Awesome Acting

Actor John Goodman has had so many great roles over the years, from Dan Conner on Roseanne to Sulley in Monsters, Inc. to Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski. Vanity Fair had the opportunity to sit down with Goodman for a look back at his many iconic characters.

Big budget game titles hire A-list actors to voice characters these days, but Videogamedunkey reminds us that it takes much more than acting talent to pull off a convincing performance in video games. Scriptwriters, animators, game directors, translators, and actors must all do their best work or it all falls apart.

Actor Jamie Costa pulls out all the stops in this test footage from a proposed Robin Williams biopic. Costa’s impression of the actor and comedian is uncanny, and the subject matter is as heavy as the sadness concealed behind his funnyman facade.

Actor David Ury likes to perform dramatic monologues. But rather than reading from masters like Shakespeare or Browning, David prefers pop culture sources. Listen up as he transforms the lyrics from the Duck Tales theme into a sordid tale of a dark dystopian duck world. Enjoy more TV theme song monologues here.

If you’ve seen Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, you might remember the classic scene where Dr. Evil describes his childhood in the most unusual of terms. When actress Lisa Gilroy was asked by a teacher to perform a dramatic monologue from any movie, she immediately knew where to turn to.

You’ll never know if you don’t go. You’ll never shine if you don’t glow. Actress and singer Dear Lindsay hopped on the Smash Mouth memewagon with a very special rendition of All Star, performed as a dramatic reading that takes us on an emotional rollercoaster.

CineFix adds a twist in its version of one of the hardest lists for a movie buff to make: the best acting performances. Instead of a straightforward tier, they chose and paired performances from opposing techniques, contexts or genres.

(PG-13: Language) During a recent episode of Off Camera with Sam Jones, actor Keegan-Michael Key explained some of the split-second mental processes that partners work through when creating an improv scene to keep it from running off the rails. A fascinating watch.

CineFix ranks its top 10 picks for the best movie casts. There are those whose actors have become synonymous with their roles, co-stars with wonderful chemistry and the unicorns on opposite ends: movies filled with amateurs and movies with ensemble casts.

Tom Hanks made a guest appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, and impressed with a rapid-fire recap of the highlights of his extensive acting career. We were hoping for some Bosom Buddies too.