When an actor is offered to familiarize himself with the new scenario, he naturally cannot know in advance whether the film will “shoot”, because even the most promising and pre-advertised films very often fail at the box office. Neither the well-known name of the director, nor even the "star" cast can guarantee success.
And you and I know very well very good actors who regularly “get involved” in bad films: remember, for example, Holly Berry in “Catwoman”, Jessica Alba in “Fantastic Four”, George Clooney in “Batman and Robin”, Matt Damon in “The Bourne Ultimatum”, but according to Nicholas Cage in all kinds of films he wasn’t “driven” by only the lazy.
But there are such actors in Hollywood who are not mistaken in choosing successful (and successful) roles almost never. Either they have some kind of "sixth sense", or ...
Or maybe the dependence here is just the opposite: sometimes the film becomes good (even if it initially had problems: the script “sagged”, some inconsistency in the behavior of the characters, not very cool special effects, etc.) precisely because especially talented actors play in it, who, with their skill and skillful improvisation, pull it to a much higher level? How to know ...
So, here are 10 actors who almost never made a mistake in choosing a future role:
10. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
This guy got the first role at the age of seven (in the television movie "Not a Step Back"), and since then not a single film (or series) with his participation has been a failure or rejected by the audience. He perfectly knows how to choose scripts, preferring to star in talented independent directors.
To date, he has behind him, including participation in several “high-profile” projects: the role of Tom Hansen in “500 Days of Summer” by Mark Webb, Philip Petit in “Walk” by Robert Zemeckis, the guide Arthur in the “Beginning” and the detective John Blake in The Dark Knight: Revival of a Legend by Christopher Nolan, etc.
True, for the sake of his directorial debut (filming the film "Passion of Don Juan"), Gordon-Levitt refused the role in "Django Unchained", which eventually played by DiCaprio. And this is perhaps his first mistake in his career. Though…
9. Joaquin Phoenix
Another actor whose participation in the film is a real “quality mark”. He is a four-time nominee (and holder) of the Golden Globe, a three-time nominee for an Oscar, etc.
Since 1995 (with the role in the movie "Die in the Name" - the third in his career) Phoenix selects exceptionally high-quality scenarios.
He was renowned worldwide for the roles of Abbot du Colmiere in the drama Feather of the Marquis de Sade by Philip Kaufmann, Emperor Commodus in Gladiator Ridley Scott, Lucia Hunt in The Mysterious Forest and Merrill Hess in Signs
Knight M. Shyamalan, journalist Jack Duglish at the Rwanda Hotel Terry George, country star Johnny Cash in Cross the Line James Mangold, etc.
8. Tom Hanks
But this is just the case when the presence in the frame twice of an "Oscar-bearer" (for the roles of Forrest Gump and Andrew Beckett in "Philadelphia"), four-time winner of the Golden Globe, seven times - the Emmy Award, etc. (and generally beloved “American Pope”) - a guarantee that the film will definitely get recognition from the audience.
Tom Hanks, who once began his acting career with small roles on television and lightweight comedies, very quickly managed to prove to everyone that he is a very diverse and serious actor. (After the masterpiece Forrest Gump, no one had the slightest doubt about this).
Hanks is still “pulling out” some films with his participation a notch higher than they could be, with his one huge charisma.
7. Viggo Mortensen
We all, of course, know American actor with Danish roots Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr., first of all, as Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. After the real triumph of this magnificent trilogy of Peter Jackson, some of Mortensen's newfound fans were surprised to learn that he had actually been shot for many years, and most of the films in his filmography are very famous.
It’s just that at the beginning of his career Viggo was offered mainly secondary roles (moreover, negative characters), and later he himself began to choose mainly deep and “characteristic” roles in films of independent directors (in which, by the way, his obvious acting talent was revealed especially bright), so he was not so well known to the general public.
And after "The Lord of the Rings" came the "same" fame. And since then, Viggo Mortensen has been choosing extremely successful films (but still quite complex roles).
6. Daniel Day-Lewis
The full filmography of Day-Lewis has less than 30 paintings (quite unusual for a real star, right?). He is rarely removed (once every 3-5 years), and all just because he very carefully approaches the choice of roles.
Nevertheless, he is so far the only actor in the history of the American Film Academy, who 3 (!) Times won the Oscar for best actor. Surely, this is due to the fact that Daniel Day-Lewis is an ardent supporter of the Stanislavsky system, and sometimes he is so “laid out” on the set that he earns serious health problems.
His main roles (bringing Day-Lewis the fame of one of the best actors in the world): Christy Brown in the drama directed by Jim Sheridan “My Left Leg”, President Lincoln in the eponymous film by Stephen Spielberg, Bill “The Butcher” Cutting in “New York's Gangs” Martina Scorsese etc.
5. Benicio Del Toro
This actor of Puerto Rican descent has a typical (and memorable) appearance of "bad guy." At the beginning of his career, he mainly played villains (as well as their minions and bodyguards), drug lords and other completely “frostbitten” characters. But, since Benicio Del Toro did all this very convincingly, they gradually began to invite him to dramatic projects.
The most “star” in the career of Del Toro were the roles of Dr. Gonzo in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Terry Gilliam, Frankie “Four Fingers” in “The Big Kush” by Guy Ritchie, Javier Rodriguez in “Traffic” by Stephen Soderberg (by the way, “Oscar for Best Supporting Actor”), Jack Jordan in the drama “21 Grams” by Alejandro González Iñárritu, etc.
4. Kevin Spacey
Now in the life and career of Kevin Spacey, everything is very complicated due to the series of accusations of sexual harassment that thundered not so long ago against a number of Hollywood actors and directors, among which was this talented artist. Despite the fact that he finally frankly admitted that he did not even think of molesting a single woman, since he was gay, this, alas, did not help him much.
Meanwhile, Spacey is twice an Oscar-winner, the owner of the Golden Globe and several other prestigious film awards. He also always meticulously chooses scenarios (and loves to play strange or ambiguous characters).
The most famous films with the participation of Kevin Spacey: “Seven” by David Fincher (where he played the role of John Doe), “American Beauty” by Sam Mendes (the role of Lester Burnham), “Planet Ka-Pak” by Ian Softley (alien Prot, aka Robert Porter), "The Unbearable Bosses" by Seth Gordon ("crazy" Dave Harkin), etc.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
Well, anyone really has a role, then a masterpiece! Not only is Leonardo DiCaprio very good at choosing scenarios, he also masterfully “refines” each of his characters in the process of filming, makes him more realistic and “lively”, constantly improvising, arguing hoarse with directors and literally dissolving in his next role .
And now, when Leo, without any questions, is a star of the first magnitude, having a rather big fortune, he can afford to produce precisely those films in which he himself wants to appear.
In fact, DiCaprio already has no reason to prove anything to anyone - everyone already knows that he can play anyone and anything (the proof is his 4 Oscar nominations and, finally, from the fifth attempt, the same received a golden figurine for the role of Hugh Glass in the film "Survivor", as well as three Golden Globes and 8 more nominations for this award, etc., etc.).
Just in case, the main films of DiCaprio: “What is eating Gilbert Grape?”, “Titanic”, “Gangs of New York”, “Wolf from Wall Street”, “Aviator”, “The Departed”, “The Great Gatsby”, “ Start ”, etc.
2. Tim Roth
The British Timothy Simon Smith (this is the real name of Tim Roth) is really lucky - he once noticed him and took on the role of Mr. Orange in the film "Reservoir Dogs" now a cult director Quentin Tarantino. It was with this that his real - Hollywood - career began.
No, in fact, Tim Roth had very successful roles before that (otherwise he would not have been able to attract Tarantino’s attention), for example, Vincent van Gogh in the movie “Vincent and Theo” by Robert Altman, Gidendenstern in the film “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern dead ”by Tom Stoppard, etc.
Since then, Tim Roth took part in more than 60 projects, most of which were very favorably received by the audience (including in two more Tarantino films: Pulp Fiction and 4 Rooms). The most notable of them were “Trap”, “Little Odessa”, “Lie to Me”, “Kill the King”, “Princess of Monaco”, “The Disgusting Eight”, etc.
1. Christoph Waltz
And another “godson” of Quentin Tarantino - appeared in Hollywood as if from nowhere Austrian Christoph Waltz. In fact, at home (in Austria), Waltz starred in the 1970s (mainly in detective series).
But he was not in a hurry to go to Hollywood, not without reason suggesting that here he - an actor with a German accent, would be given exclusively the roles of the Nazis.
And yet, apparently, Waltz could not resist the famous Tarantino, agreeing to the role of SS standartenfuhrer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. And - bingo! - for this character perfectly played by him (indeed, a rare, but very charming bastard), Waltz immediately received an Oscar, Golden Globe and several more prestigious awards!
And it began: “Django Unchained” of the same Tarantino (the role of Dr. King Schulz), “Water to the Elephants” (circus owner the bastard August Rosenblut), “Big Eyes” (Walter Keane), “In short” (Dusan Mirkovich), etc. Christoph Waltz is organic in any role, since he is really quite talented. And films with his participation perfectly "go to the viewer."