Who's Weirder? Gary Oldman or John Malkovitch?

[arwalden]

I wonder if I perceive them as being weird because they often play such bizarre characters (and play them well)... or if their ability to play such quirky characters well is derived from some inner strangeness that makes them GENUINELY weird--even in real life?

I was trying to think of other actors for whom I had similar opinions... but these were the only two that came to mind.

-- Allen

[mitchum]

1. Neither could hold a candle to the late Klaus Kinski

[NNadir]

28. True. Kinski was a true piece of work.

That comes across heavily in "Aguirre, the Wrath of God," though I heard that he was much crazier during the filming of "Fitzcarraldo."

I saw Malkovitch on Broadway playing Biff in "Death of a Salesman" with Dustin Hoffman playing Willy Loman. Everyone was great. It was my first serious date with my wife (she bought me the tickets as a surprise for my birthday) and I will never forget that evening as long as I live.

But that aside, I have a sense of Malkovitch being way out there. I don't know shit about Oldman. I only saw him in the recent Harry Potter movie that I had to see with my kids.

[Misunderestimator]

2. Malkovitch ... no contest.

At least I enjoy watching Oldman... Malkovitch is just freaky.

[MrScorpio]

3. Malkovitch IS a freaky muthafucka

Oldman just plays some in the movies

[YellowRubberDuckie]

29. I'll second that.

John Malkovich is one crazy mutha fucka.
Duckie

[loudestchick]

4. Malkovitch, definitely

but I'd defintely "do" him!

[Misunderestimator]

5. Ewwwwww

yikes... you just like that space between his teeth, don't you? :)

[MrScorpio]

7. I've never given you a "Welcome to DU", have I?

Well Welcome to DU!!!

Thanks for joining the party

[Cheswick2.0]

31. I saw him in "Burn This"

There is a scene where he stands at the window at night with his hair blowing in the breeze.. and then this character he plays who is kind of a Renaissance Neanderthal (and definitely threatening) follows Joan Allen into the bedroom. All of the women in the audience and half of the men gasped. I think the whole audience would have "done" him and I have had a crush on him every since.

[OneTwentyoNine]

34. Malkovitch: Burned him to the ground and then bagged his ashes...

LOL,Malkovitch probably wrote that line himself in Con Air...


David

[jus_the_facts]

6. They're both bizarro weird.....but Gary impressed me early on.....

....in his career by playin' Sid Vicious in the classic Sid'n'Nancy...then again in Immortal Beloved...those are my favorite o'his movies....so I guess I'm sayin' John is weirder LOL!! :D

:hi: Allen...hope you're doin' well these days!!! :loveya:

[Demit]

8. Malkovich designs his own light switchplates. He is OUT there

I forget where I read a detailed profile of him a few years ago, maybe the NYT magazine? Control freak, thinks VERY highly of himself...

[jdsmith]

9. And they're both RW-ers, aren't they?

[aePrime]

10. Malkovitch

I remember reading a Playboy interview with him a couple of years ago. All he did was talk about how much the U.S. sucks and how great he is. I haven't respected him since. What an ego!

[Lady Effingbroke]

11. Gary Coleman is stranger than both of them!

[loudestchick]

26. lmao

I thought you meant the Gary from American Gothic...that show changes your whole view of Shaun Cassidy (former Hardy Boy)

[MuseRider]

12. They are both pretty

freaky. I love watching them both. Just watched Oldman in Dracula last night. It was great until I fell asleep.

[gauguin57]

15. Sorry to disagree ...

... but I would put Bram Stoker's Dracula on my list of top all-time most overrated movies of the universe! I could not believe how bad that movie was. Oldman's a great actor, but he couldn't save this stinkfest. I was wondering whether Coppola was serious, or whether he was paying homage to Ed Wood -- unintentionally hilarous horror film.

Hopkins: waaaaay over the top.
Keanu: please. spare us.
Winona: Gave one good performance in her life, and this ain't it (the decent one was Age of Innocence). If I were a casting director, I'd put this no-talent chick's resume in the round file, pronto!
Script: Stinkorama!
Coppola: Must have been on drugs. DRUGS!
Sadie Frost: Chewing scenery with two fangs. Poor girl: she's known for this movie and for being married to Jude Law. She's divorced, and has a stinker on her resume.

I sat there through the whole movie, just SLACK-JAWED at how bad it was, after friends whose movie tastes I respected told me how good it was. I LOVE vampires, and good vampire movies. And this just left me sad, sad, sad.

Brrrrr! I'm getting gooseflesh just thinking about this travesty.

[mitchum]

16. gauguin57, you are a man or woman after my own heart!

Your analysis of Coppola's travesty is dead on. Why did that movie even have to be made in a world where Herzog's "Nosferatu" already exists?

[gauguin57]

18. it's woman, mitchum ... and I think I'm going to rent

Nosferatu again this coming week, to wash off the Van Hel-stink of just THINKING about Coppola's Dracula.

(Confession: I got the Van Hel-stink line from Entertainment Weekly's reference to the Hugh Jackman movie)

[Bridget Burke]

35. Have you seen "Shadow of the Vampire"?

It's the fictional story of the filming of "Nosferatu". Malkovich plays F W Murnau, the obsessed director. He's gone so far as to hire a real vampire in the title role; Willem Dafoe plays Max Schreck.

Cast & crew members keep dying, for some reason. Malkovich is plenty weird in this one, but Dafoe takes the prize. A humorous film, in a slightly horrible way. The official site is still up:

www.mogulsoft.com/shadow/

[MuseRider]

20. Oops

what I meant in my post was Oldman was great. I seem to enjoy him no matter what because I like his cumulative oddness. I did fall asleep and was not too awake when I started it. I will watch it again since I didn't really see much of it. I am not that particular and can often find good things about stinker films. What I did see I thought was a little druggy but I also see nothing wrong with that. Oh well, knowledgeable about film I am not.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

13. Malkovich lives in Boston now-on Beacon Hill

He is definitely creepier than Oldman.

[DemWitch]

14. Malkovitch by a long shot...

Watched Bram Stoker's Dracula last night with Gary Oldman... woof, woof, woof... In that role, with that look, no wonder Winnona wanted to be taken away from at that death...

[bleedingheart]

17. I prefer Oldman versus Malkovitch

he's sexier

[DS1]

19. Malkovitch, Oldman are both fine actors, but it's not an official

movie until Ron Jeremy shows up :7

[arwalden]

27. Ron Jeremy? The Porn Star?? -- Did You Mean Jeremy Irons?

[ShaneGR]

21. Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich

Anyone who can do a movie named after himself, starring himself, and playing himself while being posessed by other people must be one weird fellow.

[maxsolomon]

22. trick question: they are the same guy!

they've never been in the same movie, have they?

case closed!

[terrya]

23. Crispin Glover is weirder than both of them.

[loudestchick]

25. ok

you got me there...and him I wouldn't do.

[ForrestGump]

32. That was my choice, too

The old Crispinator is a wacko. Great on screen, where he's also a wacko.

Chris Walken used to own the title, I think, but I'm not sure if he was actually a weirdo or just played them so well and over-the-top.

Female wacko: Sean Young. Followed by several others since.

[davsand]

24. Hubby swears Malkovitch is a strange agent.

He went to college with him. Some of the stories from others who were there seem to confirm the diagnosis...

Now, having said that, I also want to suggest that not all you read in interviews is accurate and not all media hype is true. If I actually SEE film footage of somebody being an ass, I tend to take it a LOT more seriously than articles. I say this simply because I've seen reporters make up quotes and paraphrase things badly--hell I've had them do it to me! I am extremely low on the food chain when it comes to media attention and I can't imagine what media stars deal with.

I suspect that ALL actors are a tad bit off the norm and these guys are maybe just a bit further than some of the others.

Laura

PS, Reeves REALLY stank up the joint in Dracula. He all but rendered that entire film unwatchable when he did his scenes with Winona Ryder. The two together were just PAINFUL!

[Wat_Tyler]

30. Malkovitch. He threatened to kill my old MP.

That wins, eh?

[VOX]

33. For what it's worth, Gary Oldman is a conservative...

On the other hand, I recall that Malkovich has said some strange things politically, also.

http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/clevey/?id=65000438
What's Wrong With 'The Contender'
The best political movies celebrate democratic values, not Democratic ones.
BY COLLIN LEVEY
Thursday, October 19, 2000 12:01 a.m. EDT
Gary Oldman isn't popular in Hollywood these days. The star of "The Contender" has been getting tossed around in the press for suggesting DreamWorks reduced his character--Sen. Sheldon Runyon, a Republican--from a well-meaning but flawed hero to a conniving, corrupt, hypocritical bastard.
<snip>
...Follow-up stories have described Mr. Oldman as "conservative leaning" and "a real-life conservative." Such is the fuss that some have even suggested that if he doesn't deny he's a conservative, he'll be jeopardizing his Oscar chances.

"Someone felt it necessary to 'out' Gary as a conservative," says Douglas Urbanski, his agent and collaborator on the film. "That is still one politically correct bad name you can call someone in Hollywood."
<snip>

[NNadir]

36. So is Malkovich. Actually, he's not conservative; he's far right.

http://www.allstarz.org/~malkovich/suntel.html