Sam Rockwell
Before his Hollywood breakthrough, Rockwell said in a 1998 interview that he sees himself foremost as a character actor. “I’d like to be a star in the same way as Gary Oldman or John Malkovich are famous, who get to do character pieces and not act like movie stars.” Nowadays, Rockwell often gets a chance to do both.
One of the most consistently satisfying character actors of this generation, the charming Sam Rockwell burst out with a riveting turn in The Green Mile and a star-making performance as Chuck Barris in the underappreciated gem, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Even if he still plays a splashy second fiddle in more mainstream fare, from Matchstick Men to Iron Man 2, he still holds the audience in his grasp.
His sardonic humour and charisma is on display in many of his most iconic performances, such as the lovable slacker Owen in The Way, Way Back and the dryly funny Guy Fleegman in Galaxy Quest. But Rockwell has also shown tremendous range in little-seen indies like Moon (noted by many as the peak performance of his career) and Snow Angels. With such a diverse resume of characters and films, it is surprising that so few of them have ended up on the Academy’s radar. This crazed chameleon has the chops to make audiences laugh and cringe in equal manner. It’s only a matter of time until one of his striking independent movies gets a boost and some Academy love, in the same vein that character actor John Hawkes finally received recognition for a stellar career with Winter’s Bone in 2011.
