Jeremy Irons: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

3. Claus Von Bülow - Reversal Of Fortune (1990)

Jeremy Irons won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Barbet Schroeder's adaptation of the book of the same name. Based on a true story, the film recounts the murder trial of one Claus Von Bülow, a European aristocrat accused of trying to kill his wife with an insulin overdose, and his relationship with lawyer Alan Dershowitz. Reversal of Fortune isn't all that well-known film considering that it contains an Academy Award-winning performance, but Irons is on top form as the mysterious Von Bülow, who may or may not be guilty of his crimes. Irons has spent much of his career cast as "Europeans" to mixed results: here the decision pays off, as the actor makes Von Bülow a strange, otherworldly oddball, imbuing him with a series of weird tics and mannerisms. Transformed with heavy make-up, Irons brings his unique weird of comic blackness to the role, rendering Von Bülow as an eccentric. Black and white characters are no good for Jeremy Irons, but this is perfect: you can't get any greyer than Von Bülow, after all.