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[ImRonBurgundy?]

Gary Oldman played a pretty excellent Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears.  I recommend it.

[Tom]

Guy Pearce wasn't in The Prestige...

LOL what a dumbass I am!  You're absolutely right.

...see how much of a chameleon Christian Bale really is?   

though, you may actually be thinking of Death Defying Acts.

[no one special]

hehe... naw, I appreciate the help, but I was just plain wrong.  When does that come out in the US - or has it already?


question for ImRonBurgundy? - what does your avatar refer to?  i crack up every time I see it!  LOL

[beat mouse]

It's a mario kart DS commercial.

I've also been really impressed with the versatility of ryan reynolds, to be honest. Say what you will about him but I've found him generally pretty fun to watch and while he's the witty wisecracking cat in most of his movies he's done some very broad work with amityville horror and smokin aces (sure amityville sucked but aces was AWESOME) so i'm willing to give him credit for doing a pretty big range of work.

[no one special]

It's funny that you say that - I've been finding myself enjoying his work lately as well.  Van Wilder is actually a better movie than you think it's gonna be, and he was the only watchable thing in Blade: Trinity.  Hell, I allmost saw Definitely, Maybe just 'cause he was in it. 

(Shut UP, I can see that movie if I want to, and if you try to confiscate my man card, I will knock your hand away and punch you in the face.)

Also, he's apparently gonna play Deadpool in the Wolverine: Origin movie.  He's definitely got the comic chops to do it... but can he master the accent?   

[beat mouse]

As much as I know he fits Deadpool, I have nothing but fears about Origins. Liev Schreiber playing Sabertooth is just inherently wrong, and Wil.I.Am playing Kestrel is another question I don't think has a decent enough answer. The Origins series were by rights pretty awful, the art was awful and was simply just one of 1200 different backstories for wolverine.

[Holte]

Surprised I haven't seen a mention of Ed Norton.

[Dimmukane]

He's a good actor, but I haven't really seen him in any part where he sunk into the role to the point that we were forgetting it was him.

[KvP]

Yeah, he plays Ed Norton roles, which fluctuate between "the smart squirmy guy" and "the normal everyday squirmy guy". He's got only slightly better range than, say, Sam Jackson.

[cupcakeonastick]

Then you need to see Primal Fear and American History X

[KvP]

In that case, we can attest to the fact that Ed Norton just really likes phoning it in, except in his early years and those cases in which he gets to seize control of the film.

[cupcakeonastick]

Or he wasn't recognized enough for his talents in those two movies and was given crap movies like that Ben Stiller comedy. Or Italian Job.

[Dimmukane]

I didn't like him that much in American History X.  He was good for the Nazi half, but then the second half he went back to being Edward Norton.  Which is why I don't think of him as much of a chameleon.

[Nodaisho]

I would have to disgree with Jim Carrey, because so far in his career he has played all sorts of characters because they're in each movie in a different context, but he is always a meek character. The same thing goes for Christian Bale and a lot of the other actors mentioned. This doesn't mean that they aren't good actors though. They just aren't character actors.
By character actor, we mean different kinds of people, and by different kinds of people, this is not meant trash-truck driver to superhero. To get into different people, they have to be differently thinking people.
A character actor could be Bill Murray. In Caddyshack he played a paranoid, drug-addled man. In Broken Flowers he was a rundown, tired-of-it-all ladies man.
A character actor is not Arnold Schwarzeneger.

I thought a character actor was someone that plays the same type of character, gets recognized for that type of character. Think Morgan Freeman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_Actor

Yes, I realize it is wikipedia, but I am not an actor, or someone that studies acting.

[Faker]

Yeah, he plays Ed Norton roles, which fluctuate between "the smart squirmy guy" and "the normal everyday squirmy guy".

Well this is certainly different for him...

[MusicScribbles]

That is still an Ed Norton role.
I will not argue that he doesn't turn into the character, because there are movies where I've been immersed in who he is playing.
Ed Norton is a great actor, but all of his characters can be boiled down to the same pretty basic formula for the most part. This does not mean he isn't a great actor though. I really like him as an actor. Chameleon though? No.

[RedLion]

Christopher Walken.

Now there are some people who would content "Hey! He's stopped trying to do legitimate acting and instead delivers over-the-top performances that somehow all end up coming off as extremely similar!"

To those people, I say: don't be a stiffly stifferson

[Faker]

Also, Helena Bonham Carter gives me the chameleon feeling.

Not sure about this one, all her recent roles have tended to revolve around the quirky or eccentric character template.

I know there is a big difference between her merchant ivory stuff and what she’s done lately, but her newer stuff pretty much comes from the same mould.

[Nodaisho]

I have to disagree with Walken, he doesn't really disappear into his character, he just has too strong a presence.

[no one special]

Another actor I totally forgot about of which the turn in conversation reminded me: Cate Blanchett.  Elizabeth, Hepburn, Bob Dylan - all very interesting turns, all so convincing and with such strong character choices.  Cate Blanchett's another one.

[Tom]

I could say anyone who played Bob Dylan last year but it seems kind of sketchy.

[Inlander]

Not least because one of the people who played Bob Dylan last year was (shudder) Richard Gere.

[Faker]

Didn't get to see "I'm Not There" does Richard Gere spend his portion of the film doing the same two facial expressions that have carried him through every other movie he has ever featured in?

[Inlander]

I didn't see it. I find the incessant Bob Dylan hagiography that persists even to this day exceedingly tiresome.

But I'm going to hazard a guess on your question and answer "yes".

[hannahrochelle]

I reckon Heath Ledger is a bit of a chameleon

[Ikrik]

Edward Norton is definitely not a chameleon....have you EVER seen a movie with him in it where you didn't see him and go "wow....that's Edward Norton...I'm going to be thinking about whenever I think about this movie from now on."  He stands out in every movie he's ever been in. 

People I know get Guy Pierce and Christian Bale mixed up A LOT. 4 different people have told me that Christian Bale is the lead actor in Memento....which isn't true, it's Guy Pierce. I haven't seen Guy in anything recently...so he's probably good at hiding.

Gary Oldman is easily the greatest chameleon.  The dude commits himself so completely to the movie and EVERY character is so completely different.  Watch Batman Begins, Dracula, and then Leon.....and be astounded.  The guy is probably one the best actors out there...too bad he only does supporting roles.

[Thy Dungeonman]

4 different people have told me that Christian Bale is the lead actor in Memento....which isn't true, it's Christian Bale.

I can see how easily they could mix that up.

[Ikrik]

4 different people have told me that Christian Bale is the lead actor in Memento....which isn't true, it's Christian Bale.

I can see how easily they could mix that up.

Thanks.

[Thy Dungeonman]

No problem. Seriously, though, I've made that mistake before. Up until a year or two ago, I really did think Christian Bale was in Memento.

[Jimmy the Squid]

A similar thing happened to me recently, actually. I kept seeing the previews for that Shooter movie and thinking "oh cool, a new Matt Damon movie that isn't The Bourne Whatever, I'll probably see that." When it came out on dvd I ended up renting it with a friend of mine and we were both incredibly disappointed and surprised to find out that it was fucking Marky Mark Wahlberg. I spent like a year thinking it was Matt Damon, despite the posters in the cinema and the video store not having any mention of his name.

[Ikrik]

A similar thing happened to me recently, actually. I kept seeing the previews for that Shooter movie and thinking "oh cool, a new Matt Damon movie that isn't The Bourne Whatever, I'll probably see that." 

You mean "HEY! It's a movie that tries so hard to not be the Bourne Legacy and yet ends up feeling exactly the same but with a terrible ending that doesn't even work well for the book."  I honestly think that Matt Damon would have done an amazing job in this role....but Mark Wahlberg does a good job too.  And he's done some good work man, I don't care what anyone says....Planet of the Apes wasn't entirely his fault.

[thehollow]

for a long time I confused toby maguire and jake gyllenhal; I thought Toby was the star of October Sky for years.

Also, on topic, I gotta go with the Gary Oldman vote.

[Jimmy the Squid]

You mean "HEY! It's a movie that tries so hard to not be the Bourne Legacy and yet ends up feeling exactly the same but with a terrible ending that doesn't even work well for the book."  I honestly think that Matt Damon would have done an amazing job in this role....but Mark Wahlberg does a good job too.  And he's done some good work man, I don't care what anyone says....Planet of the Apes wasn't entirely his fault.

Oh I totally enjoyed the film, it was pretty cool. I was just in the mood for matt damon.

[Dimmukane]

for a long time I confused toby maguire and jake gyllenhal; I thought Toby was the star of October Sky for years.

Also, on topic, I gotta go with the Gary Oldman vote.

My mom still does, I know what you mean.  I'm also fairly positive they wanted to use Jake if they couldn't get Toby for the Spiderman movies.