Great character (or little known) actors. (1 Viewer)

[Imbi]

Where i come from, no one ever talks about these great actors, or watches any of their movies, so i'm hoping people here know more about their work, and i wanted to ask what you all think has been the best perfomance they have given, and maybe even suggest a film, that i haven't personnally seen yet.
Don Cheadle
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Tim Roth
William H. Macy
Ian McKellen
Robert Carlyle
Gene Hackman
Ben Kingsley
Gary Oldman
Ian Holm
Thank You so much to anyone, who finds the time to do this.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Good question Imbi and welcome to the forum.
SteveGon ran a tourney dedicated to Gene Hackman’s movies. You can find it
here.
I probably like The Conservation as much as any of Hackman’s films. As for the others, a few of my comments:
Ben Kingsley is probably best known in the title role of Ghandi. But he has acted in many, many roles (in the U.S in many TV roles as well).
Bill Macy is best known here as a TV actor, and is at his best playing unsavory characters.
Someone from the UK may comment on Robert Carlye, but for me he is best known in the title role of a TV series Hamish MacBeth. I consider his best movie work to be in Trainspotting, which is quite controversial. He is also well known here for The Full Monty.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

This question's been asked a few times before, which is why I have this list.
Adam Goldberg
Alan Arkin
Alan Rickman
Alec Baldwin
Alessandro Nivola
Alex Rocco
Alfred Molina
Allison Janney
Andy Garcia
Annie Potts
Anthony Heald
Armand Assante
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Ben Kingsley
Benicio del Toro
Bernadette Peters
Bill Murray
Bill Paxton
Bill Pullman
Bill Sadler
Bob Balaban
Bob Dishy
Bob Gunton
Brad Dourif
Brian Cox
Brian Dennehy
Brion James
Bruce Campbell
Bruce Davison
Bruce Dern
Bruce McGill
Burgess Meredith
Cary Elwes
Casey Siemaszko
Catherine Keener
Charles Durning
Charles Napier
Chris Cooper
Christian Slater
Christina Applegate
Christina Ricci
Christine Baranski
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Lee
Christopher McDonald
Christopher Plummer
Christopher Walken
Clarence Williams III
Clea DuVall
Cloris Leachman
Colm Meaney
Courtney B. Vance
Craig T. Nelson
Crispin Glover
Curtis Armstrong
Dabney Coleman
Dan Hedaya
Daniel Craig
Danny DeVito
Danny Trejo
David Hyde Pierce
David Keith
David Krumholtz
David Morse
David Ogden Stiers
David Patrick Kelly
David Strathairn
David Warner
Dean Stockwell
Denholm Elliot
Dennis Farina
Dennis Haysbert
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Quaid
Diane Lane
Dick Miller
Diedrich Bader
Don Cheadle
Donal Logue
Donald Moffat
Donald Sutherland
Ed Harris
Ed O'Neill
Edward Norton
Elias Koteas
Enrico Colantoni
Eric Roberts
Eric Stoltz
Erick Avari
Ernest Borgnine
Ethan Embry
Fairuza Balk
Forrest Whitaker
Frances Sternhagen
Fred Dalton Thompson
Fred Gwynne
Fred Ward
Gabriel Byrne
Gary Oldman
Gary Sinise
GD Spradlin
Gene Hackman
Geoffrey Lewis
Gerrit Graham
Giancarlo Esposito
Giovanni Ribisi
Griffin Dunne
Hal Holbrook
Harris Yulin
Harry Dean Stanton
Harvey Keitel
Hector Elizondo
Ian Holm
Illeana Douglas
Jack Black
Jack Gilford
Jack Lemmon
Jake Gyllenhaal
James Cromwell
James Rebhorn
James Tolkan
James Woods
Janeane Garofalo
Jason Alexander
Jason Isaacs
Jay Mohr
Jeff Bridges
Jeff Daniels
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Tambor
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Tilly
Jeremy Piven
Jerry Orbach
Jerry Stiller
JK Simmons
Joan Cusack
Joe Don Baker
Joe Mantegna
Joe Morton
Joe Pantoliano
Joey Lauren Adams
Joey Slotnick
John Ashton
John C. Reilly
John Cazale
John Cusack
John Glover
John Goodman
John Heard
John Kapelos
John Laroquette
John Leguizamo
John Lithgow
John Mahoney
John Ritter
John Vernon
Jon Favreau
Jon Polito
Jon Voight
Joss Ackland
JT Walsh
Jude Law
Judy Davis
Jurgen Prochnow
Karen Allen
Kathleen Quinlan
Keith David
Kenneth McMillan
Kevin Bacon
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Pollak
Kurt Russell
Kurtwood Smith
Lance Henriksen
Lane Smith
Liam Neeson
Lili Taylor
Linda Fiorentino
Live Schreiber
Luis Guzman
M. Emmet Walsh
Madeline Kahn
Madeline Stowe
Malcolm McDowell
Mandy Patinkin
Marilu Henner
Martin Landau
Marty Feldman
Max Perlich
Max Von Sydow
Michael Biehn
Michael Caine
Michael Ironside
Michael J. Pollard
Michael Jeter
Michael Keaton
Michael Madsen
Michael McKean
Michael Rapaport
Michael Rooker
Michael Tucker
Michael Wincott
Mickey Rourke
Miguel Ferrer
Morgan Freeman
Murray Hamilton
Natasha Lyonne
Ned Beatty
Nick Nolte
Nicky Katt
Oliver Platt
Parker Posey
Paul Dooley
Paul Giamatti
Paul Gleason
Paul Lynde
Paul Reubens
Paul Sorvino
Peter Boyle
Peter Stormare
Phil Hartman
Philip Baker Hall
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Pruitt Taylor Vince
R. Lee Ermey
Randall 'Tex' Cobb
Ray Walston
Rene Auberjonois
RG Armstrong
Richard Crenna
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Farnsworth
Richard Jordan
Richard Libertini
Richard Masur
Richard Moll
Richard Mulligan
Ricky Jay
Rip Torn
Robert Carlyle
Robert Davi
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Duvall
Robert Loggia
Robert Prosky
Roddy McDowall
Ron Livingston
Ron Perlman
Ron Rifkin
Ronny Cox
Rose McGowan
Rutger Hauer
Sam Elliot
Sam Neill
Samuel L. Jackson
Sarah Silverman
Saul Rubinek
Scatman Crothers
Sean Whalen
Seth Green
Seymour Cassell
Slim Pickens
Stanley Tucci
Stellan Skarsgard
Stephen Root
Stephen Tobolowsky
Steve Buscemi
Steve Martin
Steve Zahn
Steven Berkoff
Stockard Channing
Ted Knight
Ted Levine
Terence Stamp
Teri Garr
Terry Kiser
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Jane
Tim Curry
Tim Matheson
Tim Robbins
Tim Roth
Todd Field
Tom Atkins
Tom Sizemore
Tom Skerritt
Tony Goldwyn
Tony Randall
Tony Shalhoub
Treat Williams
Trey Wilson
Veronica Cartwright
Viggo Mortensen
Vince Vaughn
Vincent D'onofrio
Vincent Schiavelli
Wallace Shawn
Will Patton
Willem Dafoe
William Atherton
William Fichtner
William Forsythe
William H. Macy
William Hurt
William Sanderson
Woody Harrelson
Xander Berkeley
Yaphet Kotto

 

[Jan H]

Great actors all, Imbi.
Don Cheadle - always good, but my favorite is his performance as the country-western, stereo "expert" porn star in Boogie Nights.
Philip Seymour Hoffman - he's one of the best actors in film, period. Check out the performance in Flawless, with DeNiro.
Tim Roth - Ditto, him. My favorite role is the bastard swordsman in Rob Roy.
William Macy - Fargo
Ian McKellan - Richard III
Robert Carlyle - His character Begbie in Trainspotting was one of the most frightening bad guys I've ever seen in a movie.
Gene Hackman - Very tough one, but I'd take The Conversation.
Ben Kingsley - tough to top what he did in Gandhi.
Gary Oldman - State of Grace. Wish he'd make more movies, he's one of the most talented actors out there.
Ian Holm - It's not a movie, but if you can find a copy of his performance of King Lear, which was on American public television, it's the performance of his career, which is saying something.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Good list...here's my take:
Don Cheadle-It is an obvious choice, but the right one...Buck Swope in Boogie Nights. He was simply awesome.
Philip Seymour Hoffman-Hard to find a bad performance. But, his turn in Happiness was just, well...creepy and probably his best to date.
Tim Roth-Four Rooms. His role was central and he played it marvellously.
William H. Macy-Fargo. Dead on perfect.
Ian McKellen-He has gotten better with age and Gods and Monsters might be his best role yet.
Robert Carlyle-Trainspotting is where he made his mark, but the film Go Now shows he is a very good dramatic actor as well.
Gene Hackman-Agreed that this is a tough call, simply because he has consistently put out terrific performances time and time again. But, for my money, his portrayel of Little Bill in Unforgiven is still riveting.
Ben Kingsley-Gandhi is so very hard to top. But, Kingsley is another actor, like Hackman, that just keeps turning in great performances. His roles in Searching For Bobby Fischer and Sexy Beast were way up there.
Gary Oldman-This guy seems to be the perpetually overlooked actor. Hard to find anyone who has put out the kind of work he has and not gotten the pub for it. Pick a film, really. He can truly do it all, from parody in The 5th Element, to serious Oscar worthy turns in The Contender, to career roles such as Oswald in JFK or Norman in Leon or even Dracula...one of the best.
Ian Holm-Loved him in The Sweet Hereafter and Night Falls on Manhattan.
Bruce

 

[Andrew_Sch]

Sam Elliot- He steals the show in, among others, The Contender , The Big Lebowski and We Were Soldiers .

 

[Imbi]

I wish more people would answer.:frowning:

 

[Rob P S]

Kathy Bates
Alfre Woodard
Mary-Louise Parker
Danny Glover
Joe Morton
Bill Cobbs
CCH Pounder
Bruce Davison
Neal McDonough
Tom Wilkinson
Laurence Fishburne
Joe Mantegna
Scott Wilson
Michael Moriarty
Chris Meloni
Vincent Donofrio
Chris Cooper
Andre Braugher
Chi McBride
Khandi Alexander
Harris Yulin
Irma P. Hall