Patrick Stewart: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

2. Professor Charles Xavier - X-Men (2000)

Considering his physical appearance and reputation for given performances of great gravitas, it was perhaps inevitable that Stewart would have been approached to play Professor X at some point. While Hugh Jackman's performance as Wolverine often takes the limelight - not to mention all the spin-offs - Stewart's turn as Xavier has just as much right to be regarded as definitive. Xavier in the comics is a controlled voice of reason and a moral anchor, a role in which Stewart has often excelled.

X-Men focusses on the introduction of two main mutants: Wolverine, a reckless loner with a skeleton encased in adamantium, and Rogue (Anna Paquin), who can possess the ability of any other mutant simply by touching them. Isolated by their strange and dangerous abilities, they are taken under the wing of Professor Xavier, who informs them of the X-Men's existence and of his enemy Magneto (Ian McKellen). When Magneto's associates kidnap a Senator who wants all mutants to reveal their secret identities, the X-Men come together to foil his plans, resulting in a final battle on the Statue of Liberty.

The X-Men films have been at their best when they focus on the comics' subtexts about intolerance, adolescence and alienation. While neither this film or its sequel are by any means perfect, they are rooted in the characters' interaction rather than the pyrotechnics, and Singer's direction brings out these themes without ever becoming too preachy. Stewart may not quite get the screen time he deserves, but for every second he's on screen the film has a great sense of urgency and purpose. He brings a moral intensity to the character which makes him compelling, and his final scene with McKellen is very well-played.