# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/81 "2012-03-22T22:42:10Z")
Don Cheadle in _Devil in a Blue Dress._ ---
**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 22, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/82 "2012-03-22T23:52:21Z")
> [@punch\_line\_loser](#): > > The first thing I think of is Emma Caulfield’s moment in “The Body,” and please God somebody tell me they know what I’m talking about before I retreat gibbering madly to the trees. Good one. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/83 "2012-03-23T00:03:16Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Sam Rockwell in **Galaxy Quest**. > > “Hey guys…there’s a red thingy…heading towards the green thingy…::choking up:: I think we’re the green thingy.” > > “Don’t open that! It’s an alien planet! Is there AIR?! _You_ don’t know!” ::holds breath:: > > “Guy, you have a last name.” > “Do I?! DO I?!” “Is there anything that looks like a rudimentary lathe?” 😃 My fave line in that movie. A close second on this would be Tony Shalhoub. “_That_ was a helluva thing.” ---
**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 23, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/84 "2012-03-23T00:10:39Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Sam Rockwell in **Galaxy Quest**. > > “Hey guys…there’s a red thingy…heading towards the green thingy…::choking up:: I think we’re the green thingy.” > > “Don’t open that! It’s an alien planet! Is there AIR?! _You_ don’t know!” ::holds breath:: > > “Guy, you have a last name.” > “Do I?! DO I?!” [Here is the best of Sam Rockwell in that movie. He should have won the Oscar, and I’m not kidding.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mXWXwxPtXg) ---
**Author:** ![gizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gizzy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/85 "2012-03-23T00:26:52Z")
Emily Blunt in the\* Devil Wears Prada\* ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/86 "2012-03-23T00:31:33Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > John Banner as Sgt Schultz on “Hogan’s Heroes” could still scenes with his exaggerated motion of leaving a room. Which immediately made me think of Kramer _entering_ a room in “Seinfeld.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/87 "2012-03-23T00:54:31Z")
I read once Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice was supposed to be far darker than it turned out to be, Michael Keaton so owned his role it changed the dialogue of his character and the mood of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/88 "2012-03-23T01:50:20Z")
Already mentioned, but Robert Carlyle’s Begbie in _Trainspotting_ was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread. Next would be the great Sterling Hayden; three performances that come to mind would be his turns as Gen. Jack D. Ripper in _Dr. Strangelove_; as a violent, alcoholic writer in _The Long Goodbye_ and as the corrupt police chief in _The Godfather_. Mentioning _Dr. Strangelove_ gets me thinking about the amazing, unexpected screen presence of Slim Pickens, seemingly only needing to show up to own a flick. A classic example, in my mind, is how he shows up at the very end of Peckinpah’s _The Getaway_ and more or less runs away with the last ten minutes of the movie. And leads on to thinking that one of the archetypal screen muggings of all time would be De Niro’s Johnny Boy in _Mean Streets_. Judi Dench as M repeatedly yanks the rug out from under both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig in several of the James Bond flicks. One of the most inspired bits of casting ever, IMO. A large number of French, German and British actors, most relatively unknown to American audiences shine in smallish parts in John Frankenheimer’s 1964 _The Train_. Perhaps the best are Michel Simon as the cranky, mountainous train driver Papa Boule, and Wolfgang Priess as a pragmatic Wehrmacht engineer trying against long odds to keep the the trainload of stolen French art on the rails. The whole film is something of an acting masterclass. OK, that’s enough for now. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/89 "2012-03-23T17:20:28Z")
Someone mentioned animated movies… Does The Adventures of TinTin count? If so, Snowy, TinTin’s dog, stole quite a few scenes. ---
**Author:** ![dzray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@dzray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzray)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/90 "2012-03-25T10:43:38Z")
Michael Shannon in _Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead_ ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/91 "2012-10-01T19:00:02Z")
I’ll go with: James Cromwell in “LA Confidential”. Geoffrey Rush in “Elizabeth”. The guy who plays the mutant Benny in the original “Total Recall”. John Candy in “Splash”. Simon Callow in “Four Weddings And A Funeral”. John Hurt in “I, Claudius”. Lou Gossett Jr. in “Roots”. Vincent Gallo in “The Funeral”. Lawrence Fishburne in “King Of New York”. Samuel Jackson in “Jungle Fever”. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/92 "2012-10-01T19:03:22Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Jack Nicholson stole **Easy Rider**. This. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/93 "2012-10-02T20:29:23Z")
Anthony Hopkins 16 minutes (!) as Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs won an Oscar and created a legend. He was not a major character in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/94 "2012-10-02T21:43:56Z")
I pick Salma Hayek in _From Dusk Til Dawn_. I can barely remember the rest of the film, and I’m not even sure if she had any dialogue; I’d never heard of her before, and by rights she should have ended up as one of those anoymous women who appear as strippers in the background of 1980s cop movies. But she had screen presence and [a fantastic outfit](http://handpaintedhill.deviantart.com/art/Salma-Hayek-From-Dusk-Till-Dawn-318012141) and also I think she kills Quentin Tarantino, doesn’t she? Always a good thing. Classic example from MST3K is Dablone from _Escape 2000_, one of those cheap “future Bronx nightmare” films from Italy. The lead actors were all comatose, and suddenly this chap comes along who seems to be channeling Brian Blessed from _Flash Gordon_. Fast-forward to 07:40: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqZGBXVpF10) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/95 "2012-10-02T21:56:59Z")
Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny. She could have been a caricature, but she played it so earnestly and so sincere and so spot on that she stole the show. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248/96 "2012-10-02T22:13:24Z")
Bill Murray in _Zombieland_, of course.😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-performance-defines-scene-stealer-for-you/616248.md?page=4)