Hey, guys. Quint here. Well, 2011 is off to a helluva start. This is pretty heartbreaking news to kick off the new year, but we’ve lost two fantastic character actors.
I’ll be writing up a separate obit for Anne Francis, but I had to start with Pete Postlethwaite.
When you look up the term character actor you’ll see a picture Pete Postlethwaite’s face. He’s the guy that everybody in America would recognize, but not know his name. He was always dependable, a bright spot in even the shittiest movie.
My first memory of Mr. Postlethwaite is in David Fincher’s Alien 3. On a story level I had so many problems with the direction of the movie, but on the look of the film, the builds of the Alien puppets and the quality of the actors are all top notch.
Postlethwaite was one of the reasons Alien 3 was tolerable for me. He’s got a great face and can play both intimidating and sympathetic. You see that range in all his films, from the good guy fathers of movies like Solomon Kane, Clash of the Titans, The Omen and Romeo + Juliet to the cold badasses like Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects, Fergie in The Town and the big game hunter that wants to bring down a Rex in The Lost World.
That’s why I love character actors so much, they have such a great range and they bring with them a kind of insurance. If you see their name in a movie you know for sure it’s not going to be a complete waste of time. As shitty as the movie will be you’ll always have one thing to hold on to as a viewer.
The man has helped make Inception and The Constant Gardener the fantastic films they are and took part in some other great stuff, like Amistad (a very under-appreciated Spielberg movie), Brassed Off, Dragonheart, James and the Giant Peach, In the Name of the Father and The Last of the Mohicans.
He died way too soon, passing away yesterday after a battle with cancer at the age of 64. The news has tainted the day for me as I selfishly mourn my own enjoyment of his work that I feel robbed of. My thoughts are with Mr. Postlethwaite’s friends, family and fans.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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