10 Low-Key Amazing Performances In Movies
Sometimes less is more.
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00:00 Convincingly portraying an entirely separate person whilst also remembering lines, adjusting
00:04 to costume and trying not to trip over the set is an extremely challenging profession.
00:09 So thank the heavens there are enough talented actors out there that are mad enough to put
00:12 themselves through it for our entertainment.
00:15 It's sad then that there are so many great performances that go unnoticed by the masses.
00:19 Well not anymore.
00:20 I'm SciForWhatCulture.com and these are 10 Low Key Amazing Performances in Movies.
00:25 10.
00:26 Ken Stott - The Hobbit Trilogy
00:28 As soon as it was announced that a 310 page book was going to be stretched out over a trio
00:33 of 3 hour long movies, fans suspected that the Hobbit films were going to be more about
00:37 raking in cash than paying a loving homage to Tolkien's first novel.
00:41 Whether or not that was the case you can all argue about in the comments below, but that
00:45 doesn't mean there isn't a lot to like about the movies, in particular the performance
00:48 of veteran Scottish actor Ken Stott as Balin.
00:52 One of the company of dwarves, Balin is portrayed as the oldest and wisest member of the gang.
00:56 His soft tones and luscious beard are the perfect counter to Thorin's youthful arrogance
01:00 as he attempts to keep the hot-headed prince in line.
01:03 In the crazy world of dragons, orcs and magical gems, Stott is an extremely calming presence
01:08 and helps guide Bilbo and the audience through the story.
01:11 He might not have a giant bow or be able to breathe fire, but Balin is perhaps the most
01:15 overlooked part of the Hobbit trilogy.
01:17 9.
01:18 Marion Cotillard - Big Fish
01:20 Based on the 1998 book of the same name, Big Fish details the relationship between William
01:25 Bloom and his dying father Edward.
01:27 Mr Bloom Sr is known for his tall tales, which have driven a wedge between him and his son.
01:32 However, as his father nears the end of his life, Will discovers that there might be more
01:35 truth to the stories that he first thought.
01:38 The movie features an absolutely stacked cast, including Ewan McGregor as a young Edward,
01:42 Jessica Lange as Will's mum and Danny DeVito as a werewolf.
01:45 Sure, why not.
01:47 Stealing the show though is Marion Cotillard as Josephine, Will's heavily pregnant wife.
01:52 As an outsider to the Bloom family drama, Josephine serves as the voice of reason for
01:55 her husband, helping him to shake off his preconceptions about his dad.
01:59 She also represents the future of the family, as Will must decide how much he wants to copy
02:03 his father's parenting techniques with his own offspring.
02:06 Also, it's Marion Cotillard.
02:08 She could have played a tree and still have been excellent.
02:11 8.
02:12 Darlene Cates - What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
02:14 When talking about eye-catching performances and 1998's What's Eating Gilbert Grape,
02:18 your mind immediately wanders to a 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio.
02:22 In one of his first major roles, Leo plays Arnie, the mentally disabled brother of the
02:26 titular character.
02:27 At the time, DiCaprio was lauded for a magnificent performance, capturing the sympathetic essence
02:32 of the character to a T.
02:34 But this list is all about the hipster choices, so let's talk about Gilbert and Arnie's
02:37 mother Bonnie.
02:38 Played by the late Darlene Cates, Bonnie fell into a pit of depression after her husband
02:42 took his own life.
02:44 As a result, she became morbidly obese, unable to leave the house through physical impairment
02:48 and shame.
02:49 Considering she wasn't an actor before being offered the part, Cates puts in a fantastic
02:53 showing.
02:54 She loves her kids, but just isn't able to overcome her physical and mental obstacles
02:57 to provide them with a decent life.
02:59 It's tragic, especially if you watch right to the end.
03:02 Cates more than holds her own alongside both DiCaprio and Johnny Depp, something very few
03:07 others can lay claim to.
03:09 7.
03:10 Walter Goggins - The Hateful Eight
03:12 You might know him for the Righteous Gemstones or Invincible, but Goggins is also a favourite
03:15 of everyone's favourite foot enthusiast Quentin Tarantino.
03:18 He's appeared in both of the director's westerns, 2012's Django Unchained and 2015's
03:24 The Hateful Eight.
03:25 In this piece, he plays Chris Mannix, an all-round no-hoper who masquerades as the Sheriff of
03:30 Red Rock, Wyoming.
03:31 Goggins is up against some serious talent in this movie, sharing the screen with Samuel
03:35 L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern and Tim Roth, and yet he more than
03:40 holds his own, often providing some much-needed comic relief.
03:44 From the moment we meet Mannix, he is clearly a fish out of water.
03:47 He isn't the rough, tough cowboy type that is personified in so many of his co-stars.
03:51 I mean, he doesn't even have facial hair, for crying out loud.
03:53 Still, he's an essential part of the story and ended up as a lot of viewers' favourite
03:57 member of the squad.
03:59 6.
04:00 Bruce Willis - Moonrise Kingdom
04:02 Wes Anderson is known for many things, giving his characters preposterous names, framing
04:06 his shots like they were paintings, having actors look directly down the lens of the
04:09 camera when they speak, but perhaps his most famous trope is his reliance on the same group
04:13 of actors for almost all of his films.
04:15 Owen Wilson, Tildes Winton, Adrian Brody, Bill freakin' Murray, Wes certainly has
04:20 his favourites, so it is a lot when the director decides to look outside of his inner circle
04:24 for talent.
04:26 Enter, Bruce Willis.
04:27 The action man's only Anderson appearance came in 2011's Moonrise Kingdom, a firm
04:32 favourite amongst fans of the auteur.
04:34 He plays Captain Sharp, head of police on the small island where the action takes place.
04:39 Willis keeps up with the snappy dialogue of the film and his turn as one of the more serious
04:42 characters in the piece is more than welcome.
04:45 Considering that Anderson originally envisioned the role going to the legendary Jimmy Stewart,
04:49 we think that Willis more than compensated.
04:51 Ah yes, John McClane and the guy from It's a Wonderful Life.
04:54 A natural comparison.
04:56 5.
04:57 Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years
04:59 Though not a household name, English actor Charlotte Rampling has been around for a very
05:03 long time.
05:04 You might know her best as Dr Evelyn Vogel in Dexter, but she's also appeared in The
05:08 Damned, Vanishing Point and, uh, the Assassin's Creed movie.
05:12 Look, we can't all make good choices all the time.
05:14 In 2015, Rampling played opposite Tom Courtenay in Andrew High's 45 Years.
05:19 The pair play the Mercers, Kate and Jeff, a married couple about to celebrate their
05:22 45th anniversary.
05:23 However, things get a little bumpy when Kate discovers that her husband might have had
05:27 something to do with the death of his ex-girlfriend decades ago.
05:31 The film gets pretty dark pretty quickly as both lead actors ramp up the extremes of their
05:36 characters.
05:37 Jeff becomes more angry and erratic whilst Kate sinks further and further into herself.
05:41 Rampling is a woman trapped in an unthinkable situation.
05:44 Everything she thought she knew about the past has changed and she's got no idea what
05:47 to do.
05:48 The fact that this is all happening to a couple who look like they could be your neighbours
05:51 only adds to the drama.
05:53 4.
05:54 Chris Hemsworth - Rush
05:55 There are a lot of people that love Formula One and there are a lot of people that think
05:59 it's boring, but the best way to make F1 interesting is to condense the action of a
06:03 single season into one manageable chunk.
06:06 And that's precisely what Ron Howard did when he brought to the world Rush in 2013.
06:10 It tells the story of the epic rivalry between Austrian diver Nicky Lauda and British ace
06:14 James Hunt.
06:15 The two men were polar opposites.
06:17 Lauda was an ultra-serious professional whilst his rival was a carefree playboy who relied
06:21 solely on natural talent.
06:23 Whilst Lauda's story takes the main stage, Chris Hemsworth's version of Hunt is always
06:27 giving something in the background.
06:28 His personal battles, his desire to win, his relationship with Lauda, it's all there
06:33 and it's all expertly presented by the star of Thor.
06:35 Tell you what, that would be one thing that would make Formula One more interesting for
06:38 people that don't like it.
06:39 Give him Molnir.
06:40 Then see what happens.
06:41 3.
06:42 Josh Brolin – Men in Black 3 Using an actor's real-life child as a younger
06:47 version of themselves is a nice trick filmmakers like to use from time to time.
06:51 Is this what the producers of Men in Black 3 did when they needed a younger version of
06:54 Tommy Lee Jones?
06:55 No, they got Josh Brolin to do an absolutely spot-on impersonation instead.
07:01 When Will Smith's Agent J travels to the past, he meets a younger version of his mentor
07:05 Agent K. Brolin is the spitting image of Jones who plays the modern-day version of K. His
07:10 voice, his mannerisms, even his actual face are almost identical to the star of No Country
07:15 for Old Men.
07:16 Wait a minute, Josh Brolin was in that too.
07:18 Maybe he's been spying on Tommy Lee Jones this entire time.
07:21 2.
07:22 Laura Dern – Star Wars The Last Jedi Well, this one is going to get flak either
07:26 way so let's just get on with it.
07:28 Despite taking the most risks and actually attempting to put his own spin on the Star
07:32 Wars franchise, Rian Johnson's entry into the sequel trilogy was absolutely slated by
07:36 some when it came out in 2017.
07:39 Many things came under fire, including Laura Dern's character Vice Admiral Amalyn Holdo.
07:43 A senior figure in the Resistance, Holdo assumes command after General Leia Organa gets injured
07:47 in the film's opening sequence.
07:49 Holdo clashes with Poe Dameron, who eventually stages a mutiny against her.
07:53 However, he ends up with some serious egg on his face when she sacrifices herself to
07:57 save the entire Resistance fleet.
07:59 Dern puts in an epic showing as a woman torn between doing what's right and doing what
08:03 people expect of her.
08:04 She is constantly undermined by Poe, but holds firm the entire time, never compromising on
08:08 her beliefs as a leader.
08:10 She might get a lot of hate, but Vice Admiral Holdo is a certified badass.
08:15 And Number 1 - Vin Diesel, the MCU
08:17 Okay, yes, it might be a little bit weird that Number 1 is a tree.
08:21 The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of big characters who love to mouth off.
08:25 Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Rocket Raccoon, etc, etc.
08:30 And how many of them would be able to express as much emotion and character if their dialogue
08:34 was reduced to just five different words?
08:37 The hulking, wooden member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot shone in his debut appearance
08:42 in 2014.
08:43 Voiced by Vin Diesel, the colossal conifer ends up sacrificing himself for his friends
08:49 and brilliantly changes his one line of speech from "I am Groot" to "We are Groot".
08:55 No, you're crying.
08:56 This performance alone would be enough to put him on top of this list, but Groot has
09:00 continued to wow us in his subsequent appearances.
09:02 Whether as a baby or a grumpy teenager, he's given us comedy and drama in equal measure
09:07 with only a handful of syllables in his arsenal.
09:10 It might sound ridiculous, but per word uttered, Vin Diesel might be the best actor in the
09:14 entire MCU.
09:15 Now isn't that weird?
09:16 And that's the list!
09:17 Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below and whilst you're
09:22 down there, let us know which of these performances stood out the most to you and any others that
09:26 we didn't include.
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09:35 I've been Si for WhatCulture, and have a good week!