Episodes recut for different markets
quote:
Originally posted by Reveal7:
[b] Aleck, is Gary Oldman anywhere on your list of excellent character actors?
[/b]
Oh, definitely. I’d hesitate to put him squarely in the league of character actors, though. I’d put him somehwere in that border between “leading man” and “character actor” as he’s more than capable in both fields, though even in his supporting, “character” roles, he’s got that “movie star” thing going on (not to be taken as a slur, but instead referring to on-screen charisma). Another really great actor that i think occupies this space is Kevin Spacey, who continually knocks my socks off (though I did refuse to see [i]Pay it Forward[/i]). Both of them, I think, are in that strange James Cagney-esque limbo between lead and character.
When I think explicitly “character actor,” though, I think of folks like Elisha Cook, Jr. (excellent in [i]The Maltese Falcon[/i] and Kubrick’s [i]The Killing[/i], to name a couple) or Peter Lorre, who, even though they may have a leading role in a film, are usually (because of quirky looks or delivery and not because of talent) relegated to supporting roles, and the best modern-day comparison I can make would be Buscemi.
–Aleck