Actors That I Can Only See As One/ Two Characters
Like many of you, I love seeing actors/actresses perform — especially in movies. There’s some freeing about watching actors tap into emotions that you would like to express every day, but can’t sometimes — because it wouldn’t be appropriate in real life under certain circumstances.
It could get you sent to prison, and we don’t want that. We want you out in the fresh air living your best life. Yep, I’ve been a fan since I can remember watching movies. One of the first movies I remember seeing was a film made in the 60s called Zulu. Thinking about it now, I was too young to be watching that movie when I did.
The breathtaking cinematography, the beautiful hills, and seeing those beautiful battle scenes between the Zulus and the British was EVERYTHING! It made me feel I went to another world in Africa from the country life in North Carolina. All the actors did a great job making it feel like you were watching a battle take place in the late 1800s.
Some actors/actresses are privileged to be seen as playing any kind of character because they’re that great. Other actors can only play a certain kind of character, and that’s okay too. Everyone can’t be a Johnny Depp or a John Turturro and just morph into different characters effortlessly.
The real fun is seeing actors everyone knows still somehow make you believe they are the character they’re portraying like Tom Hanks. I don’t know how this man does it? I can’t tell if he becomes the role or if the role becomes him? You would think after watching him my whole life, I wouldn’t believe in his acting power anymore, but somehow, he makes me believe. It’s an incredible task to put off.
Then there are those actors who played a part so well that I have a hard time seeing them as anyone else.
BRIAN CRANSTON
I’ve learned that Brian Cranston is a fine actor in various stuff I’ve seen him over the years, and yet, I still see him as that over-the-top dad from Malcolm In The Middle, my brain refuses to see him as anyone else but that great part. He came really close in the movie Trumbo. He was great in that movie!
I did try to see that show Breaking Bad when it was hyped as the greatest show at the time when it was on. After a few episodes, I gave up because I couldn’t get into it.
Cranston did a great job hiding in the character he was supposed to be, still, the Malcolm In The Middle character kept coming up in my head when I was watching him acting on that show. I kept waiting for him to lose his cool and snapped as he did on MITM. The man was brilliant on that show!
The crazy part is, I didn’t even watch Malcolm that much during its run on TV, but when I did, I couldn’t take my eyes of Bryan’s character when he would have his meltdowns. If I could, I would give him an Oscar for it. He and Jane Kaczmarek made a great team on that show. She was brilliant too.
Sorry, Bryan, maybe the Malcolm In The Middle spell will come off me one day and then I can see you like the great actor that you are.
SHIA LABEOUF
Shia I tried, I really tried so hard to believe you in your coming of age and adult roles that I’ve seen you in, but I’ve finally accepted my failure, maybe I been accepted it and I’m finally putting it out for the internet to see. He was somewhat believable in I,Robot. Transformers? Nah. Sorry, I couldn't do it. In the last movie I saw with him about a year ago called The Tax Collector, he was playing a ruthless gang member in Los Angeles with a Mexican accent.
That’s not even the kind of movie that I usually watch, but, some of my friends I was with at the time recommend watching it, so I gave it a shot. That movie was so painful on the eyes, that it took me two days to recover from the eye abuse. Seeing Shia trying to portray a thug character, Nope, Gerald’s mind has left the character.
For some reason, the scenes I’ve seen with him in adult roles — -it just feels like something is missing. That flare he had in his younger days just died when he became of young adult age. I respect he’s tried different roles, it’s just really hard to picture when he had two great movie characters during his kid/teen years.
Sorry Shia. You’ll always be Stanley Yelnats (from the great movie Holes) and Even Stevens to me. You played those roles very well that I can’t see you as anything else. Maybe that’s the problem, I want to see Even Stevens/Stanley Yelnats in every role you do which isn’t realistic with you being a 35-year old man now.
Like Bryan, maybe I’ll one day see the light on Shia, it could be a long wait though for that day to arrive. They’re other actors/actresses who have this problem with tv/movie fans, but these two actors have been on my mind the most when it came to the topic, it felt good finally releasing the thoughts I had about them out of my head.
