- 31/05/2025
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00:00Convincingly portraying an entirely separate person whilst also remembering lines, adjusting
00:04to costume and trying not to trip over the set is an extremely challenging profession.
00:09So thank the heavens there are enough talented actors out there that are mad enough to put
00:12themselves through it for our entertainment.
00:15It's sad then that there are so many great performances that go unnoticed by the masses.
00:19Well, not anymore.
00:20I'm CypherWaterCulture.com and these are 10 Low-key Amazing Performances in Movies.
00:2610.
00:27Ken Stott.
00:28The Hobbit Trilogy.
00:29As soon as it was announced that a 310-page book was going to be stretched out over a
00:33trio of three-hour-long movies, fans suspected that the Hobbit films were going to be more
00:37about raking in cash than paying a loving homage to Tolkien's first novel.
00:41Whether or not that was the case you can all argue about in the comments below, but that
00:45doesn't mean there isn't a lot to like about the movies, in particular the performance
00:49of veteran Scottish actor Ken Stott as Balin.
00:52One of the company of dwarves, Balin is portrayed as the oldest and wisest member of the gang.
00:56His soft tones and luscious beard are the perfect counter to Thorin's youthful arrogance as he
01:01attempts to keep the hot-headed prince in line.
01:03In the crazy world of dragons, orcs and magical gems, Stott is an extremely calming presence and
01:08helps guide Bilbo and the audience through the story.
01:11He might not have a giant bow or be able to breathe fire, but Balin is perhaps the most
01:15overlooked part of the Hobbit trilogy.
01:189. Marion Cotillard – Big Fish
01:20Based on the 1998 book of the same name, Big Fish details the relationship between William
01:25Bloom and his dying father Edward. Mr. Bloom Sr. is known for his tall tales, which have driven
01:30a wedge between him and his son. However, as his father nears the end of his life,
01:34Will discovers that there might be more truth to the stories that he first thought.
01:38The movie features an absolutely stacked cast, including Ewan McGregor as a young Edward,
01:42Jessica Lange as Will's mum, and Danny DeVito as a werewolf. Sure, why not?
01:47Stealing the show, though, is Marion Cotillard as Josephine, Will's heavily pregnant wife.
01:52As an outsider to the Bloom family drama, Josephine serves as the voice of reason for
01:55her husband, helping him to shake off his preconceptions about his dad.
01:59She also represents the future of the family, as Will must decide how much he wants to copy
02:03his father's parenting techniques with his own offspring.
02:07Also, it's Marion Cotillard. She could have played a tree and still have been excellent.
02:118. Darlene Kate – What's Eating Gilbert Grape
02:14When talking about eye-catching performances and 1998's What's Eating Gilbert Grape,
02:19your mind immediately wanders to a 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio. In one of his first major
02:24roles, Leo plays Arnie, the mentally disabled brother of the titular character. At the time,
02:28DiCaprio was lauded for a magnificent performance, capturing the sympathetic essence of the character
02:33to a T. But this list is all about the hipster choices, so let's talk about Gilbert and Arnie's
02:38mother Bonnie. Played by the late Darlene Kate, Bonnie fell into a pit of depression after her
02:42husband took his own life. As a result, she became morbidly obese, unable to leave the
02:46house through physical impairment and shame. Considering she wasn't an actor before being
02:51offered the part, Kate puts in a fantastic showing. She loves her kids, but just isn't able to overcome
02:56her physical and mental obstacles to provide them with a decent life. It's tragic, especially if you
03:01watch right to the end. Kate more than holds her own alongside both DiCaprio and Johnny Depp,
03:06something very few others can lay claim to.
03:087. Walter Goggins, The Hateful Eight You might know him from The Righteous Gemstones
03:13or Invincible, but Goggins is also a favourite of everyone's favourite foot enthusiast, Quentin Tarantino.
03:19He's appeared in both of the director's westerns, 2012's Django Unchained and 2015's The Hateful Eight.
03:25In this piece, he plays Chris Mannix, an all-round no-hoper who masquerades as the Sheriff of Red Rock,
03:30Wyoming. Goggins is up against some serious talent in this movie, sharing the screen with Samuel L.
03:35Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern and Tim Roth, and yet he more than
03:40holds his own, often providing some much-needed comic relief. From the moment we meet Mannix,
03:45he is clearly a fish out of water. He isn't the rough, tough cowboy type that is personified in so
03:50many of his co-stars. I mean, he doesn't even have facial hair, for crying out loud. Still,
03:54he's an essential part of the story and ended up as a lot of viewers' favourite member of the squad.
03:596. Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom
04:02Wes Anderson is known for many things, giving his characters preposterous names, framing his shots
04:06like they were paintings, having actors look directly down the lens of the camera when they
04:10speak, but perhaps his most famous trope is his reliance on the same group of actors for almost
04:14all of his films. Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Bill freaking Murray, Wes certainly has his
04:21favourite, so it is a lot when the director decides to look outside of his inner circle for talent.
04:26Enter Bruce Willis. The action man's only Anderson appearance came in 2011's Moonrise Kingdom,
04:31a firm favourite amongst fans of the auteur. He plays Captain Sharp, head of police on the small
04:37island where the action takes place. Willis keeps up with the snappy dialogue of the film,
04:41and his turn as one of the more serious characters in the piece is more than welcome. Considering that
04:45Anderson originally envisioned the role going to the legendary Jimmy Stewart, we think that Willis
04:50more than compensated. Ah yes, John McClane and the guy from It's a Wonderful Life,
04:54a natural comparison. 5. Charlotte Rampling, 45 years.
04:59Though not a household name, English actor Charlotte Rampling has been around for a very
05:03long time. You might know her best as Dr. Evelyn Vogel in Dexter, but she's also appeared in The
05:08Damned, Vanishing Point, and the Assassin's Creed movie. Look, we can't all make good choices all of
05:14the time. In 2015, Rampling played opposite Tom Courtenay in Andrew High's 45 years. The pair play the
05:19mercers, Kate and Jeff, a married couple about to celebrate their 45th anniversary. However,
05:24things get a little bumpy when Kate discovers that her husband might have had something to do
05:28with the death of his ex-girlfriend decades ago. The film gets pretty dark pretty quickly as both
05:33lead actors ramp up the extremes of their characters. Jeff becomes more angry and erratic,
05:38whilst Kate sinks further and further into herself. Rampling is a woman trapped in an unthinkable
05:43situation. Everything she thought she knew about the past has changed and she's got no idea what to do.
05:48The fact that this is all happening to a couple who look like they could be your neighbours only
05:52adds to the drama. Number four, Chris Hemsworth, Rush. There are a lot of people that love Formula
05:58One and there are a lot of people that think it's boring, but the best way to make F1 interesting is
06:02to condense the action of a single season into one manageable chunk. And that's precisely what Ron
06:07Howard did when he brought to the world Rush in 2013. It tells the story of the epic rivalry between
06:12Australian diver Nicky Lauder and British ace James Hunt. The two men were polar opposites.
06:17Lauder was an ultra serious professional, whilst his rival was a carefree playboy who relied solely
06:22on natural talent. Whilst Lauder's story takes the main stage, Chris Hemsworth's version of Hunt is
06:27always giving something in the background. His personal battles, his desire to win,
06:30his relationship with Lauder, it's all there and it's all expertly presented by the star of Thor.
06:36Tell you what, that would be one thing that would make Formula One more interesting for people that
06:38don't like it. Give him Molnir, then see what happens. Number three, Josh Brolin, Men in Black 3.
06:45Using an actor's real-life child as a younger version of themselves is a nice trick filmmakers
06:49like to use from time to time. Is this what the producers of Men in Black 3 did when they needed
06:54a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones? No, they got Josh Brolin to do an absolutely spot-on
06:59impersonation instead. When Will Smith's Agent J travels to the past, he meets a younger version
07:04of his mentor, Agent K. Brolin is the spitting image of Jones, who plays the modern-day version of K.
07:10His voice, his mannerisms, even his actual face are almost identical to the star of No Country
07:15for Old Men. Wait a minute, Josh Brolin was in that too. Maybe he's been spying on Tommy Lee Jones
07:20this entire time. Number two, Laura Dern, Star Wars The Last Jedi. Well, this one is going to
07:26get flack either way, so let's just get on with it. Despite taking the most risks and actually
07:30attempting to put his own spin on the Star Wars franchise, Rian Johnson's entry into the sequel
07:34trilogy was absolutely slated by some when it came out in 2017. Many things came under fire,
07:40including Laura Dern's character Vice Admiral Amalyn Holdo. A senior figure in the Resistance,
07:44Holdo assumes command after General Leia Organa gets injured in the film's opening sequence.
07:49Holdo clashes with Poe Dameron, who eventually stages a mutiny against her. However,
07:53he ends up with some serious egg on his face when she sacrifices herself to save the entire
07:58Resistance fleet. Dern puts in an epic showing as a woman torn between doing what's right and doing
08:03what people expect of her. She is constantly undermined by Poe, but holds firm the entire
08:07time, never compromising on her beliefs as a leader. She might get a lot of hate,
08:11but Vice Admiral Hodo is a certified badass. And number one, Vin Diesel, The MCU.
08:18Okay, yes, it might be a little bit weird that number one is a tree. The Marvel Cinematic Universe
08:22is full of big characters who love to mouth off. Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Spider-Man,
08:28Rocket Raccoon, etc, etc. And how many of them will be able to express as much
08:32emotion and character if their dialogue was reduced to just five different words?
08:37The hulking wooden member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot shone in his debut appearance in 2014.
08:43Voiced by Vin Diesel of all people, the colossal Conifer ends up sacrificing himself for his friends
08:49and brilliantly changes his one line of speech from I am Groot to we are Groot. No, you're crying.
08:56This performance alone would be enough to put him on top of this list, but Groot has continued to wow us in
09:01his subsequent appearances. Whether as a baby or a grumpy teenager, he's given us comedy and drama
09:06in equal measure with only a handful of syllables in his arsenal. It might sound ridiculous, but per
09:11word uttered, Vin Diesel might be the best actor in the entire MCU. Now, isn't that weird? And that's
09:18the list. Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below. And whilst you're down
09:22there, let us know which of these performances stood out the most to you and any others that we
09:26didn't include. Make sure you like this video, share it with your friends, subscribe and hit that
09:31notification bell and head over to whatculture.com for more content daily. I've been signed for WhatCulture,
09:37and have a good week.
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