Christopher Lloyd, who is so typecast as the zany oddball that it overshadows a real talent.
William Daniels (starred in 1776 but a supporting player in everything else), though I can’t imagine him playing a blue-collar character.
Ditto Frances Sternhagen- she can play salty old farmwife, bookish intellectual, or snooty society matron with equal believability.
I love the British staple-stable of character actors: Brian Blessed, John Hurt, Bernard Hepton, Leo McKern (he was Australian actually, but I’ll count him), Vivien Pickles, and Patrick Stewart )from before-he-was-Picard days).
You gotta like John Turturro . I know he has had lead roles in some small movies, but what we mostly know him from is his roles in Spike Lee and Coen Brothers movies.
I like David Strathairn. He played the rotten dad in Dolores Claborne, which was a masterful performance IMO. He also played the owner of the escort service in “LA Confidential”.
And I don’t know if he qualifies for this or not, but I really think Joaquin Phoenix has a bright future.
I didn’t think so the first few times I saw him in movies. He’s had bit parts in many things, and often, they weren’t particularly memorable. He’s also got an Everyman look, which makes him less recognizable. It was only after I saw his entire body of work that I began to think he was very talented. His style is definitely not flashy–he does most of his work with his eyes, IMHO. What I think is notable about him is his range (he’s played everything from wimps to macho cops to ex-cons to child molesters). I always find him absolutely believable in every role, which I find pretty impressive. (Granted, I haven’t seen some of the crummy TV movies he did while he was on “St. Elsewhere” back in the '80s.)
He’s considered an actor’s actor. Lots of very well-regarded directors have sought him out for parts because they admire his work, and other actors will cite him as someone they admire as well. He’s just not star material (his lead role in CBS’s “Hack” not withstanding), and I think that’s why most viewers don’t recognize or appreciate him.
I’ve always been a fan of Charles Lane, who, incredibly, it seems is still alive (he’ll be 98 next month).
When you watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” this season, he’s the guy who plays Mr. Potter’s assistant. He also plays the Constable in “The Music Man.” You’ve seen him a hundred times - he’s just one of those guys you recognize instantly, but whose name you never know.
He is fantastic but I don’t know that I would classify him as a character actor as much as an underappreciated one.
Q.N. Jones,
Perhaps I’m critical because I really try to keep the idea of liking the characters an actor plays and his actual acting skill seperate and sometimes I go overboard. I found his character in “The Green Mile” to be one of the most likeable in the history of cinema and he played that part well. Something didn’t strike me with his performance in “Proof of Life,” but like you said he is extremely versatile. From “The Green Mile” to his role in “The Negotiator” and “Lethal Weapon” (I think?) is a pretty far jump. Though interesting to note that he becomes the good guy in the end of “The Negotiator.”
He might get to much work as a leading man now (still not a lot, mind you), but I think that Giovanni Ribisi is one of the younger, wothy of a mention. As Frank Buffay, Jr. Pheobe’s* strange brother, and as Seth in Boiler Room, he’s already shown his range. I expect great things from this kid.
I see that. It can be tough, and recently (notably in The Green Mile), he’s played some characters I particularly liked because I’d read the book beforehand. Having seen the rest of his work, though, I don’t think that’s the only reason I think he’s a good actor, anymore. YMMV.
This movie was hampered by so many things (Meg Ryan and the decision of Taylor Hackford to remove one of the pivotal plot points) that it’s hard to like anything about it. But once I’d seen it a few times (HBO runs it incessantly), parts of Morse’s performance really stand out to me. MINOR SPOILER: The part where he pulls the stick that’s pierced his foot–his acting here is so dead-on I can’t even begin to say how much I admire it. I once watched my sister, who (GROSS-OUT ALERT) pull a dinner fork out of her arm after she was stabbed with it in an accident in the kitchen. Her behavior in that real incident and Morse’s in the fake one were so uncannily similar that it made a huge impression on me.
Not Lethal Weapon. Check out http://us.imdb.com/Name?Morse,+David for a full listing, but he’s been in everything from “St. Elsewhere” to “The Negotiator” to “Dancer in the Dark”.
Interesting that you point this out because, from his interviews, it becomes clear that he enjoys playing characters who are morally ambiguous. I encourage you to watch an episode or two of “Hack”. If you can get past the sometimes-cheesy production values and the need to seriously suspend disbelief (a crime-fighting cabbie?), the acting is first-rate (also starring George Dzundza and Andre Braugher, both excellent), and the writing is steeped in moral ambiguity. It’s hard to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are, and I think that’s why it doesn’t go down so easily with viewers.
He’d be good, but I think I’d go with Oliver Platt.
[hijack1]I’d also love to see Lynn Redgrave as Ignatius’s mother, Joe Pesci as Patrolman Mancuso, Anna Nicole Smith as the stripper, and Lily Tomlin as Santa Battaglia.[/hijack1]
[hijack2]Have you read Ignatius Rising , the new Toole biography? His mother’s letters were incredible- you know instantly where he got Ignatius’s writing style.[/hijack2]
Speaking of Lynn Redgrave, she’s one of my favorite character actors as well. Her GODS AND MONSTERS co-star Ian McKellen would also be, but he’s become an unlikely late-in-life leading man.
Other favorites:
David Ogden Stiers (great range)
Terence Mann
Howard Morris
William Sanderson (brother to Darryl and Darryl; also a licensed lawyer who always acts with a quarter in his ear)
Conchata Ferrell (she made LA LAW when she was a regular)
Katherine Helmond (also very versatile)
Dan Hedaya
Holland Taylor
the late great LaWanda Page (Sanford and Son had almost no professional actors in its extended cast but they were the funniest players on television)
Two of my least favorite character actors:
Max von Sydow (just once I’d like to see him do slapstick)
Teri Garr (who keeps giving her work?)