Sean Connery was The Man and The Myth.

Very few actors had what Sean Connery had in the way he had. Very few could get away with it. Connery like another one of my favorite actors George Sanders should probably be thankful he was born in the era he was, where the anonymity of celebrity, and the mystery of their inner lives allowed them to miss almost completely any compelling challenges to their actual personhood. It was a type of peace actors today could not enjoy, and in cases like Connery should not. Connery was the type of man that lived in the rarified air of the myth. One of those figures that like John Wayne, or Clint Eastwood seemed to actually be the men they portrayed on screen. Wayne was the Cowboy, Eastwood the quintessential “Tough guy", Connery's particular myth was the Warrior Scholar. The well studied, well travelled man of action. Resolute in action, sturdy, analytical, and quick on his feet. He was best suited for so many warrior scholar roles because he exuded exactly those qualities. Warrior scholars hold a very mythological place in our society because in many ways they are myths. A realistic example of them in life is extremely rare. They have a dichotomy of approaches that rarely congeal. Upon further interrogation they rarely stand up to the idea of them in our heads. The analytical and action oriented being who measurebly enacts not necessarily with balance but with prudence when the time for either should be is mostly the consequence of storytelling. The archetype has endeared itself to us through masters of story and legend by way of representing two of the qualities we admire most in people especially in our men, wisdom, and strength. So that when as Dr. Henry Jones Connery decisively crowns his own son across the head mistakenly, and then expresses regret for what he has ( also mistakenly) believed was a prized artifact we all go “wow…what a man” even if not in any way that is spoken. …

But again it’s fair to ask does the Warrior Scholar truly exist in the way we see them? These men who always know instinctively when to act and when to analyze in a way that appeals to the most upstanding virtues in ourselves. Apparently not. Connery was accused of abuse in her memoir by ex-wife Diane Cilento both mentally and physically, and in all those years where was the analysis of situation then? Where was society's, especially other men? Later when asked about his distasteful comments about abuse he doubled down and didn't back off one bit. His explanation is horrific, and lacks analysis of even the most banal sort. It’s the kind born of the audacity of not only an individual, but an age. Make no mistake thinking this entrenched is always backed up by a body of thought, and yet when we are honest with ourselves we find some of that “body" in us. Our society not only allowed, but celebrated Connery as he would appeal to this sentiment many times over his career as Bond, and if not directly, implicitly in films that range from the Lion in Winter to The Anderson Tapes ( One of my faves) and then even more as he grew older in The Highlander and The Untouchables. It’s not just about physical violence it’s the mindset that seems to not even desire to question the harm. There’s no empathy, because there is no analysis, no analysis because that’s hesitation, that’s pause. Connery could look the scholar, feel it, but he didnt really understand it, it was a concept to him. In the latter of the last two films I mentioned ( The Untouchables) Connery is in rare form. As Malone, he is a street scholar, a man that understands the guttural heart beat of a cruel city. A man that knows the streets, and understands the mentality of the gangster while fully being dedicated to the law, the type that would sooner laugh at a scholar, a thinker, because he is a doer. This is not only fool-hardy, its copaganda, but its myth and Connery understands the power of it, and we believe Connery exactly because he’s so damn sure he’s right he assures us. Elliott Ness (or at least Costner’s and DePalmas idealized version of this actually very mediocre person ) is all innocence and uncertainty, but Connery's Malone is all worldliness and confidence. He knows he’s right even when hes wrong. Hes seen it all, done it all, so what’s the point of thinking about it, ACTION! “You’ve got to take action SON! Stop thinking about what’s right and worrying about your precious morality and ACT!” That’s the sum of what hes saying here. Connery fills it and almost all his roles with this mythical confidence, this complete lack of doubt in his words this power, this virility, and truth, not objective truth mind you, because that’s not what he's going for, hell it doesn't matter that this is complete bullshit, Connery gives it the ring of truth by being true to the man, the myth that is Malone, there is no contemplation in Connery and there is none in Malone as to why he is, he just is…Connery was nominated for his first and only Oscar …

The Untouchables movie clips: http://j.mp/1BcPG9X BUY THE MOVIE: http://amzn.to/sW4EVr Don't miss the HOTTEST NEW TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u2y6pr CLIP DESCRI...

The truth is most of Connerys best roles occupied this exact space, a space made all that much more believable because in real life he occupied this same mythical space. A member of The Royal Navy, an accomplished soccer player, a body builder, who also read works by Tolstoy, Proust, Ibsen, and Joyce, I mean c'mon, the man’s real life resume read like one of those 80s /90s action heroes, in fact his own John Patrick Mason in Michael Bay's “The Rock". This is the framework that made possible the aesthetic belief of Connery the screen legend, but the intrinsic belief came by way of skill, and presence. Connery had a simple but extremely effective and organic way of putting, placing , or saying things that reminded one of a warrior. Miyamoto Musashi- a famed Warrior who was also a philosopher - had what could be seen as a disdain for hesitation for doubt. He and others felt “be quick to action but graceful and poetic”, it was a common refrain and his code, Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s as well. Connery embodied this spirit to the point even some of us who knew better let him pass as a world travelled Egyptian who picked up much of these warrior ethics along the way. John Patrick Mason, one of his most prominent characters molded in this visage was also one of his few escapes from this, it’s where Connery proves hes adept at vulnerability, and had he continued down this path it would’ve been profoundly interesting to see what he found. In “The Rock” Mason skillfully, and rather comically escapes the grasp of the FBI who seeks to use him as a pawn in their desire to get rid of an undesirable, and his first and only desire is to make contact with his estranged daughter. While telling her of his plans to try and build a relationship they’ve never had, Connery makes Mason unsteady but not hesitant, each word each thought has a rhythm, a bassline, even while the man himself is slightly unsure. This is courage, and it is grace, and it is extremely masculine and yet it is also a dash of the feminine. For a moment..the unknown in Connery makes an appearance, and when I say moment and dash, I do mean a dash and moment. For the entire scene his eyes have the Eastwoodian glare, that centrality of purpose, that “Oh so Male” sureity, while the body reveals the doubt beneath, but the moment he begins to utter the words “Jade I’m not an evil man..” they soften to reveal a depth of vulnerability rarely seen in Connery but severely wanted, because he wants this. It's something we’ve rarely if ever seen in Connery…desperation. We won’t see it again for much of the film, but it is enough and it all Connery needed.

This kind of unabashed appeal to masculinity is rarely tolerated these days , (and for the record I don't know that it should be) and those that have it (The Rock, Schwarzenegger, Stallone) , are usually completely unable to pull off the scholarly factor. One of the few actors that could shared the screen with him as his son ..Harrison Ford was one of the few, but Ford was always more vulnerable, more penetrable than Connery allowed, this is why it was so believable that Connery was intimidating father figure to Ford. Ford was an everyman that could be anything including scrappy and scholarly himself, but it was that new sense of vulnerability that he and later others "(Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves) brought to the new hero that made Ford appear directly susceptible to the men they came from, the men like Connery they may have idolized. It was truly one of the more perfect castings ever put to screen. As a side note this is one of the reasons I was so disgusted by the rumor of Chris Pratt as the next Indiana Jones. Pratt's sore and total lacking in that all important scholar quality. Sure he could pull off being a smart ass, and scrappy, but a scholar? Indie sure, Dr Jones?? Not on your life. Pratts whole schtick is based on no one including him believing a word he says, it doesn't work putting him on positions of authority or intelligence. It tells us how far we come regarding our sensibilities about our heroes and also that not all forms of vulnerability and willingness to be unsure are equal, and when faced with the decision to choose between complete doubt in what you say or do, and complete belief in something that could or might be completely ridiculous, I think we’ve all at some point shown where we stand. It is in all this that I find that Connery was both statuesque and classic. Both a representation of the sturdiness of nostalgia and a relic of a by gone era. He tapped out just at the right time leaving us with the picture of the actor and the flawed and at times villain that was the man. We should remember both , not just for posterity, but because it encompassed and informed the work. What made Sean Connery Sean Connery was that he got through his life and work with no hesitancy and a definitive decidedness, that should be praised in his work and cautioned and chastised against in his and anyone’s life, and that is the fallacy of the man and the legend of the actor.

Danny Aiello: Time (Clock of the heart)

Danny Aiello was from the first time I saw him on screen, a favorite of mines. He had preternatural presence, he was large, not just physically, but intrinsically. He had this sense of an undisturbed peace about him. A centeredness, a focus that seemed to attach him to the ground in a way uncommon to actors. Most impressively he seemed to have this uncanny sense of timing and of time. In terms of anger Aiello could just bend time so that he arrived as his destination with no herk and jerk start up, no stop watch with a gunshot. He was able to tap into shifting, fluid fits of rage with a grace uncommon to the profession. For most actors becoming enraged is as violent as being there, but Aiello slid into it with the ease one might slick ones hair back with - like when he breaks into the hospital to get Jacob (Tim Robbins) out of a gruesome hospital in Jacob's Ladder”…

or in Harlem Nights when his character Phil Cantone goes on a diatribe that reveals his own Jealousy and hatred for black people in Eddie Murphy's Harlem Nights...

Again the skill here is in the arriving at a point where you aren't as much working up to the anger as you are simply arriving there as if transported, and to do without showing the work. After all that is maybe the most sincere way that anger…well…works. Sure while in many cases we do tend to work ourselves into a lather with anger, that is not to say that the work always shows. There is always a foundation to our anger, but we are not always building up from it. Sometimes many times the feeling is sudden and without warning. You were going one way and in an instant you just find yourself there. Times where we are simply there, and then we are not, with not much clue how we got there so quickly - as indicated by the fact that most times we forget what we were angry about in the first place. Aiello let’s anger overtake him suddenly and then it's gone, and it’s as if it were never there at all. As supremely difficult as this is, it is still not his greatest skill or attribute. Both of those were in the heart he brought to characters, and through that the patience. He focused with it, he listened with it, he reacted with it, and it colored and informed the great bulk of his performances. It’s why despite the fact that he could and would play despicable, disreputable, or even as dullards, you never (or I at least never) disliked an Aiello character. Many times you loved him. In “The Professional” he loves Leon, and through that love expresses frustration, loyalty, and kindness. In “Moonstruck” he loves his mother, and through that comes his confusion, ignorance, sweetness, and again loyalty. In “Do The Right Thing” he loves the neighborhood, despite his own racist tendencies and attitudes, and through that comes his dedication, service, wisdom, and his condescension, and paternalism. So that even when expressing a subliminal level of racism and disgust for black people, it comes off as fatherly…

The brilliance of this is the exactness of Aiello's performance in that particular space of racist attitudes. The genial well meaning belief in the inferiority of another people. This is not as much about tapping into a dark side as some would like to believe. You need heart to pull this off. You need to tap into the humanity to make a vile trait apart of a likeable person. To find that ssd tragic juxtaposition, you cannot like most accept off hand that this person has no humanity despite the fact that the actions or act lacks any. In this comes a truth, that like Mooky (Spike Lee) we like Sal because he lives a life or service, (though he also has the privilege of being able to build and own the right to provide said service in our neighborhood) , we like Sal because he's stands up for some of us against his son’s wishes (though it is an extension of his paternalistic attitude toward black folk) and we like Sal because he is a straight shooter, he tells us whas’s on his mind or at least we know where he stands. Mookie likes Sal, we like Sal, and Sal is also a racist. It’s only so long before the latter incurs a debt the former can’t pay. You need exactly Aiello to pull this character off . Exactly his skillset, exactly his traits. The heart, the patience which conjure up the warmth of a tender father figure explaining to his son why Sal's will never leave the neighborhood, and the anger that conjures up the the most destitute and putrid pits of white supremacy in the destruction of a Radio and all the contemptible sentiments that spring forth simultaneously…

If you watched Aiello inevitably you had to watch him listen, and then take his time reacting. He had to be one of the easiest actors to procure an organic feeling from cutting off another actor mid-sentence in scene, because he’s an actor that was always going to take his time getting there. It was always such a natural progression since Aiello provided these wonderful spaces for the other actor where he seemed like he is in the middle of saying something while saying something, whether he was speaking or not. You can see this happen throughout '“Moonstruck”, like when his character Johnny Cammareri proposes to Cher, and maybe most accurately in The Professional when Oldman interrupts with “Wait, there’s more”. The interruption feels both punctual and off beat, just like a natural interruption would. In fact it’s maybe the closest to perfect I’ve seen an interruption because I pay attention to obnoxious things like this. If you watch, you also see how patient of a listener he was. I like to watch actors listen I’ ve said many times sometimes it’s the most difficult part of our job. In my comedy and improv class one of my most memorable teachers would always say “There was not enough shut up". It was in relation to temptation to fill space with unnecessary words. She would plead with us to shut up long enough to hear something real spring forth from the well of our soul. That's what Aiello did, he didn't always take an extra beat, (in Moonstruck he’s exceedingly fast with reactions) but he can be that fast and still ring incredibly, amazingly true with reaction because he listens so incredibly, amazingly well. Same is true in Hudson Hawk, Purple Rose of Cairo, Ruby, or 2 days in the Valley. Pick a movie with him in it, pick a scene, watch him, and what you'll see is listening and patience, and the guts of it is all in the heart. Boy George's Culture Club had a song I love called “Time (Clock of the heart). It reminds me of the main attributes at the core of what made Aiello special. There is a part of the refrain that goes “In time we could’ve had so much more" and its exactly what Aiello did, he gave us that more, and he accomplished that because he led with his heart and took his time. The song is a lament of lovers who the mistake of seeing one (time) as synonymous with the other, (love) and the irony that it takes time to understand the difference. But that difference is something (at least as an actor) Aiello seemed to understand right away. It always felt like Aiello loved what he did, and it transferred that energy into his characters who almost always seemed to love what they do, or love someone they knew. ’The patience comes from that, the listening was an extension of that..

Aiello's patented patience and cadence always helps his co stars and his own performance, because he could deploy it in so many interesting ways. He was an extremely intelligent actor who one could tell always had a very definitive bead on who his character was and it showed. Any person who might’ve been a co-star in the future will be a little less good because of his not being around and that is sad, but all the remaining co-stars have his kindness, his presence of heart, and his patience to pass on to the next even if they aren't aware, and that’s wonderful. RIP.

On Succession's Jeremy Strong: "Walk the Line"

Michael Caine once said that on the set of “Hannah and Her Sisters”, Woody Allen gave him the advice to think about what your character wants to say, and then don't say it. It was a powerfully insightful bit of acting guidance that applies to Jeremy Strong's performance as Kendall Roy to the letter, especially this season on Succession. Scene after scene, episode after episode, Strong's depiction of Kendall Roy the oldest most complex, maybe most inconsistent and definitely the most mentally beleaguered of the Roy clan - teetered the line between pathetic and sympathetic, and then despicable.

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“Because my Dad Told me To” …The line is given its persistent recall, and treatise precisely because of Strong’s delivery. It’s complex storytelling, that informs where he is at now, and predicts where he might end up. From the beginning of the scene Strong makes it clear Kendall is not into this, that he takes no pleasure in this. As the camera follows him along down the hallways and into the main room, he looks like he’s on the way to the gallows himself. As he informs the employees at Vaulter of their fate he says the words with no emphasis, with no emotion, but not the kind that implies a natural state of being unmoved by this, but one that implies an affected act of trying to portray himself as such. The kind that implies he’s going through the motions of feigning no emotion. He’s an avatar for his dad, doing it precisely because his dad told him to. He avoids eye contact, and when he does its not hard to see he’s steeling himself, holding steady, trying to appear as if he’s his father, but its clear he doesn’t have the callousness, nor the same relish in this as his father does - in his eyes, in his body language. The appendages, and orbitals are not dead, their just pretending to be. Which has kind of been Kendall’s through line this season..pretending to be dead, not as a strategy to win, but as a strategy not be beat upon anymore. Sarah Snook’s Shiv once remarked that her brother basically volleyed between loving and hating their father, and Kendall acknowledged the truth in that. Strong’s acting functions skillfully in service of that truth. When he utter’s the words “because my father told me to” there is a fierce loyalty that empowers the emotional production he’s putting on, but there is also not much love there, or at least thats my reading of the scene. Whatever yours is, its undeniable the driving power of the scene is Strongs’ ability to say less, be more.

I could not in good conscious say Jeremy Strong is the best actor on Succession, Sarah Snook, and Matthew Macfadyen exist, and they do quite a lot with much less. But Kendall Roy is the most riveting character on Succession thus far and that is due in large part to Roy’s acting. It is dedicated, and committed acting as when Kendall presents his father with the grossly over the top LOG rap. Present and affecting as when he vulnerably breaks to Shiv, (in what can't be a revelation to Shiv as to the existence of his insecurity, and trauma both over his misdeeds, and his father’s abuses, as much as a revelation into the depth of the guilt and harm they have bludgeoned upon him) and it was nebulous, and layered as in the finale when he seems to be accepting of his father’s instruction to take the fall for the company. Strong’s adept rendering of Michael Caine’s words foreshadowed, but didn’t snitch on the ending. Watching Strong closely as I have become prone to doing , I had the feeling that he would do exactly what he ended up doing, because Strong was doing something similar to the Vaulter scene with a different objective. In Vaulter he was pretending to be the lion, in this he was pretending to be the sheep, but it was clear to anyone paying attention to his performance that something, if not this, was going on underneath this. That something had broken from the point he asked his father to tell him whether or not he thought he could ever be in charge. It was in his eyes as he assured Roman (Kieran Culkin) he was okay. In his walk as he walked up to the media presser, it was ominous acting, the kind that tells you something is going on , but not what is going on. In many ways both the direction of the final ten or so minutes of Succession took, and the performances of both Marcus Aerelius (Richard Harris) and Commodus (Joaquin Pheonix) and Logan Roy (Brendan Cox) and Kendall in “This is Not for Tears” and “Gladiator” are similar. ..

Gladiator, a masterpiece in cinematic history, and one of the most powerful scenes in the movie that reveals a genius performance of Joaquin Phoenix, here with Richard Harris.

They both feature a father who informs a son he will never be the one, that their power will pass to another. They both feature sons with skills their fathers don’t believe suit the positions. They both feature the son’s retribution, and lastly they both featured skilled actors who brought to life a well of complex emotions, about concerned, and divisive fathers and their mal-nutritioned pathetic, despicable, and yes at time sympathetic sons, and the actors who think and feel quite a lot through the characters, but don’t alway say it with their tongues, and thats god company for Strong, even if not for Kendall.

My "New Hollywood": 15 Actors of color that Hollywood should start casting a lot more immediately.

With the onset of social media creating awareness,  the box office success of movies like Get Out,  Black Panther,  Crazy,  Rich,  Asians,  and Girls Trip Hollywood has been a buzz with talk of representation,  and diversity.  But as the doors of opportunity open ever so slightly,  and we engage in the conversations around casting and deserving actors I'd like to encourage diversity amongst even the diversity.  It isn't enough to cast actors of color if limited imagination,  and an increasingly narrow focus on branding and star making allows for the same 5 actors in any group to be casted over and over again as if on a marginalized merry go round.  And this doesn't just extend to casting directors.  Many times even amongst pop culture commentators,  and social media I see the same Michael B.  Jordan for this John Cho for that type casting.  A constricted bingo game with very few squares, limited chips,  and the same ol numbers being called out ad nauseam.  So I'd like to mention some names of a few (15 ) actors (There are many many more I could list but people have jobs)  I think are either due,  underrated,  or breakouts that deserve recognition I've seen near no one give them.

Choi min sik

The actor - of Oldboy fame -  has not only presence,  but physicality,  vulnerability,  and truth.  If the roles were there Sik would be a regular at Oscar ceremonies.  He can descend into madness, I mean stare right into it and come out of it without bringing with him the slightest sense he was ever playing at being there. He is one of the most gifted physical actors I've seen since Jim Carrey and Jackie Chan - both descendants of Buster Keaton and Chaplin.  His face is a map,  his brow the X that marks  the spot where his tension is focused and he never makes an uninteresting choice in my experience watching him.   I truly consider him one of the greatest actors alive. There is no excuse I can think of  not to cast this master thespian in a Villanueve,  Winding Refn,  Nolan,  or any other top tier director film,  his work speaks for and in itself.

Shoreh Aghdashloo

Aghdashloo is a storyteller.  Her magnificent voice carries the emotion,  her eyes tell the tale,  while her body language turns the page.  She can burn you down,  warm you up,  or freeze your attention.  She is a trained actor one can easily tell, but she is not stiff,  and she is more than willing to take acting risks, and bend the rules.  She is a scene thief,  a character actor,  and a star,  and the proof is in her role in House of Sand of Fog which may have techincally starred Jennifer Connelly,  and Ben Kingsley,  but was most certainly HER movie.  Her gravelly silk harp of a voice is as comforting as a warm wind on a cool day,  and she has a pension for understanding the importance of using the entirety of a set to an actor.  Watch her pour a glass of water,  or walk over to a chair,  look out a window,  or even clean a coffee table,  and give it the same intention as she would a scene partner.  This is craft,  this is work,  this is love,  this is acting.

Debbie Morgan

A veteran actor who made her name known in daytime television (a breeding ground for a lot of our greatest actors whether you want to believe it or not)  Morgan's performance in Kasi Lemmon's black Southern Gothic classic "Eve's Bayou" was a the astronomical birth of a star,  or at least it should've been.  Morgan has been criminally - and I don't use that word in a hyperbolic sense - slept on.  She has a well of shifting instincts,  sentiment as deep as Julianne Moore,  and the presence of Lena Horne.  In a pivotal and revealing scene in Eve's Bayou Morgan delivers a masterclass in monologue delivery. It is full of deliberate movement that never seems deliberate, gravitas, and heartbreaking sincerity.  It is lived in and mesmerizing. You go where she goes because you can tell she was on a journey of immense importance..to her as an actor, and to the film...I stan.. And you would too if Hollywood gave her half the chance.

Eve's Bayou movie clips: http://j.mp/1e6PYl0 BUY THE MOVIE: http://j.mp/1e6PYkS Don't miss the HOTTEST NEW TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/1u2y6pr CLIP DESCRIPTION: Mozelle (Debbi Morgan) recalls the deadly showdown that occurred between Hosea (Marcus Lyle Brown) and Maynard (Leonard L. Thomas). FILM DESCRIPTION: A young girl learns some difficult lessons about truth, love, and fidelity in this critically-acclaimed Southern gothic drama.

Alberto Ammann

So far I've only seen him in the three seasons of Netflix's high octane cocaine tale "Narcos" as Pacho Herrera.  But all he has done in that time is steal the spotlight from a lot of the more prominent figures in the show,  create a deliberate evolution of character and objectives from an actor's sense of instinct, and show a magnetism that usually comes standard with stardom.  Ammann possesses an innate ferocity, but he also has soft eyes and it makes for compelling viewing.  Anyone watching Narcos is made keenly aware of this.  Ammann has made Pacho - a cold blooded viscous killer of the highest order - relatable and sympathetic, loving and cruel all at the same time sometimes in the same scene.  The actor has the looks of a leading man,  plenty of charm,  and the skillset of a character actor which should give him an elasticity and longevity in Hollywood if they wake up... Cast him.

Adepero Oduye

Lupita Nyong'o's performance as "Patsy" got all the recognition and rightfully so,  but that shouldn't have caused Hollywood to forget the devastating and lingering ache of Adepero Oduye's performance as "Eliza" in Steve McQueen's antebellum epic "12 years a slave ". Like the movie itself it took what is a tired subject matter and opened up new chanels of humanity,  expression,  nuance, and frankness.  And that was after she had already wowed us with her performance in Dee Ree's " Pariah ".  Intelligence is not often spoken of in relation to acting, but it is vital to being great.  It informs decisions and choices for the narrative pathways of a character.  Watching Oduye's work it's clear she has it in spades.  Because of that I think Oduye could do a bevy of varied and game changing work in Hollywood,  especially as it pertains to the independent circuit,  and television.  Directors whose work gravitates towards the A24's of the world,  and HBO or Netflix,  should shape projects around this beautiful and talented woman,  the receipts will reward the decision as Dee Rees and Steve McQueen already know.

Zahn McClarnon

 Having seen Zahn McClarnon steal scenes in Fargo, Frontier,  and Westworld,  I think it's time Hollywood take notice of both his skills, and inherent likeability.  For comparison McClarnon gives me Fonda vibes of various members but especially Henry. He has that magic sort of steely intelligence rooted in hardened every man values.  That ability to stare a thousand yards into another person's soul,  or relay several different emotions in one seemingly similar look.  You want a new era grapes of wrath?  You doing a film about a cold blooded assassin who slowly either deteriorates or has a change of heart (Think "The American" with George Clooney), this is your guy.  I personally think "Wind River" the latest from writer Taylor Sheridan (of Sicario,  and Hell or High Water fame) would've been that much better had McClarnon starred rather than Jeremy Renner for a ton of reasons.  Culture just being the obvious.

Rinko Kikuchi

Like McClarnon,  and Aghdashloo on this list before her,  Rinko Kikuchi is a performer whose eyes form the centerpiece of a lot of her work. She may be the person on my list that deploys them with the most skill,  communicating a wide variety of unique combinations of complex feelings in a stare,  glance,  or averted look.  She can stand still,  move barely a muscle on her face and tell you everything you need to know.  She can snatch your soul, gut your heart or render you tearless, and she can do it with either her eyes or her concise use of her body.  After her hard to miss break out performance in  Iñarritu's Babel,  much of the American material she's appeared in has not been on par with her talent, but it's nonetheless shown off her range.  From rom- com,  to horror,  action,  and prestige drama this actress can do it all,  and appeals to a wider audience than I think most would give her credit for.

Lennie James

I first took note of Lennie in Guy Ritchie's kinetic gangster romp "Snatch" as Sol.  He was funny, in possession of some great timing,  and magnetism.   Sol in his hands was cool,  but moronic,  and it was James's patent earnestness that made you root for Sol despite his criminal and general ineptitude.  Later he appeared as a dirty cop in the short lived Mark Strong vehicle on AMC "Low Winter Sun".  The show wasn't much but James was impressive,  and it was a complete turn around from my first introduction to him.  But it is in the wildly popular AMC series The Walking Dead as Morgan where James has made a mark.  Morgan is a tragic character,  and James imbued him with a quiet dignity,  and a weighted sadness born of his trauma,  and survival instinct.  A madness rooted in an empathetic understanding of where Morgan had been.  And when Morgan climbed out of his pit of grief,  James provided a living breathing fire bathed in a distinctive honesty that propelled Morgan to a series fave.  Get Out could've used James,  as the Gardner maybe.  Tarantino could use James, his gift for monologues and language clear in both Snatch and TWD, or really anything with a clever comedic angle, or any number of character centric pieces.  James has an instictual moodiness that is ever present in his acting and when I think of the way old Hollywood made use of Joseph Cotton,  I think  "Lennie James could be that in this era".

Narges Rashidi

Under the Shadow was one of 2016's best kept secrets and Narges Rashidi had a lot to do with its hold on those of us who saw it.  It's a small movie with a limited focus so so much of the movies success depended upon her.  What Rashidi did was supply the under current of urgency and subtle defiance that acts as the bedrock for so much of the films underlying message and effectiveness.   She hung on to even the most minor of details,  allowed her terror to come both deliberately and suddenly,  and she had an intent focus,  that allowed and communicated her objectives without ham fisted telegraphs.  Desperation,  loneliness,  courage,  and fear,  dispensed throughout the film as if on a time release to create a relatable,  unforgettable portrait of motherhood,  bravery, and determination not unlike that of Essie Davis in "The Babadook".   It was a performance as immersive,  and gripping as the movie it was featured in,  and a break out performance that should earn her more attention than she has received thus far.

Colman Domingo

I may already be too late on Coleman,  as he has upcoming roles in Barry Jenkins " If Beale Street could talk" and “Assassination Nation” but as it stands he is a highly under-appreciated thespian.  Besides AMC's Fear the Walking Dead, ( Which I must admit I haven't watched)  I have not seen Domingo in much or for very long but I remember him and that says a lot.  Whether as Ralph Abernathy in Ava DuVernays Selma,  or as a Soldier far too enamored with the presence of the president,  and anchored by respectability in Spielberg's "Lincoln" or a concerned wrestling coach in  Olivia Newman's Netflix gem "First Match"...Domingo brings the kind of work that is rooted in professionalism - knowing your job and executing it with skillful precision - and god given talent.  Spike Lee,  DuVernay,  Spielberg,  and now Jenkins... Obviously some of our greatest directors see this man as an asset in some shape or form and I think it's a testament to his work,  maybe it's time Hollywood see it too,  and for some director out there to offer the actor - who has a Portier like assurance,  and awareness - something he can really sink his teeth into.

Veronica Falcón

It takes about five minutes to become fully engrossed with Veronica Falcón in the Alice Braga starrer "Queen of the South".  And though Braga presents her own case for being on this list as well, for my money Falcón is the main reason to watch USA's Scarface like gangster opera.  She gives her character Camila Vargas a lion like regality and much like that same lion a viscousness that is made all the more awe inspiring and impressive by how little she has to do to convey it.  It's a performance steeped in confidence,  intelligence,  and that rare "It" factor many of the actors on my list share.  Falcón can play rage,  compassion,  sincerity,  and sexy,  and play them to the hilt.  She has a built in sort of hinge that allows her to swing an emotional door in any direction she wants and audiences will want to open their doors to her almost immediately after watching a few scenes featuring her capable skill set.

Lee Byung-hun

A jawline from the Gods, chiseled abs,  a thousand yard stare,  and talent for potent but unbridled emotional release.  Korean actor Lee  Byung- hun should be Hollywood's dream come true,  but he has yet to break through to the states. This despite roles in big box office smash action films like G. I. Joe,  and The Magnificent Seven.  The american roles so far have been well beneath his level of talent but he makes the most of it. BUT it is in his work in Korea where you see the depth of his quality as a leading man.  Lee possesses the exact kind of tacit vulnerability,  and capability for visceral emotional outburst American audiences love in their action heroes,  but the sentimental heft to be much more and this was never on display more than in 2010's I Saw the Devil opposite another actor on this list Choi Min-sik.  He held his own with an actor of tremendous skill and gave us one of the most effective and memorable crying scenes of the past two decades.

Indira Varma

I first took note of Indira Varma when she played the estranged wife of Idris Elba's Luther in the titular show.  And the aptitude was on display immediately.  I would see her next as Ellaria Sand in season four of Game of Thrones.  What became evident in seeing both of these entirely different characters was Varmas range.  She went from long suffering,  but loving wife,  to scheming queen vixen,  from perpetually frightened (an emotion she is quite adept at),  to vengeful,  and domineering and she did it with an uncanny ease.  Varma has power and presence,  but she is also gifted at giving up that power to any complex combination of disappointment or fear,  as was the case in Luther, or to abject horror as she displayed in one of the most memorable scenes in GOT's run whew boy.. .

Irfan Khan

Warm, dignified, an intent listener,  and yet another actor who does a lot with his eyes, Irfan Khan is one of my acting heroes. His style is poetic, he tends to move in slow purposeful waves, theres an almost rhythmic cadence to his speech but he will go off beat and throw you off,  but his eyes are always on you. He gazes through you and into you and it's both unsettling and beautiful.   It never ceases to anger me that he's not everywhere, omnipresent in tinsel town.  An absolute craftsman of rareified air, he's more than adept at playing almost anything you ask of him.  Hero (The Namesake, Life of Pi)  Villain ( The Amazing Spiderman)  and everything in between (Jurassic World,  and Slumdog Millionaire).  While he has definitely seen more action in Hollywood than other actors on this list his roles have been far too limited and when they're not,  roles only someone of his ethnicity could play.  This should not be the case with an actor this great.  I recently learned that Khan was diagnosed with cancer and I couldn't be more crestfallen.  I pray for his quick recovery,  and that when he does it's to a Hollywood open to the idea of casting him in the light he deserves as one of the finest actors on the world.

Dominique Jackson

At least as on display in FX's pose there is a ferocity to Dominique Jackson as an actor.  Her opening scene in the show is the stuff of legend,  and it set the tone for the operatic, but skillfull nature of the rest of the show.  Many of the shows best scenes featured Jackson displaying heart,  betrayal,  narcissism,  or cruelty,  sometimes subtlely,  sometimes dramatically,  all the time with a first rate nuance,  and formidable assuredness.  There was a key difference in how Ekektra carried herself in and amongst her family,  and how she presented with her lover   and it was that body language that informed us that audience of the double mindedness of her existence, and allowed us to feel the importance of her own revolution.  Jackson - much like her character Elektra Abundance - knows she deserved to be there,  and she deserves to be in as much as she is willing and available to be in, and Hollywood has.  In truth I should just place the entire cast of Pose in here,  especially the trans actors because they especially were in such command of their individual skill sets as to rip asunder the idea that trans actors and any marginalized actors are any less talented,  deserving,  or capable of leading and carrying entire narratives as any other actor.  Along with the other actors on this list as Hollywood is awakening to the box office power of representation,  identity,  and blind casting in spaces where it is appropriate- these are just a few of the actors I feel are lost in conversations that too often are limited to off screen charisma,  social media presence,  and excessive visibility,  and not skill and work.  Their niches may very from Star,  to leading men and women to character actors,  but what they have in common is presence and well honed craftsmanship that will never go out of style,  and IF properly employed can carve out permanent spaces in the firmament of Hollywood's best and brightest.