I think we can all agree that there are certain actors- and Patrick Stewart is one of them- that are so good at what they do that their mere presence improves the work immensely. As one poster mentioned in the linked thread, people would almost certainly pay money to hear Patrick Stewart reading the phone book, and I’m inclined to agree with them.
But who else has that sort of presence, the sort that makes something mundane like reading the phone book interesting?
Christopher Walken is an obvious one, and I’d also nominate William Shatner, Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Fry, Alec Guinness, and Michael Caine- Christopher Walken Watches Paint Dry, William Shatner Mows The Lawn, Stephen Fry Stands In A Queue At The Supermarket, Michael Caine Reads The Newspaper… you get the idea.
Who do you think has the sort of acting skills/presence/talent to make something spectactularly dull or mundane become interesting?
Kathy Bates. I am not a huge fan of many women actors; and you can call me sexist for not viewing them as more successful in dramatic roles, but she’s gold for me everytime. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s not as sterotypically beautiful as most other “star” actresses, so it isn’t as distracting for me, but I love her.
Funny, but my only thought is that, while there are plenty of actors who, in my opinion, would be excellent at doing the most mundane roles, Patrick Stewart is hardly in the same class with most of them. There is a reason he was doing Star Trek, and it wasn’t tremendous acting ability.
Second the nomination of Alan Rickman, who has done some absolutely chilling roles, and has an awesome ability to bring something out of any character he ends up playing.
Christopher Eccleston presents a Four Hour Timeshare Presentation Which Isn’t Even Going to Earn You a Free Meal/Cruise/Hotel Stay/etc.
I’d be so there. I actually tried to rent Gone in 60 Seconds because he’s in it somewhere…the girl at Hollywood Video laughed at me.
