Daniel Day-Lewis
The Method Actor
To call this Academy Award winning actor and film legend a method actor would be an understatement. Daniel Day-Lewis took the art of method acting, or a technique of acting in which an actor aspires to complete emotional identification with a part, to the next level. He is an actor that insists on becoming his character, never breaking focus or stepping out of his character’s mindset, even when the director yells cut. While filming the movie Gangs of New York, he insisted that all people on the set call him by his character name (Bill) even when the cameras weren’t running. He even called other actors by their character names off set, addressing Liam Neeson as “Priest Vallon” when he met him in the gym at their hotel.
His passion for his character is apparent especially onset while the cameras are rolling. While filming his Academy Award winning film, There Will Be Blood, he became so immersed that he almost actually hurt another actor. Paul Dano spoke of the climactic bowling alley scene in the film, where Daniel Day-Lewis’ character began attacking Paul Dano’s character. Dano said, “”They [the bowling balls Day- Lewis was throwing at him] start flying and I realize he’s getting into it. Then a ball bounces up and hits me in the leg, and I’m thinking: ‘OK, those are heavy; this is getting serious – I’d better duck.'”
Despite the fact that it did not win any Academy Awards, Daniel Day-Lewis’ finest film, in my opinion, would have to be In The Name of the Father, where he tells the true and tragic story of a man who is wrongfully imprisoned for many years by the British Government. Daniel Day-Lewis actually spent three nights in a cold prison so he could see the real living conditions that Gerry Conlon dealt with. He even instructed those on the set to be rude to him, battering him, and dumping cold water on him so he could understand the abuse his character dealt with.
Some may call his tactics strange or even insane, but his ability to delve into the character has not gone unnoticed. His has been praised as possibly on of the greatest actors of our time and has delivered nothing but spectacular performances in all of his films. (1)
Robert Downey, Jr.
The Prodigal Son
As the son of a famous director, it was no surprise to anyone that Robert Downey Jr. found his way into the films. What was shocking is how he slipped out. While beginning his film career, Downey Jr. was arrested twice, once in 1997 and again in 1999, for offenses related to drug charges. He was then fired from a show he was working on for his drug use and then spent the next year in a rehab. Some considered this the early end of his acting career. After all, it’s difficult to come back from a fall like that.
But Robert Downey Jr. proved them all wrong. He continued his acting career, doing films such as The Wonder Boys (2000) and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). But he blew the fans away when he began his binge of films from 2008 to present, starring in films such as Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, The Soloist, Sherlock Holmes, and Due Date. Within a span of a few years, Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t only back on the map, he was taking over the map. It was a film comeback that would stand out in history. The prodigal son has returned.
His perhaps most impressive performance would have to be his comedic, Downey-esque adaptation of the legendary Sherlock Holmes in the film of the same name. He wasn’t playing Sherlock Holmes in that film; he was playing Robert Downey Jr. playing Sherlock Holmes. His genius and quick dialogue was Holmes, but the humor and style was all Robert Downey, Jr. Though it may not be the best representation of Holmes, he was still able to charm audience members and Sherlock Holmes fans into loving him. (2)
Brad Pitt
The Pretty Boy
Some people will scoff at my taste when I tell them that Brad Pitt is my third favorite actor. Really? The pretty boy who was in Troy? The one who married Angelina and adopted tons of babies? But Brad Pitt has never ceased to impress me in his films, especially the most recent. And I would argue that the directors are beginning to see that as well.
Fight Club, Snatch, Ocean’s Eleven, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Burn After Reading, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Inglorious Basterds… ever film was done nothing but prove to me that he is just an actor that is good a wheat he does. And his versatility is phenomenal. An Irish, gypsey Boxer, secret agent, possibly-gay gym fanatic, Nazi-killing Lieutenant, and the list goes on and on.
And Brad Pitt doesn’t let his fame get in the way. It can be difficult for actors that are very much in the lime light to perform; people begin to see the actor as a person because they keep covering the front pages of every magazine, and have trouble seeing the character they are portraying. But when I watch Fight Club, I don’t see Brad Pitt starting a fighting club and ranting about anti-materialism, I see Tyler Durden. And when I watch Inglorious Basterds, I don’t see Brad Pitt beating the shit out of Nazis, I see Lt. Aldo Raine. And the directing community has begun to realize that he can add to the film with his great ability to be flexible. Even The Cohen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino, who are very particular about the actors that they use, have taken him in to use him for their quirky and legendary characters. He may be a pretty boy, but he’s a pretty boy who knows what he’s doing.
Bibliography, for your pleasure:
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