Acting range

Woody Harrelson (and the fact he wasn't on the first page is a shame; he can do anything). Kevin Spacey (ditto). Morgan Freeman. Gary Oldman (who this list really should begin with). Jeff Bridges. Daniel Day-Lewis. Ed Norton. Cate Blanchett. Meryl Streep (of course). Jennifer Lawrence. Natalie Portman. Anne Hathaway. Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

 

nice list. can't argue too much with any of them. Though I never found Freeman particularly capable of comedy or menace.

 

I don't "get" Natalie Portman. She was awesome in Black Swan and The Professional, but I think she's sucked in pretty much everything else.

Her "performance" as Padme in the Star Wars prequels was high on the list for worst of all time.

The only other actor I can think of who's that wildly hot and cold is Nicolas Cage.

 

The best bad accent ever may have been Al Pacino's terrible Spanish accent in Scarface.

 

No. Nic Cage, "Con Air," Tom Hanks, "Volunteers."

 

She was horrible in Star Wars. I may be giving her too much credit because I loved Garden State, too.

 

I almost left him off because I haven't found him great with comedy, either, but some old people have loved him in things like "The Bucket List."

And speaking of "The Bucket List," I can't believe I left Jack Nicholson off my list. And Robin Williams.

 

Jack Nicholson is great, but I don't think he can play the wimp or has-been too well. Crazy? Sure. But I couldn't quite see him playing Willy Loman.

 

There's a whole bunch of character actors who may never be/were stars but can do anything. Guys like Brian Dennehy, William H. Macy, Paul Giamatti, James Whitmore and George Kennedy

The 30 Greatest Character Actors in Hollywood History

 

Can't believe Gene Hackman's name hasn't come up yet.

 

Should be a thread about worst movie/tv accents.

I'll also throw in Angelina Jolie's accent in 'Alexander.' She was doing Natasha to Malkovich's Boris.

 

He's like Nicholson to me. Same type of range. Could play the fatherly bit better than Nicholson (and mostly bc of Jack's off-screen persona), but I can't remember a role where hackman was particularly funny or ever the beaten-down guy. Might have forgotten some roles, obviously, but none jump immediately to mind.