# If you could only watch one actor's movies for the rest of your life... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258 "2009-08-21T23:54:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/41 "2009-08-24T01:59:37Z")
Grant and Stewart are excellent answers. I think I would have to go with Cagney. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/42 "2009-08-24T02:16:57Z")
> [@GraceTX](#): > > Best answer IMHO. You’ve got romantic comedies, drama, westerns, and suspense. You’ve got everything you could possibly want right there. No nudity, no swearing, no graphic violence, no thanks. I don’t want to be stuck watching nothing but Hayes code era movies, and I won’t even mention the cheeseball acting styles. Personally, I’d look for some bit actor that’s been in a billion different things. Quantity and variety is what to look for. ---
**Author:** ![Night\_so\_be\_it](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b2d939/32.png) [@Night\_so\_be\_it](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Night_so_be_it)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/43 "2009-08-24T16:13:13Z")
For me it’s Woody Allen or Al Pacino, easily. Forget about variety; I’d rather have a set of films with depth that I enjoy, than a set of films that span every genre possible. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/44 "2009-08-24T16:17:56Z")
> [@PeskiPiksi](#): > > Emma Thompson. Love, love, love her, and that way I could watch my all-time favorite movie ever (_Sense & Sensibility_) anytime I want to. Good call. Love Actually, Much Ado About Nothing, Wit… Or maybe Dan Hedaya. He’s in everything! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/45 "2009-08-24T16:27:19Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > No nudity, no swearing, no graphic violence, no thanks. I don’t want to be stuck watching nothing but Hayes code era movies, and I won’t even mention the cheeseball acting styles. > > Personally, I’d look for some bit actor that’s been in a billion different things. Quantity and variety is what to look for. Paul Giamatti. The movies he’s in aren’t high art (we’re talking stuff like _Man On The Moon_, _Private Parts_, and _Shoot 'Em Up_ here), but they’re almost always guaranteed to be entertaining. ETA: Looks like he was in _Saving Private Ryan_, so there’s your high art war movie. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/46 "2009-08-24T16:31:46Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Paul Giamatti. The movies he’s in aren’t high art (we’re talking stuff like _Man On The Moon_, _Private Parts_, and _Shoot 'Em Up_ here), but they’re almost always guaranteed to be entertaining. The slap fight between him and Tom Wilkinson in Duplicity made it all worth it! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/47 "2009-08-24T18:00:00Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Not to mention _Stripes_ and _The Wild Bunch_ and _The Last Picture Show_. 😃 … and _Shane_. Ben Johnson, Robert Duvall or Paul Newman for me. Tough choice. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Alan\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Bird)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/48 "2009-08-24T18:21:18Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > I have three choices: > > \*\*My vagina says Will Patton \*\*because I’ve been in love with him since 1990 or so. He’s a wonderful actor but doesn’t always make good choices in moviemaking. > > My brain says Robert DeNiro because he made so many great films before he got senile. Hell, I have most of his movies on tape and I watch them again and again as it is. Nobody better. Bolding mine. I totally got a visual of that sentence. Also, second the De Niro nom. Is he senile? I wasn’t aware of that. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/49 "2009-08-24T18:42:34Z")
Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall are the actors that first occurred to me. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/50 "2009-08-24T18:54:47Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > Steve Buscemi. He’s prolific, has a varied choice in movie styles, is in a number of recentish classics and has a relationship with certain filmakers I respect so is likely to continue to be in movies I want to see. My pick. For dead actors, Bogart or Robert Mitchum. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/51 "2009-08-24T20:52:33Z")
Wait, wait. Instead of Giamatti, I gotta go with Ron Perlman. He’s got some stinkers, but on the whole he’s just great to watch. And it also means I get some Guillermo del Toro movies in the lineup. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/52 "2009-08-24T21:02:15Z")
[Dick Miller](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0588241/) or possibly [Gene Hackman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000432/). ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/53 "2009-08-24T22:24:48Z")
Serena Grandi [http://www.greencine.com/webCatalog?id=20613](http://www.greencine.com/webCatalog?id=20613) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/54 "2009-08-25T02:46:01Z")
> [@GraceTX](#): > > Best answer IMHO [Jimmy Stewart]. You’ve got romantic comedies, drama, westerns, and suspense. You’ve got everything you could possibly want right there. … and a giant mythological rabbit! Match _that_, Hanks. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/55 "2009-08-25T23:04:40Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Clint Eastwood. By far my favorite actor. I smell a loophole… does he have to actually be in the movie? Or does directing or producing count? I’d pick Brad Pitt. I haven’t seen a movie of his I didn’t like (but then again, I never watched The Mexican), and he’s still making them. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/56 "2009-08-28T10:25:21Z")
For once, **Diogenes** and I are in total agreement. I can’t stand to watch the same movie twice in about a five year period, if not longer. That’s why I don’t own many movies: I rent, watch everything on the disc, and then I’m done. **Rucksinator** ’s loophole is interesting, though. In fact, the best choice would be a some unknown actor who just happens to own copies of every movie I’ll ever want to watch (or who I can pay to buy movies I want to watch) who will loan me copies. Then I’d be “watch[ing] one actor’s movies,” wouldn’t I? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/57 "2009-08-28T11:00:47Z")
[Klaus](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001428/) [Kinski](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Kinski). I’m sure a lot of his films are horrible but there are a lot of them, and I always enjoy watching that unique … madness … he brings to his characters. ---
**Author:** ![emjaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f475e1/32.png) [@emjaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emjaya)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/58 "2009-08-28T14:08:07Z")
Charlton Heston Gerard Depardieu Richard Burton Max von Sydow Sean Connery ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/59 "2009-08-28T14:38:54Z")
I’d go with Mel Blanc. He has over 700 movie credits to his name. I’d never get bored that way! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258/60 "2009-08-28T14:45:46Z")
Since “Snatch” is my favorite movie right now (for the last few years, actually) I’ll have to go with Brad Pitt. The other actor I thought of is Paul Newman. Films from the 50s until his death. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-only-watch-one-actors-movies-for-the-rest-of-your-life/507258.md?page=4)