Good Actors ( and Actresses )

I don't know if any fellow nutters have watched Luther but for those who have, they will know what I am talking about. Luther had this female murder suspect who turned out to be a quirky psychopathic stalker. I had never seen her in anything before but i thought she played the part very well and even though she played a nutter there was something endearing about her that I couldn't help liking. 

Anyway..to cut a long story short, I bought a boxset called, The Affair, starring Dominic West ( The Wire ). The series has had good reviews and is basically the story of a New York English teacher and author who goes on holiday with his family and ends up having an affair with a waitress in a Diner. When I was watching it, I thought the waitress looked familiar and I was racking my brains as to where I had seen her before. It was really driving me mad because I assumed the waitress was an American actress but I just couldn't place her. Thank God for Google. I looked up the actresses name, which is Ruth Wilson, and bugger me if it isn't Luther's stalker! 

Remember the name..Ruth Wilson. She has a certain quality that I can't put my finger on but I'd like to. Watching her in The Affair you would never guess she is English and what is more...she really is a very good actress. If you like a romantic thriller with a murder thrown in, plus plenty of twists and turns, then try The Affair.

If you are struggling to recognise an actor I find the Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com is the best place to start looking.

Agree completely about Ruth Wilson.

I think Kathy Bates is excellent especially in Misery and Dolores Claiborne. Another really good one I think is Glenn Close.

Clearly though the best ones aren't always oil paintings which is a shame because it obviously helps in getting most parts.

Another one I really like is Ellen Burstyn. She was brilliant in Requiem for a Dream and I've just seen the fourth series of House of Cards where again she's very good.

doffcocker wrote:Another one I really like is Ellen Burstyn. She was brilliant in Requiem for a Dream and I've just seen the fourth series of House of Cards where again she's very good.

I agree. I have seen the first three seasons of House of Cards and I thoroughly enjoyed every episode. Season 4 is the next boxset on my list.

The best acting ever is David Hyde Pierce in Frasier.

Best actor: Ian McKellan (Boltonian! Yay!)
Best actresses: Alicia Vikander; Maggie Smith

Worst actor: Lee Mack......but best wit/panellist! Hilarious.
Worst actress: Angela Lansbury

okocha wrote:Worst actress: Angela Lansbury

Low blow.

A lot of whether an acting performance is good or bad is down to chemistry between them, I agree on Luther, Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson were awesome together, but this was helped by the casting too because she has that sexy but psychopathic look as well.
Sometimes you just get a group of people together that works, none of the cast of friends has particularly covered themselves in glory since but together they were brilliant.

There are lots of good actors and actresses (are we allowed to call them that?) out there but to pick just one how about Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep. Selina Meyer is a horrible character who never says or does anything nice but JLD manages to avoid making her a hateful character. You almost like her despite what she does. That is good acting.

xmiles wrote:There are lots of good actors and actresses (are we allowed to call them that?) out there but to pick just one how about Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep. Selina Meyer is a horrible character who never says or does anything nice but JLD manages to avoid making her a hateful character. You almost like her despite what she does. That is good acting.

Billy Bob Thornton was the same in Fargo as was Javier Bardem in No Country For Young Fogeys.

Can't say I warmed to Javier Bardem's character.

A more likeable bad man made believable by good acting would be Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey in The Shield or Michael C Hall as Dexter.

xmiles wrote:A more likeable bad man made believable by good acting would be Michael C Hall as Dexter.

Good shout.

For me, Happy Valley - especially the latest series - is about as good as any crime drama I've ever seen in my life, and the acting in it is just brilliant, especially Sarah Lancashire.

xmiles wrote:Can't say I warmed to Javier Bardem's character.

A more likeable bad man made believable by good acting would be Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey in The Shield or Michael C Hall as Dexter.

Michael C Hall is a brilliant actor. He plays quite a camp gay bloke in Six Feet Under and a completely different character in Dexter.

I also love The Shield, although I think I'd like that character whoever it was played by.

I've never really been a big fan of James Spader but I think he's brilliant in The Blacklist.

You can't beat 'Oskins at the end of The Long Good Friday.

Doesn't say a word for three minutes, yet you know exactly what he's thinking.

Genius.

Robert Carlyle in Once Upon a Time. He was the only reason I managed to stick with it.

Breadman wrote:You can't beat 'Oskins at the end of The Long Good Friday.

Doesn't say a word for three minutes, yet you know exactly what he's thinking.

Genius.

Yes that was a good performance.

Keri Russell in The Americans is another that can do a lot without saying a word.

Idris Elba has already been mentioned but I thought he was pretty impressive in The Wire as well.