5. Mos Def As Ford Prefect In 'Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy'
One of the ingenious things about the movie of Hitchikers' Guide to the Galaxy is that all the outlandish alien characters are played by outlandish American actors as a counterpoint to Martin Freeman's very British Arthur Dent. The only alien that isn't American is Bill Nighy's Slartibartfast who seems to be just a put upon worker like Arthur Dent- the only difference is that Slartibartfast is creating another world. To cast Mos Def as Ford Prefect though was still a massive risk. The rapper would be playing a part that had he got wrong there would be a massive backlash from many many Douglas Adams fans. As it was, though the movie wasn't perfect, Def was a great choice for the part. He made Ford Prefect seem perfectly fascinated by everything and filled with an eccentric but innocent friendliness towards Arthur. In other words, Def played Ford Prefect as if he was a tourist who made a friend from the local culture and was doing his best to 'fit in'. It is this ability to make Ford Prefect seem both weird but sympathetic and generally harmless that makes this performance, at least in my opinion a good one and why it's on the list at No. 5.