Great actors before they became great

People go to the actors studio, they train, and supposedly get better.

Are there any performances from great actors before they became great? Maybe they didn't have their art down but still landed a role.

Like an early al pacino where I can look at him and be like.. hey that was bad acting! A part of me believes these great actors always had that certain something, regardless of their training.

There's Michael Fassbender in the TV drama Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking. I'd totally forgotten he was in that until recently.

Michael Fassbender also had a very small part in Band of Brothers.

Yeah, I thought he did. I wonder if he'd met Ridley Scott at that point.

So fassbender had bad acting in those other projects? Interesting I may have to check it out.

No, not at all. I just meant that that was an early role for him. Apparently he isn't too keen on his acting in Centurion.

Not at all what the thread is about then. It's not great actors before they were famous.

I'm looking to witness a significant improvement in acting ability in someone who is now consider a great actor.

I think it's kind of like singing. people are vocal coaches and they say anyone can sing! but they are trying to sell you something. Some people have it. Some people don't.

No amount of training is going to turn my voice into something that people would pay money to hear.

that was great movie gal, thanks!

Not sure if Fassbander is a great actor yet. Good but he often plays the same role, the stoic, gritty man. It's all a bit boring.

I'd like to point to Leo in Titanic, not a fan of the movie and even though Leo isn't exactly bad in that, his performance is without the nuances he's put into his game in the last decade or so. The same for Leo in The Beach.

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leo was great in whats eating gilbert grape, and he was just a little kid. so i don't think he is applicable here.

Have you seen either film?

I think they are two of his best.... before he became famous and a bit of an assh*le...

Nope haven't seen either. Probably old enough that i could find them at my library though.

Definately

However "Prince of Denmark" goes by other names... "Prince of Jutland" or "Royal Deceit". My dvd is under "Royal Deceit". I have seen many many of Bale's early work as well as Pitt.

Bale's character, Bobby Platt, in "All The Little Animals" is a bit slow... which I think he's very good at showing in the film.

"Royal Deceit" is actually Hamlet....and the cast is amazing...

If I think of anything more pertinent I'll be sure to let you know.

Anyone remember Gerard Butler's cameo in a submarine in one of the Pierce Brosnan James Bond films?
That was, before we knew him as Gerard Butler, of course.

No – that must have been Tomorrow Never Dies, surely?

First person who pops into my head on this subject would be Jessica Lange in the 1976 version of King Kong...she was absolutely dreadful in that movie and if anybody had told me at the time that she would go on to win two Oscars, I never would have believed it.

It was quite odd when I saw Stellan Skarsgård in the Wallander film The Dogs of Riga (1995). I would think he'd be quite established by that point but he has a very funny, almost boring part as Kurt Wallander's boss, Magnus Björk . Great to see him there – I really liked him in the Exorcist prequels.

Not sure whether you'd consider Tom Hardy 'great' (he's done some great things and some not so in my opinion) but he's very bad in Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006) (although excellent a year later in Stuart A Life Backwards).