Is he though? Sure, he’s great in his roles, but his mannerisms and personality pretty much stay the same regardless of the role. Someone like Gary Oldman, or Ed Norton are far better actors IMO. They disappear into their roles.
I think these two particular roles had a lot of mannerism overlap. That, and it was the same director in a similarly genred historical fiction revenge thriller. In Alita: Battle Angel and Downsizing, he’s playing different roles. Its just a shame the material doesn’t hold up to his talent for the roles.
But I’ll also note that Gary Oldman, in particular, really goes ham with the physical transformation. From slick terrorist in Air Force One to manic ex-con in Harry Potter to… Jesus Christ look at all those facial prostheses in Darkest Hour, its not just the acting but the degree to which he’s willing to physically change himself to fit the part.
Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale pull this as well, to really intense effect.
Christian Bale is definitely committed to his transformations. A lot of times I still see him in his roles, but he thoroughly sold me on his method acting ability in The Big Short. Holy shit, man! That was like watching a completely different person on the screen.
I saw Christian Bale and transformation and I was convinced you were going to bring up The Machinist, he lost a lot of weight for that role.
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Both his most famous roles have a similar way of speaking because the roles are pretty much the same. The efficient and precise German. The genre is also the same. I’ve seen a german comedy of his where he is completely different.
Gott des Gemetzels. It’s pretty good, but the type of movie we had to watch in German class.
I think it’s more his expressions, like the tiny details that make you feel like he’s really the person he’s playing on the screen. Regardless of makeup or physical change, this is noticeable in how Tarantino told him to hold back during rehearsals to really bring out his costars’ reactions in the final take of various scenes. That has nothing to do with what the character is or what he’s wearing or his physical condition.
I didn’t even know Gary Oldman was both Sirius Black and Commissioner Gordon until like 5 years after those movies came out.
How many movies have you seen him in to make a fair comparison?
His best known roles are very similar, true, but there’s more to being a great actor than just having a lot of range.