Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role (non-Bond)

I know there are lots of threads with "best of" and "worst of" lists, etc...but these polls that I'm going to be posting are not just generic, run-of-the-mill polls, but ask you to really, really assess the talent of the people in the categories listed. These posts, like the Oscars or The Razzies, are meant to get an idea of who is the most and least talented, not who you like the most. For example, I love Famke Janssen's performance in Goldeneye. It was fun and exciting, but speaking purely on the merits of talent I cannot say that it was a flawless performance. So please vote for the specific performance/talent involved, or lack thereof, and not simply who you just happen to like or personally dislike.

These polls will not be broken down and based upon type of role (i.e Bond Girl, villain, henchman, etc...) but strictly on talent

Polls close in 45 days. Ceremony announcing the winners and losers to take place in the Commander's Dining Room of the Denny's of your choice.

Davi all the way!

GeneralGogol wrote:

Davi all the way!

Incidentally, I did not include actors or actresses whose voices were dubbed.

Gave the Walken a very narrow victory over Bob Davi, though it's close to the point of equal.

Don't know why Sean Bean's standard leering makes the the list, as I can think of quite a few performances which were better (IMO)....

Can't imagine why Walken is on the list, unless it is based on his non-Bond work. I think Davi is really good, and I think Bean is too ... but I think I'm going to jump off the page and say Brandauer, since his character is postmodern, seeming to know when there is a camera on him and how to play to it. As they almost used to say about movie musicals, 'now THAT'S megalomania!'

trevanian wrote:

I'm going to jump off the page and say Brandauer

Great call, and I possibly would have voted for him had he been on the list. Both he and Walken had the (shockingly rare in acting) quality of making their lines sound spontaneous through the portrayal of thought process.

It's like they do the Brando thing without it seeming like an actor's work process. It's walking a wire to do it, so they don't always pull it off, but it is compelling nonetheless.

For me, it's Robert Davi without question. Great performance of a great character, and the dynamic that he and Dalton brought to the film was excellent.

Where's Robert Shaw?

or
Pedro Armendáriz????

Bean's accent was in Sheffield freefall so I give it to Davi.

Robert Carlyle doesn't belong here. More like mad wae it in some Glasgow chippy.

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

Where's Robert Shaw?

I haven't put up the Male Supporting category....yet..

To address some of the other concerns....I thought about doing a nominating process first, but don't we already have that in the "elimination" games, so to speak?

Pedro and Robert will be in on the Supporting Actor category. I believe that these five actors gave the best performances by a male in a lead role. I don't compare it to their body of work outside of Bond, but just within the context of the series. I"m also trying to be balanced and find talent from all eras, but my line in the sand was dubbing; if the actor was dubbed I try not to use them (I may have missed one or two).

Topol?

At any rate, the only lead actor in a Bond film is the actor playing Bond, IMO.

Ed Tom Kowalsky wrote:

Topol?

At any rate, the only lead actor in a Bond film is the actor playing Bond, IMO.

I have a separate category for the Bond Performance. It'll be going up soon.

From the pool of talent offered I have to go with Robert Carlyle, if only for that moment when he's kissing Elektra goodbye and you can see his emotional pain at not being able to feel her lips anymore.

I almost find myself thinking, 'aw, poor guy...' then I remember that he is a lifelong terrorist about to nuke Istanbul. Then I remember that he's only doing it because he's being used by a woman whose incapable of love, and I find myself thinking 'aw, poor guy' again.

Granted, Davi did a wonderfully convincing job of portraying Sanchez as a sleazy piece of shit enjoying the trappings of respectability, but Renard is the only Bond villain I ever find myself having any sympathy for, so he gets my vote.

Davi, yes. Feels like a believable villain, a bastard, scum and ends in a particularly nasty way. Yes sir.

AMC Hornet wrote:

From the pool of talent offered I have to go with Robert Carlyle, if only for that moment when he's kissing Elektra goodbye and you can see his emotional pain at not being able to feel her lips anymore.

I almost find myself thinking, 'aw, poor guy...' then I remember that he is a lifelong terrorist about to nuke Istanbul. Then I remember that he's only doing it because he's being used by a woman whose incapable of love, and I find myself thinking 'aw, poor guy' again.

Granted, Davi did a wonderfully convincing job of portraying Sanchez as a sleazy piece of shit enjoying the trappings of respectability, but Renard is the only Bond villain I ever find myself having any sympathy for, so he gets my vote.

Thank you for supporting Robert. It's a role and a film that gets chronically overlooked. He does look like a lost schoolboy who has been dumped by his teacher after she's had sex with him, gotten tired of him, and moved on to the next thing. I'd probably want to blow up a city to if I lost a woman like Sophie Marceau.

I apologize to the actor who played my namesake but I cast my vote for Davi. He's brilliant. The Sanchez vs. Dalton's Bond antagonistic relationship is one of the best in the series due in no small part to each actor's strengths in the role. Honorable mention to Sean Bean who easily stole GE from Brosnan.

Davi easily.

If I could pick someone outside the list: Telly Savalas