10 Acting Performances Way Better Than You Thought They'd Be
1. Sylvester Stallone - Creed
39 years after receiving an Academy Award nomination for playing Rocky Balboa for the first time, Sylvester Stallone picked up another nomination for playing the character for seventh time in Creed, reminding people yet again that there is much more to the actor than huge biceps and even bigger guns.
Although he lost out on winning the Oscar despite being the sentimental favorite, that doesn't take anything away from the strength of his performance. A case of art imitating life, Creed sees Stallone bearing his heart on the screen as Rocky endures only as a relic of a forgotten time, content to rely on nostalgia and former glories to get by before someone/something (in the movie's case, Michael B. Jordan's title character) comes along to reignite his lifelong passion once again.
Who would have thought that returning to the well and playing cinema's most famous boxer for the seventh time would result in a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor and the most positive critical notices of his entire career? After all, this was only two years after he made Grudge Match, where he and Robert DeNiro poked fun at their legacies as big screen boxers to tedious results.