The English Actors who went up a Hill But came down a Mountain

If you have ever been a fan of good acting, there is no way you would not have either of these ace British actors on your list of favourites. Ian McKellen, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law and of course the inimitable Benedict Cumberbatch. Back in college, girls had a hard time arguing over the magnetic aura of Jude Law over the understated charm of Colin Firth. In later years, I know Idris Alba, Tom Hiddleston and Daniel Craig had made it to the hot seat of women’s fantasies through their on screen shenanigans. However, the ones who have lasted in my memory for me are not any of these stalwarts who in their own right are established A-listers with a rich and enviable filmography.

It is very much in to my 20s that I discovered Batman. No, I was not living under the rocks and had very much heard the generous praise on how Christian Bale took on the iconic DC Comics character and made it impossible for anyone to think of his predecessors as the winged night crusader. For he came in much later to the Batman parade, earliest impersonations featured Michael Keaton in 1989 and 1992 with Val Kilmer taking on the role in Batman Returns in 1995. It was not until Christopher Nolan took on the reins of this popular franchise that people irrevocably woke up to the legend that was Batman and how he came to be the masked hero of Gotham City. Batman Begins which released in 2005 marked the entry of Bale in to this character of a complex, brooding billionaire who runs Wayne Enterprises as an external facade to his vigilante avatar. With his sombre, no-nonsense and often conflicted portrayal of how Bruce needs to navigate his role as a saviour amidst his unconventional past, without misusing his powers and influence, Bale creates a hero out of scratch. Free from the encumbrance of past depictions of this superhero, Bale manages to mould himself into an arresting, intense and perceptive vision of what Nolan’s Batman should be. It seems to be a match made in heaven as proven in sequels of the series- The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Not a typical fan of DC Comics having never read a single comic based on this character in my life, I was drawn in to the world of Bruce Wayne aka Batman courtesy the magic of Christian Bale and how credible he made his crazy life look, high tech gizmos attached. Bale is however, thankfully not limited by this dark impersonation of a comic character that is also probably his most well-known character. His passion to play a character flawlessly comes before the Batman series swung in to action.

Playing Trevor in The Machinist in 2004 and the physical transformation to a pale visage of a man suffering from chronic insomnia was awe-inspiring. He carries that madness in to his role as Ken Miles in Ford vs Ferrari in 2019 where his need for speed supersedes the basic human instinct for self-preservation. A passive but seething and relentless pursuit of truth amidst all odds also consumes him as Augustus Landor in The Pale Blue Eye (2022) where his heroism is concealed under the garb of a troubled, melancholic and weary detective. In a world where audience memory is short-lived, Christian Bale has carved an indelible niche for himself- gifted with an ability to justify the solemn world-weary veneer he coats on every persona he brings to life on celluloid. 

Next on my list is the undoubtedly unsung Tobias Menzies. If you remember him as an oft-ignored uncle Edmure Tully in Game of Thrones, you shall be forgiven as that role barely did justice to what this man is truly capable of. Now of course, he has been noticed albeit for all the right reasons as King Philip in The Crown. He was honoured with the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2021 along with bagging several nominations in the same category at the Golden Globes and BAFTA. The dignity and understated stoicism he brought to his role as royal anchor to the Queen through some of her most challenging times is testament to the fact that sometimes you don’t need a full-fledged role to stand out in an ensemble. Just watch him in the scene where he meets the first astronauts who land on the moon and his thorough disappointment at realising that they are mere ordinary men who happened to be at the right place at the right time. While his inquisitive mind fails to get exclusive insights in to the workings of a celestial adventure, the underwhelmed impact of their responses on his face says more than a few wry dialogues can. 

Shedding his kingly stature and throwing moral limitations to the dogs, his turn as the Devil Incarnate, Jack Randall in the Netflix series Outlander is what I feel is his best work to date. Awards or honours aside, he kills with his piercing gaze and haunting aura in every scene. Some of the scenes in which he gets to sink his teeth in to Jack’s character are macabre, grisly and horrific to even the most resilient viewers. It is the conviction with which Menzies makes this evil unravel on screen that strikes you as deplorable. You hate Jack from the core of your heart and curse him a thousand deaths as he unleashes his rage and savagery. This is an antagonist who will keep you awake at night simply by the way he looks at his prey. I cannot imagine what must have inspired or fuelled the actor to portray a character with such abominable traits in a fictional tale such as this. On the other side of the coin, he also plays Frank Randall, unassuming husband to the protagonist Catriona Balfe who is torn between her husband in the present and her husband in an alternate past timeline played by Sam Heughan. Of course, it is no joke to be able to leave an impression amidst meatier parts written for the lead pairing but Menzies manages this, leaving a lasting impression on our minds in both his roles but especially as Jack Randall. 

Adding to this list in a surprising turn of events is the relatively young Joseph Quinn. Nobody would remember him as a Stark soldier in the Game of Thrones for sure but you may have spotted him in his quirky take as Eddie Munson, the Dungeons & Dragons proponent, part rocker and part reluctant last-minute hero in Stranger Things Season 4. As someone who is framed for murder, is dealing drugs by the side and has failed to graduate for years in Hawkins High, you would hardly give Eddie a nod if you brushed past him in the school canteen but his short role sure outlived its length with his bat-thrashing rock performance in the climax and endearing bond with Dustin Henderson. Also worth checking out is his take as one of the evil rulers in Rome, Emperor Geta in Gladiator II where he gets to share the frame with the formidable Denzel Washington. While Denzel as Macrinus gets to scheme his way in to the good books of the Emperors, it is Joseph who is having all the fun as an unruly, insane and tyrannical emperor, basking in the unhinged decadence and ripening chaos that is the Roman landscape during his reign. 

Channeling an inherently silent chaos in an equally unsettling way is his portrayal as Eric, in A Quiet Place: Day One. Playing wingman to Lupita Nyong’o’s character Samira, Eric must emote fear, hope, heroism, panic and unspoken attachment all through his face throughout his screen time. It is a litmus test for an actor to convey so much through lengthy scenes where nothing happens except for both actors treading cautiously as if on thin ice, looking for the next source of terror to emerge from nowhere. Quinn is profoundly gracious in delving in to his characters, giving us a raw, unfiltered performance that makes us feel for him and root for his survival till the end.