I did not expected I would be impressed by Keira Knightley in Begin Again. She was always choose ambitious or smart roles and usually period dramas, which probably described and fit her. But as Gretta, she’s an idealist but an easygoing one.
Some actors are comfortable with their ‘zone’ of expertise, whether they choose it from the start or not. But some really try hard to erase their previous image, and they nailed it. These are some other fresh breakthrough performances that impressed me in the past year:
Michael Fassbender in Frank
At this point, I thought what can’t Michael Fassbender do? He’s handsome, talented and unafraid to take controversial roles. He’s known to be Steve McQueen’s favorite actor, since he starred in most his films; Shame, Hunger and 12 Years a Slave. His continuously take dominant and intense roles, like in Jane Eyre, Inglorious Basterd and X-Men : Days of Future Past (which is fast becoming one of the top-grossing films of the year) .
But then he took one role that I thought a little waste (of his looks), being a frontman of a band who wears a head of a cartoon character. You can’t really see his face until some few scenes in the end. Frank was inspired by Frank Sidebottom, which is Chris Sievey, a frontman of The Freshies. The movie and story is a little unusual, but give me a little knowledge on how some band members create their music. It certainly new for him and us the fans, but I find Fassy still brilliant mastering the role. I am quite fascinated that he would do such role that would cover not only his gorgeous looks, but also his acting and expression. Now that’s a real actor.
Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow
From sweet and fashionable roles like in The Devil Wears Prada, Your Sister’s Sister, The Young Victoria, The Jane Austen Book Club and more, Emily Blunt takes a more physic challenging role and partners with Tom Cruise. She did looked quite heady as a protective mom in Looper, but not until Edge of Tomorrow she’s the most fierce I’ve ever seen.
As Rita, she’s fearless and the best on the war field which dominated by men. She showed some muscles and at the same time her sex appeal, but she’s got tough exterior. In many ways, she radiates awesomeness and even Cruise in his role felt intimidated by her. Blunt and Cruise wore heavy metal suit most of the time in the movie, and Blunt was said trained 3 months for the role with yoga and other sports related. I never see her that bold and never would’ve guess that she’ll take such ‘tough’ role. Makes me love her and excited with her future roles ahead.
Léa Seydoux in Blue is The Warmest Color
The first time I noticed Lea Seydoux was in Mission : Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and within that short performance of her, she managed to be memorable – in a cool cold-blooded killer way. There aren’t much actress can look gorgeous, cool but cold like her. Sure she starred in Midnight in Paris too, also in Sister. This year she’s one of the many well-known actress starred in Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. But nothing can top how drastic she transformed in Blue is The Warmest Color.
As Emma, the lesbian lover of Adele (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Lea is short-haired, blue and a bit tomboy. She was enticing, attractive and artsy, is what the naive Adele sees. It was really brave for a young actress, and showed that she’s willing to go far for her profession. The role showed her range, the furthest I’ve seen. She’s one French actress you couldn’t underestimate.
Paul Dano in Prisoners
Truth to be told, I never paid attention to Paul Dano after Little Miss Sunshine and before Ruby Sparks. They are coincidentally directed by the same couple, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. It seems though each character of him in that two movies, matched him very well or maybe he conquered the role. Of course, Calvin in Ruby Sparks was written with him on the mind of the writer, which is his girlfriend, Zoe Kazan. After Ruby Sparks, he starred as an antagonist in Looper and 12 Years a Slave, but it was just a good performance for me.
I don’t usually go for thriller in movie theaters, but I was curious with Prisoners. Dano stunned me with his 8-year-old act of a man. He’s a little bit like a mental person but he isn’t. He’s accused to had kidnap kids, but since there’s no evidence he’s been released. Eventually, one of the parents tortured him himself. I think what shocked me was because he was an adorable geeky man in a romantic comedy, but then he chose to be a freaky child-man, tortured, which wasn’t a treat for the eye. By daring to take unusual and odd character after a romantic leading man, that’s pretty brave and against stereotypes. There’s a big potential in him and I believe he’s going far.
Daniel Radcliffe in What If
When you hear the name Daniel Radcliffe, you’ll most definitely linked him to Harry Potter series. And, he’s probably pretty sick of it that he tried hard to try new roles to differentiate him to Harry. While Emma Watson pretty nailed it with The Bling Ring and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Radcliffe is one behind her. After The Woman in Black and Kill Your Darlings (which I have not see until I write this post), Radcliffe starred in romantic comedy What If.
And finally, he seems relaxed and fit (no offense, but he was a little bit stiff and serious as Harry) as Wallace, the man who secretly in love with his best friend in the movie. Wallace is a sensitive and kind, a gentleman but quite shy. Radcliffe admitted that he is like Wallace, which is probably why he’s great as him. I was cynical to thought he’ll suffer for typecasting. I would watch him again in a romantic comedy.
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Readers, agree or disagree? Do you have any breakthrough performance you love in the past year?
