Diverse Actors & Actresses

One of the key things that makes a good actor or actress in my opinion in the ability to play conflicting characters or diverse roles. During one film you may watch the actor play a scallywag pirate and the next time you turn around the same man is playing a deeply depressed guy with scissors for hands. The role diversity that some actors and actresses have been able to accomplish in their careers is not only amazing but also astonishing. Here's to the greats!

1. Catherine Zeta Jones
Her first film would be Chicago in which she plays Murderess Velma Kelly who is serving jail time for killing her husband and his mistress. Compare that to her character in the recent release Rock of Ages. In Rock of Ages she plays the mayors wife who is trying to wipe the sin out of Los Angeles. There has never been any doubt in anyone's mind that Catherine Zeta Jones is talented, but these two roles show her great strength in acting.

2. Johnny Depp
First off, I vehemently believe that this guy could take on any role and make it a box office blowout! I firmly think that Johnny Depp is one of the top, if not the top actor of his time. He can take any role, an character and portray it with ingenuity and realism. He is the male Meryl Streep! The two roles that I would choose to highlight would be Willy Wonka from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and Sam from Benny and Joon. I am pretty sure though that you could say he is diverse by comparing any two roles that he has ever taken on.

3. Meryl Streep
You guessed it! You guys know that I am trying not to post too much on Meryl Streep, but sometimes it is completely necessary to recognize the greatest acting talent out there! I could sing her praises until next Tuesday, but the two roles I chose to show her great ability as an actress are: Sister Aloysius Beauvier from Doubt and Donna Sheridan from Mamma Mia. A nun and an inn owner, I don't think characters get much different than that.

4. Dustin Hoffman
In my opinion Hoffman is a genius. I have never seen him in a movie that I thought his performance was anything less than extraordinary. The two characters I chose for him would be Raymond Babbitt from Rain Man and Captain Hook from Hook. I was seriously terrified of Captain Hook as a child, but that's just a side note.

5. Heath Ledger
I hope you are resting easy Heath, just know that everyone down here still loves your movies and recognizes your extreme talent. Look at the different roles he played from Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You to Joker in The Dark Knight. He had great depth and talent if you ask me.

6. Nicole Kidman
I don't usually gush over Nicole. I think some of her more recent work could have picked better, but to each her own. However, she has had great range of roles in her career. The two I would choose to highlight would be Becca from Rabbit Hole and Joanna Eberhart from The Stepford Wives

7. Christian Bale
He looks so different from role to role, but his acting talent also flows so well with anything that he takes on. The two roles that I chose for Bale could not be any more different. In one of them he plays the jerk that can't fix anything in his life and in the other he plays the world's greatest superhero who wants nothing more than to save the city of Gotham. You got it: Dicky Eklund from The Fighter and Bruce Wayne/Batman from Batman franchise.

8. Alan Rickman
I know you all know how great my love for Rickman is! This man is fabulous. His two roles were harder to pick for me. The first is obvious and not surprising at all: Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise. The second I chose to show this great actor's range is Harry from Love Actually. Snape is grumpy, and harboring feelings of love an anguish from long ago while Harry is a cheater who rips apart the lives of his family.

I could have added many more to this list, but I really wanted to highlight specific people who really stand out to me personally.