Two Typecast Actors

There are two actors in Hollywood today that I believe to be very versatile individuals who seem to keep accepting roles in only one genre of film. One of them garners more general respect than the other.

The former would be Johnny Depp. Depp has been nominated for three Oscars over the course of his career, even if his fan base is mainly creepy 40-year-old women. In 2008, Johnny Depp signed on to perform in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Though I do not doubt his ability to capture the essence of The Mad Hatter, it seems like ages since Depp has starred in a film not directed by Tim Burton or involving pirates. We get it, Johnny. You can create intriguing and bizarre characters and act them flawlessly. Yet, I still long for the Johnny Depp of old. His subtler (yet still slightly weird) work in Benny & Joon and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? was just as excellent. I'm not asking for him to cut off his dear friends Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter off entirely, but simply requesting a little bit of variety.

The actor that is generally considered less talented that I would like to mention is Shia Labeouf. As the bizarre Disney Channel nerd that I am, I grew up watching Shia's performance on Even Stevens. Unlike many of his peers on the mouse channel, Shia seemed to exhibit true acting chops and uncanny comedic timing for someone of his age. I only really began to believe in LaBeouf as an actor after his role in the Disney Channel movie Tru Confessions in which he flawlessly played a mentally handicapped teenager, a heavy role for a 15-year-old. Soon thereafter, Shia faded out of the spotlight and essentially acted in a series of B-movies. Until, he came back onto the Hollywood scene with Transformers. His biggest roles have been in films such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Disturbia, and Eagle Eye-- all dry action hero roles. This confused me coming from an actor who had thrived at both comedy and drama only a few years before. So please, someone take note of this young talent and grab hold of it.

And that is my plea.

Heartbeats by the Knife

I'm breaking radio silence here to dedicate this post to my current favorite song.



I feel like this song has changed my life, but I'm not far enough away from that point yet to tell you how.

P.S.
Sorry for the cruddy youtube quality.