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Favorite Character Actor


Gatorubet

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people use different definitions. i feel like we have this discussion every 2-3 years 🤔😄

someone who plays quirky secondary characters...

PSH was my personal champion and i continue to be sad at being deprived of more of his life's work 😒

Goggins and Tilda are both excellent picks. Stephen Root. Allison Janney. Jennifer Coolidge always manages to steal the scene. 

and with that definition... somehow Brad Pitt became an outstanding character actor when he's not the lead... Burn After Reading. Snatch. 12 Monkeys. Inglourious Basterds and OUATIH. fight me. lol 😋

Edited by mchookem
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Actors with the most Best Supporting Actor nominations (in parentheses) include: 

Walter Brennan (4) - with three wins (Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938), The Westerner (1940)); also nominated in 1941 

Jack Nicholson (4) - with one win (Terms of Endearment (1983)); also nominated for  Easy Rider (1969), Reds (1981), A Few Good Men (1992)

Arthur Kennedy (4) - no wins; nominated for Champion (1949), Trial (1955), Peyton Place (1957), Some Came Running (1958)

Claude Rains (4) - no wins; nominated for  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939),  Casablanca (1943), Mr. Skeffington (1944),  Notorious (1946)

Robert Duvall (4) - no wins; nominated for  The Godfather (1972),  Apocalypse Now (1979), A Civil Action (1998), and The Judge (2014)

Jeff Bridges (4) - no wins; nominated for The Last Picture Show (1971), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974),  The Contender (2000), and Hell or High Water (2016) 

Al Pacino (4) - no wins; nominated for  The Godfather (1972), Dick Tracy (1990),  Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and The Irishman (2019)
 

Peter Ustinov (3) - with two wins for Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964); also nominated for Quo Vadis (1951)

Jason Robards (3) - with two wins for All the President's Men (1976) and Julia (1977); also nominated for Melvin and Howard (1980)
 

Charles Coburn (3) - with one win for The More the Merrier (1943); also nominated for The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and The Green Years (1946)

Gig Young (3) - with one win for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969); also nominated for Come Fill the Cup (1951) and Teacher's Pet (1958)

Jack Palance (3) - with one win for City Slickers (1991); also nominated for Sudden Fear (1952) and  Shane (1953)

Gene Hackman (3) - with one win for Unforgiven (1992); also nominated for  Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and I Never Sang For My Father (1970)

Martin Landau (3) - with one win for Ed Wood (1994); also nominated for Tucker: the Man and His Dream (1988)and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Christopher Plummer (3) - with one win for Beginners (2010); also nominated for The Last Station (2009) and All the Money in the World (2017) 
 

Willem Dafoe (3) - no wins; nominated for Platoon (1986), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), and The Florida Project (2017)

Charles Bickford (3) - no wins; nominated for The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Farmer's Daughter (1947), and Johnny Belinda (1948)

Ed Harris (3) - no wins; nominated for Apollo 13 (1995), The Truman Show (1998), and The Hours (2002)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (3) - no wins; nominated for Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Doubt (2008), and The Master (2012)

 

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Actresses with the most Best Supporting Actress nominations (in parentheses) include: 

Thelma Ritter (6) - no wins; nominated for  All About Eve (1950), The Mating Season (1951), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Pickup on South Street (1953), Pillow Talk (1959) and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962); nominations were in a 12-year span from 1950-1962 (four nominations were consecutive in a streak from 1950-1953)
 

Amy Adams (5) - no wins; nominated for Junebug (2005), Doubt (2008), The Fighter (2010), The Master (2012) and Vice (2018) 
 

Ethel Barrymore (4) - with one win (None But the Lonely Heart (1944)); also nominated for The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Paradine Case (1947), Pinky (1949)

Lee Grant (4) - with one win (Shampoo (1975)); also nominated for Detective Story (1951), The Landlord (1970), Voyage of the Damned (1976)

Maggie Smith (4) - with one win (California Suite (1978)); also nominated for Othello (1965), A Room With a View (1985), Gosford Park (2001) 

Maureen Stapleton (4) - with one win (Reds (1981)); also nominated for Lonelyhearts (1958), Airport (1970), Interiors (1978)

Meryl Streep (4) - with one win (Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)); also nominated for The Deer Hunter (1978), Adaptation (2002), and Into the Woods (2014)
 

Agnes Moorehead (4) - no wins; nominated for  The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Mrs. Parkington (1944), Johnny Belinda (1948), Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Geraldine Page (4) - no wins; nominated for Hondo (1953), You're a Big Boy Now (1966), Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

Glenn Close (4) - no wins; nominated for The World According to Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), The Natural (1984); these three nominations were in consecutive years (1982-1984), and then Hillbilly Elegy (2020) 
 

Shelley Winters (3) - with two wins (The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), A Patch of Blue (1965)); also nominated for The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Dianne Wiest (3) - with two wins (Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Bullets Over Broadway (1994)); also nominated for Parenthood (1989)
 

Anne Revere (3) - with one win (National Velvet (1945)); also nominated for The Song of Bernadette (1943), Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Celeste Holm (3) - with one win (Gentleman's Agreement (1947)); also nominated for Come to the Stable (1949), All About Eve (1950)

Claire Trevor (3) - with one win (Key Largo (1948)); also nominated for Dead End (1937), The High and the Mighty (1954)

Marisa Tomei (3) - with one win (My Cousin Vinny (1992)); also nominated for In the Bedroom (2001), The Wrestler (2008)

Judi Dench (3) - with one win (Shakespeare in Love (1998)); also nominated for Chocolat (2000) and Belfast (2021)

Cate Blanchett (3) - with one win (The Aviator (2004)); also nominated for Notes on a Scandal (2006), I'm Not There (2007)

Octavia Spencer (3) - with one win (The Help (2011)); also nominated for Hidden Figures (2016) and The Shape of Water (2017)
 

Gladys Cooper (3) - no wins; nominated for Now, Voyager (1942), The Song of Bernadette (1943), My Fair Lady (1964)

Angela Lansbury (3) - no wins; nominated for Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Diane Ladd (3) - no wins; nominated for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Wild at Heart (1990), Rambling Rose (1991)

Frances McDormand (3) - no wins; nominated for Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), North Country (2005)

Kathy Bates (3) - no wins; nominated for Primary Colors (1998), About Schmidt (2002), Richard Jewell (2019)
 

Teresa Wright (2) - with one win (Mrs. Miniver (1942)); also nominated for The Little Foxes (1941) - these two were consecutive nominations

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28 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

No offense @TonyTexas, but based on your lists, I'm not sure you understand the concept of character actor.  Meryl Streep?  Jack Nicholson?  Al Pacino?

Think more Christoph Waltz.

If OP was looking for a careers that consist of solely tertiary roles then you’re correct. But he didn’t. Just because someone is now a leading man/woman now doesn’t mean they weren’t a great character actor at some point in time. Anyway, I didn’t post those lists as a statement, more for reference points. 

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Supporting != character.

Character is usually lower profile than supporting.

Michael Kelly is doing solid work and building quite a resume these days.  Some of his stuff is more supporting than character of late.  Also Stephen Root and our own Bruce McGill.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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19 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:

If OP was looking for a careers that consist of solely tertiary roles then you’re correct. But he didn’t.

OP received the video in a text this afternoon from one of the actors in the YouTube video, so I stuck it in here.   I wasn’t really thinking of someone like Robert Duvall.  When you were the lead or co-lead of a movie that kind of kicks you out of character actor status  

OTOH, he was Boo Radley, so at a point in time he sure was a character actor. 

 

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18 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Supporting != character.

Character is usually lower profile than supporting.

Michael Kelly is doing solid work and building quite a resume these days.  Some of his stuff is more supporting than character of late.  Also Stephen Root and our own Bruce McGill.

By that definition:

MV5BYmNlYmM0ZTgtY2ZhMS00MzE5LTk1MzEtNmE1

licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcQIwFQBTtJOfo7

 

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585c718bd23c9fc4d6e4c551da32530a.jpg

Ned Reyerson is a classic character actor. Grew up in South Dallas with the Vaughan brothers and had little Stevie play guitar in a recording session with his garage band. Additionally, he said he was there in Austin when Stevie and Jimmie reconciled and planned Family Style.

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Let's go OG starting with the pride of Decatur, Texas

Showbiz Imagery and Forgotten History, Guinn Big Boy Williams looked like  he was related...

Alan Hale was among the best. Played Little John in 3 different films.

Louie The Movie Buff: ALAN HALE SENIOR

Jack Elam was either evil or hilarious.

Jack Elam - Wikipedia

Marjorie Main was always loveable, but beaten down. In real life she was a huge germaphobe.

Happy 131st Birthday Marjorie Main – Waldina

Walter Brennan had a long, mostly toothless and unshaven career.

Walter Brennan - Wikipedia

John Carradine never had a bad performance. The list of classics he was in is beyond impressive. His kids weren't bad either.

John Carradine – Movies, Bio and Lists on MUBI

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OP received the video in a text this afternoon from one of the actors in the YouTube video, so I stuck it in here.   I wasn’t really thinking of someone like Robert Duvall.  When you were the lead or co-lead of a movie that kind of kicks you out of character actor status  
OTOH, he was Boo Radley, so at a point in time he sure was a character actor. 
 

Robert Duvall defines character actor. He never plays himself like Tom Cruise. Even when he has the lead it’s a character type role. He is the greatest American actor in my opinion.
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2 hours ago, Bama Llama said:

This thread should be ashamed for not mentioning Steve Buscemi yet.

Blood has been shed, Jerry.

So, you got Jose Feliciano here. Not exactly chopped liver, huh?

Fargo / Ghost World / Con Air / just scratch the surface. 

 

He was the lead in Boardwalk Empire, in which I am currently in a rewatch.  I most definitely considered him, but but by various definitions, he gone.

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