T w e n t y S i d e d
I’m far from a true film nerd but I am adjacent to the space enough that I see one overused phase thrown around frequently that I rarely actually agree with: “Nobody but _____ could have made this role work.” Wrong. Lies.
There are many amazing actors that could make a role just as fantastic with minor adjustments. Daniel Day Lewis is one of the best actors of our time but there aren’t many of his roles that I could say only he was capable of bringing to life. He just does an exceptional job in most of his roles. If you think an actor did an incredible job, just say so. That’s not discounting his work, by the way. He’s one of my favorites.
Once and a while it’s true, though. Especially when it comes to comedy since delivery can be everything. I truly believe that a huge amount of Jim Carrey roles really only work because it’s him. My best evidence for this is “The Grinch.” I’m sure other actors could have made it work but I don’t think anyone else could have done the role such justice that it became an actually beloved movie. The best evidence for this is Mike Myers in “The Cat in the Hat.” Carrey has a way of making humor that can easily be cringey or awkward into something actually enjoyable. He also has a darkness to him that brought menace to the Grinch under the surface.
J.K. Simmons is J. Jonah Jameson. It’s like someone bioengineered a man to play JJJ. He looks like him for one, but he’s also effortlessly able to convey all of the arrogant demanding nature of Jameson while maintaining a charisma and warmth that is incredibly compelling. There’s a reason why almost all voice acting jobs since the first Raimi Spiderman sounds like a J.K. Simmons impression.
Another direction to take this is in the direction of the marvel that is Nicholas Cage . Nobody could replace him in almost any of the movies that he’s in with a few exceptions like “Ghost Rider” and the “National Treasure” movies. He is Unique with a capital “U.” He puts every ounce of his being into his performances whether they need it or not. I could give examples but you all have many popping into your head immediately. My favorites are “Face/Off,” “Vampire’s Kiss,” and “Longlegs.” You get the full Cage in movies that are genuinely enjoyable. At least to me.
There’s plenty of other examples like the ones above but it’s the movie equivalent of “This game is Dark Souls hard.” No it isn’t. You’re just being intellectually lazy. I am curious, though, what you folks think. What is an example of a role that nobody else could have brought to life except for the actor cast for that role? If you think I’m wrong about my examples, tell me who you think would be a suitable replacement. I genuinely enjoy being proven wrong if it’s done with tact.
Face/Off is the perfect movie, by the way.
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Toshiro Mifune is the nameless ronin from Yojimbo and Sanjuro. He can bring intense emotions to the forefront and keep them lingering right under the surface during calmer scenes, I can’t think of a single contemporary Japanese actor who could have portrayed the role like Mifune could.
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion in the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. (In our house, the seasons after the series passed the books and became badly written fanfic are ignored.) Any other actor of his ability would have been a physical failure at the role; no one else of his physical stature has his Shakespearean-level acting chops.
Also, Robin Williams. In his failures, he was told to stay on script. In his successes, from Good Morning Vietnam to Good Will Hunting, the directors allowed him to improv his way into the heart of the character. No one else could have found the characters he played, because the characters in the script were not those characters.
This is on point. I was going to cite his performance as the voice of the Genie in Aladdin specifically, but you’re right that this is nearly as true of all his good films.
Plus 1 on Robin Williams. Bicentennial Man, Jack and even Patch Adams – No one could sew comedy and drama so well together like him.
Looks like my first comment had enough links to trigger moderation.
Since I’m making a second one I guess I’ll throw in Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl in the live action Popeye.
Andre the giant in The Princess Bride. Also Wallace Shawn (Vizzini) in The Princess Bride. And Billy Crystal in the Princess Bride. Oddly, the other actors in the film – who are pretty much universally excellent in their roles – are, I think, mostly not irreplaceable.
I actually think most instances of someone being irreplaceable in a role is because they are frequently playing a bit too much of themselves into the role for anyone else to copy. Which means they aren’t actually acting particularly well. Certainly true of some of the Robin Williams roles mentioned earlier. Robin was a joy to watch on screen, but he rarely played a character that wasn’t about 90% Robin Williams. Which would make it a pretty tough gig for anyone else to play.
There are movies where there’s a “star” role, either written for an actor or rewritten after the director says “I think we’ve got something here.”
And then there are movies where there’s no “star” needed. These call for “character actors” who are capable of and willing to disappear into a role. Scott Glenn is one. You’ve likely seen him in a dozen movies, but you don’t recognize him unless he speaks (and you recognize actors by voice).
One of the complaints I’ve seen about the Odyssey movie is that there’s too much star power in it. I think by which the complainers mean there’s too many actors who make movies playing a particular character.
Matt Damon has done this; he’s been playing “Matt Damon from Boston” so often that I’m not sure it’s possible for audiences to see him as anything else.
If it’s positive it means you’re a star. People cast you as that role, they write scripts with you in mind.
If it’s negative you’re typecast. People don’t cast you because they think “I don’t want Spock in my movie.”
Nimoy was quite annoyed by that for a long time; eventually he got resigned and leaned into it. Possibly as more movies and TV shows actually wanted “Spock”…
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool.
Similar gonzo-ness (if that’s a word): Myers? Carrey? No.
Similar age: Rudd? Rogan? Definitely not.
Williams (assuming the movie was made back when he could do the part)? Maybe? But I suspect the part would have been extensively changed. I don’t think Williams ever played anyone quite that nihilistic.
Jack Nicholson, sort of (all of his roles). Any role he’s in he’s playing Jack Nicholson. Usually either the director had him in mind from the start, or changes the part so it’s Jack Nicholson. Easy Rider is the earliest movie I’ve seen him in, and he’s already doing that character.
John Malkovich and Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons. That may be due to my not being able to bring other contemporary actors who could play the roles to mind, but they’re both really good. The movie is about as true to the book as it can be.
“Tobey Maguire is… Deadpool.”
I’m unsure how serious you are.
If you’re serious? *Maybe* he has the acting and comedic chops to play something that different from Spiderman/Peter Parker, but his filmography doesn’t really show evidence for it.
If you’re not? Well played.
Does it have to be examples of good movies?
I would argue that no one but Tommy Wiseau could have brought the ego and self-obliviousness to make The Room the memorable failure that it was.
Similarly, John Travolta in Battlefield Earth.
But for good examples: Andreas Katsjulas as G’kar on B5. Besides being a good actor, no mean feat through the heavy makeup and mask, also being established as a bit-villain actor before helped set audience expectations for his character arc to maximise the impact of the redemption. Assuming you knew who he was before watching, which was sadly not a given.
Jackie Chan as…Jackie Chan. :)
Samo Hung as … Jackie Chan :-P
What are they called again, the ‘three dragons’? Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao; the three most famous of the Seven Little Fortunes (Yuen Lo (Jackie Chan), Yuen Lung (Sammo Hung), Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Kwai (Corey Yuen), Yuen Qiu, Yuen Tak, Yuen Tai, and Yuen Mo).
EDIT: Personally I’d sooner see Yuen Biao in various of Jackie’s roles than Sammo.
The facial comedy plus the physical abilities I see Sammo or Yuen Wah. Yuen Biao is (was) good at the physical stuff, but the comedy is lacking.
Three dragons? I heard of the Five Lucky Stars. – Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars aka. Winners and Sinners is comedy gold.
I just don’t see Jim Carey as uniquely gifted. The reason you don’t see more jim careys around is because acting schools these spend their best efforts teaching you how to not be Jim Carey. There’s also not enough room in the world for multiple Jim Careys.
I’d add Jack Nicholson to the list, especially for his role in Wolf and maybe Departed but not all of his movies.
I’m not sold on Nick Cage. The best example for this is Face/Off. He and John Travolta could have switched roles without reducing the the quality of that movie. For Vampire Kiss I could imagine Travolta or Eddie Murphy as well. It would be a different movie with Murphy, but not necessary better or worse.
I think there are a couple of roles Tom Hanks has done which would be hard for someone else to play – Castaway comes to mind. At least – it would be a different movie as that was almost completely a solo-event, so anyone else playing it would naturally change the movie to their own interpretation of it, and I feel it would be the worse for it. Doesn’t mean it would be though – your mileage may vary on that interpretation.
It would be a different movie, yes, but not necessary for the worse. Gerard Depardieu could perform similiary, I think. Robin William completely different, but not worse. Castaway is easy, because it’s a one man show. Terminal or Forrest Gump are harder.
Tom Hanks is a marvelous actor with tons of different roles, but for every movie of him I could think of a different actor (not the same for each movie) that could replace him without losing quality.