I am honored to be participating in this blogathon (Small Roles … Big Performances), created by blogger Ruth at Flixchatter. Be sure to visit her site to check out her post as well as the postings of the other participants.
When I first approached this topic, one performance came to mind – Chiwetel Ejiofor in the dystopian Children of Men (2006). That is quite a feat – in a film where there are so many impactful supporting performances (Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Pam Ferris to name a few), I selected Ejiofor’s because of all the roles I have seen him in over the years (not enough for my liking), this is the the most deviant and surprising one.
As always, I strongly encourage you to check out this film for yourself and decide for yourself – way back in 2007, I dedicated a blog post to this film.
If you are so inclined, check out this video (WARNING: It does contain some integral plot elements, either that or you will just be a tad confused about all the talk about “The Human Project”).
But wait – there’s (one) more …
As I was making my shortlist for this post, my mind was flooded with actors and performances from yesterday and today that deserved some notice. So, as I conclude my post, I would like to mention the performance of a personal favorite of mine, Thelma Ritter; watch this clip of her memorable performance in Pickup on South Street to see what I mean: