10 Acting Performances Way Better Than You Thought They'd Be
Just admit it, Will Smith is the best thing in Aladdin by a mile.
For better or worse, the current generation of movie fans use the internet for both good, and evil. Don't like a casting announcement? Start an online petition to get it changed. Don't like the look of a movie? Trash it on message boards, down-vote it and leave terrible reviews before its even been released. As movie fans, especially tech-savvy ones, we have developed a weird sense of ownership and entitlement.
We're now at the stage where we expect certain things from certain movies, and actors aren't exempt from this rule either.
We expect Morgan Freeman to be a wise old sage that delivers exposition in his silky smooth tones. We expect Samuel L. Jackson to give an impassioned monologue that may or may not include the word 'motherf**ker'. We'd be more than a little disappointed if Owen Wilson didn't say 'wow' at least once. Could you imagine the outrage if there was a Tom Cruise movie where he didn't run???
Based upon nothing more than a two-minute trailer, an unconfirmed behind-the-scenes rumor or even a viral social media post, people frequently expect the worst instead of hoping for the best. Heath Ledger as The Joker? That's a disgrace. Jared Leto as The Joker? Well, maybe they've got a point.
If everyone expects something to be terrible and it actually turns out pretty good, does that make it even more of a success? There are plenty of actors that have taken a verbal battering over the course of their careers, but is one surprisingly good performance enough to change the audience's perception?
10. LeBron James - Trainwreck
Sports stars appearing in movies are usually reduced to little more than cameo roles, so it came as a surprise to many to find out that NBA superstar LeBron James had quite a hefty supporting part as the best friend of Bill Hader's character in this 2015 Amy Schumer vehicle. What turned out to be even more surprising was just how good he turned out to be.
In his first significant movie role, James blew Shaquille O'Neal's entire dismal filmography out of the water. Obviously, playing a version of himself wasn't the biggest test of the screen rookie's acting muscles, but Jame's wallet-forgetting, Downton Abbey-loving scenes showed he could more than hold his own against established comics like Hader and Schumer.
Given the list of professional athletes that have been painful to watch when cast in movies over the years (O'Neal, Larry Bird, Dan Marino, Dennis Rodman and David Beckham to name a few), James acquits himself incredibly well here with a natural and charismatic performance. The jury is still out on whether or not Space Jam 2 is a good idea, but Trainwreck marked a solid start.