The Five Unsung Chameleons In Hollywood

At one point in his or her career, every actor or actress will inevitably say that they have had to “lose themselves” in the character and that it was this metamorphosis that allowed them to inhabit the character they were playing and turn in such an amazing performance.  Daniel Day-Lewis (on anyone’s short list for greatest actor of all time) and Gary Oldman (on everyone’s short list for “thank God I got to make a film with him because being on screen with him makes me seem that much better than I actually am and raises my profile”) have built their careers on this idea.  Sometimes in order to facilitate this transformation, actors will even alter their appearance and drastically change their weight; most notable being both Robert De Niro and Christian Bale, but also don’t forget about Charlize Theron.

She gained four pounds for this role.

            And while these household names are known for losing themselves in the role, what impresses me more in this day and age is some of the more unknown actors in Hollywood who are truly chameleons while in front of a camera. The sad truth of the film industry these days is that even some of our most beloved actors and most bankable box office megastars are simply churning out repeat performances of character types that they have mastered years ago and that we simply love seeing them play.  Sure he’ll take a dramatic role every once in a while, but Will Smith knows that he made his money by drawing out a patented, “Aw, hell no…” while holding a gun in front of a Michael Bay sunset (In Hollywood, that’s called type-casting, which is a common complaint from actors who’ve appeared in film after film playing similar characters but now suddenly want to appear to be trying to stretch their talents in different creative directions. In the real world, that’s just called job security; but that’s a whole other article).  In today’s business climate of studios wanting to develop only franchise-launching properties or repurposing material for a remake with a built in audience based on nostalgia, this trend is becoming even more prevalent. 

            Which is why, dear friends, I’m choosing to celebrate some of the lesser-knowns of  Hollywood;  the true chameleons of the day.  Some of them you may know, some perhaps not; and some I’m guessing you’ll say, “Oh, that guy was in that movie?!?” Some of you may even say, “What the hell does this author do for a living and how does he have time to produce these articles every month?”  Whatever your reaction, feel free to blow up the comments section down below, and please join me in my salute to:

The Five Unsung Chameleons In Hollywood

CLIFF CURTIS

Known For: “Three Kings”

                       Easily the top choice on my list, this guy can literally play any ethnic type the script calls for and he can do them all with equal amounts of pathos and earnest.  Curtis’ breakthrough role was Amir Abdulah, the Kuwaiti businessman who teams up with George Clooney and the gang halfway through the film “Three Kings”; a role that not only gave an Arab a positive command presence in the plot, but also threatened to steal the spotlight from the wonderful ragtag team of American characters that came blasting into his village.  After freeing him from torture and witnessing his wife’s execution (in a sequence that basically guaranteed David O. Russell would get another directing job), the American soldiers suddenly find themselves being rescued by Abdulah and his fellow villagers.  By the end of the film, he’s up on the roof helping Ice Cube fight off an Iraqi helicopter and leading his people to safety in Iran, taking the character’s arc from victim to victorious.  It was an incredible performance in its own right, but it got Holy-Crap-That’s-Freaking-Awesome better the next time you saw him and found out that the guy isn’t even Arabian at all; he’s from New Zealand.  And that next performance I’m referring to? It was his role as Smiley, the Latino gang member that almost kills Ethan Hawke in “Training Day”.

Yeah, it’s the same freaking guy!

           

            Known for its gritty realism and an unflinching look into police corruption and brutality as well as the LA gang lifestyle, “Training Day” actually employed real gang members to give the scenes involving their on screen counterparts that much more realism.  But in the fifteen minutes he is on film, Curtis outshines them all in a terrifying turn as the morally bankrupt gang banger to whom execution is a way of life and as he puts it, “just business.”  As if that transformation wasn’t enough, Curtis also showed up in “Blow” as Pablo Escobar, this minor criminal from this one country that exported something into America (that last sentence is literally better than the entire script for “Blow”, a film which came pre-reviewed by its title); and as a Hispanic, middle American jury member in “The Runaway Jury”.  No kidding around, if I was this guy’s agent and the script called for a Caucasian woman, I’d give it to him and let him see if he was interested in the role.  You know he’d have no problem pulling it off.

STEPHEN LANG

Known For: “Avatar”

            James Cameron deserves the title of “Most Innovating Filmmaker” based not only on his technical direction and creativity but also on the fact that he literally develops the technology that is used to create his vision (to give credit where it is due, I am passionately against the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy in every way, shape, and form; but Peter Jackson is a worthy runner up for this award).  Everyone wants to crap all over “Avatar” for being a story that they had seen before a million times and that’s fine, but no one is out there saying that the film wasn’t incredible to look at or that the visuals won’t go on to redefine what CGI can and cannot do in the world of film.  And along side all of the technical accomplishments of the film, there were some notable performances, most eye catching was Stephen Lang as Col. Miles Quaritch. At the tender age of 57, Lang catapulted his career back into the spotlight (and himself onto one terrible television show) by his gritty too-gung-ho performance as the military leader of Pandora’s research station (a part Michael Biehn had already mastered in Cameron’s earlier work “The Abyss”).  To be honest, it’s a pretty standard overbearing jarhead role that would have gone a lot more unnoticed had Lang not looked like The Rock’s training partner the whole time. I mean, come on! They gave Stallone crap about his Rocky Balboa physique and this guy gets a pass?  Seriously, if Lang’s size truly is all natural then he’s got my vote to be a part of the project that created Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Twins”.   But what puts Lang on my list is his much earlier body of work, specifically his turn as the most detestable cowboy in the history of film, Ike Clanton in the vastly overlooked film “Tombstone”. This is the film in which Lang actually displayed some acting chops (along with an unfortunate accent), and he’s almost unrecognizable as the same man. 

I’m much dirtier than I appear on screen!

           

            But wait till I really blow your minds.  In 1986, the very first Hannibal Lecter film was released, and most people missed it because it didn’t win any awards and Anthony Hopkins didn’t play everyone’s favorite diabolical cannibal (Brian Cox actually did).  It was called “Manhunter” although most people know the story it was based on from when it was remade in 2002 into the vastly inferior film “Red Dragon”. Directed by Michael Mann, the original film is totally worth a look not only because it is terrifying in its own right but also because William Peterson’s take on Will Graham completely annihilates Edward Norton’s hollow performance. In this film the part of Freddy Louds, the sleazy tabloid reporter that was played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the remake (the victim of the infamous “Do you see?” torture sequence), was played by none other than Stephen Lang.  That’s right, the guy that ate nothing but scenery in “Avatar” once played a 160 pound torture victim. Goes to show you what 23 years, and a profession where they don’t test for HGH can do for your career.

AMY RYAN

Known for: “Gone Baby Gone”

             Years ago, back when Ben Affleck was mere tabloid fodder (something that will be forgotten in the wake of his “Argo” success; trust me on this, America loves a comeback story), no one was ready for the talent this guy would one day bring to the screen from behind the camera.  In what I consider one of the best tricks in his bag, Affleck really shines when it comes to casting; considering that two actors that he has already directed have been nominated for Academy Awards for their performances and that he’s jumpstarted the careers of several lesser known actors simply be trusting them with bigger roles than they had ever previously seen. The actor that fits in both of those categories is Amy Ryan, most known for her gut-wrenching performance as the mother of a missing child in “Gone Baby Gone” where she absolutely stole the show from a pack of A-list actors who were all turning in powerhouse performances.  Shockingly not from South Boston in real life, Ryan’s real performance came not from her accent; but rather her complete immersion into the role of a drug-addicted loser who will never raise herself nor her daughter above the South Boston projects. When this role is contrasted with her previous role of the detective’s matronly wife Marie Dewey in “Capote” a few years prior, the oceans of difference between the two characters is what cements Ryan as a true chameleon.  While she was over-shadowed by much of the cast in that particular film, Ryan still nailed the role of the star-struck Capote fan, torn between her allegiance to her husband and the novelty of the famous author sitting at her dining room table. 

            To truly see the versatility that Ryan can bring to the camera, you only have to watch her guest star on NBC’s “The Office” (and yes, I’m totally cheating by bringing in a television show, but she was so good in it that my wrongdoings have no bearings on the validity of my argument.  Also, calm down internet!). In the wake of her “Gone Baby Gone” fame, Ryan joined the cast of the hit show as the character Holly Flax, the new HR representative for Dunder Mifflin and eventual love interest for Steve Carell’s Michael Scott.  Quirky and self-conscience as Michael could ever hope to be, Ryan’s Holly was initially a breath of fresh air into a show that was dragging a little bit in the ratings; but went on to become a long running guest character and ultimately a great fit for everyone’s favorite well meaning but yet horrible boss. 

She transferred from the Southie Branch.

From Kansas matron to Boston drug addict to corporate drone, Ryan’s ability to become her character so well, that you can’t really see the actress herself is the essence of versatility and my guess is that we haven’t seen the last of her during awards season.

WILLIAM FICHTNER

“The Dark Knight”

           

            Even though half of the people reading this article just went, “Oh, that’s that guy’s name…”, Fichtner’s career has been an ever changing process of one character right after the other.  Most people recognize him from “The Dark Knight” as the bank manager that the Joker robs and then stuffs the gas bomb in his mouth during the opening sequence, but the truth is that this role is a callback to the much larger character of Roger Van Zant, the crooked investment banker from the 1995 crime masterpiece “Heat”.  Fichtner imbues both roles with a twisted brand of sliminess and at the same time shows a professionalism that would make you think that the mob would entrust millions of dollars into his hands for safe keeping. Even when everything in his life is spiraling out of control either by robbery or one of the best death threats in all of cinema, he keeps attempting to negotiate the situation and find a beneficial way out of it.  He could easily be typecast into this type of role all the time (and to be fair he does spend an awful lot of time playing the sleazy lawyer/businessman who often has to make the seedy deals no one else wants to make), but it’s been when he has broken out of this character type and played completely other roles that show his inner chameleon, case in point his portrayal of the blind SETI scientist Kent in the 1997 film “Contact” or the role of taciturn fisherman David “Sully” Sullivan in the 2000 film “The Perfect Storm” in which Fichtner took a page out of Stephen Lang’s book and bulked up for noticeably. 

My biceps do their own stunt work.

            If this isn’t enough to convince you that this guy can play anybody, let me remind you that he’s also the guy who tried to convince Scott Wolf and Jay Mohr to sell Amway in “Go” and led the NASA mission in a little film called “Armageddon” so I’m just saying the guy has been around. 

            *The Editors of SpoilerAlert Podcast would like to apologize for the author’s above reference to the film “Armageddon” as it is universally recognized to warp children’s  brains and should have never existed.  Once again, our humblest of apologies.

MICHAEL PARKS

Known For: “From Dusk Till Dawn”

            The old saying goes that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and while a lot of idiots use the logic behind this statement as poor justification for being whiners, it is true that often times one must stand out in order to be noticed.  So it is with much of the film industry, that in order to get recognition for stepping outside your comfort zone, you must travel to the complete opposite ends of the spectrum.  However, every once in a great while, an actor can connect with a role (even a minor one) so completely, that for the rest of us he simply is that guy; only to have him show up and blow us away with another perfectly understated performance.  Michael Parks is such an actor.  Known to us as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw from The Robert Rodriquez/Quentin Tarantino Universe (as seen in “From Dusk Till Dawn,” the “Kill Bill” films, and their collaborative effort, “Grindhouse”), Parks has cemented himself as the unflinching Texas tough guy that has seen it all out there in the desert (so good is he in this role that most people tend to forget that the first time we saw him as this character, he died after a mere ten minutes on screen).  From this role, Parks crafted a known persona for steady Hollywood roles, however its when he breaks this trend that he’s the best.  His turn as fanatical cult leader Abin Cooper in 2011’s “Red State” was so disturbingly perfect that it should put him on every studio’s short list for most versatile actors out there.  In what so easily could have been a character that was nothing more than a token bad guy with a messiah complex (and kudos to Kevin Smith for staving that off as well), Parks played this guy as a fully fleshed out zealot that was responding proportionately to the situation based upon his belief structure.  Not only that, but for a guy most known for a stoic draw, Parks threw himself into some of Cooper’s more manic mood swings and vocalizations.  However, even as good as Parks is in that film, his true chameleon certification is found once again inside a Tarantino funhouse.  In “Kill Bill: Volume 2” when The Bride heads down to Mexico and has a beer with former Bill associate and most disturbing  pimp of all time Esteban Vihaio, guess who’s sitting across from Uma Thurman in that scene?

Honestly, you should have figured out where I was going with this.

            Yep, that’s Michael Freaking Parks chewing the scene right in front of your face.  Even more crazy is the behind the scenes lore that Tarantino had given Ricardo Montalban (KHAN!!!) the role, but Parks knocked it so far out of the park at the read through, Tarantino waved of the more well known star.  When I was originally told that these roles were played by the same actor (I didn’t see the closing credits in the theater because I was blinded by the awesome), I thought someone was messing with me, but once I verified it I could only cheer the performance of this guy.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

            These are actors that have been amazing in their roles for a variety of reasons, but unfortunately I haven’t seen enough of their performances to be able to judge if they are true chameleons or if they are just a one hit wonder.  Only time will tell.

KELLY MACDONALD – Carla Jean Moss in “No Country for Old Men”

MAX PIRKIS – Lord Blakeney in “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”

-Brando