You ever watch a movie and think, damn that role was made for him or her? I love those kinds of characters where you can’t imagine anyone else but that specific actress or actor playing the role. Sometimes the actor or actress is only ever really good in that one role like Brad Pitt as Early Grayce in Kalifornia. Sometimes the actor seems to have just been made for a really big role though he or she’s only just ok in the smaller ones like Joaquim Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line or Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in Monster. But sometimes, when you see an actor or actress, known or not known, play a meaty character whose nuances make you forget you’re watching a movie, and instead you’re transported into the world of the character, you can’t get enough. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine in the X-Men trilogy (see below) or Samantha Morton’s portrayal of Morvern Callar in Morvern Callar makes you want to watch all the films the actor’s been. Yet, sometimes an actor or actress seems to just make a connection with that one character, while all other characters he or she portrays pale in comparison. Samantha is a stellar actress. She is a character actress. But, Hugh Jackman, not so much.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite film characters (in no particular order):

• Samantha Morton as Morvern Callar in Morvern Callar
  Morton simply owned Morvern Callar. Subtle, understated, yet moving and powerful. I couldn’t name another actress who could have played her so well.
• Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone
  Kilmer’s Doc Holliday has become one of my top five favorite characters of all time. So meaty, so well-rounded, deep, complex and moving. Dennis Quaid portrayal in the 1993 Wyatt Earp film, was nowhere near as good.
• Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp in Tombstone
  Never much cared for Russell before Tombstone. Don’t much care for him now, but I do respect him more. He seemed born to play the role. Billy Zane’s character Mr. Fabian said it best “Note the lean silhouette… eyes closed by the sun, though sharp as a hawk. He’s got the look of both predator and prey.”
• Johnny Depp as Edward in Edward Scissorhands
  One of the most recognizeable film characters in history, Depp’s Edward Scissorhands is an homage to the human and freak within us all. Johnny Depp became a star with this film, and has hardly wavered since.
• Frances McDormand as Marge the Police Chief in Fargo
  I never knew of McDormand until I saw her portrayal as the preganant police chief in Fargo. She’s both adorable, likeable, such a specific character yet generally relatable and quite amusing.
• David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie’s Poirot series
  Ah, Poirot the little Belgian with the little grey cells that never stop moving about. There have been other actors who have played Christie’s famous investigator, but none with such precision, character, nuance, and conviction as David Suchet. I truly cannot imagine Hercule Poirot in any other way.
• William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man Series
  Nick and Nora are my favorite onscreen couple in all of film. The chemistry was ripe and dead on. Both loving and funny, no cheese, no excess. Just fun and endearing from the first Thin Man through the last.
• Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard
  Swanson’s Norma Desmond was scary, creepy, sad, pathetic, amusing, sympathetic and engaging. Who else could have played Norma. Glenn Close, you say? Glenn Close will in fact play Norma Desmond in the remake due out in theaters in 2008.
• Hugh Jackman as Woverine in the X-Men trilogy
  If there was ever a more perfect man to play a more perfect character, I have not come across him. Jackman’s Wolverine is a phenomenon. I guess he embodies the man men want to be and women want to…um “have”. Strong, laconic, sarcastic, kind, and ageless. Though X-Men 3, was the last of the series, Jackman’s Wolverine film coming out in 2008. It’s a long wait, but will damn well be worth.
• Glenn Close as Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liasons
  See my description of Close’s Marquise de Merteuil in List #8.
• Ben Kingsley as Don in Sexy Beast
  See my description of Kingsley’s Don in List #8.
• Jean Reno as Leon in The Professional
  Jean Reno’s Leon is an endearing though ruthless character. Jean Reno has this wonderfl ability to be amusing, charming, understated and mysterious simultaneously. I couldn’t imagine a better portrayal of a professional hit man who takes in and grows to love a 12 year old girl like a daughter, can you?
• Nicole Kidman as Suzanne Stone in To Die For
  I’ve always like Nicole Kidman. She’s got this quiet grace and noteworthy presence on screen. Her Suzanne Stone character though was a force, a hurricane, a storm and yet also the calm after the storm. Kidman captured Stone innocence and lethal ambition. Not many actors or actresses can do that without being so obvious.