# Actors you admire for their versatility **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2001, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302 "2001-10-24T12:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/21 "2001-11-05T20:08:03Z")
Just looked at a Princess Bride webpage, they sure had some good actors in that. I didn’t realize **Mandy Patinkin** was Ingio Montoya. I really like **Wallace Shawn** (the evil Sicillian), anybody see him “Vanya of 42nd st.? (Uncle Vanya)”. Man, he was wonderful in that. I would also agree with Robin Williams, he can be really good. I became a fan of his after an episode of “Homicide”. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/22 "2001-11-06T01:07:28Z")
Another vote for **Tim Roth**. If you’ve never seen Rob Roy, consider renting it. It’s a good movie, and Roth is simply incredible. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/23 "2001-11-06T02:05:49Z")
**Toni Collette** - Who knew the chick in “Muriel’s Wedding” was the kid’s mom in “I see dead people” movie whose name escapes me? \<–someone help me, here! **Ralph Fiennes** - just saw him in the forgettable “Wuthering Heights” movie where he played Heathcliff and made me DROOL with his long, dark hair. Other times I see him, I think he’s ugly. **Christopher Walken** Kidding. He’s always creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/24 "2001-11-06T03:03:21Z")
Are we just talking about acting versatility, or are we talking about versatility in terms of being able to act, write, direct, produce, etc? If so, let me nominate **Sam Shepard**. Not only is he a very good, extremely versatile actor, but he has also directed several good movies, he’s written a bunch of them, and he won the \*_Pulitzer Prize_ for Drama as a playwright. Now THAT is versatile! **Robert Redford** has to qualify too, since he’s directed so many great movies and acted in so many others. \*_Paul Newman_ can do everything from slapstick to heavy drama, AND he was a world-class race car driver even while in his 50’s. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/25 "2001-11-06T03:51:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > **Toni Collette - Who knew the chick in “Muriel’s Wedding” was the kid’s mom in “I see dead people” movie whose name escapes me? \<–someone help me, here!** The Sixth Sense. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/26 "2001-11-06T11:30:22Z")
Reluctantly, I too have to give Tom Cruise some credit. He did a fantastic job as a vampire. It surprised not only me, but the book’s author as well. She had been adamantly opposed to the casting of Cruise and Pitt, but changed her mind a hundred-and-eight degrees after attending the screening. I suppose, in fairness, I should give another reluctant nod to Mel Gibson. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/27 "2001-11-06T11:31:57Z")
> [@](#): > > a hundred-and-eight degrees or, a hundred-and-eighty, depending on the geometry of your plane… :o ---
**Author:** ![aschrott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@aschrott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aschrott)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/28 "2001-11-06T15:25:03Z")
William H. Macey, for sure. Fargo Happy Texas Boogie Nights Benny and Joon Mystery Men Panic Pleasantville He can pull off any kind of character. Sympathetic, unsympathetic. Pathetic, threatening. Funny. Truly a great actor. ---
**Author:** ![aschrott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@aschrott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aschrott)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/29 "2001-11-06T15:29:04Z")
Doh! Tired fingers. William H. **Macy** ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/30 "2001-11-06T17:28:19Z")
Where’s Gary Oldman on this list? Anyone that can go from playing Sid Vicious to Beethoven to Lee Harvey Oswald to Mason Verger (not saying that I liked this movie…just that he was in it) to Dracula has to be pretty versatile. No to mention going from a cop that looked like Scott Weiland from STP chasing Jean Reno and Natalie Portman to a Russian kicking Harrison Ford’s presidential ass to playing Sheldon in “The Contender.” ---
**Author:** ![Pismonque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@Pismonque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pismonque)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/31 "2001-11-06T17:50:28Z")
**Philip Seymour Hoffman**. Oh yeah, and WHY THE HELL HAS NO ONE MENTIONED **CLINT HOWARD**?! ---
**Author:** ![Tennessee\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Tennessee\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tennessee_Ben)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/32 "2001-11-06T22:24:04Z")
**Keanu Reeves** Anybody who could play Ted (or was it Bill?) in so many different movies has to be pretty versatile, right? Right? Oh, and I second **Philip Seymour Hoffman**. I read an interview with him in which he claimed that his professional aspiration was to be remembered as “pretty neat.” ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/33 "2001-11-06T22:31:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Are we just talking about acting versatility, or are we talking about versatility in terms of being able to act, write, direct, produce, etc? > > If so, let me nominate **Sam Shepard**. Not only is he a very good, extremely versatile actor, but he has also directed several good movies, he’s written a bunch of them, and he won the _Pulitzer Prize for Drama as a playwright. Now THAT is versatile! > SNIP_\* Be sure to check out Sam Shepard in Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet; he played the Ghost of Hamlet’s father and gave a knockout performance. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/34 "2001-11-06T22:33:58Z")
Yet another vote for Johnny Depp. ---
**Author:** ![LifeWillFall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@LifeWillFall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeWillFall)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/35 "2001-11-06T23:30:25Z")
I’d like to second Edward Norton, not only does he have different roles but within a movie he can change very dramatically American History X - Violent Skinhead to reformed brother Primal Fear - Enough Said Rounders - Scum of the earth keeping the Faith - Preist and the list goes on… I didn’t even mention fight club.(Well until now) ---
**Author:** ![Leonora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7bcc69/32.png) [@Leonora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leonora)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/36 "2001-11-07T01:21:42Z")
Angela Lansbury Voices for Anastasia, Beauty and the Beast, The Last Unicorn. Movies: The Mirror Crack’d, Fantasia 2000, Mrs. Santa Claus, The Lady Vanishes, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Death on the Nile, The Manchurian Candidate, Blue Hawaii, and many others. Theater: Anyone Can Whistle, Hotel Paradiso TV: Murder, She Wrote I haven’t seen all. But she is without a doubt one of my favorite actresses and very versatile. Info from [http://www.geocities.com/angelafansclub/angela.html](http://www.geocities.com/angelafansclub/angela.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/37 "2001-11-07T04:03:00Z")
Here’s a couple of guys I really enjoy when they’re onscreen. Ed Harris: Outstanding actor who consistently sells me his role. There is no better subtle actor in the biz. His eyes are facinating to watch. Don Cheadle: Brilliant character actor. Think “Boogie Nights” and then think “Out of Sight”. Whoa. Brad Pitt: He’s been good everytime I’ve seen him. Anybody who can play Louis the Vampire in “Interview with the Vampire” with that intensity and then turn around a nail Mickey the Pikey in “Snatch” is good with me. Tom Sizemore: Has had some hits and misses but I still enjoy the variety of roles he’s played. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/38 "2001-11-07T08:30:38Z")
Several come to mind: **Tim Roth** : great in everything, plays a lot of different roles including starring in one of my favourite movies, _The Legend of 1900_. **Ben Kingsley** : for the reasons already mentioned and so much more. He can play so many different roles so effectively. **Robert Carlyle** : love this guy. Again, he plays a lot of very different roles really well. **Ed Norton** : another actor that plays a lot of different roles really well. **Ed Harris** : wonderful actor, and often forgotten. **Gary Oldman** : again playing so many different roles, and the guy’s freakin’ awsome. **Tim Robbins** and **Sean Penn** are also pretty versatile, from what I’ve seen. No offence meant, but I think that some of the actors mentioned in this thread, though really great, tend to play either similar roles or just play themselves. When someone says “versatile”, I think of actors who play really different characters and manage to pull it off with style. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/39 "2001-11-07T11:16:20Z")
Strange that nobody mentioned the Master yet, Alec Guiness. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302/40 "2001-11-07T15:35:54Z")
John Lithgow- watch Raising Cane. He’s, lessee here, Cane, Josh, Carter, Margot, and Dad. Buckaroo Banzai-John Whorfin. 3rd Rock From The Sun-watch the episode where Dick and Sally switch bodies, or the episode where Dick starts a Lord Of The Flies tribe on a camping trip. Timm Curry-Rocky Horror. Legend. Tales From The Crypt-Tim plays the mom, dad, and daughter of a redneck family. Gabriel Knight-Sins Of The Fathers, Tim does some of the voices for this game. I recognised his undisguised voice as a butler immediately, took me a while to realise that he’s also the voice of Gabriel. His performance as a 20 something, guy from New Orleans is amazing becuase it sounds so different from Tim Curry. Earth 2-Tim plays a charismatic convict exiled to a distant planet. Is he a sociopath, murderer, and conman or an enchanting stranger who loves kids? With Tim’s fine performance, he’s both. IT-Watch Tim play any comedy part in a kid’s show. Then, watch him play Pennywise, the evil clown, eater of souls and of children. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-admire-for-their-versatility/89302.md?page=3)