Colin Farrell impressed me in Phone Booth. Until then I had always seen him in the cocky young man roles.
I feel like I’ve made this comment about 5 times in various threads, but… why is anyone ever surprised that Leonardo Di Caprio can act? He’s an AMAZING actor. Is it just because he was in Titanic and was a teen-girl-heartthrob for a while? However much you hate Titanic (and everyone seems to hate it, these days), I’ve rarely heard anyone seriously suggest that what it needed was better actors in the lead roles.
Anyhow, my contribution to the thread is Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation. I was vaguely aware of him as The Fresh Prince and some rap something or other, and he was amazing.
For a “Wow! He can act again!” moment, De Niro in Stardust. For the first time in years, he wasn’t phoning in another Robert De Niro impression.
Robin Williams was great in The World According to Garp. That was the first time I’d seen him as anything other than Mork.
Keira Knightley is actually very good in Atonement. I knew her only from her rather shrill character in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
Harrison Ford showed he had some range in The Mosquito Coast and Presumed Innocent but he seemed to have decided not to pursue that type of acting after that period.
Michael Keaton was excellent in non-comedic roles in Clean and Sober and as the cold-blooded sociopath in Pacific Heights.
Sean Hayes in Martin & Lewis. He didn’t just portray Jerry Lewis, he became Jerry Lewis.
I came in here specifically to mention Hugh Laurie, and Stephen Fry, and there already seems to be an ongoing conversation. 
For me, it was Peter’s Friends that did it. Up `til then, I’d been fans of the pair in Jeeves & Wooster, various Blackadders, and their own Bits of Fry & Laurie, but there was always a smirk behind the performance–I never felt it went all the way down to the heart. In Peter’s Friends, there’s a moment when Laurie is talking about what it’s like for a father to lose a child, he chokes up for just a second. That was the first time I’d seen him act “all the way down.”
Although I melted every time David Boreanaz appeared as “Angel” on Buffy (because he was so good looking), I really didn’t think he could really act until he switched to Angelus. The episode that really impressed me was “I only have eyes for you.” In this particular episode, Angelus and Buffy were swept up in a time warp and forced to relive the night of a murder/suicide of a teacher by her lovesick student. In a twist, Angelus assumed the part of the female teacher, who was crying and pleading to save herself and her student. At one point, the estranged lovers kissed, and instantly the spell was broken. Boreanaz had to switch immediately from lovesick woman into the cocky, cold Angelus.
And he did good. 
Will Smith in “I Am Legend”. Yah, the movie had problems towards the end - but none of them had a thing to do with Smith’s acting. Robert Neville is a badly damaged, lonely, obsessive character who’s done some very questionable things - and Smith nails him, spot on. He’s not an action hero, he’s not a wise-cracking funny guy - he’s Robert Neville, as fine and nuanced a portrayal as you’ll ever see. Brilliant, superb work.
Check out Bend it Like Beckham if you get the chance.
Mr. Excellent, thanks for the “I am Legend” info. I’ll have to check it out.
Speaking of Mos Def, I was really impressed by his performance in “16 Blocks.” He totally embodied that twitchy, kind of dorky character and made his mannerisms seem completely natural.
He’s got a hell of a lot of range, then. He was anything but twitchy and dorky in The Woodsman; he played a take-shit-from-no-one PO.
He’s also one of the better guest hosts SNL has had in a while.
**Legends of the Fall ** was pretty bad-ass if you haven’t seen it. **Pitt ** was pretty good in it as well.
I knew** Di Caprio ** could act since I saw him in The Basketball Diaries, one of his earlier films.
I generally like Matt Damon as well, but he really does a fine acting job as a strung out soldier in Courage Under Fire.
I haven’t seen either movie, but he had me at SNL’s Dick in a Box sketch.
He was amazingly acceptable as Ford Prefect, too. A gifted, versatile actor.
I suppose it can’t come as a huge surprise, though, if a professional singer/rapper/musician can also act; we’ve already mentioned a number of examples, like Mos Def, Mark Wahlberg, Justin Timberlake, et al. They’re entertainers and performers by trae, and moving from one medium to another isn’t that big a shift. It always surprises me more when a good musical performer CAN’T act, like Madonna.
No props for Ice Cube (Boyz NThe Hood, Higher Learning, Three Kings) or Ice-T (New Jack City, Law & Order: SVU)?
I only ever saw Robert De Niro play Robert De Niro, so I never really appreciated him…until I saw Jackie Brown. I couldn’t believe how impressed I was I really feel that De Niro should only be allowed to work with Tarantino. In that regards, Al Pacino should only be allowed to work with Christopher Nolan ( see Insomnia). Jackie Brown also featured a great turn from Michael Keaton.
Likewise, I’ve always heard that Brando was brilliant, but being young and ignorant, I had no idea why anybody ever said that. And then I saw him as Mark Antony in one of his earliest movies Julius Caesar. I was utterly entranced by him. I could not look away.
Hayden Christensen absolutely blew me away in Shattered Glass. It was a role that required subtlety and nuance and a very careful balance. So much of the character was expressed in the eyes and in tiny little moments–and by god, he pulled it off!
I came in to mention this. He absolutely blew me away in that movie.
Another eons-ago entry to the list —
Lucille freakin’ Ball, I kid you not, in a silly/cute fluff romantic comedy, Yours, Mine & Ours, circa 1968. Not something that would have been a breakout role for anyone else, but I was under the impression that she couldn’t do anything but mug in front of the camera like a chimpanzee while the laugh-track runs, and I was amazed to find that she was actually pretty decent in this.
Another good Keanu Reeves performance is in My Own Private Idaho. He doesn’t have much range, but in the right role, he can be good.
It’s a truism that comedy is harder than drama, but I’ve never before heard a director specifically say that he prefers casting comic actors in dramatic roles. SO you might be correct that it’s more or less his own little trick.
Seeing him in 16 Blocks after seeing Something the Lord Made, the man can act!
Add me to the Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction club, I almost didn’t watch it because he was in it.
I too was blown away, love that movie.
CMC +fnord!