I started this post several weeks ago on a slow day at work. I was planning to do a top 5 actors and top 5 actresses, but I ended up with 6 actors and 4 actresses so I thought it was more fair to combine them into a top 10. For some reason, I'm just not as interested in actresses - maybe that's a topic for another day...
- Kenneth Branagh
I think most of Kenneth Branagh's roles can be split into two broad categories. The first category is the classical roles - his adaptations of Shakespeare, for example, or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. He's very good in these kind of roles. The second category is the roles where he is, for lack of a better word, kind of a dick - like in Peter's Friends, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Celebrity (don't get me started on that one again), and so many more. I really love this latter group. For some reason, I enjoy watching villainous characters, and while most of Branagh's roles are not in the hammy vein of super-villain Dr. Arliss Loveless (yes, I'm even willing to defend him in Wild Wild West. Within reason.), he seems to play unlikable characters easily and well. For me, his very best performances are where the two categories overlap, specifically in Othello and Much Ado About Nothing. Here he has the benefit of a rock-solid script and a three-dimensional character, which can only elevate his strong performance. Of all Shakespeare's characters, Iago has the third-most lines, after Hamlet and Richard III. Compared to Othello himself, Iago is always the more intriguing character, and Branagh makes him mesmerizing. (Side note: my favorite Shakespeare play is Richard III - Branagh played that role on stage, but I really hope he makes a movie one day.)
Favorite role: Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing
- Cary Grant
Unlike most of the actors on this list, I don't remember the first time I saw Cary Grant on screen. Doesn't it feel like you've just always known who he was? What I love about watching him is how effortless he makes everything look. His line readings are so natural, with that unmistakable accent, and I really like how silly he's willing to look for a laugh. Consensus seems to say that George Clooney is Grant's modern-day equivalent; obviously Clooney is also effortlessly handsome, but there's something about him I sometimes find grating. He can seem smug and condescending, like he knows how superior he is, but I never get that feeling from Grant. Not that he doesn't think highly of himself, just there are more important things on his mind. I made it my mission to watch his whole filmography (so far: only 12 of 75), and so far, most of them are gems. Of course, I love when he stars opposite Katharine Hepburn, who also makes this list. Their chemistry is so sharp, they're a joy to watch together. At the beginning of Holiday (1938), when he takes a bite out of the apple in her hand, there's absolutely no doubt that they're meant to end up together. As idiosyncratic as he is as a performer, he makes every role believable; maybe that's because he's just so fun to watch that you cut him more slack, but I think he's a supremely talented actor and I'm sticking to that.
Favorite role: C.K. Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story
(Branagh & Grant)
(Hepburn & Hoffman)
(Keaton & Lemmon)
(Posey & Rockwell)
No comments:
Post a Comment