Fight Club Owner 

One actor who simply does not always get the credit he deserves is Edward Norton. Norton is not a big name in Hollywood and surely isn’t on anyone’s list of top actors. However, whenever his work is examined it becomes clear that this man has more talent than nearly anyone in the business.

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Recently, Norton has starred in very little films. However, his early career is where things really skyrocketed for the young man. Most movie watchers would most remember Norton from his star role in the movie Fight Club in which he co-starred with actor Brad Pitt. Norton was actually paid only a small fraction of what Pitt made for the movie, however his performance was equally or perhaps even more memorable. Norton plays an insomniac who comes up with the idea of starting a fighting club with his “friend”. This movie has overall been ranked one of the best of all time and it very well should. Norton put great preparation into his role. He actually took multiple boxing, taekwondo, and grappling classes in order to make the fighting seem more realistic. Furthermore, he watched endless hours of mixed martial arts movies in order to prepare. This was all for the sake of the role.

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Another notable movie in which Norton was phenomenal was that of Rounders. Here Norton plays a recently released from prison card shark who is eager to get back into the game along with his friend who is played by co-star Matt Damon. The brilliance in Norton’s part is that he simply plays his character Worm perfectly. As the name would imply, Norton plays a deceptive and money hungry worm who is only worried about his own personal gain. This causes not only harm to himself, but to his friend as well, which is the basis for the movie.

One last memorable role was when he played one of the most known heroes of all time, the Hulk. Norton starred as the Hulk in a reboot of the series entitled The Incredible Hulk. Norton’s ability to play the beast that is the Hulk was astounding. From his intelligence to his love for a girl, Norton plays the role of Bruce Banner to a tee. His transformations into the Hulk appear so painful and real that it is hard to imagine that Norton is not actually the Hulk. Obviously, this is simply just the work of a true genius at his trade.

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Overall, Norton has starred in other roles such as The Italian Job in which he played a crook that betrays his friends. He also made a small appearance in The Bourne Legacy. All of which were solid acting performances. Nevertheless, as of now it seems as if the career of Norton is fading. His peak came in the early 2000s. However, this simple fact does not detract from the work itself. Anyone who watches his movies simply cannot leave without some degree of astonishment at this man’s work.

A God Among Men

What if I told you that the man in the following two pictures was in fact the same person?

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Would you believe this seemingly impossible comparison? Well this comparison isn’t impossible at all, because both pictures are of beloved actor Chris Hemsworth. This transformation from the God-like figure of Thor to a scrawny and straggly man seems rather impossible. However, Hemsworth found a way to make it happen. This was all thanks to a 500 calorie per day diet and constant exercise.

Just like every actor, Hemsworth caught his one big break in the acting world that would propel him on to be the star he is today. Hemsworth’s break came in the form of superhero Thor. Hemsworth plays the part of Thor who is a god from a different planet who finds himself fighting to protect Earth and those that live there. From there, Thor goes on to become part of a crime fighting group called the Avengers and thus become a seemingly permanent part of Earth. Hemsworth’s muscular build and deep voice play this role to perfection. He seems to dominate the screen when he is shown. All eyes are turned to him, and waiting to see what he will do next. Additionally, he plays the confusion piece of his role very well. He appears as if he has never seen anything from Earth before. Coffee even appears to be this new and amazing thing to him. As an audience, we feel as if this confusion is actually genuine which points to the brilliance in acting.

Other than Thor, Hemsworth has only found small time roles up unto this point. One notable role was that of a computer hacker in Blackhat. Since Hemsworth is an actor, he known very little about computer hacking. However, this is not how it appears in the movie. Hemsworth portrays himself as a computer genius. It seems as if he has been hacking for years of his life. This simple fact is why he is such a great up and coming actor. His acting appears to be so realistic and believable to the audience.

Recently, Hemsworth starred in a movie called In the Heart of the Sea, which is why he had to dramatically lose so much weight. Playing a shipped wrecked sailor doesn’t call for having the body of a god figure. Therefore, Hemsworth had to give up his abs and major muscles in order to make the movie believable. Furthermore, the most amazing part of this all is that he will soon have to repack on the pounds he lost and regain his muscles in preparation for his next sequel to the Thor series.

Overall, Hemsworth is slightly unproven in the acting world today. Outside of Thor, he hasn’t had any major hits. However, the talent and dedication are certainly there. This makes it clear that he is one of the most brilliant and still upcoming actors in Hollywood today.

Man on Hollywood Fire

He is simply a confident bad ass. This is how most people would describe the acting abilities of Denzel Washington. Washington never seems to disappoint in any role he plays, and there have been several. However, in nearly every role he either displays extreme confidence or an extreme lack of care and bad ass attitude. Most of the time he possess in both in his roles and that is what makes him one of the most successful actors today.

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On of his earlier roles involved teaming up with former NBA star Ray Allen. The movie was called He Got Game, and it followed the life of a young basketball star as he struggles to make a college decision on where he will play basketball. His father, who is played by Washington, attempts to influence him in this decision in return for a shorter jail sentence. The greatness in how Washington plays his role is supported by the fact of how invested he seems in helping his son make a decision. It appears as if Washington is truly in jail and that this is his last attempt to both reduce his sentence and connect with his son.

However, his first true masterpiece and Oscar worthy performance came in the form of a movie called Training Day. Washington played a bad ass cop who is confident in his abilities to manipulate people and get them to do his bidding. The story centers on a young rookie’s training day. Washington leads the rookie down a dark and dangerous path and this creates for an extremely vibrant plot line. This is perhaps one of Washington’s best movies and a trailer for it can be seen here.

His next major film was Man on Fire. The one true distinction about this film is that it portrayed Washington as a man who finds purpose in his life. Even though he still kills multiple people along the way, he seems to be truly invested in saving the life of a little girl whom he is the bodyguard of.

More recently, Washington has played some more diverse roles. One of his more interesting ones was the role of a drunken pilot in the movie Flight. After his plane goes down, Washington’s character is questioned about his intoxication and must travel down a dark path to redeem himself. In order to prepare for this movie, Washington actually spent countless hours in the cockpit of an airplane. In reality, he never had to fly one. However, he did this to familiarize himself with the controls and thus create more authenticity. He even used a flight bag from a real life pilot in order to further the authenticity.

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Overall, Washington has surely played some high profile roles. However, what makes him great is not the role, but how he plays it. He approaches each one differently even if it may not appear so. There is not a general genre that he participates in. He simply takes whatever role interests him. Most often this just happens to involve him being a bad ass of some sort.