The year’s magnificent 7
Actors and actresses who dared to be different in 2016
Some performers had a year of living famously versatile at the movies in 2016.
One actress went from a swinger’s sidekick to depicting the psychotic behaviour of an anti-superhero. An actor pretended to be a stumbling Peter Sellers type in one production and then transformed himself into an elegant dancer in another.
Say hello to the top seven who dared to be different. Ryan Gosling, (The Nice Guys and La La Land)
The Canadian actor shows off his resourcefulness in a goofy crime comedy and a mythical musical. Still, his bumbling Nice Guys private eye and his La La Land pianoplaying smoothie have one thing in common — Gosling ’s self-effacing grin.
“It is an element of luck that these things come to you at the right time,” Gosling says.
He uses his instincts to pick the right parts when they do. “I think if you agonize too much, that’s a sign,” he adds. “The thing that happens without too much agonizing is always the right choice.” Margot Robbie (The Legend of Tarzan and Suicide Squad)
It’s a contrast that most performers only wish for — the actress portrays a more determined version of Jane in The Legend of Tarzan. And she defined Suicide Squad’s Harley Quinn, a former psychiatrist turned psycho-manipulator (and one of the few in the cast praised for her performance).
“When I first came to America, my Australian agent told me that I would be asked, ‘What do I want out of my career?’” says Robbie. “I summarized with three things I wanted — quality, versatility and longevity.”
She suggests it’s still a work in progress.
“I guess we will find out in a decade if I achieve the third,” Robbie says.
Felicity Jones, (Inferno and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
It’s difficult to one-up-yourself after breaking out with an Oscar nod for playing Stephen Hawking ’s wife in The Theory of Everything. But the British actress may have accomplished just that with her roles during the fall and winter season.
She was a doctor on the run with Tom Hanks in the third Da
Vinci Code film and a key Rebel Alliance leader in the latest Star
Wars adventure, which required her to train.
“I’m kind of used to lots of, you
know, talking in corsets so it was really nice to be running around with a blaster and a baton to bash Stormtroopers with,” Jones says. Mads Mikkelsen, (Doctor Strange and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)
The Danish actor refuses to let his high-profile fantasy roles go to his head after playing the main
Doctor Strange antagonist and a sort of good guy in the Star Wars flick.
“If I was flying around on wires for eight films in a row, I would need to take a break and have variation, but I don’t feel the repetition,”
Mikkelsen says.
Gal Gadot, (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Keeping up with the Joneses)
Gadot has her priorities straight. She ignored the naysayers when she was cast as Wonder Woman for the Batman v Superman film and then she proved pundits wrong with her performance. She even shrugged off less-than-friendly reviews of her portrayal in the
Joneses’ spy comedy. “My responsibility is not to pay too much attention to all the noise around me,” says the Israeli-born actress. “But you do pay attention to the script and to the director, and you protect the character.” Tom Hanks (Sully and Inferno)
Adaptability is Hank’s trademark, so it’s not surprising that he played the heroic U.S. Air pilot in the Sully biopic and returned as the Da Vinci Code puzzle-solving adventurer.
As usual, the Oscar-honoured actor says that his attention to detail helped him with both portrayals.
Ben Affleck (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Accountant)
A world-weary Dark Knight seemed to suit Affleck and his avenger accountant was made to fit. When he starts filming The
Batman this spring, he’ll have two major tests — in front of the camera and behind it as director. What’s his preference? “If the set falls down, you can just go back to your trailer and say, ‘So many things here are not my problem,’ ” jokes Affleck.