Who’s your favorite actor and actress?
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Edward Norton and Sigourney Weaver.
Cate Blanchett and George Clooney. I’d like to see them in a 1940’s-style screwball romance/comedy. That would be awesome. Updating of “The Thin Man,” maybe, wherein Nick and Nora don’t have twin beds but keep the witty dialog, glam clothes and Deco decor.
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Helen Mirren. Classic, intelligently sexy actors who expand everything they are in.
Alan Rickman and Angelica Huston
Harrison Ford and Gillian Anderson.
he said actors.
And I responded with 2 of them.
I saw celebrities, not actors, in both cases.
(I define actors as people who can play characters other than themselves.)
And I’m being hard on all three of you. But still.
Then it’s obvious that you’re characterizing Ford’s career based upon his Han Solo and/or Indiana Jones portrayals. He’s done much, much more. As always, google is your friend. See Mosquito Coast for example.
Gillian Anderson, late of the X-Files, hardly constitutes a celebrity.
I can’t believe that I have to debate my opinions of actors. I’m done.
I saw Mosquito Coast, and Regarding Henry, and Witness, etc. I stand by this because I’m feeling ornery at present.
Well, one of my favorite actors is Corey Feldman. Sometimes you just want to watch something stupid and Feldman was brilliant in The Burbs, for example.
Peter O’Toole, he’s not. So what?
So, he’s not very good at acting. Apparently. According to you.
And the thrust of your rhetorical question is, again, what?
My thrust is that a person’s favorite actor need not be particularly good at their craft.
Dustin Hoffman and , um, um, female, um, Catherine Deneuve (sp?). Ok, I’m old.
I just put in a huge holiday order at Powells and I tried to link it all through you using the link to the left. I hope it works and you get at least some cash from my purchase.
Viggo Mortensen and Scarlett Johansson I’ll watch anything either one is in.
I think Russell Crowe is the best actor we have. I was blown away by “A Beautiful Mind”. It was the only time I’d seen an actor portray someone whom I had had occasion to see at close range in real life. I thought it was absolutely uncanny how Crowe captured Dr. Nash.
He was great in American Gangster, even though Denzel Washington got the most notariety in that film.
His extensive history of physical abuse colors my view of his performances. I can’t look at movies of his these days without visualizing him punching, biting and throwing things at innocent people.
Reese Witherspoon and Brad Pitt. I thought she was great as June Carter Cash and I loved Pitt in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. De gustibus, non est disputandum. (Free translation, can’t argue about tastes.)
Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson, and Sean Penn and Hugh Jackman. You haven’t seen much of Hugh’s acting in film. But I had the great fortune of seeing it onstage. He is amazing.
Johnny Depp and Jodie Foster. I just like ’em.
Johnny Depp. He probably has the greatest range out there today. And I think Reese Witherspoon, I just really like her.
But Judy Dench is the all time great.
ok, now I’m reading the other responses. Emma Thompson and Judie Foster, two actressed I greatly enjoy watching. So it’s probably a three way tie.
Just watched Notes on a Scandal. Judy Dench – Wow.
yeah.
I don’t have a favorite actor but my favorite actresss is a toss-up between Julianne Moore and Naomi Watts.
Anybody have a favorite actor or actress who worked in a time preceding your own?
Hello? (lo? lo? lo? …)
Magnificent that all of the truly memorable actors/actresses came along in the last decade or two. Oh, fortunate age!
As for film’s remarkable ability to preserve great performances by great performers for subsequent generations … who cares?
I’ve heard the standard response to this kind of concern, a response supposed by its makers to be telling, over and over again:
“That’s all old shit. I wasn’t around then. Why should I even know about it?”
Let this response stand, in all of its glowing inadequacy, without rebuttal.
Mary Pickford and Fanny Arbuckle.
Predictable response. “It’s either today’s stars or the most laughable days of the silent era.”
Callow, callow, callow.
No, it’s snark, snark, snark. Lighten up, professor, and tell us your favorites.
Fair enough on the “lighten up”.
As for “professor” — now, that’s going overboard!
Just to be (apparently) perverse, I will say that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Forest Whitaker are as good as any actors I’ve seen. And I really don’t have favorite actors/actresses, just favorite performances.
My favorite performance by an actor is probably Orson Welles’ in “The Third Man.” My favorite performance by an actress, coincidentally, probably Agnes Moorehead’s in “The Magnificent Ambersons.” (God, was she good in that.)
Are we friends now?
Whitaker did play a mean Amin (if that makes sense). I like your Welles pick in that as much as he is lauded (rightfully) for Citizen Kane, his performance in The Third Man is really strong.
We’re cool.
Shouldn’t that be Fatty? I have never heard of Fanny Arbuckle.
True dat. My bad.
Mine too, for not noticing it.
Maybe I was already focused on Agnes Moorehead’s performance in “The Magnificent Ambersons”, where she plays … Aunt Fanny.
Alternatively, maybe I just wasn’t being attentive enough.
The odds favor no. 2.
Jimmy Stewart.
Good start!
Just to make it clear, I’m not saying “The old greats were better.” Just that I would expect to see them included.
Sorry, I just took it to mean living actors.
I think that’s how people generally took it, but I think that’s also potentially revealing and interesting.
How about Simone Signoret? I actually only saw her in one film, La Vie Devant Soi (Madame Rosa), but I was quite impressed. I don’t know what she was like when she was younger though.
I’ll nominate Alec Guinness for best dead actor.
“Magnificent that all of the truly memorable actors/actresses came along in the last decade or two”
That is an insane comment. Yes, the names posted HERE, in this thread.
But VERY few of the above actors/actresses are ‘great’, or ‘memorable’, in the sense that people will search out their films 40 years from now. probably Dustin Hoffman.
The truly memorable;
John Wayne (Searchers, Stagecoach)
Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront, Godfather)
Jimmy FREAKIN Steward!!! (everything he touched)
Elizabeth Taylor!!! (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, National Velvet)
Bogart!!!
Toshiro Mifune!!!
I could go on and on, but to say ALL the ‘memorable’ came in the last decade or two is just silly. It disappears 60 years of movie history. My list is just off the top of my head.
My favorites of today?
Jean Reno, Chris Walken, Robert DeNiro, Denzel Washington
Uma Thurman, Francis McDormand, Jodie Foster
‘Favorite’ is different than ‘great’ or ‘memorable’. And yes, I have more than 2, because….. well because I do.
Sorry, my bad. I missed the snark.
I’m an idiot.
nalbar
No you’re not. You just missed the snark.
It happens.
Bette Davis and a little more recently, Peter Sellers.
Whoof — Peter Sellers in “Lolita” might’ve turned in the funniest performance ever filmed, which is saying a lot.
“Being There” is a favorite and, of course, “Dr. Strangelove”.
Of course! His telephone conversation, as president, with the Soviet premier is gold, gold, gold.
Still think his best was in “Lolita”, but I’m not dogmatic about it.
Peter Sellers in “Being There” – very good call. My absolute favorite Peter Sellers performance is “The Party” directed by Blake Edwards.
Antique Cart, Mutrah, `Oman
Riyam Park, Looking Toward Mutrah, `Oman
Getting Ready for the Party, Sialkot, Pakistan
Sisters
Hurria,
I`ve been enjoying your images, since I first saw some of them on the Foto flog.
Thanks. I loved yours there! They are stunning.
What I do is not photography, of course, it is just snapshotery. I have toyed with the idea of getting a more sophisticated camera and learning some technique, but that would be too much pressure!
Just wanted to add that one of my sons has been enjoying your photos too. He was impressed with the mosque architecture, and liked being able to check out the kinds of trees there (I think those were some pictures from Syria).
Of course, I’m enjoying them too. 🙂
Not sure which pictures those were. I did recently post a photo of an aisle of trees in Riyam park in Oman. There are parts of Syria that are very heavily forested, particularly in the coastal mountains.
There are lots of eucalyptus trees all over the Middle East, too. They are not native there, of course, introduced as they are all over the world outside of Australia. I have seen them in Pakistan too.
I think it must have been the pictures from Oman, then. I don’t always have the greatest memory…
Well, whatever you call it, I’m enjoying the results immensely. No need to change a good thing on my account;-)
That`s a funny one. I`ll be using it at an appropriate time.
It’a amazing how snippy a fluff thread can get.
People around here seem to take their movie star – pardon me, actor – choices very seriously.
Are you kidding? I get WAY more pissed at peoples actor picks than I do about their politics.
At work I can slowly and methodically destroy wingnuts arguments. But if we start taking about movies? It quickly gets to; “Shut up about that you moron”.
; )
nalbar
I originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting, having nearly 20 years of it under my belt when I arrived. Sorry – this is something I take seriously! 😉
Boran2,
It`s amazing how fluffy a snipped thread can get.
Will that change?
Frayed knot.
Road Runner/Wiley Coyote…. ; )
after all, they’re only court jesters….
Good to see you, Infidel. Where you been? Did you ever make that move to Oregon?
May I use this space to mention the peerless Greg Peck? I love every actor I see, but none can replace him in my heart.
Hey Alice, good to hear from you..
nope, the move there got cancelled at the last minute, they jerked funding on the project, go figure huh…
I’m still in Florida, and trying to sell off my equipment, and get outtta here.
I have buyers coming tomorrow, and hopefully this will take care of things.
from there, not sure, just gonna wait till spring, jump on the harley, and see where I end up….
take care, and peace be with you…
Oh dear, that looked like a great place. You are a wise man to wait till spring. I have ended up living inside a snow globe reading winter storm warnings. Wondering at the changes coming fast and furious sometimes, trying to learn patience.
I’m getting weather (and vagabond) envy real bad. When the snow melts I’ll be thinking of you out there on the road. Good luck tomorrow.
Hey all. Needed the laughs!
My picks right off the top include Kerry Washington and Jeffrey Wright–both incredibly underrated and slept on, to my chagrin.
I’m not sure who my favorite actresses are, but they might just be these: Clara Bow, Marilyn Monroe, and Ingrid Bergman. All three amazingly beautiful and amazingly talented.