3. Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson has been acting since 1956 and in that time has won a whole slew of awards, including two Academy Awards for Best Actor. The first of those was for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest which he appeared in in 1975. In the film he plays McMurphy, a man who gets himself sent to a mental institution for evaluation despite not being mentally ill. The whole thing is a ploy to avoid doing hard time in prison. While there he clashes with the nurse in charge, Nurse Ratched. While she tries to keep the patients under her tight control, McMurphy tries to inspire them to break free from the system and its constraints. Five years later, Nicholson played Jack Torrance in Kubricks The Shining. The film deals with Torrance and his family who are isolated in a hotel during the winter break. Torrance is trying to get his book finished and so agrees to be the caretaker. The isolation however, coupled with certain supernatural aspects of the place, slowly turn Torrance insane and he goes after his family. Probably one of cinemas most iconic scenes is where Torrance is trying to get his wife whos locked herself in the bathroom. After making a hole in the door with an axe, he peers through and says, Heres Johnny! a line which was ad-libbed. Nicholson also threw his hat into the comic book movie arena when he played the psychotic Joker in Tim Burtons Batman in 1989. Debate continues as to whose portrayal of the Joker is better Nicholsons or Heath Ledgers in The Dark Knight but the two actors play the character in very different ways and both do a good job. Many felt that Nicholson stole the film and overshadowed Michael Keatons portrayal of Batman. Considering the nature of the Batman character, a character like the Joker would be doing something very wrong if they didnt overshadow them. Also worthy of mention is Nicholsons Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men. The electrifying exchange between him and Tom Cruises character in the courtroom at the climax of the film is what brilliant acting is all about. No special effects, no explosions, just two actors at the top of their game delivering their lines to the best of their ability You cant handle the truth!