10. Ben Stiller - Greenberg (2010)
Ben Stiller is a comic force of nature, but his brief dramatic foray in 1998's
Permanent Midnight certainly stuck with us; his portrayal of a comedian-turned-Heroin-addict made it clear that he could also measure up in the dramatic arena, even if he has rarely tended to step outside his comfort zone. However, in 2010, that all changed when Stiller teamed up with writer-director Noah Baumbach (
The Squid and the Whale) to examine middle-class existential angst in
Greenberg. Though by the nature of the premise there are no big revelations or shocking twists, Stiller delivers a performance of subtlety and nuance, playing Roger Greenberg, a man returning to Los Angeles after being absent for years, hoping to figure out the void in his life while he house-sits for his brother. Though it'd be easy to dismiss the film as an overstated case of "first-world problems", Baumbach's writing is so precise, and Stiller's performance so naturalistic, that it's difficult not to be charmed by this late-day coming-of-age tale. Stiller demonstrates that he can be the every-man but in an entirely different way to what we were expecting; rather than playing the stalwart, incredulous lead in
Night at the Museum, he is a mid-forties loner looking for meaning in his life, and he nails it. One can only hope once he gets
Zoolander 2 out the way, he might return to something like this. Are there any other excellent "serious" performances by comic actors we missed? Let us know your favourites in the comments below.