Christian Bale
*narcissistic yuppie (American Psycho)
*muscular heroes (Equilibrium, Dark Knight trilogy)
*insomniatic, mentally unstable and skeletal (The Machinist)
*slimy, fat con man (American Hustle)
◄ IMDb Polls
Poll: Most Versatile Actors
Which of these actors has been most memorable not only to appear in a variety of roles but also to play them with an enormous intensity and credibility (ruling out cameos and simple caricatures)?
(NOTE: The descriptions for each actor are only rough reminders of their range; they do not seek to be exhaustive resumes. Vote according to your own best knowledge.)
Make Your Choice
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Jeff Bridges
-established an image as "The Underappreciated Actor" to avoid being typecast in any way *abnormally ambitious inventor (Tucker) *slacker par excellence (The Big Lebowski) *power hungry villain (The Contender) *curious alien inside a human body (Starman) *doctor who doesn't believe in aliens (K-PAX) *age-stricken western hero (True Grit) -
Michael Caine
*charming seducer (Alfie) *clinical gangster (Get Carter) *snotty love rival of an older man (Sleuth/1972) as well as the cuckolded and piqued old man (Sleuth/2007) *benign mentor (The Cider House Rules) -
Willem Dafoe
*despicable villain (To Live and Die in L.A.) *heroic mentor (Platoon) *doubtful and mentally tormented Jesus Christ (The Last Temptation of Christ) -
Daniel Day-Lewis
*chic philistine (A Room with a View) *native American warrior (The Last Mohican) *charismatic and violent mix of mentor and adversary (Gangs of New York) *greedy misanthrope (There Will Be Blood) *wise and eloquent liberator of the slaves (Lincoln) -
Ben Kingsley
*personified benevolence (Gandhi) *personified evil (Sexy Beast) *wretched and miserable leader of thieves (Oliver Twist) -
Mads Mikkelsen
*wannabe idiot gangster (Pusher trilogy) *stubborn prick in eccentric comedies (Adam's Apples) *mute Viking fighter (Valhalla Rising) *amicable victim of circumstances (The Hunt) *highly intelligent, psychopathic murderer (Hannibal) -
Gary Oldman
*ambivalent, lusting, shape-shifting vampire (Bram Stoker's Dracula) *corrupt villain (Léon) *caring godfather (Harry Potter films) *impersonal bureaucrat (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) -
Sean Penn
*sluggish high school stoner (Fast Times at Ridgmont High) *nervous and addicted gangster lawyer (Carlito's Way) *pathetic and dense murderer (Dead Man Walking) *self-assertive and erratic musician (Sweet and Lowdown) *upright but vengeful father (Mystic River) -
Peter Sellers
*awkward and comically clumsy French inspector (The Pink Panther) *megalomaniac Nazi scientist (Dr. Strangelove) *self-absorbed Italian master thief (After the Fox!) *shy and socially awkward TV-addict (Being There) *a wide variety of nationalities (Indian, German, French, Italian, Chinese, among others) -
Christopher Walken
*disturbed Vietnam veteran (The Deer Hunter) *dedicated hero (The Dead Zone) *quirky gangsters or villains (A View to a Kill; King of New York; Seven Psychopaths) *unfortunate little working man (Catch Me If You Can) -
Peter O'Toole
*eccentric cosmpolite (Lawrence of Arabia) *ruthless Nazi general (The Night of the Generals) *lofty monarchs (Becket; The Lion in the Winter; Imperium: Augustus) *diffident teachers (Goodbye Mr. Chips; The Last Emperor) *egalomaniacal film director (The Stunt Man)-suggested by cocoken
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Jack Lemmon
*nervous mob-evader forced to cross-dress (Some Like It Hot) *executive who gives in to alcoholism (Days of Wine and Roses) *congenial comedic duo with Walter Matthau *conscientious or persistent characters in serious dramas (Missing; The China Syndrome)- suggested by ElMaruecan82 and jalapenoman
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Omar Sharif
-various nationalities *Mexican western killer (McKenna's Gold) *Russian lover and poet (Dr. Zhivago) *German military officer who resists his Nazi colleagues (The Night of the General)-suggested by cocoken
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Alec Guinness
-called "the Man with a Thousand Faces" *wretched leader of thieves (Oliver Twist) *various eccentric comedic roles, sometimes within the same film (Kind Hearts and Coronets) *Adolf Hitler (The Last Ten Days) *stiff and stubborn British officer (The Bridge on the River Kwai) *benign mentor (Star Wars)- suggested by otter68
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Anthony Quinn
-various nationalities *Mexican revolutionary (Viva Zapata!) *French painter (Lust for Life) *brutish street performer (La Strada) *Quasimodo (hunchback of Notre Dame) *optimistic vagrant (Zorba the Greek)- suggested by otter68
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Russell Crowe
*violent skinhead (Romper Stomper) *vengeful general-turned gladiator (Gladiator) *insociable math genius (A Beautiful Mind)- heroes (Robin Hood) as well as villains (3:10 to Yuma)
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Gérard Depardieu
*classical tragic lover (Cyrano de Bergerac; dialogue entirely in Alexandrine verses) and historical characters (Camille Claudel) *funny dimwit (Obélix; Tais-toi!) *corrupted cop (36 Quai des Orfèvres) *sleazy gangster (Mesrine)- played heroes who could be sensible, shy, or brash
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Philip Seymour Hoffman
*miserable loser (Magnolia) *Truman Capote (Capote) *manipulating sect leader (The Master)- a range from comedy to drama, small to lead roles, insecure to self-assertive as well as introverted and extroverted
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Edward Norton
*ripped and vile neo-nazi (American History X) *feeble conformist and consumerist (Fight Club) *romantic-comedy priest (Keeping the Faith) *twisted villains (Primal Fear; The Italian Job) -
Robert De Niro
*wannabe idiot gangster (Mean Streets) *unstable cab driver (Taxi Driver) *self-controlled, dominant and affable gangster (The Godfather: Part II) *amicable sufferer from enciphalites who begins to discovers the world (Awakenings) *Strict pensioners in comedies (Meet the Parents, Silver Linings Playbook) (suggested by The-Social-Introvert) -
Al Pacino
*progress from a nerdy outsider in a mafia family to an extremely self-controlled and ice cold gangster (The Godfather trilogy) *morally conflicted but deeply honest cop (Serpico) *foul-mouthed and violent Cuban immigrant gangster (Scarface) *contemplative, aging, embittered blind Colonel (Scent of a Woman) *Shakespearean roles (Looking for Richard; The Merchant of Venice) -mastered radical underacting as well as radical overacting(suggested by expectmiracles)
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Timothy Dalton
*James Bond *Byronic romantic hero (Jane Eyre) *passionate and bitter anti-hero (Wuthering Heights) *gleeful villains (The Rocketeer; Hot Fuzz) *Shakespearean roles and sophisticated royals (The Lion in the Winter)(suggested by cc-16143 and tim-xy)
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Jake Gyllenhaal
*morose and hallucinating teenager (Donnie Darko) *secretly gay cowboy (Brokeback Mountain) *introverted academic/promiscuous extrovert (Enemy) *highly intelligent and ambitious psychopath (Nightcrawler)(suggested by kbayless-1)
