1. R. Lee Ermey Full Metal Jacket
R. Lee Ermey is awesome. Ill get that out the way now. A former US Marine and drill instructor, the man knows how to be terrifying and possess the most formidable movie eyebrows in many a long year. But when he went for the role of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubricks war-is-hell drama, nobody expected just how well hed do. In fact, he was actually turned away from the role by Kubrick when he first auditioned for it, as the great auteur didnt think he was nasty enough. So Ermey decided he would go hell-for-leather, recording a tape of him yelling drill instructor insults at extras while dressed in full regalia. In a move wholly unprecedented for the difficult, stubborn and just plain insane Kubrick, he actually did changed his mind. More unusually, he let Ermey write his own dialogue to allow for absolute military authenticity. All those insults you see Hartman spew out over the course of that first act (my particular favourite You climb like old people f**k Pyle!) was all made up on the spot by the man. In the final, ridiculous step for Kubrick, Ermey got all his scenes done within two or three takes, a move wholly unprecedented for an obsessive director who cost Shelley Duval her sanity in the Shining by making her swing an axe and cry over a hundred times. Really, youve got to admire it. Ermey was a relative greenhorn as an actor he had featured on a handful of army-based shows before Jacket but managed to enthral the most demanding director in Hollywood. When he finally gets shot, the film suffers for his absences, even in the hands of more established actors. Its an incredible unexpected performance, wholly deserving of the Golden Globe nod it received. Agree or disagree? Know of any more? Feel free to comment!