7. Jack Nicholson - George Hanson in Easy Rider (1969)
Easy Rider is widely regarded as the quintessential road movie and a landmark film in sixties counterculture. Its protagonists (played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) are wayward bikers travelling from Mexico to LA and the plot basically revolves around the people they meet on the road. Due to this, Easy Rider has a plethora of crazy characters ranging from hitchhikers to prostitutes, rednecks and hippies (everything a good film should incorporate) and of course, the loveable George Hanson. Nicholsons portrayal of Hanson as part Civil Union lawyer and part town drunk is really something to witness. Although the role of Hanson is fleeting, Nicholsons presence instantly takes complete control in the direction the film veers. The character provides an excellent springboard to delve into some major issues of the time, such as freedom, racism and prejudice. When Hanson speaks profoundly in his southern drawl of the state of America; Theyre gonna talk to you and talk to you about individual freedom but they see a free individual and its gonna scare em it makes em dangerous (pretty badass, right?) you get the feeling that the most important element of Easy Riders success wouldnt exist without Nicholsons scenes. Add in his mad cap Ne Ne Ne when swigging from his whiskey flask and you have all the ingredients for cinema at its finest.