# What performance defines "scene-stealer" for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248 "2012-03-19T19:24:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/21 "2012-03-19T22:00:29Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > With all the amazing actors in _Glengarry Glen Ross_ it’s amazing that Alec Baldwin waltzes in and makes off with at least part of the movie. This is the most memorable part of the movie, and he steals the whole memory of the movie from far better and hammier actors. Lemon, Pacino, Spacey and Pryce were also in that movie. Heath Ledger was always going to steal the movie with Dark Knight and the Joker because the Joker is a meaty and hammy role. How utterly unlike any other Ledger performance and how strange was unexpected. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stranger. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/22 "2012-03-19T22:05:48Z")
The Fugitive was the first one that came to mind for me too. Harrison Ford is pretty good in it, too, but his character just isn’t at interesting. In TV, Jack and Karen were supposed to be secondary characters on Will and Grace, but I think they were what most people watched the show for. > [@panache45](#): > > James Dean in \*Giant. \*Though the stars of the movie were Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, Dean stole every scene he was in. It was his last performance before his death. Oh, TY for the reminder - I keep meaning to order that on DVD and forgetting. > [@salinqmind](#): > > I’ve said this before, but Robert Carlyle on Once Upon A Time can just be standing there during a scene waiting for someone else to stop talking, and I have a hard time focussing on that conversation. Arguably, he’s a scene-stealer in Trainspotting too, and that’s even with a lot of other brilliant actors. I found him genuinely terrifying, and he’s so mild-mannered in most of his other roles (that I’ve seen, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/23 "2012-03-19T22:09:42Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > But what doesn’t kill you makes you stranger. Well done 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/24 "2012-03-19T22:13:22Z")
What always comes to mind are Bronson Pinchot’s (remember cousin Balky?) two minutes on screen as Serge in _Beverly Hills Cop_ (the first one). To steal a scene from Eddie Murphy takes some doing, and he did it twice. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/25 "2012-03-19T22:29:20Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Anthony Hopkins arguably counts, for The Silence Of The Lambs; the guy deservedly won Best Actor despite being on screen for – what, fifteen minutes and change? Frances McDormand won Best Actress for [Fargo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116282/), despite having less screen time than William H. Macy, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. To answer the OP, I have 2 that I think of: 1. John Tutturro as Jesus in[The Big Lebowski](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/71938/nobody_f_ks_with_the_jesus/). Made even better by The Gypsy Kings covering “Hotel California.” 2. Bronson Pinchot in [Beverly Hills Cop](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHZWWFmaFcI). The first one. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/26 "2012-03-19T22:37:33Z")
It’s not a very well known film, but in the movie **My Life Without Me** , there’s a doctor played by [Julian Richings](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0724995/), who has a just haunting sympathy for the main character. I would also argue that the last scene in **Heat** of Val Kilmer and his wife stole the entire movie, and effectively rendered what was supposed to be the big climactic end between Pacino and De Niro, superfluous. The movie drags after that point, not because it’s any slower than the rest of the movie had been, but because they just can’t top the drama of that one scene. Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday also stole **Tombstone**. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/27 "2012-03-19T22:58:35Z")
Robert Downey Jr. in anything he does… He doesn’t even have to speak… he can be in the background with no lines and you notice him. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/28 "2012-03-19T23:09:36Z")
Bert Lahr in “The Wizard of Oz.” ---
**Author:** ![Jennmonkye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@Jennmonkye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennmonkye)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/29 "2012-03-19T23:22:07Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I’ve said this before, but Robert Carlyle on Once Upon A Time can just be standing there during a scene waiting for someone else to stop talking, and I have a hard time focussing on that conversation. I was going to jump right in and say Robert Carlyle also, but expand it to any show or movie that he has ever been in. He just owns the screen in everything he does going back to the early parts of his acting career. I’m glad it’s not just me who appreciates how great he really is! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/30 "2012-03-19T23:41:34Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Bert Lahr in “The Wizard of Oz.” Another oldie: Leo Gorcy in **Angels With Dirty Faces**. Cagney is tough to upstage, but Gorcy was able to do it as one of The Deadend Kids. Walter Huston in **Treasure of the Sierra Madre**. Also Alfonso Bedoya of the famous “Badges?” line. Eli Wallach stole every scene he was in in **The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly**. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/31 "2012-03-19T23:45:01Z")
Office Space: The co-worker who says “I’m gonna show her my ‘O’ face. Ya know - ‘Oh, Oh, Oh’”. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/32 "2012-03-20T00:09:08Z")
I’m not sure I agree with the definition of scene stealer being used here. The star of a movie (like Depp in Pirates) can’t steal a scene because he owns a scene. If the scene is written to focus on a character (like Huston’s) he is not stealing a scene either. Stealing a scene is when the audience focuses attention on a subsidiary character who is not the point of a scene - famously dogs and kids. I never watched “Happy Days” but I bet Winkler stole the scenes he was in in the early shows, which is why he got more screen time. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/33 "2012-03-20T00:25:23Z")
I also first thought of Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight. He walks in, steals the scene, steals the movie, and walks off leaving everyone in shock. And to think I thought Jack Nicholson had done the unbeatable Joker act. He deserved the Oscar even had he lived, though I rather doubt he would have received it. I’d also say Vin Diesel in Pitch Black. They basically re-wrote the ending for him to live because he had out-acted the script and made Riddick more than just a somewhat redeemed villain/hero. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/34 "2012-03-20T00:48:52Z")
Elsa Lanchester petty much walked off with any scene in which she appeared in _Bell, Book, and Candle_. Of course, dust motes can steal a scene from Kim Novak, but it’s a little tougher to steal from Hermione Gingold and Jack Lemon. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/35 "2012-03-20T02:04:27Z")
In the old _Bewitched_ TV show, Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara walked away with every episode she appeared in. One could argue that ALL of Samantha’s relatives were designed to be scene stealers, but watch the later episodes with Alice Ghostley’s Esmerelda doing the same shtick and you’ll immediately see the difference. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/36 "2012-03-20T02:44:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Another oldie: Leo Gorcy in **Angels With Dirty Faces**. Cagney is tough to upstage, but Gorcy was able to do it as one of The Deadend Kids. > > Walter Huston in **Treasure of the Sierra Madre**. Also Alfonso Bedoya of the famous “Badges?” line. > > Eli Wallach stole every scene he was in in **The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly**. Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef were always interesting to watch, but Wallach was always at least a league above them in acting ability. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/37 "2012-03-20T03:48:35Z")
Corey Stoll as Hemingway in **Paris at Midnight**. Hilariously perfect. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/38 "2012-03-20T04:16:30Z")
Judi Dench in _Shakespeare in Love_. She actually makes me forget, momentarily, the actual main storyline that I’ve been loving. She’s more interesting than the admittedly beautiful Joseph Fiennes and whatsername. For a few glorious moments, I’m watching a movie about Queen Elizabeth I. And then she’s done, gone, poof, and I’m once again watching a movie about Shakespeare and his lady love. While she may have had the most lines in her scenes, I do not think that the scenes as written were meant to star her in that way. Certainly the movie as a whole does not star her. It was meant to be a movie about the actors, and the play and the romance, not about the queen. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/39 "2012-03-20T04:44:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > What always comes to mind are Bronson Pinchot’s (remember cousin Balky?) two minutes on screen as Serge in _Beverly Hills Cop_ (the first one). To steal a scene from Eddie Murphy takes some doing, and he did it twice. That’s the first one that came to my mind, too. Hey, how about Johnny Depp in “Benny and Joon?” He wasn’t one of the two main characters, but no one else exists when he’s on screen. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/40 "2012-03-20T04:58:59Z")
Tommy Lee Jones in _Captain America_ did pretty well. “Cow.” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248.md?page=3)