The 10 Most Disturbed Best Supporting Actor Performances of All-Time
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science loves two things: Histrionic supporting actresses, and disturbed and/or disturbing supporting actors. Since we've already explored the former with nutty comprehension, it's time to revisit the chillier side of Oscar's supporting categories. Which roles are the grisliest in Academy history? Join us for the rundown.
10. Tim Robbins in Mystic River
We can thank Mystic River for gifting us with some of the best performances of 2003, even if it's a memorably disappointing movie. Tim Robbins plays Dave Boyle, a man haunted by his childhood abduction and molestation. Trauma is the ultimate Academy Award clincher, and here, Robbins took that familiar formula to the Oscar dais.
9. Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People
I'm one of the few who supports Ordinary People's 1980 Best Picture win over Raging Bull, and it's because of this performance: Timothy Hutton's portrayal of a suicidal, clinically guilt-ridden teenager struggling to cope with the death of his older brother is positively un-melodramatic. It is stunning. Thirty years later, the character is still fresh, believable, and downright lovable -- in part thanks to his mother's (Mary Tyler Moore) maddening aloofness.
8. Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects
As ho-hum con man Verbal Kint, Kevin Spacey weaves a tale for police about a crime overlord named Keyser Soze with remarkable clarity and quotability. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist," he deadpans. Even better is what he doesn't say.
7. Joe Pesci in Goodfellas
If Ray Liotta's laughter isn't enough to strike fear into your life, Joe Pesci's unhinged, amusing role as Tommy DeVito will scare you away from so much as giggling at his hammy delivery.
6. Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
As the barker at a torturous, months-long dance marathon in the '30s, Gig Young brings ringmaster bravado and an underworldly sleaze to Sydney Pollack's 1969 masterpiece. You know you're a disturbed character when the movie uses you to symbolize the constantly oppressive forces that plague everyone in the agonizing marathon of life. Nice!
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I would add Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted to this list for sure.
I would switch out Kevin Spacey's role in Usual Suspect (great role, but hardly disturbing) with Seven. Yes, I know it was an uncredited role, but still worth mentioning.
I think her pesky vagina precludes her addition to the list, just between us.
Ummmmm...excuse me, Anthony Hopkins in Silence of The Lambs?????
?????....was a win for Best Actor.
Christ, I'd hate to write for Movieline with all of you half-wits commenting.
Good list but Ledger's got to be #1.
What about Richard Widmark in The Kiss of Death?
Christoph Waltz spoke 4 languages in Inglourious Basterds, he speaks French, German, English, and a bit in Italian too.
Not one the other performances comes anywhere close to Ledger's Joker performance. It is so multi-layered and complicated that you can watch it 20 times (and I have) and see something different each time. I don't say it very often, but it is sheer acting genius.
He was great, but honestly, what does "multi-layered" mean? He is a deranged villain with a freaky voice and eccentric timing. Gig Young in They Shoot Horses, Don't They is plenty more complicated -- he goes from sadistic to manipulative to creepy to kind of nurturing (in that phenomenal shower scene with Susannah York).
Heath Ledger was an incredible Joker, but I've always thought people were kidding themselves about the "depth" he achieved.
Bardem's performance was overrated. He's a good actor, but Tommy Lee Jones brought a lot more to his role in that movie than Bardem did.
Anton Chigurh's character was great and AMAZING!! But I have to say his acting was just okay due to his character all he had to do was play someone cold kind of like a human terminator and personally I think anyone can do that. Don't get me wrong though he totally deserved that Oscar his character was great and amazing I'm just saying it wasn't THAT amazing. Personally I think Heath Ledger's Joker was better. He did a better job acting and all. In all though I don't mind that Anton Chigurh topped the list I would've just picked The Joker.
Great Performances but personally I think The Joker should be #1 however I don't mind that Anton Chigurh is #1.
@Jim Staicoff Antony Hopkins wasn't a supporting actor in The Silence of the Lamb.
BTW I wished that Amon Goeth from Schindler's List would have got the Oscar his performance was just scary and what makes it even scarier is that Amon Goeth was a real guy.
That is a staggering performance and character. Love Ralph Fiennes always -- particularly in that and Quiz Show.
Javier Bardem totally deserve the #1. what's really great about his role is that he don't overplay like a lot of actors would have done, and by that destroyed the character. He play a ice cold psychopat that seems really belivable.
Maybe it was too small a role or too forgotten a movie, but I would easily rate Ed Harris' Blair Sullivan from Just Cause above about half of the ones listed above.
what make ledger unforgettable is he freaking made the joker persona the most realistic among the comic-base character. i agree to that guy telling he sees different ledger every time he watched the dark night. that is because, acceptably the joker character is an overrated symbol of dark humor and eccentricity. what ledger did is he transcends the character into different possibilities of persona, the possibilities get complicated so did the layers. it doesnt mean that if the the character has many personas, layers could be perceived. for me, layers into the character only evolve when the actor is so good that he can not only point the viewers to the path the character is heading, but the other possible direction it could take. like seeing possibilities in a single wink of an eye. that is why ledger is the top.
I agree that Spacey's "John Doe" is much more disturbing than his "Keyser Sose". Both are great performances.
Ledger's "The Joker" may be the greatest performance ever by an actor. It haunts me to this very day. It is so unnerving that it almost sinks a great movie because it overpowers so much of the other really cool performances in it.
How about Daniel Day Lewis as the Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York? He was pretty darn scary to me.
Ralph Fiennes portrayal of Amon Goeth is in my humble opinion the greatest screen performance I have ever seen. To take one of the greatest monsters of the 20th century and emote that evil onto the screen is in itself a terrific achievement but to then show a human and almost (I stress the almost) likable side to this terrible man is frankly incredible, Fiennes though pulled it off. Tommy Lee Jones is very good in The Fugitive (Oscar winner) but can anyone seriously compare the two performances. The Academy just didn't like the idea of an actor who played a Nazi up there on the podium.
I never understood this love for Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men. Absolutely overrated. Please read the book and compare that to Javier's version. Not even close. And how can you leave off Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth?
..Ian McShane as Teddy in Sexy Beast was one of the most frightening people Ive seen on screen.
They way he seemlessly morphed from a gentle guy to a psychopath is unreal.
Granted, Heath as the Joker deserves top spot, but McShane deserves a close second.
There is no way that they left out Han Solo!
Good list, but I wouldn't have included Walter Huston. Compared to Bogart's paranoid Fred C. Dobbs, Huston is the picture of sanity and comes across as the voice of wisdom throughout the film.
I think that slot would have been better filled by James Coburn's abusive patriarch from Affliction.
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