Performances by Non-Actors

[Riv86672]

Good or bad, whichever you prefer.

So as not to micromanage I’ll leave it up to you what you consider a non-actor (if you reply and just have to Name Kellen Lutz that’s fine), but I’m looking for ppl like Gregory D. Gadson…

…a retired u.S. Army Colonel who due to a roadside bomb in Baghdad, became a double bilateral above-the-knee amputee (and one of the first Military personnel to use a next-generation powered prosthetic knee with technology to make it possible for amputees to walk with confidence and with a more natural gait).
Director Peter Berg, having seen news articles about Gadson, decided to cast him as an Army Officer trying to recover from the loss of his legs in the 2012 movie BATTLESHIP.

Say what you will about the movie itself, Gadson’s performance was really good!

[ChrisIII]

George Lazenby did a pretty decent job as James Bond in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE considering he was a model and ad spokesman with pretty much little acting experience beforehand.

[Riv86672]

George Lazenby did a pretty decent job as James Bond in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE considering he was a model and ad spokesman with pretty much little acting experience beforehand.

^^^Never knew that!
Man, talk about falling assbackwards into an iconic role

[ChrisIII]

Pretty much. Also he was never fired as Bond, he decided he wanted to be more of a pacifist and Bond's violence wasn't for him (His next film involved a weapons dealer becoming a pacifist).

He briefly was considering Hong Kong action films with Bruce Lee but Lee's death ended that.

Lazenby was also partly dubbed by actor George Baker, as he impersonated Baker's Sir Hilary Bray for part of the film.

Of course several musicians have made the leap to acting, although this is often with mixed results, although occasionally even the bad ones can turn in decent performances (Mariah Carey got a lot of criticism for Glitter but received praise for Precious; Most of Madonna's films were terrible but she was liked in Desperately Seeking Susan and Evita).

[Riv86672]

Pretty much. Also he was never fired as Bond, he decided he wanted to be more of a pacifist and Bond's violence wasn't for him (His next film involved a weapons dealer becoming a pacifist).

He briefly was considering Hong Kong action films with Bruce Lee but Lee's death ended that.

Lazenby was also partly dubbed by actor George Baker, as he impersonated Baker's Sir Hilary Bray for part of the film.

^^^Wow that’s some amazing stuff!
Thank you for posting this!

[Kieran_Frost]

Deleted. Got the OP wrong, whoops.

[Riv86672]

Obviously slightly biased, being an actor... but overall I think it's a bad idea. They lack the variety to be consistently interesting. They can possibly have raw talent, but that's not enough to strike lighting more than once. You don't go to the hospital for medical advice for someone who played a doctor on TV. WHY would you watch someone who isn't an actor act?

^^^Not at all what I was asking for, but thanks I guess.

[Zauriel]

Jackie Robinson Starred As Himself In THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY

His acting was decent.

[Kieran_Frost]

^^^Not at all what I was asking for, but thanks I guess.

Whoops, deleted. Apologies.

[James Cameron]

David Simon cast Lt. Gary D'Addario, who was the commander of the shift he shadowed in his book Homicide Life on the Street, in his TV shows Homicide, the Corner, and the Wire

[BeastieRunner]

Tom Brady has wonderful self deprecating comedic timing.

[ChrisIII]

Do some cameos count? George Lucas does two non-speaking roles in HOOK and REVENGE OF THE SITH, but then there's this:



The SW films (All eras) are also loaded with cameos from the production staff. That's Producer Ric Mccallum and sound guy/editor Ben Burtt behind Padme in this scene from Phantom Menace, for example.




In addition to Lucas appearing in ROTS Richard Marquand, Rian Johnston, Gareth Edwards, JJ Abrams and Dave Filoni have appeared in SW cameos. (I wouldn't count Jon Favreau as he's an actor as well as producer/director).



Also Michael G Wilson, producer of the Bond series, has a number of cameos in the films, some of which are speaking roles.

[AnakinFlair]

Surprisingly, the first one to come to mind was Rosie Hunttington-Whitley. As far a I know, she was a model who caught Michael Bay's eye, and he cast her as the replacement for Megan Fox in Transformers 3. I thought she actually did a pretty decent job in a very thin role.

[Jokerz79]

Too many to name but many comedians became good actors and a great quote from the Great One Himself Jackie Gleason.



"I know many comedians who have become very very good actors, I've never known a dramatic actor who became a very good comedian.".

[Jim Kelly]

There are different kinds of movies.

Some movies want you to recognize the actor and know their work. You see Jimmy Stewart and you instantly know what kind of guy this is, they don't have to waste so much time getting you invested in the character. Or you see Henry Fonda at the beginning of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and you're shocked to see him playing such a dark character.

Other movies don't want you to associate the actor with other roles. So they will cast unknowns--like in THE OUTSIDERS--or they will cast actors that disappear into the part, like Gary Oldman.

And some movies are going for a verisimilitude. Movies about a particular subculture, where casting actors just won't get at the truth of that environment. So they look for non-actors to play many of the parts--to play themselves--because no amount of research is going to give an actor the understanding that they have. There are many movies like this--I just can't think of them at the moment.