He was great in that movie though!
Not only that, but I heard an interview with him in which he admitted he has a narrow range of performances. He told of a director asking for something quite different from what Walken was giving in rehearsals, and Walken told him that if he didn’t like what he was getting, he should find someone who could give it to him, because this was what Walken had to offer.
Upon consideration I think it’s clear that Cuba Gooding Jr. should win the thread. From Oscar winner to Snow Dogs and Boat Trip in five years.
If Englishman David Niven is considered a great actor - I win!
He made a lot of notable movies like Prisoner of Zenda and Dawn Patrol decades ago, palled around with his good friend Errol Flynn - then did a lot of smarmy sex farces later in his career:
The Statue (1971) - wife Virna Lisi sculpts a 20 foot nude statue of her travelling hubby, but it has some other guy’s private parts! Mayhem ensues as Mr. Niven tries to find out who modelled those parts…
The Impossible Years (1968) - teenage daughter has sex before marriage, much to the shock of Mr. Niven!
Prudence and the Pill (1968) - 58 year old Niven and 47 year old Deborah Kerr in a farce about switching birth control pills for aspirin and become parents.
He may have done these for money, but I have a feeling he saw himself as young, swingin’, hip, and attractive as ever and wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest.
BTW - whatever happened to that Rocky and Bullwinkle movie, anyway? I should think it would have turned up on basic cable on a steady basis by now, but it sank like a stone. Deservedly so, but still…
Oh good lord the OP actually mentioned Michael Caine, & in a role I hadn’t seen, to surprise me.
Before reading the thread I went to tvtropes.org, searched for Michael Caine, & found their page on this (well, one of):
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoneyDearBoy
Yes, I associate this with Michael Caine in general (not to take anything from Olivier, Welles, or Brando).
Joan Allen in Death Race. Entertaining movie, but shocking to see her in it somehow.
What about Louise Flethcher? After Cuckoo’s Nest her career seemed to sink. Wasn’t she offered any decent parts afterward?
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I’ve seen it as well in consultants, another project-based line of work. Some of my colleagues will do amazing feats of sleeplessness in order to avoid being out of work for a single week; some are willing to move from a country to another overnight for the same reason (of course, most of these are the kind who’s happy, if happy you can call it, crashing in a hotel bed for six months).
The only other big part of hers of which I know (and she was very good in it) was as an intolerant, scheming, power-hungry Bajoran religious leader on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Winn Adami | Memory Alpha | Fandom
And say what you will about Christopher Walken’s career ups and downs, you have to admire his commitment to the kids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob37KzlUEPA
Just to chime in on the ‘british actors treating it as a profession’ thing…sometimes it surprises you.
I recall seeing an interview with Patrick Stewart on his taking the role of Jean-Luc Picard. He said something to the effect that he had a hole in his schedule, thought the idea was something that could fill six weeks of his time and he’d be back on stage in England by Christmas. He seemed honestly surprised that it went as far (and as lucrative) as it did.
There is nothing…NOTHING…wrong in taking the paycheck when offered.
Noy quite ‘great’ but after this clip you have to add Chevy Chase to the list. At least he had the good sense to keep his face out of Karate Dog, though.
Coincindentally, I mentioned Chase in last night’s blog.
Chevy Chase isn’t anything near a “great actor.” He appears in the stuff he appears in because those roles are what he’s good at.
I thought Charles Laughton would sometimes act in movies in order to get money for his art collection. “Abbott and Costello meet Captain Kidd” would appear to fit this build but apparently it was because Laughton admired Lou Costello’s talent and wanted to work with him.
http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=92546&mainArticleId=208724
As Fee Waybill of The Tubes said when he defended his group’s decision to sell out to AOR radio with “The Completion Backwards Principle”-we had to. We are broke. We can not go on with only 120,000 Tubes fans buying our records. Remember what Lily Tomlin says: they call it show business, not show art.
Actually, after re-watching the Karate Dog clip, I don’t think Voight was “whoring” himself out - I think he was actually enjoying it. During that whole scene, especially when he’s spinning around on the ground and break-dancing, Voight looks like he’s having the time of his life. Seriously, he’s smiling and laughing with joy which appears to be quite genuine. I think he realized how silly it was, and went with that. Other than Fearless Frank and Catch-22, early on in his career, I don’t think Voight has ever played a comedic character. He appeared in a lot of very heavy-handed roles. He probably saw Karate Dog as a lark.
Agreed. Even in Reds, where his performance was little more than a cameo and he didn’t even get an onscreen credit iirc, he was good.
And that presumes that we know that any of these actors have more money than they “need.” And yes, need is a very subjective thing, but the fact that someone made $10 mil on a picture five years ago doesn’t mean that they’re not currently in hock up to their tuchas. Work is work.
There was his cameo on “Seinfeld”.
I was happy when I saw Radio because I thought he was getting back to good roles. Then… Daddy Day Camp Happened… Oy
I thought she was pretty good in 1983’s Brainstorm, which, incidentally, also starred Christopher Walken.
Eugene Levy. I think it’s clear from the “American Pie” straight-to-DVD sequels and horrible movies like “The Man,” that this guy will happily throw his legs behind his head if you cut him a big enough check.
Either that, or someone in Hollywood has video of him fucking a pie.