen model, and people snickered. I had no opinion at the time. I like her movies.

[Avalux]

44. Tom Waits. Fantastic character actor. n/t

[Mopar151]

45. Phil Collins

Can play a villan that'll keep you awake nights. In the movie I saw, he was a British gangster who beat a guy to death, cold as ice the whole time.

[Mad_Dem_X]

46. Johnny Depp

Back in his "21 Jump Street" days, I never would have guessed that Depp would still be successful today.