jewels

Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight had me thinking about other outstanding performances that I will never forget.

Maybe the movie wasn't great, but you can't forget this one character in a film. It might be a leading role; it might be a small character role. The actor is the character and it's forever branded in your brain.

Give us your most memorable character(s). Don't forget the movie title, character name and actor. Here are some that come to mind for me:

Robert DeNiro = Travis in Taxi Driver and Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull
Johnny Depp = Sam in Benny and Joon
Morgan Freeman = Red in The Shawshank Redemption
James Caan = Randall in Lady In A Cage
Laura Antonelli = Guiliana in L'Innocente

__________________
We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
Mark Twain

m0rpheus

I'll start with...
Bruce Campbell - Ashley Williams in Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness.
Willem Dafoe - Paul Smecker in Boondock Saints
Bruce Willis - John McClane in Die Hard
Alan Rickman - Hans Gruber also in Die Hard
Claude Rains - Captain Renault in Casablanca
-----Added 29/7/2008 at 09 : 11 : 43-----
shit I can't leave out

Johnny Depp - Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

__________________
"it never got weird enough for me." - Hunter S. Thompson

Baraka_Guru

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood.
Ian McKellen as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings.
Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction.
Charlie Chaplin as "The Little Tramp" in various films.
Michael Caine as Ray Say in Little Voice.


...just a few....

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Poppinjay

Alan Rickman - Severus Snape in "Harry Potter"
Bill Nighy - Ray Simms in "Still Crazy"
Rip Torn - Bob Diamond in "Defending Your Life"
James Earl Jones - Terry Mann in "Field of Dreams"
The entire cast of "Pecker"

__________________
I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet

speshul-k

Some of mine have already been mentioned too but here's a few more.

Edward Norton - The Narrator (Fight Club)
Robert Englund - Freddy Krueger (Nightmate on Elm Street series)
Michael Clarke Duncan - John Coffey (The green mile)
Brandon Lee - Eric Draven (The Crow)

RetroGunslinger

Off the top of my head:

Heath Ledger - The Joker in The Dark Knight
Daniel Day-Lewis - Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood
Robert Mitchum - Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter
Robert Mitchum/Robert DeNiro - Max Cady in Cape Fear
Willem Defoe - Paul Smecker in Boondock Saints
Kiefer Sutherland - David in The Lost Boys
Stephen Geoffreys - "Evil" Ed Thompson in Fright Night
Tim Curry - Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Nick Castle - The Shape in Halloween
Anthony Perkins - Norman Bates in Psycho
Gary Oldman - Stansfield in Léon
David Bowie - Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth
Dennis Hopper - Frank Booth in Blue Velvet
Ray Wise - Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
David Cronenberg - Dr. Philip K. Decker in Nightbreed
Masanobu Ando - Kazuo Kiriyama in Battle Royale

__________________
It's a rare pleasure in this world to get your mind fucked. Usually it's just foreplay.

M.B. Keene

PonyPotato

I have to do it.



Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight
Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Alien (and Aliens, and Alien 3..)
Milla Jovovich as Leeloo in The Fifth Element
Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park (known as "humans making bad choices" by Crompsin)
Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones (in all of the movies!)
Anthony Hopkins in most of his roles (but most notably Dr. Lecter in Silence of the Lambs)

...I might think of more later.

__________________
"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark."
— Henri-Frédéric Amiel

Nikilidstrom

Vincent D'Onofrio will always be Private Pile from Full Metal Jacket

and

Patrick Kilpatrick will always be The Sandman from Death Warrant

and

Kurt Russel will always be Jack Burton from Big Trouble In Little China

that is all

CinnamonGirl

Definitely, definitely David Bowie as Jareth.

And, it may sound a little lame compared to some of the other characters, but John Cusack as Harry in The Journey of Natty Gann. I saw it for the first time when I was around 11, and so began my love of John Cusack.

Let's see... who else...

Kevin Spacey as Verbal in the Usual Suspects
Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights
Mandy Patinkin as Inigo in the Princess Bride
Richard Chamberlain as Father Ralph in the Thorn Birds


...I'll be thinking about this for the rest of the day. hmmmm.

__________________
"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

dlish

dustin hoffman in rainman

morgan freeman in shawshank

denzel washington in malcolm x

laurence fishburne in boyz n tha hood

gregory peck in to kill a mockingbird

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An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
- Filthy

blahblah454

Willem Dafoe - Paul Smecker in Boondock Saints
Heath Ledger - The Joker in The Dark Knight
Morgan Freeman = Red in The Shawshank Redemption

These have all been said before, and need to be said again.

girldetective

anne bancroft/patty duke (annie sullivan/helen keller) : the miracle worker
ann margaret (kim mcafee) : bye bye birdie (she was so shiny)
kevin costner (jake) : silverado (he was so shiny)
michael palin/kevin cline (ken/otto) : a fish called wanda

there are so many more, but thats enough for now.

__________________
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons...be cheerful; strive for happiness - Desiderata

KellyC

Andy Serkis - Gollum in LOTR

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Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe?
Me: Shit happens.

ItWasMe

jessica tandy and mary stuart masterson - fried green tomatoes (probably my favorite movie)
mark hamill, harrison ford, carrie fisher - Star Wars!!
eddie murphy - beverly hills cop

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . .


"Ok, no more truth-or-dare until somebody returns my underwear" ~ George Lopez

I bake cookies just so I can lick the bowl. ~ ItWasMe

RetroGunslinger

Yummy. It's missing the bulge, however. THE BULGE OF DOOM!!

__________________
It's a rare pleasure in this world to get your mind fucked. Usually it's just foreplay.

M.B. Keene

Poppinjay

I was on the fence about Morgan Freeman. He was obviously great in Shawshank, but the entire cast was tremendous. Clancy Brown turned in the performance of his life. James Whitmore was great. His star scene as a parolee was riveting.

__________________
I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet

mixedmedia

Even though I didn't like the film much, I think Daniel Day-Lewis was excellent as Bill 'The Butcher' in The Gangs of New York, as well.
I will 2nd, 3rd, 4th his performance as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood.
And a nod to jewels' Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
Orson Welles as Hank Quinlan in Touch of Evil.
Joseph Cotten as Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt.
Because it's been on my mind, Richard Widmark as Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death.
Tom Hanks as Professor Dor in The Ladykillers.
Angelica Huston as Dolores in Crimes and Misdemeanors.
And, yes, I do love Ian McKellan as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar in American Splendor.
Meryl Streep as Sophie in Sophie's Choice.
Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Weiner in Welcome to the Dollhouse
The entire cast of Boogie Nights.

And Baraka Guru, great choice of Michael Caine in Little Voice. I loved him in that film.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

speshul-k

Uma Thurman (The Bride) Kill Bill Series
Samuel L Jackson - (Jules Winnfield) Pulp Fiction