# Acting performances you weren't prepared to be impressed by **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522 "2007-04-10T18:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/41 "2007-04-11T14:49:34Z")
Anthony Hopkins in **Silence of the Lambs**. Yes, I know that nowadays everyone knows Hopkins, knows he’s awesome, and he owns every movie he’s in. But back in 1990, when I was a high school senior, I (and most of America, I’ll wager) had never heard of him. I went to the movie because it looked like a neat little thriller; I never expected that the real power of the movie would come from someone who wasn’t even the villain that the protagonist was hunting. I came out of the theater just dumbstruck by how great his performance was. But, as I recall, I was also a little bummed, because it was February, and I remember thinking, “This movie won’t be eligible for Oscars until next year, and by then it will have been forgotten. Travesty!” Thankfully, I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/42 "2007-04-11T15:30:43Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] I’ve been reading a few things here and there about Grindhouse (trying to avoid spoilers), but everything I’ve seen has said Death Proof is the superior movie. What did you think made Planet Terror better (and light on the spoilers if you could)? [/QUOTE] I think people who think “Death Proof” is better than “Planet Terror” are film nerds/snobs who saw a completely different movie than I did. I saw 3 very uninteresting characters talking for about 45 minutes, ocasionally interrupted by an interesting character. Then five minutes of an actual movie that you’d show in front of an audience. Then 30 minutes of 4 uninteresting characters talking but this time NOT interrupted by the interesting character so this conversation is even MORE boring than the first one. Then we get about ten minutes action that is just Tarantino’s treatise on how REAL stunts are more exciting that CGI stunts. He’s right! But the 75 minutes of utter fucking bullshit makes it pretty unwatchable to me. I have no clue what movie the people who liked “Death Proof” saw. “Planet Terror” is fun, schlocky and at times non-sensical and has fun stylized dialogue. Also if you check the Grindhouse thread here on the Dope, I think you’ll see a few Death Proof fans but I think overall people agree that Planet Terror was a better movie. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/43 "2007-04-11T15:33:55Z")
[QUOTE=Max Torque] Anthony Hopkins in **Silence of the Lambs**. Yes, I know that nowadays everyone knows Hopkins, knows he’s awesome, and he owns every movie he’s in. \ [/QUOTE] Have you seen Magic? A young Anthony Hopkins plays a (disturbed) ventriloquist/magician. It is before your time, but I remember it as a fine performance from Anthony Hopkins. ---
**Author:** ![mambocrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mambocrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mambocrow)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/44 "2007-04-11T15:47:29Z")
Andy Griffith as Lonesome Rhodes in “A Face in the Crowd”. Outwardly a genial entertainer/pitchman/emcee, underneath a meglomaniacal, sociopathic monster. Great movie overall and should surprise those who only associate Griffith with his T.V. roles as Sheriff Andy Taylor in the "Andy Griffith Show’, or Matlock, or his commercials for Ritz crackers. Marilyn Monroe in “Don’t Bother to Knock”. Very believable as a disturbed hotel babysitter just out of a mental hospital. Richard Widmark in “The Bedford Incident”. Good actor in just about every role I’ve ever seen him in, but this one impressed me more somehow. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/45 "2007-04-11T15:51:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Jean Smart from _Designing Women_ played one of the most annoying characters on TV, but later she proved herself WONDERFUL at comedy in the understandably short-lived sitcom _Style & Substance_ (as a manic-depressive control freak Martha Stewart character), as Dr. Crane’s brassy crass high-school crush turned bitter loud single mom on _Frasier_, the horny lush neighbor in _The Brady Bunch_, and in several other TV shows and movies she always hits home runs. [/QUOTE] Ever see her in the 1992 TV movie _Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story_ playing the title role? Wow! Btw, Park Overstreet played her girlfriend who turned her in. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/46 "2007-04-11T16:05:49Z")
Many of the ones I would have listed have already been mentioned. It’s taken a bit of thought to come up with Dennis Hopper in _Hoosiers_ since the last thing of his I remembered before that was _Easy Rider_ or _Apocalypse Now!_ even though I can see at IMDB that he was quite active in movies I saw after _Hoosiers_. My expectations, if any, were to see an extension of the kooky drugged-out hippie or some redo of his bad boy image from as early as _Rebel Without A Cause_. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/47 "2007-04-11T16:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Probably the biggest of all time for me: I always thought of Brad Pitt as a pretty-boy, an “actor” who was only in movies because he made girls swoon. I always think of that one period piece where he had long blond hair and rode horses a lot. I was stunned when I saw him in two good roles back-to-back: a crazy wannabe-revolutionary in \*12 Monkeys \* and a big-city detective in _Seven_. Now I think he’s a terrific character actor trapped in a leading man’s body, with Tyler Durden in _Fight Club_ as his greatest role ever. [/QUOTE] For me it was Kalifornia I was completely unprepared by how _great_ he was at being so _disturbing_ ---
**Author:** ![8675309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ea5d25/32.png) [@8675309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8675309)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/48 "2007-04-11T17:04:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Hayden Christensen in _Shattered Glass_- I only knew him from Star Wars; who knew he can actually act? (Lucas must be a director no one wants to work with except for money and exposure) [/QUOTE] The exact performance I was going to mention! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/49 "2007-04-11T17:07:41Z")
I would have to say Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain” (and not just because I give BBM as the answer to any movie question 😃 ). I had seen him in “A Knight’s Tale” and in “The Patriot” (and possibly others), and I thought he was kinda cute, but didn’t catch my eye with his acting in particular. When I re-watch scenes with close-ups of his face in BBM, I have to watch it multiple times to catch all the things he’s doing (watch it once just looking at his eyes, watch it again looking at his mouth). I can see why people say it was a boring movie with nothing going on, because he gave such an exquisitely subtle performance. If you don’t pay attention, you will miss almost all of the nuances. It blows my mind that he says he’s just playing at acting, and will quit when he gets bored with it. And Jennifer Lopez. She is a much, much better actress than she is a singer. ---
**Author:** ![8675309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/8/ea5d25/32.png) [@8675309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/8675309)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/50 "2007-04-11T17:08:47Z")
[QUOTE=MadTheSwine] Watched Reese Witherspoon in **Freeway** about ten days ago. Never seen a movie with her in it,didn’t know a thing about her,but…HOLY CRAP!! She was amazing.Since then,I have seen three more of her movies, **Fear** , **Legally Blonde** and **Walk The Line** all outstanding performances. My new Favorite Actress. [/QUOTE] You MUST watch **Election** , which I think is her greatest performace. ---
**Author:** ![DustyButt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@DustyButt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DustyButt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/51 "2007-04-11T17:09:03Z")
[QUOTE=Max Torque] …Anthony Hopkins in **Silence of the Lambs**. Yes, I know that nowadays everyone knows Hopkins, knows he’s awesome, and he owns every movie he’s in. But back in 1990, when I was a high school senior, I (and most of America, I’ll wager) had never heard of him. … [/QUOTE] Sorry I’d have to disagree with that one… “I… am not… an animal… (_Slurp!!!_) I… am a human… BEING!” ☹ In the early eighties he was huge in the “Elephant Man” Hopkins played the Doctor who worked with the Elephant Dude. Please correct me if I’m wrong, somebody. But I think Hopkins was big looooong before baked beans and wine. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/52 "2007-04-11T17:18:01Z")
It makes me wonder how much of performances are the actor, and how much are the director? We’ve mentioned a couple of people here who have given mediocre performances and brilliant perfomances - the actor is the same, but the director changes. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/53 "2007-04-11T17:30:12Z")
Amber Tamblyn in Joan of Arcadia… She was with Mary Steenburgen, Joe mantenga and equitted herself very well. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/54 "2007-04-11T18:03:22Z")
[QUOTE=DustyButt] Sorry I’d have to disagree with that one… “I… am not… an animal… (_Slurp!!!_) I… am a human… BEING!” ☹ In the early eighties he was huge in the “Elephant Man” Hopkins played the Doctor who worked with the Elephant Dude. Please correct me if I’m wrong, somebody. But I think Hopkins was big looooong before baked beans and wine. [/QUOTE] I’ll have to say that you’re wrong. Hopkins pre-_SotL_ was just another English actor who’d been in some modest arthouse hits (_Elephant, Charing Cross_), but never really came close to anything resembling a large commercial success and certainly didn’t do anything to critically distinguish himself on a large-scale level (though obviously, he’d had good performances). Perhaps his most visible part was his Bligh to Gibson’s Fletcher Christian, or the lead son in _The Lion in Winter_ (back in the 60s), but he essentially took both the industry and the critical community by storm with his Lecter (which was his first Oscar nod in his mid-50s). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/55 "2007-04-11T18:04:27Z")
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in _ **Mysterious Skin** _. That long-haired little twit from “Third Rock from the Sun?” Are you serious? I was less surprised when he was also excellent in _ **Brick** _. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/56 "2007-04-11T18:08:51Z")
I’d say one that really knocked me over was Charlton Heston as the Player King in Branagh’s **Hamlet**. He’d done Shakespeare before (though I’d never seen any of it), so I was used to his sword & sandal or rought & tumble epic modes (with some camp Sci-Fi thrown in). But he may turn in the best performance in that film; for such a small role, he completely dominates and leaves an impression even hours later (when the film’s still running). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/57 "2007-04-11T18:37:09Z")
Brendan Fraser in **Gods and Monsters**. ---
**Author:** ![el\_nombre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9dc877/32.png) [@el\_nombre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/el_nombre)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/58 "2007-04-11T23:53:43Z")
Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian was a big shock for me to see him playing a man whose just so charming that everybody he meets wants to lend a helping hand. Usually he’s playing someone who is reserved and has a lot of secrets. The overall likeability I got from that movie surprised me as well. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/59 "2007-04-12T00:29:10Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] Ever see her in the 1992 TV movie _Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story_ playing the title role? Wow! Btw, **Park Overstreet** played her girlfriend who turned her in. [/QUOTE] I believe you mean **Park Overall**. I agree that Jennifer Lopez is much better at acting than singing, at least she was in the early part of her movie career. She was great in **Out of Sight** and **Angel Eyes**. I wish she’d crawl back to her first agent and beg him/her to get her back on track. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522/60 "2007-04-12T00:58:41Z")
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip] Joseph Gordon-Levitt in _ **Mysterious Skin** _. That long-haired little twit from “Third Rock from the Sun?” Are you serious? I was less surprised when he was also excellent in _ **Brick** _. [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen _Mysterious Skin_ and hated _Third Rock_, but he impressed the holy hell out of me in _Brick_. That kid has a great future ahead of him! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-performances-you-werent-prepared-to-be-impressed-by/399522.md?page=4)