A great acting performance, just like a great film is something that stays with you for a very long time and upon each revisit, there is something new to discover. To create a truly haunting performance, the actor needs to touch or resonate with something inside of you. Great acting performances are unforgettable but a haunting performance has more to it, an extra layer of psychology that unnerves you and is impossible to shake. A great haunted acting performance will grip you tightly, overwhelm you and force you to remember it, even if it disturbs and shocks you to the core.
Here’s ten examples of the above;
10. Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas
1995′s Leaving Las Vegas is the film that got Nicholas Cage an Oscar and though you wouldn’t believe it the way his career has regressed, he more than deserved it. Cage plays Ben, who goes to Las Vegas to literally drink himself to death. Cage does acting drunk better than anyone without it looking silly or unintentionally funny. Leaving Las Vegas is based on John O’Brien’s novel of the same name which is a semi-autobiographical account of O’Brien’s life. O’Brien committed suicide two weeks into the film’s production, which is a good indicator of how unbearably sad and tough the movie is.
Cage ventures into the darkest corners of his soul to bring this performance out, he’s a tragic man, absorbed in self-pity, but he never gets inane or tiresome because of the raw humanity Cage brings to the role. Cage makes us care for Ben, to support him and beg for him to overcome his crippling demons. He doesn’t, and it’s a sucker-punch of an ending even though you know it’s inevitable. Cage makes you believe he is Ben and it is a small consolation he dies holding somebody he loves. Leaving Las Vegas is a dark and sad film, but importantly, it is so human and completely unforgettable.
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12 Comments
Great list great article.
Honorable mention
Heath Ledger-The Dark Night
Dylan Baker-Happiness
Robert Mitchum-The Night Of The Hunter
Great call with Frank Booth.
One female performance I’d have put on there would be Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream as Sarah Goldfarb
Great list, I agree with everything, I feel Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Hannibal Lecter is also worthy of this list.
Was going to say Lecter. I would love to throw a shoutout to Michael Rooker in “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.” I saw that movie once and will never watch it again. It was that… haunting.
Michael Rooker was my number 11. Missed out by an inch.
A great haunting performance that should be seen is Isabelle Adjani in POSSESSION (1981).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082933/reference
Anthony hopkins for ‘the silence of the lambs’ and daniel day lewis for ‘gangs of new york’ . , . , . . . , . . . , though good article
I would like to echo a previous comment regarding Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream as Sarah Goldfarb.
I would also add:
Rutger Hauer – The Hitcher (1986)
Kevin Spacey – Seven
Joe Pesci – Goodfellas/Casino
Vincent D’Onofrio – Full Metal Jacket
Piper Laurie – Carrie
Great list. Its refreshing not to see heath ledgers mug.
A great list. I would agree Ellen Burstyn is one of the best haunting performances as well.
Great list. Nicolas Cage’s performance in Leaving Last Vegas is amazing. He reminds me so much of my dad that it’s not easy for me to watch it anymore. The way he’s pathetic and selfish, but likeable. It’s odd.
I agree with most of this list but I’m surprised that all of the performers are male. I expected Natalie Portman to be on this list for Black Swan, to be honest.