who is the most versatile actor today?
 

so go on then friends...answer the ?

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

i am probably going to get so dissed for my answer to this... but the sole actor i can think of is nicolas cage. wheter he is playing trailer trash in raising arizona or a drunk in leaving las vegas, cage can pull off any role and make it his own. yet he never lets himself be typecast. his roles are always surprising to me...go ahead and laugh at my choice

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I agree with Cage.

I think Ryan Gosling is a up and comer.


Johnny Depp is always versatile.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Definitely Nicholas Cage and Tom Hanks!! :D

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I'll go for Keanu Reeves and Tom Hanks as well...

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ay-lewis01.jpg

Daniel Day-Lewis

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

i agree with caitlyn, and also think
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/im...le-Posters.jpg

and

http://onlytheblogknowsbrooklyn.type...3busc184_1.jpg

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Philip Seymour Hoffman

http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/news...man_philip.jpghttp://www.netwerk-art.be/imgs/film/magnolia.jpg

http://www.yalerecord.com/events/hoffman.jpghttp://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...age_619885.jpghttp://www.abc.net.au/triplej/review/film/img/PSH.jpg
http://www.psh.fan-sites.org/gallery...s/thumb_19.jpghttp://www.aolcdn.com/ch_celebrity/p...-hoffman-32716

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

My answer would be Robert De Niro. He is the man!

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I would have to go with Hoffman as probably the most versatile. Depp and Cage are two that I sort of want to put up there, but while they are both versatile, there is some level of Depp and Cage that is always in the character. Not to the level of say Vince Vaughn's acting, where you don't get the character, you get Vince Vaughn every time, but there is some level of that with both Depp and Cage.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Is it OK if I just smile, eMilee? As a fellow southerner, you should know that "trailer trash" and "a drunk" are virtually the same role! :)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

true its the same thing but look at this way cage can pull off those crass roles at the same time as a family related in national treasure movies.
i also must say that john cusak fits in this catagory so nicely. ...he can handle any role he is given and make it almost believable. all the while, he can hold my attention whether i am bitting my nails or laughing loudly.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

[quote=bokscutta;404226]so go on then friends...answer the ?[/

Most versatile actor today? Only one answer—71-year-old Albert Finney!
Just look at the wide range of roles he has play—the randy young adventurer Tom Jones (1963); the back-and-forth switches from young suitor to family-man to bored middle-aged husband in Two for the Road (1963); the severe changes from young man starting out in life to the old miser Scrooge (1970), a role in which he both sings and dances; his finicky and accented portrayal of Hercule Peroit almost exactly like Agatha Christie wrote him in Murder on the Orient Express; confronting the supernatural in Wolfen (1981); again dancing and singing as Daddy Warbucks in Annie, (1972); the aging actor in The Dresser (1983); a 1920s Irish gangster in his prime in Miller’s Crossing; the attorney in Erin Brockovich (2000); the dying father in The Big Fish (2003); the uncredited Gaspar LeMarque in Ocean’s 12 (2004); the voice of Finis Everglot in the cartoon production of the Corpse Bride (2005); the blind ex-slave-trader turned cleric in Amazing Grace (2007); plus his roles in two other movies that year, the Bourne Ultimatum and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.

For Finney’s second film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), he was nominated for two BAFTA awards, Best Actor, and Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles in 1961, winning the latter. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor four times, for Tom Jones, Murder on the Orient Express, The Dresser, and Under the Volcano (1984). He was nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Erin Brockovich. He won a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the TV mini-series The Gathering Storm. Finney started on stage in the British theater and has often taken breaks from Hollywood to return to the stage. So his versatile acting career encompasses stage, screen, and television; musical comedies; comedy, drama, and cartoon; starring and supporting roles; roles in which he aged or was otherwise heavily made-up during the shooting; heroes and villains.

Dustin Hoffman is very good, too, but I don’t think he was ever called on to sing and dance in a role (however, Finney has never played a mentally incapacitated person or in drag, at least not on screen as I recall).

Among the young actors, I think the only one who has displayed similar versatility is Johnny Depp. But not as much as Finney and Hoffman.

None of them, however, could touch the late Paul Muni or Lon Chaney (and before you say Chaney played only monsters, look at him without makeup in Tell It to the Marines. The man made nearly 200 films, and wasn’t the villain in all of them. In his only talkie, he was the voice of 5 characters.)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Not to disagree with you since it wasn't a speaking part or anything, rather just some fun trivia: I believe you do get to see Finney in drag in the ladies dressing room in Miller's Crossing.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

He is there, though only as an inside joke on the set and not as his character, Leo. But yes, one of the women in the restroom at the club, when Tom (Gabriel Byrne) goes in to confront Verna (Marcia Gay Harden) and she slugs him is indeed the incredible Mr. Finney.

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Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Not to put down your pick of Cage, I've long had the feeling that he could be better than what he is. My problem with Cage is the same problem I have with Steve McQueen, John Wayne, and Lee Marvin--I always get the feeling they're playing themselves instead the character. They plug their own personalities into whatever role they're given so that I'm always conscious that it's Lee or Wayne or McQueen or Cage that I'm watching. Guess what I'm saying is that they are all movie stars rather than movie actors. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing since they have personnas that people enjoy watching, but that means they change the role to fit them rather than changing their performance to fit the role.

I think probably Cusack has more versatility than Cage, but I haven't seen enough of their films to say for sure. I wish Cage would pick better films--I didn't much care for the first National Treasure--that treasure-hunt schtick has already been done better in Indiana Jones. And I kept waiting for some sort of plot to surface in Con Air instead of tough talk and special effects. Same thing with The Rock.
Oddly enough, some of the best acting I've seen by Cage was in that film where he thought he was turning into a vampire; there were other things I disliked about that film, but he at least was interesting.

Not trying to flame you--you may be right and I may be wrong, but for the sake of discussion, that's how I look at it. :)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Really??? I must have missed that! I assume he was just there for the hell of it, since it didn't advance the plot or anything. I'll have to look closer the next time I see that film.

But if true, then chalk up one more accomplishment for Finney! Now if we can just find him playing a mentally challenged person. . . .

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Good choice in Albert Finney but then he's had many more years on the likes of Johnny Depp who'll go on to many more roles.

Funny, we've just been discussing Christian Bale and although I like him in lots of films, I can always 'see' him acting if you know what I mean, like he's trying too hard or summat. Philip Seymour Hoffman on the other hand is easy in his skin in his films.

Tony Leung is a versatile actor as well as being very gorgeous, great character actor. Javier Bardem also and Benicio del Toro.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Christian Bale- goes from POW to a magician, to a version of Bob Dylan, to Batman

Can anyone else do that?!

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

The most versatile actor today I would have to say for me is Will Smith. He does drama, comedy, action and thriller's. Most of them of a great quality IMO.

Tom Hanks although one of my fav's is versatile in the sense no matter the character he manages to pull off a good job of it and can do something like You've got Mail and then Castaway or The Terminal but its always drama, you couldnt take place him in an high adrenaline action movie or anything like that.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Very much agree with what you say about Hoffman. He is completely believable in everything he does.

Interesting that you mention Javier Bardem and Benicio del Toro. I did not know until recently that del Toro was offered Bardem's role in Before Night Falls. Both are great versatile actors (however, Benicio del Toro wins hands down in sexiness.:D) but I think that Bardem was the better actor for that role.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

You forgot about the all-singing, all-dancing, immortal Ishtar. :cool:

http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/rsz/...9/18823999.jpg

What do you think about the other Hoffman, Philip Seymour?

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I guess he is a versatile actor......he's funny in the movie meet the fackers

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Guesses aren't allowed. :cool:

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Tony Leung's a good choice, Chris. ;)

Cusack also. And DDL. And Hoffman (P).

Nic Cage? Not for me - he might have played a wide variety of characters but I've never got beyond the feeling that he's always playing them as Nicholas Cage. A watchable actor in his younger days, for sure, but not any more for me.

What about Laura Linney? Cate Blanchett?

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

NIcolas Cage for me and Bruce Willis..they are my all time favorites

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I Choose Johnny Depp one of versatile actor today from comedy Drama and Horror GO JOHNNY GO.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I would have to say Val Kilmer is up there for me. He becomes the character no matter what he does (Jim Morrison, The Saint, etc...) and does it very convincingly.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I'll agree on Val Kilmer... but how about John Travolta?

From Saturday Night Fever to Broken Arrow, Pulp Fiction and Face/Off to cross dressing for Hairspray...

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I will go with 2 previous choices listed; Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Daniel Day Lewis. I love them in everything they do and they make each character completely believable.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Jim Carrey
Nicholas Cage
Jack Black
Johnny Deep
Orlando Bloom

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I have to disagree with this one, Jack Black is himself in all the movies I've seen him in, not very versatile at all.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

This is my list and the movies that did it for me

Phillip Seymour Hoffman- Charlie Wilsons War, Capote
Samuel L Jackson- The Negotiator
Tom Hanks- Charlie Wilsons War, Cast Away, Forrest Gump
Aaron Eckhart- Thank you for smoking
William H Macy- Fargo
Christian Bale- The Machinist, Batman Begins, The Prestige
Morgan Freeman- Shawshank Redemption
Matt Damon- Bourne series, The Departed
George Clooney- O Brother where art thou
Kevin Spacey- American Beauty, K Pax, Usual Suspects
Leonardo DiCaprio- Departed, Whats eating gilbert grape
Tommy Lee Jones- No Country for Old Men, US Marshalls, The Fugitive, The Hunted
Will Smith- I am Legend, Pursuit of Happyness, Enemy of the state

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I think Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp and Nicholas Cage are
the most versatile actor of today. But if I were to
choose among the 3, based on the performance Tom Hanks
is the best.:D

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

have you seen "Love actually" he has diff. acting in the film....

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Jack Black ain't in Love Actually. Do you mean The Holiday? Actually, I can't even guess what you mean.

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I love Jack, but I wouldn't say he has much of a range. Not that he's shown yet, anyway. But I like him in everything. He's wonderful in Margot at the Wedding, which while a familiar type for him has some darker edges than what he displays in the out-and-out comedies.

I think.

But he definitely ain't in Love Actually.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Toby McGuire
Tom Hanks
Vin Diesel
Johnny Depp
Orlando Bloom

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I agree, Depp has a whole career ahead of him to carve out juicy roles. And look what he's already done--his submersion into the Sissorhands character in both looks and personality would have done Paul Muni proud. I've only seen the TV ads but looks like his Sweeney Todd will be just as good. And look at the wide variety of characters he's done in Crybaby, Sleepy Hollow, and Pirates of the Carribbean or the one where he played Don Juan. However, I'd like to see him in modern dramas rather than so many costumed and period pieces -- roles like Lancaster had in Elmer Gantry or Fonda's part in Grapes of Wraith. Does he have the maturity to make such roles believeable? Probably so. He held his own on screen with Brando.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Urban Cowboy John Travolta would have got his butt whipped in the real Gilley's in Pasadena. He'd stand out like a disco dance slipper among cowboy boots in any Texas bar where you have to be able to cover the ground you stand on. :) No offense, but IMO he just wasn't believable in that role.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Hanks and Depp are good choices but you have to be kidding about Vin Diesel and Toby McGuire. I don't think either of them is a bad actor, but they really haven't shown alot of versatility in their roles to date. I'm on the fence about Orlando Bloom. He's a good actor but I haven't seen him in anything other than fantasy and period roles .

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Yes, I had, and then you had to go remind me! A decade of counseling down the drain! :)

I don't think I've seen any of Philip Seymour's films yet. I disliked the real Capote's real voice and personality so much that I didn't want to pay to see him reenacted. But then I guess that the way that film put me off is sort of a testament to P.S. Hoffman's acting ability. The feedback that I'm getting on Charlie Wilson's War is discouraging me from seeing that one, plus the fact that we Texans know the real characters of that movie all too well. Also, Hank's attempt at a Texas accent is atrocious in the TV ads.

What else has PS Hoffman been in?

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

OK... but what does that have to do with his overall versatility as an actor, or are you saying that he isn't really that versatile?
If you are, then that's your right, but I'd obviously disagree. :)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I like PSH a lot. He's great in 25th Hour and so good in Love Liza.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Well, to my mind, versatility means someone who can play different roles in such a manner that you can believe him as that character, someone who changes his performance or even his looks to fit the new character he's playing, as opposed to someone who plays a cowboy with the same appearance and characteristics as he plays a New Yorker, as he plays a gangster, as he plays an angel, as he plays any other role. To me, John Travolta plays John Travolta regardless of what character he's playing. The same can be said about most of the actors in Hollywood--you go to a John Wayne movie, you know what you're going to get from Wayne because you've seen the same performance in every one of his films; go to Steve McQueen, you know what his performance will be like, go to Doris Day and you know how she's going to play the role, go to a John Travolta film, you know you're going to get the same John Travolta you've always seen before. Like most movie stars, he makes a good living being the person people want to see on screen time after time after time. Very few movie stars are really good actors who can give you something different from one film to the next. As far as I can see, playing "Hairspray" in drag is probably the only risk he's taken on stage and his first major effort to stretch his acting ability. I hope he succeeds, but I'd be more impressed if Wesley Snipes, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Preston, Cary Grant, and so many others hadn't already done it.

As for his Urban Cowboy role, John Travolta didn't look, sound, or act like anyone I ever met in Gilley's, so he certainly wasn't believeable in that role to me. I kept expecting him to break into a disco line dance. Yeah, the movie was a big hit and paid him a lot of money and lots of people liked it. But I didn't believe him for a moment. Just my opinion. Not saying it's right or better than yours at all.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

See, that's my problem--I'm not familiar with either of those movies.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I've got to run now, but here's a list of Philip Seymour Hoffman's movies. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000450/

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Oh man, you've got to check out 25th Hour! That's a Spike Lee Joint mang! And christine is right about Hoffman being excellent in the film and it's a different enough performance from his other roles to serve as proof of his versatility.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Im going to also have to add Robin Williams.

from dramatic "what dreams may come" to comedic"Good morning vietnam" to psychotic "one hour photo", Williams has proved large amounts of versatility to impress me and be considered as the elite upon actors.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...anuReeves2.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...kly_review.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:.../keanuhand.JPG http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...586323_gal.jpg

I'm gonna have to go with Keanu Reeves.

It doesn't matter if it's action, comedy, a period piece, sci-fi, romance, drama, a thriller...No matter what the genre, if you want a vacant block of wood to utter "Woah" and "Dude" in monosyllabic emotionless tones, Keanu is your man. What versatility!



"That Barney Rubble: What an actor!"

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

This thread is weird.

Some people have voted for Vin Diesel and Orlando Bloom. Twice.

Versatile in that they both could double for planks of wood? Now, why hasn't someone mentioned Clive Owen, then? ;)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Glancing down that list confirms how little I've encountered PSH on screen. Saw Scent of a Woman, but never really cared for that movie (they could have called it Blind Veteran Behaving Badly or Al Pachino Walks Through Another Role) and don't recall PSH in in it.

Saw The Big Lebowski, which I liked enough to buy the DVD and watch it a couple of times. But again, I don't recall PSH's role offhand. He just didn't stand out to me.

None of this is any reflection on his acting abilities--he seems to have been in several flims that just didn't engage my interest, through no fault of his own.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

The only film I've ever seen in which Willis didn't portray the same tough-guy PI image that made him a star on TV was the role of the wimpy bald husband in Death Becomes Her. That told me that Willis actually can act if he wants to and will take the risk of doing so without his toupee. But apparently it's easier to take the money from yet another Die Hard film and run to the bank.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Versatility is right, Pike! Pine, oak, birch, hickory . . . . you name it! :)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I thought Tom Hanks was two other people for a moment - so I'm gona have to give it to him.

Toy Story - The Terminal - Forrest Gump - Saving Private Ryan

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

i also go for Jack Sparrow "Depp"

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I've seen Nicolas Cage and Johnny Depp a very talented men.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I think Dustin Hoffman Must be considered as well, you look at Rain Man especially, not many actors could pull that off so convincingly whilst still being able to make Marathon Man an interesting film - the only reason i like that film is Hoffman! others include Hook in Hook a brilliant portrayal, and for sheer comic wonder Meet the Fockers.... He has to be up there!

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Edward Norton anybody?

http://www.gilesbowkett.com/images/e...fight_club.jpg

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http://www.tvguide.com/movies/dbpix/images/40029a.jpg
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http://www.timeout.com/img/11166/w200/image.jpg

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

How about versatile actressess? Seems to me there are more of them than male actors--Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates.

Mentioning Emma Thompson reminds me of another very versatile male actor, also British--Anthony Hopkins.

Another versatile British male, Bob Hoskins. Hmmm, could there be more mature versatile British actors and actresses than there are young versatile American actors? I suspect so.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Oddly enough Keanu Reeves is in many films I like. He's an example of a bad actor that is interesting to watch and has good screen presence. I'd much rather see him in a film than a "good actor" like a Matt Damon or a Tobey Maguire who are boring on screen.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

lol, Death Becomes Her is interesting. Bruce Willis is good in 12 Monkeys. Though he does kind of play the same part but with more vulnerability maybe?

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Because 'versatile' in this day and age is a byword for 'character actor'?

As actors, particularly those who've been accustomed to leading roles, age they have to diversify to maintain a steady workload. 60 year old boxers/loner survival specialists aside, that is...

...And even Sly built a reputation back up by being damn good with character, supporting parts in Cop Land and Shade. ;)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Hah, so glad to see that someone else other than me has a sick affection for Keanu.

But really? You don't like Matt Damon?

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I don't think versatile is a byword for character actors today--look at Dustin Hoffman and DeNiro, both of whom are still stars. And wasn't Stalone's name above the title in Cop Land? Seems to me he got as much or more screen time as any other actor in that film, but it's been a long time since I saw it and it wasn't that memorable to begin with.

Besides, back in the studio system days when people made a career of character actors they often played essentially the same characters--Frank McHugh was always Frank McHugh; Gabby Hayes was forever Gabby Hayes, Marjorie Main was always Marjorie Main, and they always got Jack Elam for a Jack Elam part. Even sometime stars like Donald Crisp and Thomas Mitchell were essentially playing the same basic Englishman and Irishman. Thomas Gomez had more variety in his roles but he was nearly always the overweight, sweaty, worried guy. Al Jenkins may have been in westerns, crime shows or playing a working man, but he was always a tough guy who made smart remarks. There are few people in flims today that I would classify as true character actors as in the "old days" when the studio would place them in the "background" around the stars in film after film after film.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Are you saying that Hoffman and De Niro are character actors? Or versatile today?

Sorry, Stallone was part of an ensemble cast in Cop Land, you're quite right. Playing against type as well as he did he still demonstrated a greater versatility than a hundred Nicholas Cages, but does that mean he's a better actor?

Which is why I prefaced my post with "in this day and age". ;)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

robin williams

http://www.fest21.com/files/images/Robin%20Williams.jpg

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

For me Robert De Niro and Russel Crowe....

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

yeah many said keanu, i guess he's on top of the list too

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

uhm, Will Smith and Robin Williams.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I don't know if you guys are all on crack or if you have only seen one movie in your life (which probably stars Keanu). But easyly without question the MOST versitile actor today (possible in the history of film making) is.... drum role please....Will Ferral, yeah you all can start hitting your heads on your key boards and giving yourself lashings for thinking these other "wanna-bes" could even begin to compare to that of Mr. Ferral.

I.E.
Old Skool/Stranger then fiction

As if I need to explain to paralell between the two.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I still think Nicholas Cage is one of the versatile actor of today!! :)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Three or four dramatic roles amidst a whole career of crazed comedy acting isn't that versatile.

Same with Will Ferrell. Or vice versa with De Niro.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

ummm.... if you are going to extol the virtues of an actor to that extent, you might want to start by spelling his name right...

..although I also don't know where his versatility comes in. Doesn't he pretty much always play the same type of role? I could be really wrong, but what other types of roles does he play other than the comedic weird guy that he does?

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I agree, he's a cookie cutter SNL alumn. They all, for the most part, just continue to play the same roles as they did on the show.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I read your message as suggesting versatile is synonymous for character actor, and simply cited Hoffman and De Niro as two versatile actors who are still leading men, starring in their own films, although have taken co-starring roles in which they seem almost to be supporting players--Hoffman in Wag the Dog, De Niro in Analyze This and Meet the Inlaws or whatever that silly film was prior to Meet the Fokkers in which they both appeared to be supporting players.

On occasions, Stallone has proven a better actor than Cage, who has done nothing the caliber of Stallone's original Rocky. To me, Cage's best role was in Peggy Sue Got Married.


Yes, you did. I was citing those "goldie oldies" as examples of good character actors from the past who were perhaps not allowed to be more versatile, having been plugged into virtually the same roles time after time after time.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I think Williams is one of th least versatile actors ever; he always seems like he's doing a variation of Mork, his big TV role.

Will Smith, however, is so versatile that he doesn't even seem black. What I mean is that every role he's ever played could have been played by a white guy--he's not limited to just black roles as some black actors are. Ossie Davis was as good an actor as it's possible to be, but you were always were conscious that you were watching a black actor playing a black role. Even Poitier and Harry Belafonte were always perceived as black. The only two black actors I've ever seen where one completely forgets their ethnic background while they are on screen are Smith and Bill Cosby.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Here's another very versatile actor for you: John Turtorio!

Men of Respect, Miller's Crossing, Cradle Will Rock, O Brother Where Art Thou, Do the Right Thing, Barton Fink, Quiz Show, The Big Lebowski--a different character in every one.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Clive Owen ;D


Toni Collette
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...llette/boy.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...z_collette.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...ole%26lynn.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...il_Breslin.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...oojapstpry.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...der/muriel.gif

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

If you say Clive Owen I'll say Roger Moore. There's no perceptible difference between The Oak and The Walking Eyebrow apart from a few decades and the fact that Owen seems to have an agent capable of magical powers.



That's just about the best suggestion in this thread. :)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

He's a great character actor, it's true. :D

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Excellent call on Toni Collette Nebs!

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Jonny Depp

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

funny thread this one. There's actors named here that I would've said were some of the the most unversatile around. This is of course just my opinion but Nic Cage isn't even a very good actor never mind a versatile one.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I haven't seen a lot of Laura Linney... but definitely agree with Cate Blanchett....

And I can't help but think about Helena Bonham Carter... she seems pretty versatile to me...

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

True. :)

For years she was just another beautiful bit of scenery in Merchant Ivory movies but then I saw her in a TV drama playing a working class stripper. And playing it brilliantly, I must say.

She's a great example of someone who took the risk (forced or otherwise, I neither know nor care) of taking roles well outside their perceived comfort zone. I mean, who now thinks immediately of A Room With A View when someone mentions Helena Bonham Carter?

Apart from me, obviously. :D

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

sorry, bucko, but youre so in the wrong about Robin Williams that it becomes comical that you can make such a bold statement.

hes got so many movies under his belt that its ridiculous on his versatility...its beyond me to have someone question his flexibility on playing many different characters WHILE going from comical to dramatic in the same movie.

unlike a bunch of actors, Robin Williams can spend time in one movie and play comedian, romantic and dramatic...and even intimate and family man or switch it back up to lonely and lost.

This is what makes him versatile, this is what makes him an amazing actor with ridiculous talent.

Good Morning Vietnam was a great example of his versatility and that was back in 87. Dead Poets Society showed that a stand up comedian can play a very difficult and polar opposite role and that was back in 89. in 91, the movie Hook, Robin Williams once again displays incredible versatility as a man going through chracter development from begining to end.

One can go on and on about his movies, the different roles he has been placed in and how he has executed all of them with incredible conviction. Ill just leave it to some of his early ones as an example that hes been exemplifying versatility for YEARS.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

The Walking Eyebrow??? Now THAT'S FUNNY!!!! And so very true!:laugh:

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

You raise a good point--although John Totorio has had his name above the title as the star of a few films such as Men of Respect and Barton Fink, is he bascially a character actor rather than a a leading man or even a movie star? He's certainly not the leading man-pretty boy type, and in all of his roles I get the feeling that he's really exploring the inner character, the background and motivations that make his character tick. Maybe as a leading man-movie star, he's closer to Paul Muni and Claude Rains and certainly more versatile than a Robert Redford or a Rock Hudson. Cradle Will Rock is probably about the closest he's come to playing a "normal" working man with a family that has an almost normal job except that it's in the theather and he's probably a member of the Communist party and certainly involved in the labor movement and social agitation. In other words playing the sort of roles that some movie stars and directors (John Garfield comes to mind) lived in the 1930s-1940s-1950s.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Not sure if he's been mentioned, but I think Guy Pearce is pretty versatile.
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/30/pearce.jpg
http://www.aboutfilm.com/features/pe...ce-memento.jpg
http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimage...nfidential.jpg http://www.ptfilmfest.com/archives/2...9Priscilla.jpg

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

I just read an article that said Daniel Day Lewis was one of the most versatile actors. Who knows though. It's not really a question that has a right or wrong answer. I don't know who I'd pick for sure.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

definitely Will Smith is one of them as good actor as he can portray different characters and not only that he is also a good singer as he already prove from his previous song which been popular in all over the world.l

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Indeed. I wonder what sort of career Turturro would have had if he'd looked like Robert Redford, for example?

Two Oscars or three? ;)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Remember him in Neighbours? :D

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...oteImage-2.jpg http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b6...arrowweb__.jpg

Such a big wooden lump was he that I nearly fell off my seat when I saw (and wholeheartedly believed) Pearce in Priscilla QotD. I think he's one of the best actors in Modern Hollywood. ;)

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

As I visited different websites discussing about this matter I've seen that Johnny Depp always win the voting unanimously...

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Lawd, ain't it the truth!! :laugh:

I wish someone would tell Redford it's time to lose that 1960s hair-do. It looks silly on a man of his extended years.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Probably the reason he didn't get an unanimous victory here is that some of us remember back before the 1980s to so many earlier actors as good or better.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

But the title question is the most versatile actor today.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

And my original answer was Albert Finney, in his 70s but still making films TODAY! And still much more versatile than Depp, although I have hopes for Depp as he matures.

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Guy PIerce
Will Smith
Helena Bonham Carter

Re: who is the most versatile actor today?
 

Phillip Seymour Hoffman anybody? The man is just so damn talented and puts a lot of energy into all of his roles.