Who’s that guy? Fresh faces on film
Posted: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:00 AM by Paige Newman
Filed Under:
Movies
Occasionally, I have a moment when an actor I’m unfamiliar with pops off the movie screen. Perhaps that person has been around, maybe in television or in smaller roles, but then that one movie comes along and, suddenly, it’s as if they’re shining more brightly than before. Here are a couple people who have already done it – or have the potential to do it.
Danny McBride
|
AP
|
McBride drew the attention of Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow with his $80,000 film “The Fist Foot Way.” He told Entertainment Weekly, “I don’t have a head shot,” he says. “I’ve never really been on an audition. I’ve had the weirdest career path.” But seeing him in “Pineapple Express,” I had one of those “Who is that guy?” moments. One of the delights of his performance as Red, the middleman drug dealer, is that you can never tell what he is going to do next. You think he’s gone from the movie, and he reappears. And better yet, you’re glad he reappears. And this “non-actor” has a lot of work ahead of him. He co-stars in this week’s “Tropic Thunder” and will appear in Will Ferrell’s “Land of the Lost” remake. Let’s hope he stumbles into many more scene-stealing performances.
Idris Elba
|
AP
|
OK, full disclosure, Elba’s name is not unknown to me. He more than popped for me when he starred as Stringer Bell in HBO’s “The Wire.” Ever since, I’ve been dying for him to become a star. Tellingly, even at Comic-Con, an audience member asked about his “Wire” character – and he hadn’t been on the now-defunct show since season three. He gets a chance to play small-time gangster Mumbles in Guy Ritchie’s “RocknRolla” (Oct. 3) and let’s hope that this “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”-esque role gets him the attention he so richly deserves. Other “Wire” actors that deserve better careers: Wendell Pierce (Bunk), Andre Royo (Bubbles), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (Clay Davis), Larry Gilliard Jr. (D’Angelo Barksdale) and, of course, Michael K. Williams (Omar). These actors deserve to be more than “Law & Order” guest stars.
Elizabeth Banks
|
AP
|
Sometimes an actress who looks familiar (in this case from “Scrubs”) will suddenly seem to be everywhere. Banks’ best bet to make a killer pop-off-the-screen impression is in Oliver Stone’s “W.” (Oct. 17), where she takes on the meaty, and potentially very fun role of Laura Bush. She also stars with Seth Rogen in Kevin Smith’s latest film, “Zach and Miri Make a Porno” (Oct. 31), about a platonic couple who decide to gather up their pals and make a porn film to earn some extra money. And finally, she stars as Paul Rudd’s ex-girlfriend in “Role Models” (Nov. 14) about a couple of energy-drink salesmen who are sentenced to volunteer as Big Brothers. Don’t be surprised if this is the year Banks becomes a star.
Are there actors that you’ve recently noticed in films? Or TV actors who deserve a big screen break? Share your thoughts.
