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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.
00:42Whether 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
01:01he attempts to keep the hot-headed prince in line.
01:04In the crazy world of dragons, orcs and magical gems, Stott is an extremely calming presence
01:08and helps guide Bilbo and the audience through the story.
01:12He might not have a giant bow or be able to breathe fire, but Balin is perhaps the most
01:16overlooked part of the Hobbit trilogy.
01:189.
01:19Marion Cotillard – Big Fish Based on the 1998 book of the same name, Big
01:23Fish details the relationship between William Bloom and his dying father Edward.
01:27Mr. Bloom Sr. is known for his tall tales, which have driven a wedge between him and his
01:32son.
01:33However, as his father nears the end of his life, Will discovers that there might be
01:35more truth to the stories that he first thought.
01:38The movie features an absolutely stacked cast, including Ewan McGregor as a young Edward, Jessica
01:42Lang as Will's mum, and Danny DeVito as a werewolf.
01:46Sure, 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
01:56her husband, helping him to shake off his preconceptions about his dad.
02:00She 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.
02:12Darlene Kate – What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
02:14When talking about eye-catching performances and 1998's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, your
02:19mind immediately wanders to a 19-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio.
02:23In one of his first major roles, Leo plays Arnie, the mentally disabled brother of the
02:27titular character.
02:28At the time, DiCaprio was lauded for a magnificent performance, capturing the sympathetic essence
02:32of the character to a tee.
02:34But this list is all about the hipster choices, so let's talk about Gilbert and Arnie's mother,
02:38Bonnie.
02:39As a result, Bonnie fell into a pit of depression after her husband took his own life.
02:44As a result, she became morbidly obese, unable to leave the house through physical impairment
02:48and shame.
02:49Considering she wasn't an actor before being offered the part, Kate puts in a fantastic
02:53showing.
02:54She loves her kids, but just isn't able to overcome her physical and mental obstacles
02:57to provide them with a decent life.
03:00It's tragic, especially if you watch right to the end.
03:03Kate's more than holds her own alongside both DiCaprio and Johnny Depp, something very
03:07few others can lay claim to.
03:097.
03:10Walter Goggins, The Hateful Eight
03:12You might know him from The Righteous Gemstones or Invincible, but Goggins is also a favourite
03:16of 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
03:24Eight.
03:25In the series, he plays Chris Mannix, an all-round no-hoper who masquerades as the sheriff of
03:30Red Rock, Wyoming.
03:31Goggins 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.
03:44From the moment we meet Mannix, he is clearly a fish out of water.
03:47He isn't the rough, tough cowboy type that is personified in so many of his co-stars.
03:51I mean, he doesn't even have facial hair, for crying out loud.
03:54Still, he's an essential part of the story, and ended up as a lot of viewers' favourite
03:57member of the squad.
03:596.
04:00Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom
04:02Wes Anderson is known for many things, giving his characters preposterous names, framing his
04:06shots like they were paintings, having actors look directly down the lens of the camera when
04:10they speak, but perhaps his most famous trope is his reliance on the same group of actors
04:13for almost all of his films.
04:15Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Bill freakin' Murray, Wes certainly has his favourites,
04:21so it is a lot when the director decides to look outside of his inner circle for talent.
04:26Enter Bruce Willis.
04:27The action man's only Anderson appearance came in 2011's Moonrise Kingdom, a firm favourite
04:32amongst fans of the auteur.
04:34He plays Captain Sharp, head of police on the small island where the action takes place.
04:39Willis keeps up with the snappy dialogue of the film, and his turn as one of the more serious
04:43characters in the piece is more than welcome. Considering that Anderson originally envisioned
04:47the role going to the legendary Jimmy Stewart, we think that Willis more than compensated.
04:51Ah yes, John McClane and the guy from It's a Wonderful Life, a natural comparison.
04:565.
04:57Charlotte 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.
05:12Look, we can't all make good choices all of the time.
05:14In 2015, Rampling played opposite Tom Courtenay in Andrew High's 45 years.
05:19The pair play the Mercers, Kate and Jeff, a married couple about to celebrate their 45th
05:23anniversary. However, things get a little bumpy when Kate discovers that her husband
05:27might have had something to do with the death of his ex-girlfriend decades ago.
05:31The film gets pretty dark pretty quickly as both lead actors ramp up the extremes of their
05:35characters. Jeff becomes more angry and erratic whilst Kate sinks further and further into herself.
05:40Rampling is a woman trapped in an unthinkable situation, everything she thought she knew
05:45about the past has changed and she's got no idea what to do. The fact that this is all happening
05:49to a couple who look like they could be your neighbours only adds to the drama.
05:534. Chris Hemsworth, Rush
05:55Rush There are a lot of people that love Formula 1 and there are a lot of people that think it's
06:00boring. But the best way to make F1 interesting is to condense the action of a single season into
06:04one manageable chunk. And that's precisely what Ron Howard did when he brought to the world Rush
06:09in 2013. It tells the story of the epic rivalry between Austrian diver Nicky Lauder and British
06:14ace James Hunt. The two men were polar opposites. Lauder was an ultra-serious professional,
06:19whilst his rival was a carefree playboy who relied solely on natural talent. Whilst Lauder's story takes
06:24to the main stage, Chris Hemsworth's version of Hunt is always giving something in the background.
06:28His personal battles, his desire to win, his relationship with Lauder, it's all there and
06:33it's all expertly presented by the star of Thor. Tell you what, that would be one thing that would
06:37make Formula 1 more interesting for people that don't like it. Give him Molnir, then see what happens.
06:42Number three, Josh Brolin, Men in Black 3. Using an actor's real-life child as a younger
06:47version of themselves is a nice trick filmmakers like to use from time to time. Is this what the
06:52producers of Men in Black 3 did when they needed a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones? No, they got
06:57Josh Brolin to do an absolutely spot-on impersonation instead. When Will Smith's Agent J travels to the
07:03past, he meets a younger version of his mentor, Agent K. Brolin is the spitting image of Jones who plays
07:08the modern-day version of Kate. His voice, his mannerisms, even his actual face are almost
07:13identical to the star of No Country for Old Men. Wait a minute, Josh Brolin was in that too. Maybe
07:18he's been spying on Tommy Lee Jones this entire time. Number two, Laura Dern, Star Wars The Last
07:24Jedi. Well, this one is going to get flack either way, so let's just get on with it. Despite taking the
07:29most risks and actually attempting to put his own spin on the Star Wars franchise, Rian Johnson's entry
07:34into the sequel trilogy was absolutely slated by some when it came out in 2017. Many things came
07:39under fire, including Laura Dern's character Vice Admiral Amalyn Holdo. A senior figure in the
07:44Resistance, Holdo 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, he ends up with
07:54some serious egg on his face when she sacrifices herself to save the entire Resistance fleet. Dern puts
08:00in an epic showing as a woman torn between doing what's right and doing what people expect of her.
08:04She is constantly undermined by Poe, but holds firm the entire time, never compromising on her
08:09beliefs as a leader. She might get a lot of hate, but Vice Admiral Hodo is a certified badass.
08:14And number one, Vin Diesel, The MCU. Okay, yes, it might be a little bit weird that number one is a tree.
08:21The Marvel Cinematic Universe is full of big characters who love to mouth off. Tony Stark, Doctor Strange,
08:27Star-Lord, Spider-Man, Rocket Raccoon, etc, etc. And how many of them will be able to express as much emotion
08:33and character if their dialogue was reduced to just five different words? The hulking wooden member of the
08:39Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot shone in his debut appearance in 2014. Voiced by Vin Diesel of all people,
08:45the colossal Conifer ends up sacrificing himself for his friends and brilliantly changes his one line of speech
08:51from I am Groot to we are Groot. No, you're crying. This performance alone would be enough to put him
08:58on top of this list, but Groot has continued to wow us in his subsequent appearances. Whether as a baby
09:03or a grumpy teenager, he's given us comedy and drama in equal measure, with only a handful of syllables
09:09in his arsenal. It might sound ridiculous, but per word uttered, Vin Diesel might be the best actor
09:14in the entire MCU. Now isn't that weird? And that's the list. Let us know what you thought of this video
09:20down in the comments below and whilst you're down there, let us know which of these performances
09:24stood out the most to you and any others that we didn't include. Make sure you like this video,
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09:32and head over to whatculture.com for more content daily. I've been Cy for WhatCulture, and have a good week.