Great Physical Performances

Carl Weathers throughout the Rocky series.


Sylvester Stallone in Rocky Balboa for making it feel believable at that age.

Since the OP said we could interpret it however, I'm gonna say Jim Carrey, no particular film. The interpretation being the elevation of otherwise mediocre stuff through sheer physical commitment. He's been in plenty of genuinely funny movies, but even when he's not I'm genuinely impressed by the level of commitment to whatever he's doing, and occasionally it actually gets me to laugh at something that I have no business laughing at, which I find really impressive.

I thought of another one: Jude Law in Gattaca. A pretty convincing portrayal of a paraplegic if you ask me.

Buster Keaton's silent films, creme de la creme.

Yep. Doing your own stunts goes a long way. Also OP, see Apocalypto (2006) to see how that works in a pure action flick.

Aleksei Kravchenko in Come and See (1985), watch it if you feel like losing a few hairs.


Parviz Parastui in The Lizard (2004). A film about a thief that's actually as skilled as you'd expect a thief to be. Very cool.


Bruce Willis in Die Hard goes without saying.


The person above mentioned Buster Keaton, so Jacques Tati is also worth mentioning. He is another top-class physical clown.


Another action flick: Banlieue 13. Watch it for more amazing acrobatics.

If we are including TV shows





Kramer from Seinfeld surly makes the list

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Yeah, Buster Keaton was the man! Unbelievable stuff he did-- real, live stunts.


Heh, heh. M. Robbie certainly displayed a certain bit of abandonment...

Yeah, I was always amazed at Richards' ability to take pratfalls, being such a tall man. He was hilarious.

Alison Lohman in Drag Me to Hell

I watched the behind the scenes and Raimi was apparently trying to forge a female Bruce Campbell, and she was more than game.