He Really Can Act (Sugar Wiki): Difference between revisions

*** Same for ''Rocky V'' and ''Rocky Balboa,'' which went closer to the feel of the first film.

*** A friend of mine explicitly said this about Stallone's performance in ''[[Nighthawks]]''.

* [[Will Smith]]'s rising career was down to a series of steps where he would set himself up with fans with his winning smiling, slightly goofy and fun personality and then use a dose of serious acting to establish his credibility and then open himself up to a bigger audience.

** In the episode of ''[[Fresh Prince of Bel Air]]'' where his absentee father returns and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmerFuzRNZ4 yet again abandons him.]

** ''Raise Your Voice'' is a much earlier example. The only reason it bombed was because of the demographic issues. It was too mature for her pre-teen fans.

* [[Lindsay Lohan]] in ''[[Georgia Rule]]'' although it received mostly negative reviews, most critics praised her acting and said that her performance was the best part of the film.

** She was also excellent in ''A Prairie Home Companion'', as Meryl Streep's daughter. She more than holds her own both acting-wise and vocal-wise, measuring up against actors like Streep, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Kevin Kline, Tommy Lee Jones, and Virginia Madsen.

* [[John Wayne]] is an older example of this. After seeing ''[[Red River]]'' (directed by Ford's friend, Howard Hawks) [[John Ford]] famously said, "I didn't know the big lug could act."

* In his review of ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'', [[Moviebob]] captioned the photo of [[Eli Roth]] with the phrase "When did ''he'' learn to act?" There was also Mike Myers' [[One-Scene Wonder]].

** ''[[Gods And Monsters]]'', anyone? If you're sharing the screen with Sir Ian McKellen, just holding your own has to qualify.

** Also ''[[The Quiet American]]''.

** ''[[The Soloist]]'', as well.

* Colin Baker, aka the Sixth Doctor was widely considered the worst from his short TV tenure on ''[[Doctor Who]]''. When the actor reprised the role for the [[Big Finish Doctor Who|Big Finish audio dramas]], he was later voted the ''best''.

* Whether [[Arthur Darvill]] was any good at acting in his earlier career was mostly up for debate due to the fact that he spent most of it playing back up for a much more [[The Sooty Show|famous]] teddy bear, and now... well, watch any episode of ''Doctor Who'' he's in and you'll see what this guy can do. His conversation with Amy in "The Pandorica Opens" is arguably his best scene.

* Owen Wilson in [[Wes Anderson]] films: ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' and ''The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou''.

* Channing Tatum, mostly known for being reasonably hot and dancing in ''Step Up'', actually pulled off a really powerful and tragic performance in ''A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints'', even going so far as to have a Method moment and throwing a table through a window in an unscripted and highly emotional scene.

* Frank Sinatra crooned and hoofed his way through ''Anchors Aweigh'' and ''On The Town'', and then won an Oscar as Maggio in ''From Here To Eternity''. In his acceptance speech, he admitted that he was just a "song-and-dance man." (One that would go on to play several more Oscar-worthy roles, such as ''The Man With the Golden Arm'', and ''Suddenly'', where he plays a stone-cold psychopath.)

* Doc Hammer of ''[[The Venture Bros]]'' had this reaction to ''himself''. In the [[DVD Commentary]] to ''The Invisible Hand Of Fate'', he says that normally he and Jackson Publick are reading the lines for [[Man of a Thousand Voices|their many side characters]], they're pretty much just reading the lines in a funny voice without even trying to act. In that particular episode, Doc discovered his acting chops, pointing out the scene where Billy Quizboy angrily confronts the people manipulating him.

* ''Edward Scissorhands'' got this kind of attention for [[Johnny Depp]]. During his ''[[21 Jump Street]]'' days he had been thought of more as a teen mag coverboy than an actor (a situation that did not make him happy).

** Note that this is one of the first roles where his looks were seriously downplayed and he had to succeed on pure ability. And he aced it.

* Cher. When her name came up in the opening credits for ''Moonstruck'', the audience laughed. She bagged an Oscar for it.

* Tom Wansey, in [[Ace Lightning]]. For most of the first series, people weren't convinced he knew what he was doing; then came an episode with the series first character "[[Disney Death|death]]". He hasn't been seen since, of course, excluding a brief stint in a hospital drama; make of that what you will...

* Mike O'Malley is known for [[Yes, Dear|subpar comedies that somehow made it past 5 seasons]], Nickelodeon game shows, and being a Boston sports fan. However it wasn't until his turn on ''[[Glee]]'' as Kurt's father that people realized that he can actually act!

* [[Professional Wrestling|The Rock]], while [[Kayfabe|technically an actor]], was hardly what most people would have thought of as one. [[Dwayne Johnson]], on the other hand, is quite successful.

** Interestingly, when the idea for the movie ''[[The One (film)|The One]]'' was first put forward, the role of the good and evil protagonists ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]) was written for Dwayne Johnson. However, he opted to do ''[[The Scorpion King]]'' instead, and the script was re-written for [[Jet Li]]. While YMMV on the how good ''The One'' is, there's no denying the awesomeness of seeing Jet Li kick his own ass. Seeing the Rock do that would probably not be as cool. Besides, Jet Li and [[Jason Statham]] make a great team. The role of a Conan-like barbarian suits the Rock better.

** [[Youth in Revolt]], that's all.

* [[Alyson Hannigan]]. She did okay in films, and looked decent in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', but the episode "Dopplegangland" was where she showed she could really, really act. Evil Vampire!Willow was darn impressive, but then Good!Willow tries to imitate Vampire!Willow, and Vampire!Willow tries to imitate Good!Willow. It was a tour de force performance.

* The acting in ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' is superb across the board, but special congratulations has to go to Jack Gleeson, as Joffrey. Granted, it's the [[Complete Monster|sort of amazing acting]] that makes you want to [[Cruel and Unusual Death|toss him to direwolves]], but still. Well done... you little '''bastard.'''

** Alfie Allen's masterful [[Calling the Old Man Out]] in the third episode of season two proves he's not just Lily's [[Butt Monkey]] brother anymore.

* Lacey Turner was fairly well-known in Britain for portraying Stacey Slater in popular soap opera ''[[Eastenders]]''. When she was cast in the third season of ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'', many fans groaned at the prospect of having to sit through the performance of an actress largely known for shouting loudly at everyone else in the room. The fanbase was very pleasantly surprised when she turned in a surprisingly nuanced performance as vengeful murder victim Lia.

** She also underwent quite a transformation within ''EastEnders''. She was perfectly good as a shouter, but her last few months on the show and her character's struggle with being bipolar showed what a phenomenal actress Lacey Turner actually is.