Best actors/actresses?

[Kyriakos]

I like Ralph Fiennes, and Tom Hardy. Fiennes was excellent in Spider

Sean Bean is awesome, but i mostly like him because he comes across as a decent guy.

Miranda Richardson was also great in Spider

 

[EgonSpengler]

I've really only seen Tatiana Maslany in one thing, Orphan Black, but I'm still going to call her my favorite right now. Of course I'm a willing "mark" for this show (as one must be for any performance), but I really do kind of forget that I'm watching just one woman while I'm watching the show.

 

[Lexicus]

The best actor of all time? That's easy

 

[Broken_Erika]

Rainier Wolfcastle obviously.

 

[civvver]

It's kind of hard for me to separate good actors from good writing these days. I watch a lot more tv shows than movies now. Are the guys on Silicon Valley great acting talents or does that show just have really great writers?

Anyway, I think Mathew Rhys and Kerri Russell from the Americans are outstanding. And I love Noah Emmerich, he's the FBI agent in the show and he's been in a bunch of other stuff. He's like a character actor mostly. Kerri Russell has been in a lot of stuff but I think she really hit her stride with this series and took it to a whole new level. But the deep emotional and conflicted writing lets her do that. Matthew Rhys I haven't seen in anything else so I can't say.

I also love Ron Perlman just cus he's a badass in everything he's in.

Tom Hardy is good but he always seems to play like the same guy. Only one movie I saw did he change it up a bit, The Drop where he plays an awkward bar tender with ties to the mob. In the revenant for example he's awesome, a grizzled hunter, the accent is great, but he's like a dark tough guy. Compare that to his fx show taboo where he plays a dark englishman who sailed and lived in africa. Again he's like a tough guy. Even though the characters are drastically different with extremely different accents and looks the feel the same like just badass tough guy types. Which is fine, he's still a fine actor.

I also love liam neeson though he does a lot of one note stuff too. And the late tony soprano James Gandolfini is very underrated for his career. He was also in The Drop, as well as a handful of other movies like Killing Them Softly. He has a much wider range than people think but he got stuck as the iconic tony soprano so everyone thought of him as a mobster only.

British actors are just plain cool like everyone in game of thrones. I'm really excited to see what happens to Sophie Turner post thrones. She's also in xmen as a young jean grey. But to see her development as a character on thrones she has definitely changed more than anyone else and been asked to act a lot more and I think she's done well. It's funny cus it's gone right in line with her real life aging. When thrones started she was actually like 15, so just as she's matured in the show she's matured in real life and gotten much deeper and darker. You can see bran and arya characters in the same light, but I don't think their emotional range is as interesting. Arya is a cool character but way less subtle, she's like a big action hero. Bran is just kind of boring as the seer type.

 

[Lexicus]

It's kind of hard for me to separate good actors from good writing these days.

Star Wars = good actors, bad writing
I can't think of an example that goes the other way....which sort of proves your point I guess...

 

[civvver]

Star Wars = good actors, bad writing
I can't think of an example that goes the other way....which sort of proves your point I guess...

Take game of thrones for example. Where the heck did they get all these unknown brits to just come in and blow that series out of the water? I'm telling you it's the writing. Although british stage actors are kind of famous for being great character actors. What did peter dinklage ever do before thrones? How is he so good on that show? They write to his strengths.

 

[Lexicus]

Take game of thrones for example. Where the heck did they get all these unknown brits to just come in and blow that series out of the water? I'm telling you it's the writing. Although british stage actors are kind of famous for being great character actors. What did peter dinklage ever do before thrones? How is he so good on that show? They write to his strengths.

That last sentence is actually a really important point, that I didn't even think of. There is not just generic "good writing" and "good acting" - there are qualitative factors that make every acting role and writing niche (phrasing?) unique. One of my favorite sitcoms of all time is It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and I would say part of what makes it so great is that there is a lot of writer-actor synergy because the writers (for most episodes anyway) are the actors.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I agree that acting and writing are hard to tease apart. Direction has something to do with it, too. For an example of good writing and not-so-good acting, I'd nominate Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting. And to throw another curveball into the conversation, I tend to separate "actors" from "movie-stars" in my mind, each of which I think have their places, and some few people can manage both (Jennifer Lawrence, off the top of my head, I think is both).

An actor I'm keeping an eye on is Michael B. Jordan. He's only 30, and seems to be trying to balance action movies and dramas. His upcoming movies are Fahrenheit 451 (opposite Michael Shannon, who I also like), Creed 2, and Black Panther, all of which are on my films radar.

 

[civvver]

Michael Shannon is another really, really good character actor. check him out in boardwalk empire, it's pretty awesome.

 

[Kyriakos]

I agree that acting and writing are hard to tease apart. Direction has something to do with it, too. For an example of good writing and not-so-good acting, I'd nominate Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting. And to throw another curveball into the conversation, I tend to separate "actors" from "movie-stars" in my mind, each of which I think have their places, and some few people can manage both (Jennifer Lawrence, off the top of my head, I think is both).

An actor I'm keeping an eye on is Michael B. Jordan. He's only 30, and seems to be trying to balance action movies and dramas. His upcoming movies are Fahrenheit 451 (opposite Michael Shannon, who I also like), Creed 2, and Black Panther, all of which are on my films radar.

I am not seeing why people like Jennifer Lawrence. Imo she is incredibly juvenile, and rather made-up as a superstar.

 

[Synobun]

Amy Adams is a pretty good actress in my opinion. I first saw her play as an insecure 'fat' girl in Smallville and have since seen her in wildly different roles and execute them all rather well without method acting or excessive costuming.

Jeffrey Combs is also rather incredible. He was the go-to guy for important supporting alien characters in Star Trek and he always pulled them off flawlessly.

I find it difficult to really qualify 'best' in this case, but with those two I've at least never seen them in something and found their performances lacking.

 

[Perfection]

Who doesn't love Bradley Whitford?

 

[inthesomeday]

If Star Wars is bad writing and good acting, then Star Trek must be good writing and bad acting.

On one hand you have cheesy, over-the-top dialogue elevated by really good cast chemistry and actors who perfectly embody the archetypes they have to portray. On the other hand you have solid, compelling science fiction with some pretty lifeless and flat actors.

 

[Camikaze]

Who doesn't love Bradley Whitford?

Josh Malina.

 

[Kyriakos]

It's kind of hard for me to separate good actors from good writing these days. I watch a lot more tv shows than movies now. Are the guys on Silicon Valley great acting talents or does that show just have really great writers?

Anyway, I think Mathew Rhys and Kerri Russell from the Americans are outstanding. And I love Noah Emmerich, he's the FBI agent in the show and he's been in a bunch of other stuff. He's like a character actor mostly. Kerri Russell has been in a lot of stuff but I think she really hit her stride with this series and took it to a whole new level. But the deep emotional and conflicted writing lets her do that. Matthew Rhys I haven't seen in anything else so I can't say.

I also love Ron Perlman just cus he's a badass in everything he's in.

Tom Hardy is good but he always seems to play like the same guy. Only one movie I saw did he change it up a bit, The Drop where he plays an awkward bar tender with ties to the mob. In the revenant for example he's awesome, a grizzled hunter, the accent is great, but he's like a dark tough guy. Compare that to his fx show taboo where he plays a dark englishman who sailed and lived in africa. Again he's like a tough guy. Even though the characters are drastically different with extremely different accents and looks the feel the same like just badass tough guy types. Which is fine, he's still a fine actor.

I also love liam neeson though he does a lot of one note stuff too. And the late tony soprano James Gandolfini is very underrated for his career. He was also in The Drop, as well as a handful of other movies like Killing Them Softly. He has a much wider range than people think but he got stuck as the iconic tony soprano so everyone thought of him as a mobster only.

British actors are just plain cool like everyone in game of thrones. I'm really excited to see what happens to Sophie Turner post thrones. She's also in xmen as a young jean grey. But to see her development as a character on thrones she has definitely changed more than anyone else and been asked to act a lot more and I think she's done well. It's funny cus it's gone right in line with her real life aging. When thrones started she was actually like 15, so just as she's matured in the show she's matured in real life and gotten much deeper and darker. You can see bran and arya characters in the same light, but I don't think their emotional range is as interesting. Arya is a cool character but way less subtle, she's like a big action hero. Bran is just kind of boring as the seer type.

Ron Perlman is cool and all, but not really a great actor

I liked Wesley Snipes in the Blade films. Well, at least Blade 1, and most of 2. 3 was very forgettable.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Is this GOAT or greatest actors alive? Just a few: Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Klaus Kinski, old Jack Nicholson, Bibi Anderson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman (RIP Synecdoche, anyone?),

My favorite actors today are probably Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Cera, Mads Nikkelsen (Jagten), Laura Dern, I am surely forgetting many, but thats okay.

 

[civvver]

Hmm it's kind of hard to separate great actors from great movies. For example I love Harrison Ford movies but I don't think he's one of the best actors ever. He just picks really fun movies to do and has been in some mega hits like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

I'd say Robert De Niro but his latest movies all suck. He's being relegated to a grandpa type like in the Intern, all the Fockers movies, and it's just not good. Maybe it's cus it's comedy. I haven't seen The Wizard of Lies about Bernie Madoff though, so that might be good. But classic De Niro is amazing- Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, Heat, Raging Bull.

I also tend to like every Denzel Washington and Leonardo Di Caprio movie and think they're both good actors.

 

[Kyriakos]

^I never liked Deniro and Pacino. Pacino had the more variated roles, though (dog-day, scent of a woman, etc).

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I would agree with De Niro's early stuff, but his latest efforts have been a waste of his great talent. He badly needs to be offered a good role that he can really shine in again.