There are a lot of big name actors in Saving Private Ryan. Each of them is performing a role that requires a different set of skills to relay that character to the audience. These skills can be categorized in one of several types. I am going to pick three actors from the movie and say what category each belongs to and why. The first actor that you may or may not heard of is Tom Hanks, he plays Captain Miller. In this role I believe Tom Hanks is an interpreter. I say this because Hanks has taken the role of and Army Ranger Officer during WWII and put his own twist on it. Hanks has no personal idea of what is what like to to live in that situation, he can watch film, read about it, and get first hand accounts to help him understand his role but has to interpret what is suppose to be done. Take any scene from the movie whether it is the beach scene or going into the towns looking for Ryan, Hanks is able to make us believe he is a WWII Captain.
The second actor I have chosen is Tom Sizemore or Sergeant Horvath. Sizemore in this role I think is an impersonator. You may be saying wait he is doing the same as Hanks with his role. I argue that Hanks added his own twist to the movie and that Sizemore is just doing what we think a WWII Sergeant would be like. That hard-ass, take no names kind of SOB. I don’t that Sizemore puts his own twist on it. I think this is most evident in the scene where they have stormed the German radar station and there is some discontent within the group.
The third actor I have chosen is Barry Pepper or Private Jackson. Pepper to me is a character actor through and through. He is able to apply himself to many roles regardless of the time frame or genre. I could argue that he is also an interpreter or impersonator with this role. By playing a sniper in this movie he adds some of his own twist to it but does play the prototypical sniper, in thinking he can shooting Hitler if within and up to 1mile away.
All three are good actors but one stands out amongst them. Tom Hanks is a world class actor and has many roles that would have me classify him as a Wild Card category actor. Hanks has Also starred in Big, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Castaway, and many many more movies. I think when you look across the spectrum of what he has done he can fit into the mold of about any role that he want to do.
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
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