Best Actor/Actress Associated With Most Film Genres

Julianne Moore is one of these too - fearless across genres - will go into Sci-Fi, Horror, Action at the drop of a hat .......

Davis is a good one, in general these are people who don't care about their "brand" (loathe that expression) although weirdly Nicholson was a brand himself.

I know she's out of fashion, but I think Jennifer Lawrence qualifies. She's known for comedies (like SLP), but also dramas (Winter's Bone and her earlier work), YA sci-fi (The Hunger Games), thrillers (mother!), super-hero flicks (X-Men)... She's one actress that's very successful and you can't really label her under one specific genre, as she's had hits across the board with many kinds of movies.

Sigourney Weaver.

I always thought Kirk Douglas was an iconic figure in several genres for his era. Film Noir (Out Of The Past, Ace In The Hole), Westerns (Gunfight At The OK Corral), historical epics (Spartacus, The Vikings), War Films (Paths Of Glory), Sports Films (Champion)

Don't think he ever had an iconic role in a comedy (though he was very much the comedic relief in 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea), but of all the actors of his era, I think he made more of a mark in more genres than almost anyone else.

The first actor that popped in my mind was Udo Kier.

Udo Kier is such an interesting presence in films and an interesting mention! - I love how he is used in Suspiria '77 as a slightly off center Dr. - in any other film that's a thankless role or an artificially showy role but he so weirdly fits in perfectly.

You can say that about almost anything he's even in regardless of what he's playing - I'm thinking about Cigarette Burns and the hair on my forearms stood up  

He's an actor that, even though he is mostly used in supporting and background roles, he makes every moment of his screen presence count. And has done so in a wide variety of genres. I actually saw him recently in the film Iron Sky (an absurd sci-fi comedy) and he was absolutely hilarious as the crazy nazi general. By far the highlight of that film. 

That Razzie stuff is Fake News though. He's about as good on Mother as anybody could be - who would you even cast if not him  - that's a BS award

.......... and he's often acting in his 2nd language come on, there is not one actor I can name that is more gifted than him in world cinema - not one - he can stand with anyone working - he's in that elite league.

I'll agree he makes some weak choices but I'd really wish we'd stop equating that "consistency lie" - and it is a lie - with great acting or more to the point with the topic of this thread - I mean his 5 Goya Awards are across genres alone and that's not even what I think of when I think of him.

The Razzies are trash, no mistake (and the fact that they nominated Nicolas Cage for Snowden despite him being legitimately good in it is merely one of the myriad reasons why we should never take them seriously; they'll pick on any A-lister who makes themselves an easy target), and I do adore Javier Bardem . . . but there's a few things I'd point out here.

1. Regardless of what one thinks of mother! and whether or not it works (I personally don't think it does), Bardem doesn't really have a whole lot of chemistry with Lawrence, which is key to their characters and hurts the film overall.

2. The Goyas, like most awards, are very much biased towards their hometown folks, and Bardem is the top Spanish actor in the world right now in terms of career and acclaim, so him winning so many awards isn't all that impressive when you take that into account.

3. I know you like to argue against consistency as being a requisite for a great actor, but it very much is an essential ingredient in judging their catalogue and assessing their skill sets. I can commend an actor for being ambitious enough to try different things, but if they fail more often than they succeed, do they get points for trying? I don't really think so. Nor do I think that an actor can claim to have an ironclad legacy just because they start out strong; guys like De Niro, Hoffman and Pacino don't get passes for slumming it in their latter days just because they did so well at the start.

Bardem has done well for himself, but even his most devoted fans have to admit that the mid-2010s were a bit of a rough patch for him. Not irredeemably so, and I have high hopes for the Cortes project.

That's absurd to me - I don't know what this means "a lot of people thought he was bad in Mother" - a lot of people think Robert De Niro sucks in Cape Fear too but I'd have to count Cape Fear as a success in that genre.

I loathe the subtle shade you're throwing at him and that your taking part in here - ie equating Razzie with legitimate awards and Oscar Isaac, Del Toro, and Banderas as his equivalents - how the fnck is Oscar Isaac or Banderas his equivalent - and ghettoizing him/them as mere hispanic actors.

His career is just fine, he's great in Everybody Knows - by your own rule of thumb "a lot of people thought he was really good there". Sean Penn's career is just fine too even if its over - think about that - he has two Best Actor awards - only Tom Hanks has that in his generation.

It's nonsense to think actors have to keep doing it over and over and over - just as ludicrous as to suppose bands should do it - "hey the Ramones revolutionized Rock music but gee they sucked in 1987!" - those are not equivalents - the important part of that sentence is the first part and critics loving Bardem isn't the point of the thread at all anyway, you just saw the name Bardem and for some reason saw red but it doesn't pertain to his success across genres - you're off point.

You're all over the place here bringing up Banderas, Penn, etc. anyway but Bardem was just major in his last major film so none of it even applies.

Agree with much of this, but not all.

I'll grant you the BS of 5 Goya's if I can get the the BS of any Razzies in comparison. Deal.

As for consistency - well, you don't much like Pacino's middle period and in fact like it less than his later days - I agree consistency matters but not how its used here or as much as you value it  - that belongs in a Javier Bardem - Thoughts? thread anyway - not a thread across genres

As for his chemistry with Lawrence - I dunno man, that's part on her too..........and who else are you going to cast as a writer/poet "type" named "Him" - who could even play it - I'm not a fan of the movie but you know the potential cast list is limited and the potential success in the film is limited too.