5. Harvey Keitel - Reservoir Dogs
Harvey Keitel was the star of Martin Scorseses breakthrough film Mean Streets and he followed this up by reteaming with the director and co-star Robert De Niro for 1976s Taxi Driver, not bad right? However things took a turn for the worse when Keitel was fired from the role of Captain Willard in Francis Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen would replace him in what would be an iconic film. From this point on Keitel faded into obscurity, he would continue to maintain steady employment but never won the kind of roles that he seemed destined for after Mean Streets. Following a poorly received, but high profile turn as Judas Iscariot in Scorseses The Last Temptation of Christ, things began to get better for Keitel. He would still be playing the thug role that he had been typecast into- but was now doing so in films that would reach a wider audience- such a Sister Act and Bugsy, the latter of which would earn him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. His return to stardom would be cemented when he agreed to play the role of Mr. White in Reservoir Dogs. As this was the directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino financing the film was a difficult task- Harvey Keitels participation in the film, played a big part in securing the necessary funds - his performance played a bigger part in cementing its legacy. Though the first thing that most of us will think of is a certain torture scene featuring Michael Madsen and Stuck in the Middle with you, it was the relationship between Mr. White and Tim Roths Mr. Orange that was the heart of the film. Reservoir Dogs was not a box office smash, it did not earn him another Oscar nomination, but it was the film that made Harvey Keitel cool again.