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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  March Madness 2018  /  The 2018 March Madness Tournament.
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 12th, 2018, 11:03pm
Are you like me? Well, probably not, but do you dislike college basketball during the season but become really interested when March Madness comes around? Well, probably not.

Anyway, that's the same kind of feeling I get when I watch movies and I see the name of a well-established character actor. This is a subtle way of letting me know that I'll be in good hands for at least a couple of scenes, even if the movie itself is pretty bad.

That's the effect that character actors have. They give you that moment of joy when you see them and you think to yourself, "Hey, I know them. I like them." Just another piece of that show or movie to get you more interested and invested.

So, what my brother and I have done is compiled a list of what we consider to be among the 68--I hate to use the word "best" because it's so subjective--character actors. Your job will be to vote for the ones you consider to be the best.

Ground rules:

There will be a poll attached to each post to make it easier for me to keep track of everyone, however, a vote is only valid if you write down a choice in your post. This rules out tampering.
Have fun with it. Explain your choices and see if you can get other people to see things the way you do. Of course, you don't have to, but don't you think it might get a little boring to just see one person's name in every post?
Enjoy yourselves.

Additional notes:

My brother and I worked off a shortlist of about 200 names. I doubt we thought of everyone of value, but I think we got as close as we could.
You're going to eventually notice that there are no actresses on this list. In an early version of the tournament, I was going to add them in, but only 11 specifically stood out and only three would have made the list. Rather than having the actresses be that unfairly outnumbered, I plan to do another one of these in the future for the actresses.
There are a couple controversial names on this list. My brother and I went back and forth on them. In the end, he disagreed with my decision to add them. Full disclosure.
Posted by: Stumpzian, March 13th, 2018, 8:45am; Reply: 1
What a beautifully worked out idea. Some very difficult match-ups. A few "that guy" names I don't know, but fewer than expected.

Henry
Posted by: MarkItZero, March 13th, 2018, 9:09am; Reply: 2
Oh thank God, I thought it was gonna be an actual March Madness bracket.

If I want to watch basketballs clang harmlessly off the rim or airball entirely, I can just go to the gym and practice my free throws.

Fun idea here. I know more of these by name than I expected. Will need to put faces to names for some though.
Posted by: eldave1, March 13th, 2018, 12:06pm; Reply: 3




Interesting lists. You did miss many great ones:

William Macy
John Goodman
Seymour Hoffman
Jason Robards
Benicio Del Toro
Jack Warden
etc.

And included some odd ones (Hartman, Moranis - really?)

Anyway - can't make everyone happy.
Posted by: khamanna, March 13th, 2018, 1:15pm; Reply: 4

Quoted from eldave1


And included some odd ones (Hartman, Moranis - really?)

Anyway - can't make everyone happy.

Hartman is one of the very few that I recognize here and he's one of my favorite actors of all. He was in News Radio and that one is priceless. He was priceless in it. Just love love love Phil Hartman.
Posted by: eldave1, March 13th, 2018, 1:32pm; Reply: 5

Quoted from khamanna

Hartman is one of the very few that I recognize here and he's one of my favorite actors of all. He was in News Radio and that one is priceless. He was priceless in it. Just love love love Phil Hartman.


A fan of Phil as well as I thought he was a brilliant sketch comic. Just don't put him in the same league as some of the ones I listed above
Posted by: Colkurtz8, March 13th, 2018, 1:51pm; Reply: 6
Cool, some great names in here, love it.

You could only have been snowed in to go to all this trouble.

Look forward to it.
Posted by: khamanna, March 13th, 2018, 2:07pm; Reply: 7

Quoted from eldave1


A fan of Phil as well as I thought he was a brilliant sketch comic. Just don't put him in the same league as some of the ones I listed above

I don't think they included many movie openers. Chrisopher Walken and Paul Giamatti. Many are pretty recognizable but not sure they can carry a movie. Maybe it's the thought here - not to include the ones that are too big or something.

Some I never saw - ever in my life. For example: Robert Forster. And he's a songwriter google says:

https://www.google.com/search?q=ROBERT+FORSTER&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b
Posted by: Colkurtz8, March 13th, 2018, 2:17pm; Reply: 8

Quoted from khamanna
I don't think they included many movie openers. Chrisopher Walken and Paul Giamatti. Many are pretty recognizable but not sure they can carry a movie. Maybe it's the thought here - not to include the ones that are too big or something.

Some I never saw - every in my life. For example: Robert Forster. And he's a songwriter google says:

https://www.google.com/search?q=ROBERT+FORSTER&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b


- Sean mentioned they focused on character actors. That is why some might seem a little obscure. Robert Forster is best known to new-ish audiences from Jackie Brown. He was also in a great film from the 60s called Medium Cool. I haven't seen him in much else. I think he was originally known as a TV actor from the 60s/70s.
Posted by: khamanna, March 13th, 2018, 2:44pm; Reply: 9

Quoted from Colkurtz8


- Sean mentioned they focused on character actors. That is why some might seem a little obscure. Robert Forster is best known to new-ish audiences from Jackie Brown. He was also in a great film from the 60s called Medium Cool. I haven't seen him in much else. I think he was originally known as a TV actor from the 60s/70s.


He also says there are a couple of controversial names on the list.
But mine would be the worst judgement. I'm really poorly versed in the land of TV.
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 14th, 2018, 5:09am; Reply: 10

Quoted from eldave1
Interesting lists. You did miss many great ones:

William Macy
John Goodman
Seymour Hoffman
Jason Robards
Benicio Del Toro
Jack Warden
etc.

And included some odd ones (Hartman, Moranis - really?)


I didn't miss them. As I said, the shortlist was about 200 names. Macy and Hoffman were removed. Del Toro was considered but dropped (we had a couple reasons to remove names from the list) and Warden and Robards missed the list. Goodman wasn't considered.
Posted by: khamanna, March 14th, 2018, 5:19am; Reply: 11
Sean, what are we choosing here, a pair of actors or one of the divisions?
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 14th, 2018, 5:22am; Reply: 12
Actors. Working on setting up round 1 as we speak.
Posted by: eldave1, March 14th, 2018, 10:12am; Reply: 13

Quoted from Mr. Blonde


I didn't miss them. As I said, the shortlist was about 200 names. Macy and Hoffman were removed. Del Toro was considered but dropped (we had a couple reasons to remove names from the list) and Warden and Robards missed the list. Goodman wasn't considered.


But ya did - didn't say you didn't consider them - point was I believe they should have made it to the brackets and didn't (i.e., a miss). Expected as much like the NCAA bracket most of the hub-bub is about who didn't make it. All good.
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 14th, 2018, 10:36am; Reply: 14
When I read "missed", it implies, in my mind, forgotten about. So, I'll rephrase: disqualified (on Macy and PSH). Others were in contention but were beaten out.
Posted by: eldave1, March 14th, 2018, 10:38am; Reply: 15

Quoted from Mr. Blonde
When I read "missed", it implies, in my mind, forgotten about. So, I'll rephrase: disqualified (on Macy and PSH). Others were in contention but were beaten out.


All good.
Posted by: Colkurtz8, March 14th, 2018, 11:36am; Reply: 16
I suspect someone listens to the Filmspotting podcast with all this madness shenanigans  ;)
Posted by: DustinBowcot (Guest), March 15th, 2018, 4:48am; Reply: 17
Aren't all actors character actors? If they're not acting as a character, then they are playing themselves. Which is possible, like Eminem in 8-mile, Ice Cube in everything, Hugh Grant also in everything, etc, etc. But then, those guys are not really actors. Might be a tad unfair, they could be typecast... but still, no excuse for not putting a bit of originality into each part.

When you say character actor, do you simply mean a good actor? From the selections thus far, it seems to be just about anyone that can act. I watch for stories, not for actors. Some great actors can play shit parts in shit stories. I'm not in safe hands amidst a shit story just because there's somebody who can pull off a decent acting performance.
Posted by: eldave1, March 15th, 2018, 10:26am; Reply: 18

Quoted from DustinBowcot
Aren't all actors character actors? If they're not acting as a character, then they are playing themselves. Which is possible, like Eminem in 8-mile, Ice Cube in everything, Hugh Grant also in everything, etc, etc. But then, those guys are not really actors. Might be a tad unfair, they could be typecast... but still, no excuse for not putting a bit of originality into each part.

When you say character actor, do you simply mean a good actor? From the selections thus far, it seems to be just about anyone that can act. I watch for stories, not for actors. Some great actors can play shit parts in shit stories. I'm not in safe hands amidst a shit story just because there's somebody who can pull off a decent acting performance.


Guessing is the criteria is that excludes folks who typically play the lead role (i.e., no Deniro even though his role in meet the parents was as a character actor. No Nicholson even though his Joker was clearly a character actor).  
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 15th, 2018, 10:30am; Reply: 19
Exactly. This is where it got real tricky to make the list.
Posted by: DustinBowcot (Guest), March 15th, 2018, 12:01pm; Reply: 20
I still don't understand what defines a character actor as opposed to an actor that acts as a character.

I can't think of many films where the main or otherwise aren't playing a character. Even the background characters are acting. Acting is being somebody else, taking on another character. So, when it boils down to it, is character actor simply another term for an actor that can actually act?
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 15th, 2018, 12:08pm; Reply: 21
From Wikipedia (and this does say it about as clearly as I think it can be said):

"A character actor or character actress is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters. The term, often contrasted with that of leading actor, is somewhat abstract and open to interpretation. In a literal sense, all actors can be considered character actors since they all play "characters", but in the usual sense it is an actor who plays a distinctive and important supporting role."
Posted by: Stumpzian, March 15th, 2018, 12:13pm; Reply: 22
Character Actor is simply the accpted term for those actors who generally don't play lead roles. They show up a lot over the years, but most people never know their names. Such an actor is often referred to as "That Guy."  As in, "Oh, it's that guy."

A lot of actors on this list, though, ARE known by name.

P.S. Wrote this before seeing Sean's post.
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 15th, 2018, 12:24pm; Reply: 23
I suppose I could have done a list like this with all these guys, but my worry would be that so few people would know them or care that each match-up would only have two or three votes:

David Morse.
Bruce Greenwood.
James Cromwell.
Tony Todd.
Michael Madsen.
Gregg Henry.
Ronny Cox.
Brian Dennehy.
Ted Levine.
Robert Shaw.
Elias Koteas.
Bob Gunton.
Raul Julia.
Vincent Schiavelli.
John Ashton.
Dennis Haysbert.
Joe Mantegna.
Reg E. Cathey.
David Strathairn.
Fred Willard.
Ray Wise.
Bruce McGill.
John Carroll Lynch.
Robert Loggia.
Mykelti Williamson.
Dermot Mulroney.
Clifton Collins Jr..
Neal McDonough.
Barry Pepper.
Danny Trejo.
John Saxon.
John Heard.
Peter Weller.
Jeffrey DeMunn.
M. Emmet Walsh.
Leland Orser.
Paul Winfield.
Xander Berkeley.
Delroy Lindo.
Michael Bowen.
Jonathan Hyde.
Noah Emmerich.
Yaphet Kotto.
John Astin.
Peter Greene.
Stephen Dorff.
William Sadler.
Robert Englund.
Henry Rollins.
Robert Lasardo.
M.C. Gainey.
Lance Henriksen.
David Warner.
Mekhi Phifer.
Jack McGee.
Fred Dalton Thompson.
William Devane.
Kurtwood Smith.
Mitch Pileggi.
Joe Morton.
Mike Starr.
Nestor Serrano.
Udo Kier.
Tommy Flanagan.
Carl Weathers.
Lou Diamond Phillips.
Albert Leong.
Raymond J. Barry.
Bruce Davison.
Scott Patterson.
Ernie Hudson.
Jeff Fahey.
Bokeem Woodbine.
Scott Glenn.
Frank Whaley.
Dan Hedaya.
Vondie Curtis-Hall.
Holt McCallany.
Richard T. Jones.
Luis Guzman.
Colm Feore.
Zeljko Ivanek.
Michael Rispoli.
Corbin Bernsen.
Kevin Dunn.
Zack Grenier.
Robert Patrick.
Dolph Lundgren.
Marshall Bell.
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 15th, 2018, 3:45pm; Reply: 24
Internet problems. Supposed to have posted matches today, but can't until it's back. Will update later.
Posted by: jayrex, March 16th, 2018, 2:08pm; Reply: 25
What's the purpose of these polls?

Since I've not been around in a while I've missed a lot.
Posted by: jayrex, March 16th, 2018, 2:08pm; Reply: 26
Actor Vs actor.

I've not heard of most of these people btw.
Posted by: Mr. Blonde, March 16th, 2018, 2:11pm; Reply: 27
It's a contest for people to vote on who they consider to be the best character actor. Part of what makes them character actors is that you're not going to know some of them by name.
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