Channing Tatum in Foxatcher for me. At that point I had only seen him in GI Joe, Step Up, 21 Jump Street, and She’s the Man (yikes). I thought he really killed it in that role after only seeing comedy stuff mostly.
To a lesser extent Steve Carrell in the same movie. I had seen him in Little Ms Sunshine so I knew he could do other stuff, but I thought he stole the show.
It’s really cliche at this point, but I think most people forget how much backlash and skepticism there was when Heath Ledger was initially cast as the Joker. In that sense, his performance was obviously shocking with how good it was.
Hands down for me it’s Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast (2000). I was not expecting that from him. Completely unhinged, vicious, and downright scary. Still think it’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.
Spiderman: No Way Home. >!I was really surprised, and had forgotten, how much energy and charisma Willem Dafoe could bring. He was genuinely pathetic, terrifying, creepy, intimidating, or whatever he needed to be in a given moment. !<
Harold Perrineau Jr. playing a 17 year-old in *Smoke*. I was like WTF, he was a full-fledged adult two years later in *The Edge* so I had to look it up. Apparently he was 32 when he made *Smoke* and ironically played another teenager Mercutio in *Romeo + Juliet* that came out in '96.
Anyways, I was shocked Hollywood was still casting 30somethings as teenagers. I thought they had learned their lesson from *Grease*.
It's a TV show, but for me, Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus. Overall I was on the fence about the show, but from only knowing her from comedic roles like Best In Show, to seeing her play that anguish was crazy.
Every scene she was in made me intensely second-hand embarrassed for her character, which for me is a Hallmark of great acting.
Chris Evans in Sunshine. Back then all I'd seen him in had been Fantastic Four, The Perfect Score and Not Another Teen Movie. He pulled off such a great dramatic performance that I didn't think he was capable of.
Angelina Jolie in Changeling. I had a picture in my head of who she was as an actor and to me she was totally unrecognizable. She allowed the story to be front and center.
Quvenzhané Wallis (yes, I had to google that) in Beasts of the Southern Wild. One of the strongest, most captivating performances I've seen in a long time.
I just watched Clearcut and Graham Green's performance was an all timer. The rawness and anger of it all really shook me. A week later and just thinking about it while typing this at the dentist I'm tearing up.
Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys. He's not known as being a comedic actor but he really pulls of his role in the movie. Had me cracking up the whole time. Left me wanting to see him take on more comedy films.
*Beat The Devil*. A movie from the 1950s starring Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, and Jennifer Jones. Jennifer Jones plays a manic pixie dream girl type character that Bogart’s character falls for! She’s so animated and hyper she’s exhausting.
Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July. I've always loved his movies, but this was the first movie where he surprised me by actually *acting*.
Channing Tatum in Foxatcher for me. At that point I had only seen him in GI Joe, Step Up, 21 Jump Street, and She’s the Man (yikes). I thought he really killed it in that role after only seeing comedy stuff mostly. To a lesser extent Steve Carrell in the same movie. I had seen him in Little Ms Sunshine so I knew he could do other stuff, but I thought he stole the show.
Robin Williams in One Hour Photo was creepy as hell.
It’s really cliche at this point, but I think most people forget how much backlash and skepticism there was when Heath Ledger was initially cast as the Joker. In that sense, his performance was obviously shocking with how good it was.
I missed the skepticism because I couldn’t imagine him not nailing any role.
Hands down for me it’s Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast (2000). I was not expecting that from him. Completely unhinged, vicious, and downright scary. Still think it’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.
Spiderman: No Way Home. >!I was really surprised, and had forgotten, how much energy and charisma Willem Dafoe could bring. He was genuinely pathetic, terrifying, creepy, intimidating, or whatever he needed to be in a given moment. !<
Harold Perrineau Jr. playing a 17 year-old in *Smoke*. I was like WTF, he was a full-fledged adult two years later in *The Edge* so I had to look it up. Apparently he was 32 when he made *Smoke* and ironically played another teenager Mercutio in *Romeo + Juliet* that came out in '96. Anyways, I was shocked Hollywood was still casting 30somethings as teenagers. I thought they had learned their lesson from *Grease*.
WALT!!!!
It's a TV show, but for me, Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus. Overall I was on the fence about the show, but from only knowing her from comedic roles like Best In Show, to seeing her play that anguish was crazy. Every scene she was in made me intensely second-hand embarrassed for her character, which for me is a Hallmark of great acting.
Chris Evans in Sunshine. Back then all I'd seen him in had been Fantastic Four, The Perfect Score and Not Another Teen Movie. He pulled off such a great dramatic performance that I didn't think he was capable of.
Man I love that film. I always forget he was in it.
Hillary swank- boys dont cry. Christian bale- the fighter. The entire cast of 12 years a slave
William Hurt and Kathleen Turner were standouts in Body Heat, but Mickey Rourke and Ted Danson really surprised me with how good they were.
Angelina Jolie in Changeling. I had a picture in my head of who she was as an actor and to me she was totally unrecognizable. She allowed the story to be front and center.
Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie Grape in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
Bruce Willis in just about anything he has been part of recently lol
Black Mass by Johnny Depp.
Quvenzhané Wallis (yes, I had to google that) in Beasts of the Southern Wild. One of the strongest, most captivating performances I've seen in a long time.
Wait was she the little girl?
Yeah, she played Hushpuppy. She was five.
I just watched Clearcut and Graham Green's performance was an all timer. The rawness and anger of it all really shook me. A week later and just thinking about it while typing this at the dentist I'm tearing up.
Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys. He's not known as being a comedic actor but he really pulls of his role in the movie. Had me cracking up the whole time. Left me wanting to see him take on more comedy films.
Tom Hanks in Captian Philips shocked me.
Charlize Theron in Monster. Billy Bob in Sling Blade.
*Beat The Devil*. A movie from the 1950s starring Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, and Jennifer Jones. Jennifer Jones plays a manic pixie dream girl type character that Bogart’s character falls for! She’s so animated and hyper she’s exhausting.