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Greatest Actor of Our Time

Mojochi

Mojochi

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So there's a lot of ways to look at this, like the most versatile actor might be Gary Oldman (I'm really annoyed that autocorrect tried to make that Gary Coleman . Like... NO lol) or arguably Johnny Depp. The most powerful actor might be Daniel Day-Lewis. One of the most celebrated might be RDJ or somebody etc...

But pound for pound, when you add up the body of performances, & consider the one person who even if some of the movies weren't all that great, his performances in them were such quality that they elevated even the mediocre films, & thereby he is the most able to succeed at acting actor...

I think it might be DiCaprio. I mean think about it. How many films has he done where even if it wasn't great, his performance still substantially improved it? Like all of them imho
 
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Unfortunate choice.
 
Um... No. He's a good actor but I can think of several who have more range and a more consistent quality of work.

Christian Bale, Forrest Whittaker, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins.....just to name a few.
 
auntiehill said:
Christian Bale, Forrest Whittaker, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins.....just to name a few.
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All of these, excepting Bale , Whittaker, & Fiennes, I'm thinking we're at a point now where they are of the previous time. All of them except Hanks are near 80 now or over.

This generation in our current time... Bale, I'm not sure he's better than Leo. He just gains & loses more weight lol

It also depends on how you define great. Is great versatility, or is it brilliance?
 
Mojochi said:
All of these, excepting Bale , Whittaker, & Fiennes, I'm thinking we're at a point now where they are of the previous time. All of them except Hanks are near 80 now or over.
...............
It also depends on how you define great. Is great versatility, or is it brilliance?
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To be a brilliant actor, you need to be versatile. Daniel Day-Lewis is an excellent example--a boxer, a disabled artist, a psychopath oilman, and a quiet, determined Abraham Lincoln.

Leo is a good actor but Gary Oldman and Daniel Day-Lewis are better.
 
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auntiehill said:
To be a brilliant actor, you need to be versatile.
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I don't know that I'd agree. To be brilliant only requires that the part(s) they are playing is/are done exceptionally, & with the utmost believability. That's why I've been thinking DiCaprio is a benchmark for this current age. Any movie I've seen him in, especially lately, there's always some point where I'm thinking "Holy shit. He is knocking this out of the park" In some ways, his performances are what's making the films good.

Taking Bale for example, I do give him much credit for the fact that every time I see him, he's wildly transformed, but the performances don't always bowl me over like that. Sometimes, they're nearly forgettable. Dicaprio is almost never that

auntiehill said:
Daniel Day-Lewis is an excellent example--a boxer, a disabled artist, a psychopath oilman, and a quiet, determined Abraham Lincoln.
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& I won't argue against that. He is truly stellar, but also eclectic. Always delivering a memorable performance, but in the last 25 years, maybe only 12 roles.

auntiehill said:
Leo is a good actor but Gary Oldman and Daniel Day-Lewis are better.
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I'm hugely amazed by Oldman, & for my money, he has maybe the most profound skillset of any actor alive, but he's been, for whatever reason, relegated to the background, barring a few examples, like Mank & Darkest Hour

What I'm kind of getting at is that DiCaprio is maybe this generation's Brando... that kind of tour de force greatness
 
How are you going to choose a best actor of “our” times, when everyone’s “time” is not the same?

Besides that, there are different types of actors. There are the “chameleons,” Oldman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bale, Eddie Redmayne, and MANY others.

Then there are those actors who don’t “disappear” into roles but who’ rely on formidable acting skills plus dynamic chateisma, like Nicholson, Denzel, Brad Pitt. I’d put Leo into this category. He is very good arutting his character across, but I never forget that it’s LwothT’s not a bas thing, not really his fault he’s become as much a “movie star” as he is an “actor.” . These actors always create believable character, but you always jowl it’s then,

Now about the great comedic actors, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Lily Tomlinson, Bill Murray, Michael Keaton, etc? To me, there is something profoundly great about an actor whi can do comedy as well as drama,

And what about women? Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, anyone?

I could never lump them all together and then choose just one as the greatest.
 
auntiehill said:
Um... No. He's a good actor but I can think of several who have more range and a more consistent quality of work.

Christian Bale, Forrest Whittaker, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins.....just to name a few.
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My joke was that Fred has been recently unmasked as a sex pest and cancelled IRL.
 
I may have mentioned it in another thread, but River Phoenix, would be on this list and DiCaprio, maybe not. River Phoenix was already set to be in "Interview with the Vampire", he was interested in making and staring in "The Basketball Diaries." Cameron had Phoenix in mind while developing "Titanic". Those movies were made and released after Phoenix's untimely death. Harrison Ford reportedly chose Phoenix to play his son in "The Mosquito Coast" because Ford believed that Phoenix looked like he did at that age. Their resemblance was also the reason Phoenix got to play the Young Indiana Jones in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." There had been rumors that Phoenix was going to take over the role in prequels or just do a James Bond and he's Indiana still fighting Nazi's maybe even WWII Indiana action.

It is an interesting thought. DiCaprio and Phoenix were roughly the same age, Phoenix being 4 years older. Phoenix was already acting above DiCaprio's level at the time of his death. Had Phoenix lived, the two would have been going against each other for the same roles. Phoenix was also just 7 years younger than Brad Pitt, which would have put him in contention for roles Pitt sought. Could you see Phoenix in Oceans 11, 12 & 13?

Probably my parents first clue to my sexuality was that I had a poster of River alongside a poster of Storm of the X-Men and Grace Jones who I thought would have made a great Storm. The walls of my room were adorned with poster from sci-fi movies and comic characters from the 1980s. I know I have the Storm poster somewhere put away, along with the 80s Teen Titans, and the Enterprise posters. River Phoenix and Grace Jones were the only real people on my walls. I had, and still have, though not hung up, a mirror with an etching of Darth Vader on it that my older sister gave to me when I was 10.

As for the original question, Tom Hanks would top the list with Gary Oldman, and Glenn Close at his side.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but we haven't really seen a real stand out in the under 40 crowd, have we? Except maybe Jennifer Lawrence. I suppose we could sneak in Christina Ricci and Natalie Portman being that they both 42 and 41 respectively. Who are the up and coming actors?
 
SithHappens said:
I would say Will Smith, but then that might be a slap in the face for some of the other great actors mentioned on this thread.
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Nice one.

Although Jada was the one with the rage. Will was just her weapon. But that's what being married is all about. Sharing.

Watching Linda Fiorentino in Dogma this afternoon, along side Chris Rock, and I realized that Will Smith was her leading man in Men in Black.
 
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I think it depends on the part you are playing, Liam Neeson is super at playing the same character but called a different name in every movie he makes now.
 
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