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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment

Cinema's unforgettable character actors

Film's character actors: Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008)
Danny Leigh today hailed the less-than-perfect (male) faces that have lit up cinema through the years. Our pictorial tribute begins with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008). What a change from his beautiful youth Photograph: EPA
Film's character actors: Laird Cregar in The Black Swan (1942)
Laird Cregar, seen here in The Black Swan (1942), was actually a successful character actor. But an opportunity to trade up to leading man status proved irresistible, and tragic Photograph: Kobal
Film's character actors: Orson Welles in Touch of Evil (1958)
Perhaps the epitome of the golden boy gone to seed – Orson Welles in Touch of Evil (1958) Photograph: Cinetext/Allstar/Cinetext/Allstar
Film's character actors: Peter Lorre in M (1931)
Peter Lorre in M (1931) – he parlayed his sensational portrayal of a serial killer in the Fritz Lang film to an English-language part (phonetically learned) in Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, ending up as Hollywood's go-to guy for portraying venal, non-All-American types Photograph: Corbis
Film's character actors: Ron Perlman in Outlander (2008)
Ron Perlman, seen here in Outlander (2008). One of the most versatile actors around: cover him in red makeup and he's Hellboy, put him in fur and mane and you have Vincent from television's Beauty and the Beast Photograph: PR
Film's character actors: Vincent Schiavelli in Death to Smoochy (2002)
The late Vincent Schiavelli was an unmistakable presence in a wide range of movies, with parts ranging from Fredrickson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) to Mr Vargas in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and here as Buggy Ding Dong in Death to Smoochy (2002) Photograph: PR
Film's character actors: Pruitt Taylor Vince in S1m0ne (2002)
Pruitt Taylor Vince, seen here in S1m0ne (2002), has carved a niche for himself portraying twitchy characters with a streak of pathos Photograph: PR
Film's character actors: Dominique Pinon in Delicatessen (1991)
Back to Europe, and here's Dominique Pinon in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen (1991). Jeunet's cameras evidently love Pinon: he has used the actor to great effect in all his films since Things I Like, Things I Don't Like (1989), including Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Amélie (2001) Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive
Film's character actors: Still from Songs from the Second Floor, directed by Roy Andersson
Still in Europe, who can forget the doughy stars of Roy Andersson's Songs from the Second Floor (2000)? Photograph: PR
Film's character actors: Christopher Walken in Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
These days, Hollywood seems to merely trade in the 'faux-ugly' – for instance, Christopher Walken, seen here in Romance & Cigarettes (2005) ... Photograph: PR
Film's character actors: Steve Buscemi in Big Fish (2003)
... Steve Buscemi, seen here in Big Fish (2003) ... Photograph: PR
Film's character actors: Willem Defoe in Spider-Man (2002)
... and Willem Defoe, seen here in Spider-Man (2002). Ugly? Who are they kidding? Photograph: PR
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