Acting performances that surprised you

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Kristen Stewart in Equals.



I honestly thought Pacino had lost it by the time Glengarry Glen Ross came out. I did not like him in the overrated Essence of a Woman, but he was by far the best thing about GGR. Even if the film wasn't a total win for me, his performance was. Shame that brilliance did not last very long...
The best performance in Glengarry Glen Ross came from Jack Lemmon



The number one in my list has to be John Travolta in pulp fiction. But of course Quentin should get all the credit.
I have to admit I was a little surprised by Vincent Vega too...on the other hand, I didn't think it was much of a stretch for Travolta either. The performance in Pulp Fiction that surprised me was Bruce Willis...he blew me away in that film. I didn't think he would ever be better than he was in Die Hard, but I think his performance in Pulp Fiction was better.



This might just do nobody any good.
The performance in Pulp Fiction that surprised me was Bruce Willis...he blew me away in that film.
Travolta as well.



I mentioned on the child actor thread I initiated that I think comedy is harder for actors than drama, noting that I have observed many first rate dramatic performances by primarily comedic actors and lame attempts at comedy by dramatic actors. One such instance of the former was Steve Martin in the Hitchcock-like suspense thriller The Spanish Prisoner (1997). I thought Martin’s performance was superb. Bear in mind, that I'm no Steve Martin fan. His sort of comedy seems inane to me, and I could never understand his appeal. Thus, his performance in this most atypical film for him did indeed most pleasantly surprise me.
As everyone here knows, I think Martin was brilliant in Roxanne.



I have to admit I was a little surprised by Vincent Vega too...on the other hand, I didn't think it was much of a stretch for Travolta either. The performance in Pulp Fiction that surprised me was Bruce Willis...he blew me away in that film. I didn't think he would ever be better than he was in Die Hard, but I think his performance in Pulp Fiction was better.
Yeah, I agree about Bruce Willis. I think I started to appreciate him a lot more because of that role.



Very recent one: Mark Ruffalo in Collateral. Didn't even recognize him at first and I thought he played the role very well with certain mannerisms.

Also Michael Shannon in The Runaways. Probably because he's so animated and he makes me laugh. I haven't seen all of it.



I mentioned on the child actor thread I initiated that I think comedy is harder for actors than drama, noting that I have observed many first rate dramatic performances by primarily comedic actors and lame attempts at comedy by dramatic actors. One such instance of the former was Steve Martin in the Hitchcock-like suspense thriller The Spanish Prisoner (1997). I thought Martin’s performance was superb. Bear in mind, that I'm no Steve Martin fan. His sort of comedy seems inane to me, and I could never understand his appeal. Thus, his performance in this most atypical film for him did indeed most pleasantly surprise me.
Really? Thank you for the recommend. I'd never even heard of this film before. I'll definitely queue it up by some means. Cheers.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
James Franco in Milk.



Johnny Depp in 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.' Definitely his best performance. Honestly believed he deserved an Oscar for that. If only the film came out a year later to avoid the massive acting awards sweep of Day Lewis, because I would definitely give him the award (almost) any other year.



I saw part of it again months ago, but Christopher Plummer in Aces High (1976). I must have been a lot more tuned in to the subtle things he was doing in what is at first glance quite an ordinary role but has far more depth and complexity than I think I realised when I was younger.



Jackie Chan in The Karate Kid:

WARNING: spoilers below
The bit with the wrecked car took me by surprise – I thought he played the upset very well. Jaden Smith was great as well in that scene. I haven't seen it all the way through but it appears to be a very well made film. Great scenery as well.





Emily Blunt as an FBI agent. Would not have expected her to be good in this role. Impressive.
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This may sound odd to some but Christopher Lee in Ghost Stories for Christmas. I've just seen two of these short TV films from 2000 and I was really impressed with how Lee performed the stories, going into character for each person in a very meticulous way; plus his emphasis at various points was brilliant. Just goes to show it's not all about his voice . Tom Baker's like that too.



sylverster stallone in Creed, he gave a great performance i guess



I was watching some of The Devil's Double (2011) the other day, which I have seen before. This time the fact of Dominic Cooper playing both Uday and Latif became shrouded and it was as if I was watching two different actors. I think he was brilliant.



Jonas Armstrong in Line of Duty Series 3 really impressed me recently.