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-   -   Chameleon actors (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/657341-chameleon-actors.html)

nando820 02-20-23 05:23 PM

Chameleon actors
 
Who are some great actors that hide inside their characters so well you actually forget it’s them.

I’m not talking about the DiCaprios or Brad Pitts though they are amazing I always know its them playing a character.

I’m thinking of actors like Gary Oldman who I always forget played commissioner Gordon and Dracula too. And no matter how many times I see his performances I never see Gary Oldman but 110% the character he is playing.

Ash Ketchum 02-20-23 05:35 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 

Originally Posted by nando820 (Post 14237644)
I’m thinking of actors like Gary Oldman who I always forget played commissioner Gordon and Dracula too.

And Lee Harvey Oswald.

rocket1312 02-20-23 05:44 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 

Originally Posted by Ash Ketchum (Post 14237647)
And Lee Harvey Oswald.

Lee Harvey Oswald was a great actor.

milo bloom 02-20-23 05:52 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Apparently I have face blindness so I rarely recognize actors in other works, so for me, all of them.

Why So Blu? 02-20-23 06:17 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Cliff Curtis is always cool to watch no matter the role. He played Smiley in Training Day. "I always get love from the homies."


GoldenJCJ 02-20-23 06:36 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Oscar Isaac can play pretty much any nationality convincingly.

andicus 02-20-23 08:43 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Vincent D'onofrio should have his picture in the dictionary under Chameleon actors.

Goonies85 02-20-23 10:12 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
In terms of actresses, Sarah Paulson is pretty amazing and chameleon-like. Watched American Crime Story: Impeachment last week and was amazed at her transformation into the much-hated (and rightfully so) Linda Tripp. But she's done the same sort of thing in many other films/TV Shows...Could say the same for Tilda Swinton, in a lot of ways and in a lot of roles...particularly something like the Suspiria remake, for one...

JeffTheAlpaca 02-21-23 04:32 AM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Christian Bale and Daniel Day Lewis

TheBang 02-21-23 04:42 AM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Some candidates:

Adam Driver
Kate Winslet
Heath Ledger (would have loved to see what roles he would've done over a few more decades)
Charlize Theron
Ralph Fiennes
Meryl Streep

rw2516 02-21-23 08:30 AM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
A variation. Well liked actor who always plays the good guy, then plays an evil villain and you hate his guts. Can't think of one off the top of my head but I know I've seen it. There was a tv movie with Andy Griffith as an evil sheriff or something. The end of Twilight with the twist revealing James Garner as a bad guy.
You're shocked because you're not use to seeing them like that.
Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People might be one.

Giantrobo 02-21-23 03:49 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
You cannot have this discussion without bringing up Jenette Goldstein


https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001280/

stvn1974 02-21-23 04:13 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 

Originally Posted by JeffTheAlpaca (Post 14237824)
Christian Bale and Daniel Day Lewis

To me Bale is the opposite of what the OP has in mind. Bale always takes me out of a scene because he I can tell he is acting.

Toby Dramit 02-21-23 05:37 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Watched a lot of 80s teen comedies back in the day and had no idea that the actress (Michelle Meyrink) who played Gilbert's girlfriend Judy in Revenge Of The Nerds was the same one who played Jordan in Real Genius and Suzi in Valley Girl. I would have sworn they were played by three different people. She stepped away from acting in 1989 to practice Zen Buddhism. She has since started her own acting school in Vancouver.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...1b246b079a.jpg

JeffTheAlpaca 02-21-23 09:20 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 

Originally Posted by stvn1974 (Post 14238102)
To me Bale is the opposite of what the OP has in mind. Bale always takes me out of a scene because he I can tell he is acting.


But he goes all in for his roles like Vice and you think that is the real Dick Cheney.

JeffTheAlpaca 02-21-23 09:28 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Olivia Coleman

Count Dooku 02-21-23 09:52 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Sam Rockwell

DJariya 02-21-23 10:01 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
What about Pedro Pascal. He can play Hispanic, white or even European.

He’s currently playing a white guy named Joel Miller on The Last of Us.

DJariya 02-21-23 10:03 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 

Originally Posted by Why So Blu? (Post 14237671)
Cliff Curtis is always cool to watch no matter the role. He played Smiley in Training Day. "I always get love from the homies."

Yeah he’s a Kiwi and he’s played White, Hispanic and even Middle Eastern Terrorist.

Lou Diamond Phillips was also a very versatile actor in his prime.

Coral 02-21-23 10:13 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Tatiana Maslany, especially based on her performances on Orphan Black.
All the characters she plays on OB look like Maslany, and yet it feels like they're being played by different actors.

GoldenJCJ 02-21-23 10:19 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 

Originally Posted by JeffTheAlpaca (Post 14237824)
Daniel Day Lewis

I know I’m going out on a limb calling Day-Lewis a great actor but i rewatched The Gangs of New York recently and was blown away by how lost he got in that role. The movie could have been better but Daniel Day-Lewis gave possibly the best performance I’ve ever seen on a movie. It’s simply amazing!

story 02-21-23 10:48 PM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Gary Oldman, Daniel Day Lewis, and Jesse Heiman.

Toby Dramit 02-22-23 12:26 AM

Re: Chameleon actors
 

Originally Posted by Coral (Post 14238271)
Tatiana Maslany, especially based on her performances on Orphan Black.
All the characters she plays on OB look like Maslany, and yet it feels like they're being played by different actors.


Completely agree with this. She did a wonderful job ... :thumbsup:

JeffTheAlpaca 02-22-23 05:07 AM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in their primes in the 70's up to maybe the early to mid 90's.

Kmical 02-22-23 10:58 AM

Re: Chameleon actors
 
Tilda Swinton.

Hard to believe how different she looks in each of her roles.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...1e04773f78.jpg


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