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Why Watch That

To date, our Great American Actors episode has been our most popular episode, so we thought it made sense to do another great actors episode and focus on performers “Across the Pond.” Sit back as the Critic and the Referee discuss what makes non-American performers different, and see who they think are some of the best.

The Actors

Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He is the recipient of six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BIF Award, two Saturn Awards, four Drama Desk Awards and two Critics’ Choice Awards. He has also received two Academy Award nominations, eight BAFTA film and TV nominations and five Emmy Award nominations. McKellen’s work spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. His notable film roles include Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men films. (wikipedia)

Liam John Neeson, OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an Irish actor who rose to prominence with his acclaimed starring role in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 Oscar winner Schindler’s List. He has since starred in a number of other successful films, including Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Taken, Michael Collins, Batman Begins, Kinsey, Clash of the Titans, and The Chronicles of Narnia series. He has been nominated for a number of awards including an Academy Award for Best Actor, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.(wikipedia)

Dame Judith Olivia “Judi” Dench, CH DBE FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English film, stage and television actress, occasional singer and author. Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of Shakespeare’s plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Not generally known as a singer, she drew strong reviews for her leading role in the musical Cabaret in 1968. (wikipedia)

Dame Helen Lydia Mirren, DBE (née Mironoff; born 26 July 1945), is an English actor. Mirren has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards. In 2003, she received a damehood for services to the performing arts at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Mirren began her acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the latter half of the 1960s. From her very first film appearances (e.g., playing the young muse to a middle-aged artist in 1969’s Age of Consent), Mirren displayed the overtly sensual screen persona that would become her trademark. Other early movies included O Lucky Man!(1973), Excalibur (1981) and The Long Good Friday (1982). (wikipedia)

Kate Elizabeth Winslet, CBE (born 5 October 1975), is an English actress and singer. She was the youngest person to acquire six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader (2008). She has won awards from the Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association among others, and has been nominated twice for an Emmy Award for television acting, winning once for her performance in the 2011 miniseries Mildred Pierce, in which she played the title role. In 2012 she received the Honorary César Award.  (wikipedia)

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (19 July 1976) is an English film, television, theatre and voice actor. Cumberbatch’s first West End theatre performance was for Sir Richard Eyre’s revival of Hedda Gabler as George Tesman in 2005. Since then, he has headlined Royal National Theatre productions After the Dance (2010) and Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein (2011). His first starring role on television was as the title character in Hawking in 2004. He has portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the television series Sherlock since 2010 and has led the ensemble cast of Sir Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Parade’s End in 2012. His first major film role was William Pitt the Younger in Amazing Grace in 2006. He has also appeared in the films Atonement (2007), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse (2011). Since 2012, he has portrayed the characters of Smaug and the Necromancer through voice and motion capture in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. In 2013, he starred in films Star Trek Into Darkness, 12 Years a Slave, The Fifth Estate, and August: Osage County. (wikipedia)

Idrissa Akuna “Idris” Elba (born 6 September 1972) is a British actor, producer, singer, rapper, and DJ. He is best known for his portrayal of drug lord and aspiring businessman Russell “Stringer” Bell in the HBO series The Wire, Detective John Luther in the BBC One series Luther, and Nelson Mandela in the biographical filmMandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Elba has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film, winning one, and for Best Actor, as well as earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Elba has appeared in films such as Daddy’s Little Girls (2007), Takers (2010), Thor (2011), Prometheus (2012), Pacific Rim (2013) and Thor: The Dark World (2013). In addition to his acting work, he is a DJ under the moniker DJ Big Driis (or Big Driis the Londoner) and a hip-hop soul musician. (wikipedia)

Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor, who has worked on television, stage and film. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for portraying the lead in the ITV series Chancer from 1990 to 1991. He then received critical acclaim for his work in the film Close My Eyes (1991) before getting international notice for his performance as a struggling writer in Croupier (1998). In 2005, Owen won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his appearance in the drama Closer (2004). He has since played leading roles in films such as Sin City (2005), Derailed (2005) Inside Man (2006), Children of Men (2006), and The International (2009). In 2012, he earned his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his role in Hemingway & Gellhorn. (wikipedia)

Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is a British actor. He has played British secret agent James Bond since 2006. Craig is an alumnus of the National Youth Theatre and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, beginning his career on stage. His early on-screen appearances were in the films Elizabeth,The Power of One and A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, and on Sharpe’s Eagle and Zorro in television. His appearances in the British films Love Is the Devil, The Trench and Some Voices attracted the industry’s attention, leading to roles in bigger productions such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Road to Perdition, Layer Cake and Munich. Craig achieved international fame when chosen as the sixth actor to play the role of James Bond in the official series, replacing Pierce Brosnan. Though he was initially greeted with scepticism, his debut in Casino Royale was highly acclaimed and earned him a BAFTA award nomination, with the film becoming the highest-grossing in the series at the time. (wikipedia)

Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. He has starred in both blockbuster films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. Bale first caught the public eye at the age of 13, when he was cast in the starring role of Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (1987). Based on the original story by J. G. Ballard, Bale played an English boy who is separated from his parents and subsequently finds himself lost in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. In 2000, he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. He earned a reputation as a method actor after he lost 63 pounds to play the role of Trevor Reznik in The Machinist (2004). (wikipedia)

Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor and author. Renowned for his distinctive Cockney accent, Caine has appeared in over 115 films and is one of the UK’s most recognisable actors. He made his breakthrough in the 1960s with starring roles in a number of acclaimed British films, including Zulu (1964), The Ipcress File (1965), Alfie (1966), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, The Italian Job (1969), and Battle of Britain (1969). His most notable roles in the 1970s included Get Carter (1971), Sleuth (1972), for which he earned his second Academy Award nomination, The Man Who Would Be King (1975), and A Bridge Too Far (1978). He achieved some of his greatest critical success in the 1980s, with Educating Rita (1983) earning him the BAFTA and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. In 1986 he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters. (wikipedia)

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor of film, stage, and television, and a composer. After graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 1957, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and was then spotted by Laurence Olivier who invited him to join the Royal National Theatre. In 1968, he got his break in film in The Lion in Winter playing Richard I. Considered to be one of the greatest living actors, Hopkins is well known for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, its sequel Hannibal, and the prequel Red Dragon. Other notable films include The Mask of Zorro, The Bounty, Meet Joe Black, The Elephant Man, Magic,84 Charing Cross Road, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Legends of the Fall, Thor, The Remains of the Day, Amistad, Nixon, The World’s Fastest Indian, Instinct, and Fracture. (wikipedia)

Sir Patrick Stewart, OBE (born 13 July 1940) is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career on stage and screen. He is most widely known for his roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its successor films, as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series, and for his prolific stage roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1993, TV Guide named him the best dramatic television actor of the 1980s, and television’s sexiest man in the previous year. (wikipedia)

Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE (born 5 February 1969), is a Welsh stage and screen actor. After training at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Sheen made his professional debut in 1991, starring opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre. He worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s and made notable stage appearances in Romeo and Juliet (1992), Don’t Fool With Love (1993), Peer Gynt (1994), The Seagull (1995), The Homecoming (1997) and Henry V (1997). His performances in Amadeus at the Old Vic and Look Back in Anger at the National Theatre were nominated for Olivier Awards in 1998 and 1999, respectively. In 2003, he was nominated for a third Olivier Award for his performance in Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse. (wikipedia)

Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (born 22 December 1962), is an English actor. A noted Shakespeare interpreter, he first achieved success onstage at the Royal National Theatre. Fiennes’ portrayal of Nazi war criminal Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List (1993) earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His performance as Count Almásy in The English Patient (1996) garnered him a second Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor, as well as BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. (wikipedia)

John Vincent Hurt, CBE (born 22 January 1940) is an English actor. Among other honours, he has received two Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe Award, and four BAFTA Awards, with the fourth being a Lifetime Achievement recognition. Hurt is known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York, and Caligula in I, Claudius. Recognisable for his distinctive rich voice, he has also enjoyed a successful voice acting career, starring in films such as Watership Down, the animated The Lord of the Rings and Dogville, as well as the BBC television series Merlin. He portrayed the War Doctor in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor”, following brief appearances in previous episodes. (wikipedia)

Catherine Élise “Cate” Blanchett ( born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actress of screen and stage. She has received critical acclaim and many accolades throughout her career, including two Academy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and three BAFTA Awards.She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 film Elizabeth, for which she won the British Academy Award for Best Actress (BAFTA) and a Golden Globe award, and earned her first Academy Award nomination. Her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator brought her critical acclaim and various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2013, she starred in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She is one of only six actresses to win Oscars for both Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. (wikipedia)

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his leads in Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, Australia, Real Steel, Les Misérables, and Prisoners. His work in Les Misérablesearned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 2013. He is also a singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz. (wikipedia)

Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an Australian film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy and Elrond in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit film trilogy. He first rose to prominence for his performance as Martin in Proof. Other notable works include Tick in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, V in V for Vendetta, Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger and multiple roles in Cloud Atlas. He has also provided the voice Rex in Babe, Noah in Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two and Megatron in the Transformers film series as well as starring in numerous Australian character dramas. He has received many award nominations and wins during his career, including a Satellite Award, an MTV Movie Award and several Australian Film Institute Awards. (wikipedia)

Jacqueline Ruth “Jacki” Weaver, AO (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. She is known internationally for her performances in Animal Kingdom and Silver Linings Playbook, for which she was nominated for the 2011 and 2013 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Weaver is a symbol for the Australian New Wave that began in the 1970s through her work in the films such as Caddie, for which she tied for the very first AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress, Petersen, and Stork, for which she won the second ever AFI Award for Best Lead Actress. (wikipedia)

Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland’s more notable movie roles have included soldiers in popular war movies such as The Dirty Dozen, The Eagle Has Landed, MASH and Kelly’s Heroes, as well as a diverse range of characters in other noted films such as Fellini’s Casanova, Klute, Don’t Look Now, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, JFK, Ordinary People, Pride & Prejudice, and The Hunger Games. He is the father of actor Kiefer Sutherland. (wikipedia)

Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (born 21 February 1946) is an English actor. He is a stage actor in modern and classical productions, and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His breakout performance was as the Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Rickman is well known for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard, Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1991), Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series, Éamon de Valera in Michael Collins, Metatron in Dogma, and Ronald Reagan in The Butler. (wikipedia)

Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. In a career spanning over 40 years, he has won an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA, two Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards. He is known for his starring role as Mohandas Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He is also known for his performances in the films Schindler’s List (1993), Sexy Beast (2000), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Hugo (2011), and Iron Man 3 (2013). In 2013 he received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles ‘Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment.

Rachel Hannah Weisz (born 7 March 1970) is an English film and theatre actress and former fashion model. Weisz began her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge in the early 1990s, then started working in television, appearing in Inspector Morse, the British mini-series Scarlet and Black, and the television film Advocates II. She made her film debut in the film Death Machine (1994), but her breakthrough role came in the film Chain Reaction (1996), leading to a high-profile role as Evelyn Carnahan-O’Connell in the films The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001). (wikipedia)

An American Actor We Missed

Kathleen Doyle “Kathy” Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress and film director. After appearing in several minor roles in film and television during the 1970s and the 1980s, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery (1990), for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe. She followed this with major roles in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and Dolores Claiborne (1995), before playing a featured role as Molly Brown in Titanic (1997).

Must Watch

Layer Cake: A successful cocaine dealer, who has earned a respected place among England’s Mafia elite, plans an early retirement from the business. However, big boss Jimmy Price hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing rich princess daughter of Jimmy’s old pal Edward, a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite. (IMDb)

Rescue Dawn: In 1965, while bombing Laos in a classified mission, the propeller plane of the German-American US Navy pilot Dieter Dengler is hit and crashes in the jungle. Dieter is arrested by the peasants, tortured by the Vietcong and sent to a prisoner camp, where he meets five other mentally deranged prisoners and guards. (IMDb)

The Machinist: Trevor Reznik is a machinist in a factory. An extreme case of insomnia has led to him not sleeping in a year, and his body withering away to almost nothing. He has an obsessive compulsion to write himself reminder notes and keep track of his dwindling weight, both scribbled on yellow stickies in his apartment. (IMDb)

A Critic and Referee Favorite

Space Balls: King Roland of the planet Druidia is trying to marry his daughter Princess Vespa to Prince Valium, but Vespa is kidnapped by the evil race of the Spaceballs. The Spaceballs ask Roland a tremendous ransom: all the air of Druidia (you see, the air of Spaceball had serious pollution problems…). The King decides to offer a generous amount of money to a space rogue, Lone Starr, to persuade him to save Vespa. What follows is the parody of a _LOT_ of famous SF movies. (IMDb)

You May Want to Watch

Animal Kingdom: Despite being no saint herself, Julia Cody has shielded her seventeen year old son, Joshua “J” Cody, from her Melbourne-based criminal relatives who they have not seen in years. After Julia dies in front of J’s eyes from a self-inflicted heroin overdose, J, who is slightly detached from life, feels he has no choice but to contact his maternal grandmother, Janine “Smurf” Cody, the family matriarch, for a place to live. (IMDb)