# "Quirk" Actors. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099 "2003-12-26T07:46:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/1 "2003-12-26T07:46:33Z")
What actor do you nominate as the best “Quirk” actor? That is, an actor that’s best in strange, but not utterly unbelievable side roles? I nominate Philip Seymour Hoffman. Examples: The hilariously PC butler/general servant in The Big Lebowski. The sly partygoer in The Talented Mr. Ripley. The insecure racketeer in Punch-Drunk Love. All of these characters were pitch-perfect, and really added to each film. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/2 "2003-12-26T08:04:01Z")
How could anyone compete with **Christopher Walken**? D ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/3 "2003-12-26T08:07:15Z")
Steve Buscemi ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/4 "2003-12-26T08:17:23Z")
Crispin Glover. You may yield now. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/5 "2003-12-26T10:55:13Z")
John DeLancie Bruce Campbell ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/6 "2003-12-26T13:35:46Z")
Jack Nicholson. And he’s damn good at it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/7 "2003-12-26T13:43:31Z")
Johnny Depp ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/8 "2003-12-26T14:30:42Z")
I’m gonna have to second Steve Buscemi. I’m also going with Janeane Garafalo and Jon Stewart. They both bring a delightfully ironic sensibility and irreverent sense of self to their side roles. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/9 "2003-12-26T16:17:06Z")
Another vote for **Steve Buscemi**. He goes from the kidnapper in _Fargo_ to the weird record collector in _Ghost World_; not to mention the voice work as Randall Boggs and acting in _Pete And Pete_. He’s all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/10 "2003-12-26T16:20:47Z")
Another vote for Steve Buscemi (another role: loony serial killer in _Con Air_), but also consider William H Macy. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/11 "2003-12-26T16:24:11Z")
Vincent d’Onofrio gets my vote. Though he plays straight-arrow pretty well too (see “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”), he’s best in oddball roles like _The Salton Sea_, _The Cell_, or _Strange Days_. Steve Buscemi also gets high marks in this category. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/12 "2003-12-26T16:56:02Z")
I’ll second Walken, Buscemi, and I’ll nominate John Turturro. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/13 "2003-12-26T16:58:52Z")
Vincent Schiavelli. I doubt there has EVER been a quirkier actor… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/14 "2003-12-26T19:03:02Z")
John Lithgow ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/15 "2003-12-26T21:23:07Z")
William H. Macy seems to have carved his own little niche as the painfully earnest, possibly closeted, guy next door. I just saw his TV movie Door to Door last night, where he took the shtick to kind of a creepy extreme. ---
**Author:** ![Mott\_the\_Hoople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Mott\_the\_Hoople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mott_the_Hoople)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/16 "2003-12-27T02:55:47Z")
Kevin Dillon…Bunny, in Platoon. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/17 "2003-12-27T05:55:13Z")
Alan Rickman-although he can play the straight man pretty well too. But look at some of his most well-known roles: Snape in _Harry Potter_ Rasputin The Sheriff of Nottingham ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/18 "2003-12-27T06:01:09Z")
Good call on Alan Rickman - his Metatron in Dogma was absolutely perfect. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/19 "2003-12-27T06:04:25Z")
Philip Seymour Hoffman climbs a little higher up my A-list with every film of his I see. The guy is amazing; don’t forget his roles as the gay cameraman in _Boogie Nights_, Lester Bangs in _Almost Famous_, the fun-loving storm chaser in _Twister_, the phone-sex creep in _Happiness_, and the compulsive gambler in _Owning Mahowny_. That guy can ACT. ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099/20 "2003-12-27T06:17:39Z")
Keitel as Wolf in Pulp Fiction [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quirk-actors/221099.md?page=2)