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. It's sad then that there are so many great
00:16 performances that go unnoticed by the masses. Well, not anymore. I'm SciForWaterCulture.com
00:22 and these are 10 Low Key Amazing Performances in Movies.
00:26 10. Ken Stott - The Hobbit Trilogy As soon as it was announced that a 310 page
00:31 book was going to be stretched out over a trio of 3 hour long movies, fans suspected that the
00:36 Hobbit films were going to be more about raking in cash than paying a loving homage to Tolkien's
00:40 first novel. Whether or not that was the case you can all argue about in the comments below,
00:44 but that 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. One of the company of dwarves, Balin is portrayed
00:54 as the oldest and wisest member of the gang. His soft tones and luscious beard are the perfect
00:59 counter to Thorin's youthful arrogance 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 and
01:08 helps guide Bilbo and the audience through the story. He might not have a giant bow or be able
01:13 to breathe fire, but Balin is perhaps the most overlooked part of the Hobbit trilogy.
01:18 9. Marion Cotillard - Big Fish Based on the 1998 book of the same name,
01:23 Big Fish details the relationship between William Bloom and his dying father Edward.
01:27 Mr Bloom Sr is known for his tall tails 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 truth to
01:36 the stories that he first thought. The movie features an absolutely stacked cast, including
01:40 Ewan McGregor as a young Edward, Jessica Lange as Will's mum and Danny DeVito as a werewolf. Sure,
01:46 why not. Stealing the show though is Marion Cotillard as Josephine, Will's heavily pregnant
01:51 wife. As an outsider to the Bloom family drama, Josephine serves as the voice of reason for her
01:56 husband, helping him to shake off his preconceptions about his dad. She also represents the future of
02:01 the family, as Will must decide how much he wants to copy his father's parenting techniques with
02:05 his own offspring. Also, it's Marion Cotillard, she could have played a tree and still have been
02:10 excellent. 8. Darlene Kate - 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. In one of his first major
02:24 roles, Leo plays Arnie, the mentally disabled brother of the titular character. At the time,
02:28 DiCaprio was lauded for a magnificent performance, capturing the sympathetic essence of the
02:32 character to a T. But this list is all about the hipster choices, so let's talk about Gilbert and
02:37 Arnie's mother Bonnie. Played by the late Darlene Kate, Bonnie fell into a pit of depression after
02:42 her husband took his own life. As a result, she became morbidly obese, unable to leave the house
02:47 through physical impairment and shame. Considering she wasn't an actor before being offered the part,
02:51 Kate puts in a fantastic showing. She loves her kids, but just isn't able to overcome her physical
02:56 and mental obstacles to provide them with a decent life. It's tragic, especially if you
03:01 watch right to the end. Kate more than holds her own alongside both DiCaprio and Johnny Depp,
03:06 something very few others can lay claim to. 7. Walter Goggins - The Hateful Eight
03:12 You might know him for The Righteous Gemstones or Invincible, but Goggins is also a favourite
03:16 of everyone's favourite foot enthusiast Quentin Tarantino. He's appeared in both of the director's
03:21 westerns, 2012's Django Unchained and 2015's The Hateful Eight. In this piece, he plays Chris
03:26 Mannix, an all-round no-hoper who masquerades as the sheriff of Red Rock, Wyoming. Goggins is up
03:32 against some serious talent in this movie, sharing the screen with Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell,
03:36 Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern and Tim Roth, and yet he more than holds his own,
03:41 often providing some much-needed comic relief. From the moment we meet Mannix, he is clearly a
03:46 fish out of water. He isn't the rough, tough cowboy type that is personified in so many of
03:50 his co-stars. I mean, he doesn't even have facial hair, for crying out loud. Still, he's an
03:54 essential part of the story and ended up as a lot of viewers' favourite member of the squad.
03:58 6. Bruce Willis - Moonrise Kingdom Wes Anderson is known for many things,
04:04 giving his characters preposterous names, framing his shots like they were paintings,
04:07 having actors look directly down the lens of the camera when they speak, but perhaps
04:10 his most famous trope is his reliance on the same group of actors for almost all of his films.
04:15 Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Bill freakin' Murray, Wes certainly has his favourite,
04:21 so it is a lot when the director decides to look outside of his inner circle for talent.
04:26 Enter Bruce Willis. The action man's only Anderson appearance came in 2011's Moonrise Kingdom,
04:31 a firm favourite amongst fans of the auteur. He plays Captain Sharp, head of police on the
04:36 small island where the action takes place. Willis keeps up with the snappy dialogue of the film and
04:41 his turn as one of the more serious characters in the piece is more than welcome. Considering
04:45 that Anderson originally envisioned the role going to the legendary Jimmy Stewart, we think
04:49 that Willis more than compensated. Ah yes, John McClane and the guy from It's a Wonderful Life.
04:54 5. Charlotte Rampling - 45 Years Though not a household name,
05:01 English actor Charlotte Rampling has been around for a very long time. You might know her best as
05:05 Dr Evelyn Vogel in Dexter, but she's also appeared in The Damned, Vanishing Point and, uh, the
05:11 Assassin's Creed movie. Look, we can't all make good choices all the time. In 2015, Rampling played
05:16 opposite Tom Courtenay in Andrew High's 45 Years. The pair play the Mercers, Kate and Jeff, a married
05:21 couple about to celebrate their 45th anniversary. However, things get a little bumpy when Kate
05:26 discovers that her husband might have had something to do with the death of his ex-girlfriend
05:30 decades ago. The film gets pretty dark pretty quickly as both lead actors ramp up the extremes
05:35 of their characters. Jeff becomes more angry and erratic, whilst Kate sinks further and further
05:40 into herself. Rampling is a woman trapped in an unthinkable situation. Everything she thought
05:44 she knew about the past has changed and she's got no idea what to do. The fact that this is all
05:49 happening to a couple who look like they could be your neighbours only adds to the drama.
05:53 4. Chris Hemsworth - Rush There are a lot of people that love Formula
05:58 One and there are a lot of people that think it's boring, but the best way to make F1 interesting
06:02 is to condense the action of a single season into one manageable chunk. And that's precisely what
06:06 Ron Howard did when he brought to the world Rush in 2013. It tells the story of the epic rivalry
06:12 between Austrian diver Nicky Lauda and British ace James Hunt. The two men were polar opposites,
06:17 Lauda was an ultra-serious professional, whilst his rival was a carefree playboy who relied solely
06:22 on natural talent. Whilst Lauda's story takes the main stage, Chris Hemsworth's version of Hunt is
06:27 always giving something in the background. His personal battles, his desire to win, his relationship
06:31 with Lauda, it's all there and it's all expertly presented by the star of Thor. Tell you what,
06:36 that would be one thing that would make Formula One more interesting for people that don't like it.
06:39 Give him Mjolnir, then see what happens. 3. Josh Brolin - Men in Black 3
06:45 Using an actor's real-life child as a younger version of themselves is a nice trick filmmakers
06:49 like to use from time to time. Is this what the producers of Men in Black 3 did when they needed
06:54 a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones? No, they got Josh Brolin to do an absolutely spot-on
06:59 impersonation instead. When Will Smith's Agent J travels to the past, he meets a younger version
07:04 of his mentor Agent K. Brolin is the spitting image of Jones who plays the modern-day version
07:09 of K. His voice, his mannerisms, even his actual face are almost identical to the star of No
07:15 Country for Old Men. Wait a minute, Josh Brolin was in that too? Maybe he's been spying on Tommy
07:20 Lee Jones this entire time. 2. Laura Dern - Star Wars The Last Jedi
07:25 Well, this one is going to get flak either way, so let's just get on with it. Despite
07:29 taking the most risks and actually attempting to put his own spin on the Star Wars franchise,
07:33 Rian Johnson's entry into the sequel trilogy was absolutely slated by some when it came out in 2017.
07:39 Many things came under fire, including Laura Dern's character Vice Admiral Amalyn Holdo. A
07:43 senior figure in the Resistance, Holdo assumes command after General Leia Organa gets injured
07:47 in the film's opening sequence. Holdo clashes with Poe Dameron, who eventually stages a mutiny
07:52 against her. However, he ends up with some serious egg on his face when she sacrifices herself to
07:57 save the entire Resistance fleet. Dern puts in an epic showing as a woman torn between doing
08:02 what's right and doing what people expect of her. She is constantly undermined by Poe,
08:06 but holds firm the entire time, never compromising on her beliefs as a leader.
08:10 She might get a lot of hate, but Vice Admiral Holdo is a certified badass.
08:15 1. Vin Diesel - The MCU Okay, yes, it might be a little bit weird
08:19 that number one is a tree. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of big characters who love to
08:24 mouth off. Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Rocket Raccoon, etc, etc. And how many
08:31 of them would be able to express as much emotion and character if their dialogue was reduced to
08:35 just five different words? The hulking wooden member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot,
08:40 shown in his debut appearance in 2014. Voiced by Vin Diesel of all people, the colossal conifer
08:46 ends up sacrificing himself for his friends and brilliantly changes his one line of speech from
08:51 "I am Groot" to "We are Groot". No, you're crying. This performance alone would be enough
08:58 to put him on top of this list, but Groot has 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. It might sound ridiculous, but per word uttered,
09:12 Vin Diesel might be the best actor in the entire MCU. Now isn't that weird?
09:17 And that's the list. Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below,
09:21 and whilst you're down there, let us know which of these performances stood out the most to you
09:25 and any others that we didn't include. Make sure you like this video, share it with your friends,
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09:35 I've been Si for WhatCulture, and have a good week.