Not Him Again! - actors we're sick of

[Kitty Whiskers]

There are some actors and actresses that seem to turn up in everything. They put in a solid performance, have no annoying mannerisms and yet you get sick of the sight of them. For me, Tom Wilkinson is one such actor. I have nothing against him as a person or an actor, yet everytime he turns up (and he seems to turn up a lot) I groan inwardly. Ray Winstone is another. I mean, they must be good to work with because everyone hires them but do they never sleep?

[theuofc]

name='Kitty Whiskers' timestamp='1283406600' post='470299']

There are some actors and actresses that seem to turn up in everything. They put in a solid performance, have no annoying mannerisms and yet you get sick of the sight of them. For me, Tom Wilkinson is one such actor. I have nothing against him as a person or an actor, yet everytime he turns up (and he seems to turn up a lot) I groan inwardly. Ray Winstone is another. I mean, they must be good to work with because everyone hires them but do they never sleep?

Hi, Kitty,



I know what you mean. In the case of Wilkinson and Winstone, who can turn out some fine performances,do you think it's also the way they both look? Sorry to be superficial, but we're entitled, at least part of the time, when it comes to actors.



Barbara

[Kitty Whiskers]

name='theuofc' timestamp='1283406844' post='470300']

Hi, Kitty,



I know what you mean. In the case of Wilkinson and Winstone, who can turn out some fine performances,do you think it's also the way they both look? Sorry to be superficial, but we're entitled, at least part of the time, when it comes to actors.



Barbara

Only in that I find them both very same-y in every role they play. Neither of them are exactly chameleon-like.

[Tonch]

I've noticed Nicholas Jones popping up in all sorts of things that I happen to have watched lately, to the point where I literally did what your thread title says Kitty and remarked "Not him again!" only a couple of nights ago .



Mrs Tonch gets mildly irritated nowadays when an elderly female character - often someone's dizzy grandma - turns up in a drama or comedy and is played by the ubiquitous Liz Smith. Nothing against the actress but she seems to have cornered the market on dotty old ladies (at least according to my missus).

[paul kersey]

Maybe my answer is a bit off topic, but why do most films on Channel 5 seem to feature

Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal?. I have to confess that there are times when I am feeling lazy and can't be bothered to put on a DVD, that I see a film on C5 that reads quite well in Radio Times, I am almost tempted to watch it but can't bring myself to do so because one of these two planks are in it.

[didi-5]

Jim Broadbent gets about, to the point when it sometimes completely throws the enjoyment of a drama because you're waiting to see where he turns up. I don't dislike his work - I just think that surely there is someone else who could occasionally get the work!

[RogerThornhill]

name='paul kersey' timestamp='1283422989' post='470364']

Maybe my answer is a bit off topic, but why do most films on Channel 5 seem to feature

Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal?.

Lets face it they are such rubbish "actors" (actors? ) that all their movies must be dirt cheap.

[batman]

name='paul kersey' timestamp='1283422989' post='470364']

I am almost tempted to watch it but can't bring myself to do so because one of these two planks are in it.

I succumbed to that very temptation and watched the Belgian film JCVD with Van Damme recently. In this one Van Damme plays himself (as a not so heroic, washed up action hero with divorce and money troubles) who gets held hostage by some bank robbers. After that we enter Ace in the Hole territory as the whole thing becomes a media circus in which Van Damme is perceived to be one of the bad guys. It's a very good film and Van Damme is good in it. At one stage he gives a 10m very personal and straight to camera monologue which is superb. A real surprise and worth and 90m of anyone's time IMHO.



ps - Seagal's best film, Under Siege 2, is on BBC3 next week, that's also worth a look if only for Eric Bogosian's truly barking mad baddie!

[Tigon Man]

Brian Cox and Bill Nighy are two Brit actors who appear in every other American movie these days, typically when a villain is required. Until the mid eighties when he played Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter, Cox had appeared in only a handful of films. Likewise Bill Nighy was little known until he appeared in Still Crazy as a faded rock star then virtually reprised the role in Love Actually. Once these two actors hit the US radar, their respective film careers took off. Brian Cox has now made nearly sixty movies and Bill Nighy close to forty.



This also means that as star character actors, they may work on several projects simultaneously, which then often get released back to back so that it appears they are hardly off the screen. It's the same for telly actors, a jobbing actor may sign a contract to appear in small roles in two or three shows, although with productions now largely made by independant companies rather than the BBC or ITV, it's less frequent these days. Michael Kitchen (before he landed Foyle's War) is an actor that springs to mind who always seemed to be on the telly.

[Onedin]

name='Kitty Whiskers' timestamp='1283406600' post='470299']

do they never sleep?

Since when do actors have a right to sleep?

[thatllbetheday]

name='Kitty Whiskers' timestamp='1283406600' post='470299']

There are some actors and actresses that seem to turn up in everything. They put in a solid performance, have no annoying mannerisms and yet you get sick of the sight of them. For me, Tom Wilkinson is one such actor. I have nothing against him as a person or an actor, yet everytime he turns up (and he seems to turn up a lot) I groan inwardly. Ray Winstone is another. I mean, they must be good to work with because everyone hires them but do they never sleep?

Exacly, everyone hires them! I thing it's the fault of casting agents. They're too lazy to look around for new faces and play safe with the usual suspects.

[CaptainWaggett]

name='thatllbetheday' timestamp='1283465497' post='470611']

Exacly, everyone hires them! I thing it's the fault of casting agents. They're too lazy to look around for new faces and play safe with the usual suspects.

Things were so much better in the 1950s - you wouldn't have got casting agents playing safe then and hiring Cecil Parker 28 times or Felix Aylmer 27 times or Raymond Huntley 45 times

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

name='CaptainWaggett' timestamp='1283480720' post='470637']

Things were so much better in the 1950s - you wouldn't have got casting agents playing safe then and hiring Cecil Parker 28 times or Felix Aylmer 27 times or Raymond Huntley 45 times

[Moor Larkin]

name='Tigon Man' timestamp='1283429721' post='470413']Brian Cox

Bill Nighy

Michael Kitchen

Patrick Malahide







worked his way up from the bottom.......

[Briant]

Christopher Plummer seems to be in lots and lots of films!

[CaptainWaggett]

name='Briant' timestamp='1283534929' post='470839']

Christopher Plummer seems to be in lots and lots of films!

Taking work from up-and-coming actors needing their first break

[Girard]

I can do without Tom Hanks, too. I like him, but a little bit goes a long way. He was good in Saving Private Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle, and in Toy Story. I hope he takes a rest for a couple of years.

[Kitty Whiskers]

I read Jude Law (not a favourite of mine by any stretch of the imagination) was in 6 films in 2004. No wonder I'm absolutely sick of the sight of him.

[Girard]

name='Kitty Whiskers' timestamp='1283555331' post='470954']

I read Jude Law (not a favourite of mine by any stretch of the imagination) was in 6 films in 2004. No wonder I'm absolutely sick of the sight of him.

I suppose an actor's like a professional athlete--make the money while you can! Hopefully, Jude Law is investing his earnings wisely (and his financial adviser isn't a crook), so he can have a comfortable retirement on the Amalfi Coast. Actors get old before you know it (never the fans, of course). Rupert Everett's 51.

[Wheelieman]

At one time Sarah Lancashire and Sarah Parish seemed to be taking the female leads in every TV drama. Happily, some new talent is now being given a chance, although there is a general dearth of original drama on our screens