I was watching Requiem For A Dream last night (which was good, but depressing as hell) and to my surprise I see one of 4 hottest women in the world Jennifer Connelly. (to find out the others, check out Andrew's post on recent viewings).
However it dawned on me that she takes on the strangest roles. her roles range from an action type movie Dark City, to Academy Award fodder/crap A Beautiful Mind, and then off to artistic drug work in Requiem.
Very bizzare choices, because most actors like to define themselves and then do against type roles. The biggest examples of this work are Robert DeNiro and Denzel Washington. THey were well defined actors that every now and then try on a new part, to see if it fits or to stretch their acting abilities.
Others that are like Jennifer Connelly include:
Matthew McConeghay (spelling) - is he going for sexy Hollywood loveboat (Contact, The Wedding Planner) action/sci fi. (Reign of Fire) or strange suspense (Frailty)
Rob Lowe- Is he the Comedian (Austin Powers, Tommy Boy) or the dramatic man he was groomed by Hollywood to be (West Wing) which he is much better at???
What are some other well known stars (not character or B list actors) that do this, and why? Is it really good for a career?????
I love to see actors and actresses who have such a broad ability where they can play any part you give them in any movie. Then again, there are those actors and actresses who have defined themselves so securely to a style of movie, it's akward to see their presence anywhere else. Robert Deniro comes to mind when he tries all of these new comedy roles, and then I think back to the young Vito Corleone, and I only think "If your father saw you right now, what would he say?" Deniro isn't comedy material.
Scottie
Gotta give props to Micheal Keaten who bounced between Mr.Mom, Batman, Beetlejuice and Duplicity in short order.
Here's my list of strange actors:
Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Steve Buscemi, Johnny Depp, Paul Reuben, and Chris Elliot.