the geek gods. actors who have played literary, video game and/or cult movie roles geek dreams are made of. these are the actors who have been, in turn, leotard-clad/reinforced torso comic book characters, inter-stellar spacers in human forms, profound/eccentric/ethereal individuals from timeless fiction and computer games…
of course there are leonard nimoy, mark hamill, etc. “hall of fame” geek-worshipped actors that will put even the most aloof of fanboys in starstruck mode to last for weeks. but the modern age of graphic effects has brought us an onslaught of films that will rock einstein and newton in their graves; along with it, a whole slew of movie personalities that make the thousand-sit-ups-a-day routine some backyard hobby for any aspiring actor.
here are the top ten sci-fi fantasy, literary cult actors still active today who, based on my humble opinion, landed the coolest, most enviable roles:
update: i wanted to keep this a top ten, but now that i think about it carefully, there are two more actors who deserve to be adored by geeks. so here’s the top 12, the coolest dozen:
12. gerard butler
he delivered some of the most memorable lines in 300 as king leonidas and we fantasized about bringing him home in his loincloth. prior to that, he was terry sheridan in tomb raider: the cradle of life; after that he played kable in the cyber sci-fi gamer. oh, and do you know he also played beowulf at some point?
11. jake gyllenhaal
the title role alone in donnie darko put him on the radar of all geeks alive.
now, ten years later, he comes back to the forefront of followers as prince dastan in prince of persia: the sands of time.
10. robert downey, jr.
who on earth can bounce back like robert downey jr? he had problems with substance abuse, was arrested, rehabilitated, relapsed and rehabilitated again in a span of five years. in these his sober years, not only did he come back to the big screen, he ruled the box office as tony stark in iron man, got nominated for an oscar for his role kirk lazarus in tropic thunder (which he lost to another geek idol, heath ledger as the joker) and got nominated for a golden globe as holmes in sherlock holmes.
9. ryan reynolds
one of the fastest-rising stars, if not the fastest rising star, of the last few years.
one actor who played major characters in the three major comic book publishers: vertigo’s hannibal king in blade: trinity, marvel’s deadpool in x-men origins: wolverine and we will see him soon as dc’s hal jordan in green lantern.
8. ralph fiennes
my life-long crush. my fantasy. the one i dreamed of meeting on the front yard, mowing the lawn. he gave us some of the most critically acclaimed roles in the last two decades (amon goeth in schindler’s list, charles van doren in quiz show, count almasy in the english patient, justin quayle in the constant gardener… someone please already give him the darn oscar), but his first few geek-worthy roles, lenny nero in strange days and john steed in the avengers, didn’t receive as much praise from critics (though lenny nero was loved by fanboys anyway). in more recent years, he became even more entrenched into the geek culture as the supreme antagonist: he provided the voice for rameses in the prince of egypt, played francis dolarhyde in the red dragon and lord voldemort in the harry potter series.
in next month’s clash of the titans, we will see him again as… who else? the god of the underworld, hades.
7. hugh jackman
he became the world’s sexiest man after he played wolverine in the x-men series. van helsing was an okay movie, he was gorgeous there as usual. his other role for the geek market may not have been as well-received except by the staunchest of fanboys (stanley jobson in swordfish). but i think his turn as the great danton in the prestige was the most superb. and he’s too darn hot and funny.
6. alan rickman
i think alan rickman’s sheriff of nottingham outshone costner’s robin hood in robin hood: prince of thieves. i think he was the coolest heaven-sent entity as metatron in dogma. he was the the best stock character, judge turpin, to the anti-hero in sweeney todd: the demon barber of fleet street. i imagined prof. severus snape looking exactly like him even before any of the harry potter movies were in production. plus his was the manic-depressive voice of marvin, the paranoid android, in the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy.
5. keanu reeves
if you are wondering what’s with monotone keanu reeves and all these fantastic roles… well, you are not alone. for a six-time razzie-nominated actor, his career sure is doing mighty fine. he first stamped his mark into the movie adaptations game as jonathan harker in dracula. his first cyber sci-fi turn as johnny in johnny mnemonic received harsh criticism from both film critics and i.t. professionals themselves, but in his next cyber fantasy film, the matrix trilogy, his smooth and bullet-dodging, bullet-deflecting neo quickly became the envy of each and every male in the world. then he had to play john constantine in constantine to further fuel the envy. what about the voice of bob in a scanner darkly? true to his inconsistency, his last sci-fi role, klaatu in the day the earth stood still, was another set of bad reviews.
do you like the idea of keanu playing spike in the upcoming cowboy bebop movie adaptation? what about dr. jekyll in the upcoming jekyll? let the hardcore fanboys decide on that.
4. sir ian mckellen
he is not “sir” ian mckellen for nothing. throughout a long and illustrious career, he played role after role to critical success on both screen and stage.
he cemented a place for himself in the hearts and minds of the masses by playing supervillain magneto in the x-men series and, while he was still under contract for that role, superwizard gandalf in the lord of the rings trilogy.
that last role alone put him next to leonard nimoy in the hall of fame.
3. christian bale
we all know he picked up the most lucrative batman with christopher nolan, the same director who gave him alfred borden in the prestige. he added more to the bank and box office appeal by playing john connor in the latest and massively anticipated terminator salvation. but before he became a household name as the dark knight, he has been adored by geeks the world over for playing freaky jason bateman in the movie adaptation of american psycho and john preston in the sci-fi equilibrium. with all these action/thriller roles he is getting best known for, do you even remember his sensitive classic literature-based movie roles?: he was laurie in little women, edward rosier in portrait of a lady, demetrius in a midsummer night’s dream and mandras in captain corelli’s mandolin.
2. johnny depp
do i even have to explain this? edward scissorhands in edward scissorhands, dean corso in the ninth gate, ichabod crane in sleepy hollow, jack sparrow in the pirates of the carribean trilogy, willy wonka in charlie and the chocolate factory, voice of victor in the corpse bride, sweeney todd in sweeney todd: the demon barber of fleet street, the mad hatter in alice in wonderland.
he is rumored to play wallace in sin city 3. got that?
1. liam neeson
his qui gon jinn in the phantom menace taught obi wan kenobi everything he knows…
… his ra’s al ghul in batman begins taught batman everything he knows…
… he provided the voice of aslan in the chronicles of narnia, the great lion of narnia said to be an allegorical reference to christ…
… this year, we will see him as zeus, king of the gods, ruler of mount olympus, god of the sky and thunder in clash of the titans.
can you top that?
images from just jared, comic book movie, ace showbiz and yahoo! movies.
