Characters out of Character (vol. 1)

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For this I am going to introduce you to some actors who may be known for a certain type of character but have stepped out of their norm to give us some truly unique characters. First let me explain my personal three levels of acting ability. Okay Actors: These people play one role really well and are famous for it. There may be variations but in general their characters are all the same. Example: John Wayne - playing cowboy or navy captain he still is "John Wayne" and people expect it to be that way. Good Actors - These people play multiple 'characters' but you still know it is them playing the role. Great actors - Can play any role so well that you forget it is the actor and believe it is the character. Then there are the Okay Actors who get tight casted in a role type and are stuck with it and then surprise us with a stand out "Great Actor" performance. These posts will be covering this type of actor; the Character out of Character. This installment will cover two: Johnny Depp: Yes, he has played several characters but when you step back and look at them though different he still plays them the same; from "Edward Scissors Hands" to "Pirates of the Caribbean" he is still that goofy, he gets the jokes that we don't cocky Johnny Depp. For Depp I had two movies in mind but eliminated "Benny and Joon" because though the character was different than his norm it still slid into his character enough to not be the best pick for this. Instead I settled on "Ed Wood" 1994 because it was getting into the time he would blow up as an actor but still early enough that he seems more at ease losing his Depp persona in place of the actual character. What makes this even better is it is directed by Tim Burton who I believed fostered the birth of Depp's "Depp" character that shines in every role after this one. Depp plays a screen writer who battles with a lack of talent and a secret desire to cross dress. It is filmed in black and white giving it the perfect tone for the time period the movie is placed. Kiefer Sutherland: I'm sure everyone who has seen multiple roles from Kiefer would agree that he has developed a character who he blends well into all his roles: "Young Guns", "Flatliners", "24", etc. all taste of "Kiefer". BUT if you hunt through his list of film credits you find a surprise gem of him playing a character out of character: 1998's "Dark City". Kiefer plays a timid, scared, hinting at hunchbacked, walking with a limp, speaking with a shrill, mad scientist in this darkly filmed sci-fi movie. Rufus Sewell plays the lead but the scenes with Kiefer belong to him and I promise you will forget it is Kiefer. Though the movie has a cult following it kinda flew under the mainstream radar even though it had big names like Kiefer, William Hurt, Richard O'Brien, and Jennifer Connelly.