Jump to content

Actors with great screen presence


zen

Recommended Posts

When you watch films with certain actors, they straight away stand out with their magnetic screen presence. While such a list would include many great actors in their prime, if I have to list 5-6 actors for their consistency over a period, they would be (in the order of their birth):

 

  • Charlie Chaplin.  The name is enough 
  • Cary Grant. While Grant may not win Oscars for his acting, when he is on screen, you know he is important. Films include Suspicion, Notorious, To Catch A Thief, North by North West, An Affair to Remember, Charade, Houseboat, etc. 
  • Laurence Olivier (Oscar winner).  Films include Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, That Hamilton Woman, Hamlet, Henry V, etc. In character roles too, shone in films such as The Marathon Man with his chilling portrayal of an ex-Nazi 
  • Alec Guinness (Oscar winner). Notable films include Our Man in Havana and his work with David Lean in films such as The Bridge on River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Dr. Zhivago 
  • Gregory Peck (Oscar winner). Notable films: Spellbound, Roman Holiday, Guns of Navarone, Mackenna's Gold, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc. 
  • Bruce Lee. Admittedly did only a handful of action films but when he was on screen, it was a magical experience (as can be seen in the Game of Death, which has sections shot after his death. Parts played by the other actor are obvious)

 

 

 

Edited by zen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

Govinda

 

5 hours ago, randomGuy said:

Amreesh puri, Sunny deol.

We are taking about globally recognized legends. I am sure there would be actors in Bhojpuri, Bengali, Tamil, Egyptian, Polish, Iranian, Korean, etc. films with good screen presence too :p:

Edited by zen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As for actresses:

  • Katharine Hepburn. An Oscar heavyweight. Films include The African Queen and Summertime 
  • Grace Kelly. Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch A Thief, etc.  
  • Monica Vitti. Notable films include L'avventura
  • Sophia Loren. The River Girl, Houseboat, It Started in Naples,  etc. 
  • Brigitte Bardot. And God Created Woman,  La Verite, etc. 
  • Catherine Deneuve. Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Repulsion, etc. 
Edited by zen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, zen said:

 

We are taking about globally recognized legends. I am sure there would be actors in Bhojpuri, Bengali, Tamil, Egyptian, Polish, Iranian, Korean, etc. films with good screen presence too :p:

There is no fun in this thread without Indian actors....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, riya said:

There is no fun in this thread without Indian actors....

Hard to go past: Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, and Raj Kapoor. Followed by likes of Raj Kumar, Mehmood (who used to steal limelight from lead actors), Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikant, etc. 

Edited by zen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, velu said:

 

Looks like  @coffee_rules in the future 

Meh. Over-acting. Plus his hand movements  are not correct, he should have moved around the fingers and use the index finger for 'num' sound. He is generally making facial contortions and moving his fingers vigorously. He should have done some method acting sessions and observed a mridamgam artist before attempting to play one. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

Meh. Over-acting. Plus his hand movements  are not correct, he should have moved around the fingers and use the index finger for 'num' sound. He is generally making facial contortions and moving his fingers vigorously. He should have done some method acting sessions and observed a mridamgam artist before attempting to play one. 

 

 

Even though I agree that was overacting to the power of infinity :laugh:, I think a method actor l is overrated. I mean if you can’t play an  instrument and can convince the audience that you are a great musician is a bigger challenge than actually learning the instrument.

 

The greatest actor to play Devdas was Akkineni Nageswara Rao who was a teetotaler. Even Dilip Kumar whose performance  northies hype up admitted the same. I think Yuchup kumar was a teetotaler too because of Sharaab being haraam.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some I think that have great screen presence, in no particular order:-

Clint Eastwood

Russell Crowe

Alain Delon

Henry Fonda

Steve McQueen

Lee Van Cleef

Sterling Hayden

James Caan

From Hindi cinema, Raj Kumar and Vinod Khanna had great screen presence, IMHO.

 

Edited by Peshust
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, zen said:

 

We are taking about globally recognized legends. I am sure there would be actors in Bhojpuri, Bengali, Tamil, Egyptian, Polish, Iranian, Korean, etc. films with good screen presence too :p:

When you are talking about global you are talking about hollywood and some british movies thats it. Its very limited. Global means US and UK. Even american audience don't like their actors these days. That's why they look for actors in previous eras. Gregory Peck may have the same presence as Leo Dicaprio. But its all rosy when looking back at the past.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...