I forgot about Stranger than fiction - it actually made me cry! 
I thought he stepped out of typecast mode nicely in Wag the Dog.
If you want to see De Niro waaaayyyy out of typecast mode, try Stardust. :eek: 
Have you seen The War Zone? She blew me away in that. Of course, she’s always amazing, though.
Gillian Anderson was very good in the X-Files, but that was all she had done, as far as I knew. So it was hard to gauge how good she was. Then I saw her in House of Mirth and was blown away.
Brando was certainly good in that movie, but for me, John Gielgud stole the show. Yes, Gielgud. The one who never seemed to play anything but the starchy (with just a hint of tender wit) old school English butler. As Brutus, Gielgud was intense. In just a handful of scenes, he demonstrates why he was considered one of the greatest actor who ever treaded the boards.
Same here!
Reminds me, Adam Sandler in Click. Movie has a lot of his brand of slapstick, but it gets pretty danged serious and intense towards the end.
Adam Sandler in Reign Over Me. The scene in the shrink’s waiting room where he describes what happened on 9/11.
Thirding (or Fourthing?) Adam Sandler: I thought he was more-than-solid in both Punch Drunk Love and Spanglish.
As for Mark Wahlberg, I can’t believe no one mentioned his role in The Departed yet. In fact, I can’t, off the top of my head, think of a movie Wahlberg was in that he didn’t do a good job in. So other than the lingering prejudice that Marky Mark of the Funky Bunch couldn’t possibly be a good actor, it doesn’t seem like there’s much reason to be surprised that he could act.
Will Smith is a better example because there was a large body of work, namely The Fresh Prince of Bel Air where he clearly couldn’t act. To see him transform into someone who can pull off Muhammad Ali, etc, is a “Wow! They really can act!” moment.
Jason Isaacs is probably the most underrated, yet, badass actor in the business today. What made me love this guy is when I first saw him play the villain in The Patriot with Mel Gibson and I literally hated him by the end of the flick. If an actor makes you hate them in a movie, that’s great acting.
What REALLY blew the lid off was when I saw him recently in Showtime’s “Brotherhood” talking with a Philly accent and playing this badass hitman type character. I thought, truly, truly brilliant actor. The man can play anything.
Another vote is for Gary Oldman. Genius actor, a man of a thousand faces on screen. In fact, he recently did a few movies with Jason Isaacs with the whole Harry Potter Series.
Yes, but even Madonna has her moment… in EVITA, which is superbly acted. Being a crazy Madonna fan, I immediately rushed out to see her other films… and have concluded that she is generally a terrible, terrible actress. (They sort of poke fun at this in EVITA itself, ‘‘Ok, she couldn’t act, but she had the right friends…’’)
I’m glad some people are mentioning Will Smith. I sort of knew the guy had some skills from watching the occasional serious moment in Fresh Prince, but I recently saw The Pursuit of Happyness and it blew me away. His acting makes that film. It is nuanced, and incredibly powerful, he exudes the desperation and determination that the film demands. I’ve seen it twice and it wraps me up every time. It makes me very excited for I am Legend.
The big ‘‘The girl can act?!!’’ moment for me came for Natalie Portman in Garden State and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Until then, they were just typical girl actors.
Ditto Marky Mark in I Heart Huckabees, which is such an amazingly good movie that my head explodes just thinking about it. It is really my favorite movie ever. Because it’s about existentialism and the debate between nihilism and equanimity while simultaneously being hilarious.
Really? Then you should go out and rent “The Basketball Diaries” and also rent What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Because that acting from DiCaprio in BOTH OF THOSE MOVIES will utterly astonish you. Trust me.
Speaking of “The Gift”. Another actor in that who blew me away and continues to do so to this day in everything I see him in is Giovanni Ribisi. He played a slow guy in that movie if I’m not mistaken. Then I saw him in something else (I think it was The Boiler Room) after that and couldn’t believe that he was a totally different person.
One more who blew me away and still does is Philip Seymour Hoffman. All I can say about him and his work is…WOW !
Also in Boiler Room is Vin Deisel, the smallest you’ve ever seen him, and he does a great job and steals the whole movie. The guy’s smarter than he’d lead you to believe.
The late John Belushi was brilliant in Contenential Divide and Neighbors. He would have had a wonderful career if only…
I totally agree. Jason Isaacs is one of my favorite actors because of his ability to disappear into his roles. The moment when I was blown away by his talent was when I saw “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” right after seeing “The Patriot.” Isaacs was able to take two one-dimensional villains who would twirl their moustache if they had one, and play them completely differently. Instead of relying on a set of stock mannerisms, he made those characters come to life by imbuing them with distinct temperaments and energies.
Add to this the villains he’s played in “Dangerous Lady” and “Divorcing Jack,” also completely different from one another, and you’ve got one impressive actor.
John Goodman.
I never thought he was a bad actor, but had always assumed he only had the one character. Then I saw the Jack Bull, and in about only 10 minutes of it he completely dominated it with his presence.
I would also suggest Gangs of New York.
They’ve always been very talented actresses, see a very young Portman in Beautiful Girls and Winslet in Heavenly Creatures. Both excellent, nuanced performances.
My pick is Naomi Watts in Mullholland Drive. When the movie first came out she was a nobody. I saw the film and for the first part she seemed like a pleasant enough performer, nothing special. Until the “audition” scene. OH MY GOD! From that point on, the movie got more and more bizarro, and she kept on delivering.
Mulholland Drive is weird as they get, but check it out just to watch her performance.