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Best first time acting performances

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Best first time acting performances

Old 03-29-05, 12:05 AM
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Best first time acting performances

Name some great performances by first time actors.

~Edward Norton in Primal Fear
~Keisha Castle Hughes in Whale Rider

I'm sure there's a hundred more.
Old 03-29-05, 12:45 AM
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Norton had never been in a movie before, but he had been acting in plays since he was a child.

Hughes really was an amateur that they picked out of a classroom.

I'm just saying.
Old 03-29-05, 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Count Dooku
I'm just saying.
Why?
Old 03-29-05, 09:22 AM
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Jason Schwartzman - Rushmore
Old 03-29-05, 09:24 AM
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Sidney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon

Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves
Old 03-29-05, 11:16 AM
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Natalie Portman - Léon
Old 03-29-05, 11:21 AM
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God...I can't believe I'm about to say this...but Oprah Winfrey in THE COLOR PURPLE.
Old 03-29-05, 11:49 AM
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Catalina Sandino Moreno.

Not that I put much stock in Oscars, but getting nominated on your first film (Maria Full of Grace) isn't a bad start.
Old 03-29-05, 11:54 AM
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Bryce Dallas Howard - The Village
Old 03-29-05, 12:14 PM
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Lauren Bacall - To Have and Have Not
Old 03-29-05, 12:25 PM
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I second Bryce Dallas Howard

also,
Jason Lee in Mallrats
Old 03-29-05, 12:27 PM
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Originally Posted by redinger
Natalie Portman - Léon

beat me to it.
Old 03-29-05, 12:33 PM
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Anna Paquin
Diane Lane
Old 03-29-05, 01:44 PM
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Mary Badham and Phillip Alford in To Kill a Mockingbird

Very hard to top Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon. Youngest ever to win an Oscar, and in her first film!
Old 03-29-05, 04:58 PM
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In reply to Scott Shelton

"I'm just saying" was meant to translate as:

Even though Ed Norton had never appeared in a movie before, I don't think it's accurate to call someone who had been acting on the stage for almost two decades a "first time actor".

This especially bears contrasting with the case of Hughes who literally was acting for the first time in her life.
Old 03-29-05, 05:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Count Dooku
In reply to Scott Shelton

"I'm just saying" was meant to translate as:

Even though Ed Norton had never appeared in a movie before, I don't think it's accurate to call someone who had been acting on the stage for almost two decades a "first time actor".

This especially bears contrasting with the case of Hughes who literally was acting for the first time in her life.

"It won't be the bombs that kill us, it will be the endless nitpicking of minutiae."
Old 03-29-05, 05:51 PM
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Richard Widmark - Kiss of Death.

His character as psychopathic killer Tommy Udo was pretty creepy.
Old 03-29-05, 05:55 PM
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'nother vote for Natalie Portman.
Eve Marie Saint in On the Waterfront comes to mind as well.
Old 03-29-05, 06:04 PM
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Reese Witherspoon in Man in the Moon.

Mischa Barton in Lawn Dogs.
Old 03-29-05, 06:32 PM
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I'm gonna "third" Bryce howard...simply outstanding.
Old 03-29-05, 06:46 PM
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the endless nitpicking of minutiae
I think that might be a good definition of what happens when you set out to make a list of something that you call "The Best", but which is really just people voicing their personal opinions.

If you've had occasion to look at the Cult TV Tournament over in the TV Talk section, you might appreciate the value of "the endless nitpicking of minutiae".

Oh, and, of course...
Old 03-29-05, 07:03 PM
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Emily Watson Breaking the Waves
Émilie Dequenne Rosetta
Old 03-29-05, 07:18 PM
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Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple
Jaye Davidson - The Crying Game
Charlie Chaplin
Old 03-29-05, 08:25 PM
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Michelle Rodriguez was pretty good in Girlfight.
Old 03-29-05, 08:45 PM
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Originally Posted by devilshalo
Anna Paquin
Diane Lane
Which movies are you refering to? I looked at IMDB but that thing is messed up more than not.

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