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Nehemiah Persoff 1919-2022

Character actor extraordinaire. R.I.P.
"If I'm playing a good guy, I'll try to show that he has some bad in him. If I'm playing a bad guy, I'll give him some dignity and love."
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Abstraction · 61-69, M
Great quote. I don't subscribe to the good guys/ bad guys adolescent view of people. Everyone is complex, and I love drama or literature that explores that. In this case, an actor.
I am quickly bored of movies where the lead characters are surrounded by cardboard cutout cliches to make the stars by contrast seem more clever, more beautiful, more interesting. It just makes the writer and director look more dull.
@Abstraction A lot is what an actor chooses to do with the role and Persoff did indeed make the characters he played multi-dimensional—like real people. It’s what made his performances so compelling. I watched him in so many shows growing up.
Abstraction · 61-69, M
@bijouxbroussard Agree. I confess I never noticed him, he probably acted too well.
You look at the depth of the last two actors who did Joker. Stunning complexity they brought to the character. Joaquin Pheonix and Heath Ledger. I consider Heath Ledger's the most brilliant portrayal of a 'bad guy' in cinema. Some was in the writing, but in both cases the portrayal emerged from them.