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The original was posted on /r/movies by /u/Crafty_Letter_1719 on 2023-08-28 00:11:55.
Watching 8 Mile again recently I am surprised Eminem has not done more as an actor given how accomplished his performance is. Sure he is essentially playing himself but he does a great job and has a lot more natural screen charisma then the majority of musician turned actors.
This got me thinking. What’s the greatest screen performance by somebody not primarily known for their acting? I don’t mean somebody who was accomplished in another field who then crossed over into acting with great success. For example Eddie Murphy, Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Rock where all widely successful before making the transition into actoring but now everybody associates them with their film careers before anything else.
I mean people still primarily known for other things that have successfully dipped into acting without it ever eclipsing their day job.
For example David Bowie and Lady Gaga have both given acclaimed acting performances but are still very much most known for their music above all else.
I’ll start. Werner Herzog is of course one of the most famous directors of all time but he gives an unexpectedly great acting performance in Jack Reacher of all films.
Robin Williams. Until you see him act in something, you think of him as just a comedian (a great one, but just that). When you saw him in a good role though, you saw that he had great timing and a certain honesty that not a lot of actors have.