# Best perfomance by these actors?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 16, 2002, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025 "2002-11-16T14:25:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@johnnyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnnyboy)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/1 "2002-11-16T14:25:41Z")
I think these are all rather fine actors, but my question is what do you guys think has been the best perfomance they have given and why.
Marlon Brando
Peter Sellers
Samuel L. Jackson
Gary Oldman
Robert Carlyle
James Stewart
Sean Penn
Robert De Niro
Clint Eastwood
Steve Buscemi
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/2 "2002-11-16T15:20:40Z")
I’m in a hurry so I’d like to just chime in on my opinion without the “why’s” for now.
Marlon Brando: The Godfather
Peter Sellers: Dr. Strangelove
Samuel Jackson: Pulp Fiction
Gary Oldman: Sid and Nancy
Robert Carlyle: ?
James Stewart: Haven’t seen enough of his work to comment
Sean Penn: Carlito’s Way
Robert DeNiro: Goodfellas
Clint Eastwood: The Unforgiven
Steve Buscemi: The Wedding Singer (THAT was a great role!) is my first choice but I’d rather go with Resevoir Dogs.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/3 "2002-11-16T15:37:15Z")
Marlon Brando - Vito Corleone, _The Godfather_. He gets to overact just enough to remind us all of what an incredible scene-chewer he can be, but most of the time plays it very reserved. Perfect characterization of the Don, and a perfect balance to Pacino’s Michael, who hams it up 90% of the time and plays it down only when absolutely necessary.
Peter Sellers - Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, Dr. Strangelove, _Dr. Strangelove_. He gets to do Jimmy Stewart as Captain Mandrake (“Uh, Jack, Jack, listen, tell me, tell me, Jack. When did you first… become… well, develop this theory?”), Bob Newhart as the President (“The _bomb_, Dmitri … the _hydrogen_ bomb!”), and let his sick comic mind run wild as the good doctor (“Mein Führer! I can _walk_!”).
Samuel L. Jackson - with relatively little quality work to judge by, I’d say Jules in _Pulp Fiction_, since it was such a breakout role for him.
Gary Oldman - with relatively little quality work to judge by, I’d say Stansfield in _Léon_, since it most perfectly typifies his overacting and characterization-via-facial-tic method.
Robert Carlyle - no opinion, too little to go by
James Stewart - no opinion, as I don’t think of him as an actor
Sean Penn - no opinion, as I don’t think of him as an actor
Robert De Niro - Travis Bickle in _Taxi Driver_, since it excellently showcases the bareness of his style before it became a parody of itself.
Clint Eastwood - no opinion, as I don’t think of him as an actor
Steve Buscemi - Seymour in _Ghost World_, since it shows him trying to do something other than the “Steve Buscemi schtick” that has come to be all directors ask of him lately.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/4 "2002-11-16T16:32:10Z")
Short answer:
Marlon Brando- Stanley in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
Peter Sellers- Percy in BEING THERE
Samuel L. Jackson- the father in A TIME TO KILL
Gary Oldman- he was actually good as the Reverend in the horrendously bad SCARLET LETTER
Robert Carlyle- ANGELA’S ASHES (he made you not hate his character)
James Stewart- the father in SHENANDOAH
Sean Penn- DEAD MAN WALKING
Robert De Niro- either MEET THE PARENTS (yep, I’m serious- I thought his comedy timing was perfect) or Vito in GODFATHER II
Clint Eastwood- UNFORGIVEN
Steve Buscemi- the chauffeur in THE LARAMIE PROJECT (a small role, but he lets you “know” the character with how he delivers the lines)
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/5 "2002-11-16T16:39:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Peter Sellers- Percy in BEING THERE
Chance or Chauncey. No Percy.
🙂
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/6 "2002-11-16T17:13:24Z")
Marlon Brando: He’s been repulsively hammy as often as he’s been brilliant. Some of his most acclaimed performances belong in the “repulsively hammy” category. He’s best when he’s most subtle and controlled. So, I’d say his best performance was in “The Godfather.” He was also surprisingly good in a bad movie called “Don Juan de Marco.”
\*\*
Peter Sellers: I never liked “Dr. Strangelove.” Frankly, I think that when you look up the word “overrated” in the dictionary, there should be a picture of Stanley Kubrick. Still, Sellers was remarkably good in it, especially as inept PResident Merkin Muffley.
\*\*
Samuel L. Jackson: He was at his best and most believable in “Changing Lanes.” And, while I didn’t think much of Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever,” Jackson was superb as Wesley Snipes’ junkie brother Gator.
\*\*
Gary Oldman: He’s been pretty good in many parts, but he’s yet to make a movie I liked.
\*\*
Robert Carlyle: Utterly charming in “The Full Monty.”
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James Stewart: Oh gosh, this is tough. Few other actors have given so many great performances. His brilliance was in giving generally good men just a trace of selfishness, a tinge of madness, a hint of danger. His work made a host of mediocre movies interesting… and helped make Alfred Hitchcock look like a much better director than he really was!
His best performance… well, if ANYBODY but Jimmy Stewart had played George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the movie would have been repulsively sweet and saccharine. Stewart made a real, likeable, flesh and blood hero out of a plaster saint. He made us see BOTH why George Bailey loved Bedford Falls AND why part of him was dying to get out.
So… that’s still my favorite Stewart performance.
\*\*
Sean Penn: Hilarious in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” compelling in “Bad Boys,” but absolutely perfect in “Dead Man Walking.”
\*\*
Robert De Niro: Hmm. Tough one. I LOVED him in “Heat.” I thought he was superb in the mediocre comedy “Midnight Run.” But for me, his best performance ever was as Rupert Pupkin in “The King of Comedy.” He managed to be funny, charming, pathetic and scary at the same time.
\*\*
Clint Eastwood: I’ve loved loads of his movies, but he’s rarely done much real acting. He just doesn’t have much range, and usually plays variations on the same character. He’s only given genuinely good performances in three movies: “The Beguiled” (a good one), “Unforgiven,” a very good one… and “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (his best movie and best performance, in my opinion).
\*\*
Steve Buscemi: He’s been pretty good in a lot of movies, but not great in any I’ve seen. He almost always places the same kind of character.
But I suppose that character worked better in “Resevoir Dogs” than in any of his other movies.
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### Author:  [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/7 "2002-11-16T17:53:31Z")
I’ll just give the ones I have an opinion on…
**Marlon Brando** - _Apocalypse Now_ - I can’t imagine anyone else playing the role of Kurtz the way he did it. He made that role what it was.
**Peter Sellers** - Tough call… he’s good in so many things. I’d have to say I enjoyed his role in _Lolita_ most. His Quilty was spot-on.
**Samuel L. Jackson** - I’ll second the vote for _Changing Lanes_ here. I’m a big Sam Jackson fan, and I do love his last scene in _Pulp Fiction_ (though I don’t like the movie as a whole much), but _Changing Lanes_ was his most honest, most wrenching, most complex role.
**Gary Oldman** - Another second here… this time for _Léon_ (_The Professional_). Such a wonderfully psycho performance, it still gives me chills when I see it. His little speech about Beethoven is the best.
**James Stewart** - Another tough call, but I liked him best in _Rear Window_. It’s a different role for him, and it’s hard to act around a broken leg and a wheelchair. Though I agree with **astorian** ’s comments about _It’s a Wonderful Life_, I have to say that _Rear Window_ was more of a challenge for him, in my opinion.
**Sean Penn** - Hmm. Not a big Sean Penn fan, but _She’s So Lovely_ really got to me. That can’t have been an easy role to play. My vote goes there.
**Robert De Niro** - _Awakenings_ - I like de Niro in general, but so many of his roles seem to be similar. This was a really good chance for him to break out of his standard “type,” and he took good advantage of it. Oliver Sacks said somewhere that de Niro played it perfectly, as well, and as someone who lived through it (in the Robin Williams role), I don’t think there is a higher recommendation.
**Clint Eastwood** - I loved him in _Play Misty for Me_.
**Steve Buscemi** - Second for _The Wedding Singer_. Perfect slimeball role for him. His little karaoke act at the end gets me rolling every time.
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### Author:  [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/8 "2002-11-16T23:14:39Z")
Hmm best performance is vague notion. Sometimes it’s tough to distinguish best from favorite. The example that first comes to mind is Samuel Jackson in Changing Lanes (best) vs. Pulp Fiction (favorite).
I don’t think De Niro in Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Casino, Deer Hunter or even Meet the Parents and Midnight Run is a stretch for him so if by best performance you mean extending beyond what he is probably like in real life, I would say “Night and the City.”
Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront
Gary Oldman - The Professional is favorite. Best? I haven’t seen enough of his arthouse stuff to say but of the one’s I’ve seen, probably “The Contender.”
Sean Penn best and favorite is Fast Times.
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### Author:  [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/9 "2002-11-17T04:26:27Z")
**Marlon Brando** - Most of the obvious choices have been made, but my favourite is still from _Last Tango in Paris_. When he cries over the dead body of his wife, he’s filled with such despair, confusion and anger over her suicide it’s almost unbearable to watch. And then, near the end of the film, when he finally meets the girl outside of the apartment, the shear banality of his real life completely destroys the twisted fantasy world that had existed previously. One of the great tragic figures of modern film.
**Peter Sellers** - I always considered Sellers a talented mimic/slapstick comic but his performance in _Being There_ really touched the heart of a character for the first (and last) time.
**Samuel Jackson** - Definitely his role in _Changing Lanes_. Very complex portrayal of a character on the edge. I remember his turn as a junkie in _Jungle Fever_ and, though I remember being impressed, it’s been too long since I saw the movie to make a fair judgement.
**Robert Carlyle** - Begby in _Trainspotting_. An absolutely chilling potrayal of a violent sociopath. The fact that he could also play such a warm, loving father in _Full Monty_ demonstrates his incredible range as an actor.
**Gary Oldman** - Most of the movies I’ve seen him in have portrayed him as an over-the-top villian (_Leon_, _5th Element_), so I was very impressed by his role as Sid Vicious in _Sid & Nancy_. He portrayed Sid as an innocent completely at the mercy of forces beyond his understanding. Another tragic figure.
**James Stewart** - Although I love his turn as the kind-hearted drunk in _Harvey_, I think his best performance is in Hitchcock’s _Vertigo_. This was the first time he’d really explored the dark under-currents of a character and it was very surprising to see how deeply he could delve into a character’s obsessions.
**Sean Penn** - An excellent actor all around. Hard to pinpoint his best performance as I don’t think he’s yet had the defining role of his career. Possibly in _Dead Man Walking_ or _Carlito’s Way_.
**Robert De Niro** - A toss up between the cocky Johnny Boy in _Mean Streets_, the paranoid vet in _Taxi Driver_, the violent Jake La Motta in _Raging Bull_ and the twisted nebbish in _The King of Comedy_. I couldn’t possibly choose between such excellent performances.
**Clint Eastwood** - I’ve loved his movies for years (especially his spaghetti westerns) but the one time he pulled everything together both as an actor and director was in his masterpiece _Unforgiven_. For the first time, an Eastwood character was living with the consequences of his actions. The perspective of an old man, forced by circumstances, to face the demons of his youth makes this role the most affecting of his entire career.
**Steve Buscemi** - Doesn’t he play the same role in every movie? I’ve always liked him, but I really have trouble differentiating his various parts. He was good in _Ghost World_, but I also like his stressed-out director in _Living in Oblivion_.
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### Author:  [@johnnyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnnyboy)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/10 "2002-11-17T13:47:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Hodge \*
> \*\*\*\ ***Robert Carlyle** - Begby in _Trainspotting_. An absolutely chilling potrayal of a violent sociopath. The fact that he could also play such a warm, loving father in _Full Monty_ demonstrates his incredible range as an actor. \*\*
Well, thank you, atleast one person appriciates his talents.
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### Author:  [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/11 "2002-11-17T14:52:05Z")
Marlon Brando: _The Godfather_.
Peter Sellers: Hard. _Dr Strangelove, Being There_ or _The Goons_.
Samuel L. Jackson: _Pulp Fiction_.
Gary Oldman: _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead_.
Robert Carlyle: _Hamish Macbeth_ (TV) Also great in _Looking after Jo Jo_ as well as the aforementioned _Trainspotting_. Proved in _Plunkett and MacLean_ and a Bond film that he was capable of being poor (which surprised me).
James Stewart: Difficult, but _Vertigo_.
Sean Penn: _Carlito’s Way_. Not a particularly good film, but he was great. You can say that about most of his films, _Isn’t She Lovely_ being another prime example.
Robert De Niro: _Raging Bull_. Amazing performance.
Clint Eastwood: _Unforgiven_.
Steve Buscemi: _The Big Lebowski_.
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### Author:  [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-perfomance-by-these-actors/137025/12 "2002-11-17T15:35:53Z")
Marlon Brando- I would have to agree with whoever posted “Don Juan DeMarco” He was great in that movie. There was none of his insane BS.
Peter Sellers- Oh God, there are so many. . . I would have to go with all the parts he played in Dr. Strangelove. He’s incredible in that.
Samuel L. Jackson- I would have to say his character in “The Caveman’s Valentine” There were things about that film I didn’t like, but his performance was WONDERFUL. He was very frightening in some scenes, yet vulnerable and childlike in others.
Gary Oldman- This man is a shapeshifter with some kind of wicked powers. He doesn’t just act, he TRANSFORMS. I can’t decide which of his performances is the best. He’s just too damn good.
Robert Carlyle- He was so good in “The Full Monty”
James Stewart- VERTIGO!!! It was his greatest role. He was nuts in that movie, and he played it to perfection. The last time I watched it, it gave me chills to see good ole boy Jimmy Stewart, being so freaky with Kim Novak.
Sean Penn- Spicoli in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
Robert De Niro- Leonard in “Awakenings” I cried my eyes out the first time I saw that movie. He was brilliant.
Clint Eastwood- Probably “Unforgiven”
Steve Buscemi- Mr. Pink in “Reservoir Dogs” I love that film. Everyone’s good in it.