Alternate Best Actor 1990: Results

5. Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild - Although the film under utilizes him Cheung strikes up the perfect note as the romantic/vapid dreamer.

Best Scene: On the train.

4. Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands - Depp artfully creates his artificial yet all too human portrayal of a "monster".

Best Scene: The Christmas present from his father.

3. Ray Liotta in Goodfellas - Liotta gives a great performance in realizing the exuberance of mob life along with its harmful and corrupting qualities.

Best Scene: The one day sequence.

2. Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer - Rooker gives a chilling performance by bringing out the harsh truths of his character who kills just because that's what he does.

Best Scene: Henry talks about his past.

1. James Caan in Misery - Well my single favorite leading actor performance from 1990 is the performance so often forgotten next to the praise of his co-star. Caan's work should not be forgotten though as his brilliant reactionary work amplifies Bates's performance as well as the film's horror, while giving a very moving and sometimes funny portrayal of a man in a horrible situation.

Best Scene: Burning the manuscript.

Overall Rank:

1. James Caan in Misery
2. Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 
3. Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune
4. Ray Liotta in Goodfellas
5. Gabriel Byrne in Miller's Crossing
6. Mel Gibson in Hamlet 
7. Nicolas Cage in Wild At Heart
8. Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands
9. Richard Harris in The Field
10. Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future III
11. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III
12. Ron Silver in Reversal of Fortune
13. Clint Eastwood in The Rookie
14. Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild
15. Paul Newman in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
16. Ben Mendelsohn in The Big Steal 
17. Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone
18. Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October
19. Clint Eastwood in White Hunter Black Heart
20. Robin Williams in Awakenings
21. Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume
22. Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future III
23. Jeff Daniels in Arachnophobia
24. Harrison Ford in Presumed Innocent 
25. Sean Penn in State of Grace
26. Andy Lau in Days of Being Wild 
27. Steve Martin in My Blue Heaven
28. Kevin Bacon in Tremors
29. Alan Young in Ducktales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp
30. Alec Baldwin in The Hunt For Red October 
31. Jeff Fahey in White Hunter Black Heart
32. Bob Newhart in The Rescuers Down Under 
33. Nick Nolte in Q & A
34. Bruce Willis in Die Hard II
35. Mel Gibson in Bird on a Wire
36. Danny Glover in Predator 2
37. Gerard Depardieu in Cyrano de Bergerac
38. Robert De Niro in Awakenings
39. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall
40. Patrick Swayze in Ghost
41. Josh Pais in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
42. Brian Tochi in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
43. Robbie Rist in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
44. Corey Feldman in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
45. John Cusack in The Grifters 
46. Charlie Sheen in The Rookie 
47. Timothy Hutton in Q & A
48. Bob Hoskins in Heart Condition
49. Denzel Washington in Heart Condition
50. Zach Galligan in Gremlins 2
51. John Travolta in Look Who's Talking Too
52. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop
53. Bruce Willis in Look Who's Talking Too 
54. Matthew Modine in Pacific Heights
55. Rick Moranis in My Blue Heaven
56. Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy
57. Matthew Modine in Memphis Belle
58. Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves 
59. John Ritter in Problem Child
60. Sylvester Stallone in Rocky V 
61. Jim Varney in Ernest Goes to Jail
62. Michael Oliver in Problem Child
63. Bill Cosby in Ghost Dad
64. Richard Gere in Pretty Woman
65. Matt Salinger in Captain America

Next Year: 1990 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 1990: Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands

Johnny Depp did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Golden Globe, for portraying the titular character of Edward Scissorhands.

Edward Scissorhands tells essentially a fairytale about a man created with scissors for hands.

Edward Scissorhands marks the first collaboration between Depp and director Tim Burton. A relationship that I suppose was promising, after all their second film was Ed Wood, but now the two are in serious need of  a dudevorce. Any who this is about the past when Tim Burton was seen as some sort of visionary, and Johnny Depp was seen as one of the most promising actors. The film essentially takes the approach of having sympathy for the monster from Frankenstein except Edward does not even have Frankenstein's violent reactions to violence. The biggest danger Edwards has is perhaps a minor cut, but that's hardly his intention. The character is not even viewed by most of the suburbanites as a monster at first despite coming from a dark castle and obviously being quite unusual in appearance. Depp's performance here is in a similar vein with some of his later works with Burton, as the character is heavily made up while being purposefully strange with Depp technically giving a very mannered performance. The difference here though is there seems to be a lot more heart in terms of Depp's performance.

In terms of the mannerisms Depp plays the part by accentuating the fact that his body's basis was that of an automaton. Depp steps with each foot after the other and everything about his movements are particularly stilted and forced looking. This works though as Depp does suggest really what's underneath Edward's skin and in addition there's something very important that Depp does not do here that he would go on to do later on his career. That being that Depp does not overindulge in terms of the mannerisms as there is never that quality of having them just for the sake of it. It feels true to the character and only helps to establish what Edward is. In contrast to this Depp does not bring a hint of artifice in terms of Edward's facial expressions. This is where Depp brings out the gentle of nature of the character quite beautifully. He only ever brings a very unassuming quality to Edward and very specifically as naivety. There's an innate shyness as Depp conveys the way Edward is not use to interacting with so many people, and in addition though he brings out that curiosity of a child making new discoveries in a world that's very different from his dark castle.

Depp is particularly effective in bringing out such genuine sweetness in the character even while still bringing those odd physical mannerisms of Edward. In his face though there is only an emotional honesty about the character as Depp presents Edward as basically incapable of being anything other than a trusting and understanding sort. Depp actually has very few lines in the film. It's not that he does not talk, but rather Edward just happens to be particularly meek. Again Depp realizes the gentleness of the character through his timid voice that almost seems to squeak out that once again reinforces just how wholly harmless Edward is. Depp makes Edwards the sort of fairytale character he needs to be as he is only ever endearing and wholly sympathetic while still showing how Edward was made in the end. He really flawlessly creates the "monster" the film needs and is consistent in the way the character should be. He makes both the joy of his early acceptance by the community and the sadness of when he rejected quite palatable. The whole romantic wonder of the character in his scenes with Winona Ryder's character also work because of Depp's creation of Edward brings that wonder. It's very good performance by Depp as he makes Edward and frankly does not show the performance which is often case with his later work. I don't love his performance here as some obviously do, perhaps because I don't really care too much for the film, but I'll give credit where it's due, this is fine work from Depp.

Alternate Best Actor 1990: Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild

Leslie Cheung did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Yuddy in Days of Being Wild.

Days of Being Wild is an interesting enough film about the several people who's lives are effected by one man finding out he was adopted. The ending might be a bit random, it's Tony Leung for some reason, but that can happen when the intended sequel does not materialize.

Leslie Cheung plays the sort of lead to the film. I say sort of lead because the film somewhat randomly jumps between characters although the consistent factor is that Yuddy is behind something that's happening to them often inadvertently. Cheung's performance is very one note which may seem strange considering the nature of role. Yuddy is basically a playboy who spends his time mooching of his non-mother, and charming women then proceeding to break their hearts. It might seem as though one would have to switch a bit to be believable. The strength of Cheung performance though is that Cheung does it all in a single manner really. The overriding quality that Cheung exudes is the self-indulgence in Yuddy. He's about as selfish as one can imagine and Cheung presents in a particularly interesting way. It's almost in a look of his which is that of the beautiful romantic, well you know the beautiful romantic of a romantic novel. This one look is basically enough for the character because of how much Cheung manages to bring out of it.

In the scenes where he charms the women Cheung does not necessarily change from that note by any means though but he manages to have this certain false allure about it in these scenes where he speaks to the women. Cheung manages in these moments to be that his expression is that of the deep thoughts, and there is in fact a certain charm about him when he speaks the words to woo the women. It's an interesting trick to be sure which Cheung pulls off flawlessly. It becomes particularly fascinating when we gets the scenes where he's basically done with the women or when he's talking to his non-mother. In these scenes it becomes abundantly obvious just how much of a lie those other scenes are as Cheung cleverly reveals the "deep thoughts" to be vapid nothings. Cheung shows simply that there's nothing really to Yuddy as a man. He's a big nothing who just happens to be good at suggesting that he's something else. Cheung handles this so well though because he's so convincing at making this other side to Yuddy while in not way hiding his true nature.

The only time it seems we might get a bit more from Yuddy is near the end of the film when something happens to him that obviously must break his reserve. Of course it does not reveal as much as one might think, in fact Cheung does well to once again not really give any more depth to Yuddy. It's an effective final scene though because what Cheung does is show that even in a more stressful situation he once again can't help but be terribly indulgent. He once again shows him thinking those deep thoughts with the only difference in this case being that he has at least something to think about for once. Cheung gives a very good performance here because he renders his one note so wonderfully and it's intriguing how much he gets out of it. My only reservations come in terms of the way the film uses him. His appearances a bit random and sometimes really quite brief. We get parts of interactions but the film almost seems to purposefully diminish his impact by skipping what one would assume would be important scenes. Nevertheless I can't fault Cheung himself as his realization of Yuddy is rather remarkable.

Alternate Best Actor 1990: Ray Liotta in Goodfellas

Ray Liotta did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Henry Hill in Goodfellas.

Goodfellas was very well received while being nominated for and winning many awards. Very few were given to Ray Liotta's lead performance, some leading performance recognition went to Robert De Niro instead who would never have ever been considered lead if the role was played by a lesser known actor. This is not all too surprising even though role of Henry Hill is quite a challenge, it is not the challenge that an actor is often given credit for. Henry Hill acts as our guide through the world of the mob in New Jersey as we follow him from his earliest days as a teenager working small time jobs, to becoming fully embedded into higher dealings of the mob life. Perhaps one of the most noted aspects of Liotta's performance is actually his narration. Narration often seems something that's taken more for granted than it should be. Liotta's delivery is pitch perfect here as it has such an earthy life to it. It is not merely a list of observances that Liotta gives rather he gives each moment a vivid detail of how Henry feels about each event he describes. Liotta's narration contributes to the film's atmosphere incredibly well, and further helps to establish the world the film is set in.

Now even though his narration is always present, except for few scenes where Henry's wife Karen takes over, Liotta's performance is not always front and center even though he's definitely lead. The film gives great detail to the whole world he's in with even some minor oddball crooks getting a bit of time to themselves. Liotta though is a constant as he best personifies kinda a criminal with a lack of a different element to him. He's not the boss like Paulie (Paul Sorvino), a criminal mastermind like Jimmy (Robert De Niro), nor is a psychopath like Tommy (Joe Pesci). Henry very simply is a man in it for the life of the wiseguy. Liotta is terrific in realizing simply the allure of the life through his performance. As he gets to be the toughest guy not in the mob, is allowed to have essentially an endless supply of cash as well as getting to basically act as though he is above everyone else who's not in the life, Liotta brings the enthusiasm of these moments in his performance. In his face you find the joy of living the life, with all the thrills coming from it. Of course Goodfellas is not a glorification of the mob by any means, and it does not shy away from the darker elements of what comes with that life in the least.

This is where one of the challenges come in with his performance in that Henry is not a good guy by any means. In addition Liotta does not compromise in this respect as he portrays rather bluntly just how uncouth and uncaring Henry can be at times towards the people in his life particularly his wife. Liotta's performance works though in the way he shows how a man of the lifestyle would be actually. There's that certain natural cruelty that Liotta brings that feels particularly genuine when Henry basically brushes off some of his more harmful behavior that just comes with his life. Henry's not necessarily pure evil though so to speak as he obviously is not like Tommy or even Jimmy in terms of his personal nature. As with Martin Scorsese's pseudo re-make of Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Liotta, like Leonardo DiCaprio would in the later film, helps to present the straight forward depiction of a man who loves being a criminal. A funny thing is that Liotta brings much, well heart I suppose, to his portrayal of the "low class" criminal than DiCaprio would bring as a "high class" criminal. That's not a dig at that later performance, but it's rather just interesting to note that little bit of depth of the mobsters opposed to the pure vapid nature of the Wall Street crooks.

This is a notable difference as it becomes one of the most remarkable elements in Ray Liotta's performance. One thing that's a constant in the world of the mob, that's not in the world of the broker, is death. With this one thing comes Liotta's performance as he does give a measure of humanity to Henry. Liotta is excellent in being the reactionary man with any sense of the value of life in the scene where either Jimmy and especially Tommy get into a violent rage. Liotta plays this scenes especially well in that in one part he often acts as kinda the good cop so to speak as he tries to act as the calm person to talk to when ruffing someone up. Not every case of it is business though particularly with Tommy will become violent from the slightest perceived insult. Liotta is terrific in these scenes by showing that even to someone like Henry, who's in no way opposed to twisting or breaking a few arms, is actually a bit repulsed by the extreme violence and reflects the fear associated with being around Tommy's intensity. Liotta effectively brings a gravity in these scenes as well as establishes that Henry isn't fully comfortable with every aspect of the mob life.

Liotta performance works well within the scenes that may highlight De Niro's or Pesci's performances, as he always knows how to work around them in forming the certain group dynamic they have. In addition though when the film's last act almost squarely focuses upon Henry, Liotta does not falter in the spotlight. Throughout the film Liotta is particularly good in portraying the slow decay in Henry as the tension of the life grows which is only compounded when he becomes a cocaine addict. Liotta is outstanding in portraying the mental paranoia as he there is a pervasiveness nervousness in him, and in addition to that Liotta shows in such detail just how physically spent Henry is. Every twitch and shaken mannerism of Liotta's feels absolutely genuine and realizes so well the toll the drugs have on him. The final act then is basically putting the nails into the coffin of Henry's well being. In this way Liotta is just about flawless as he loses that joyful enthusiasm of the past and presents just what happens to the criminal when the vices of his life finally close in on him. He presents very naturally Henry coming to grips with his situation well seeing what his life has been worth, and I really love his silent reaction of understanding the moment he knows that it is either become a witness or die. Then to top it all off though Liotta's very brief, though very important, last scene as Liotta shows a defeated Henry not because he turned in his friends, rather because he can only go back and remember when he lived the dream.

Alternate Best Actor 1990: James Caan in Misery

James Caan did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Paul Sheldon in Misery.

Misery is an effective thriller about a famous author who is saved by his number one fan after getting into a car accident during a blizzard.

Most of the praise given to Misery stems from Kathy Bates's Oscar winning performance as nurse/deranged fan Annie Wilkes. Now there is a reason for that as Bates's Oscar win is one of the most deserving period, but this unfortunately leaves the leading man of the film routinely forgotten in discussions regarding the film. It's funny to note is that Caan actually does something that usually is noted, which is playing against type. The problem is though it happens to be in the way that's never given any credit. Caan is best known for playing a man's man who are usually commanding characters. That's not the case here as Paul Sheldon is a fairly unassuming writer, and in addition to that he spends the majority of the film bed ridden. We are introduced to Sheldon as he plans to finish his new book that is not part of his extremely popular Misery series of books. Sheldon's main point early on is that he wants to write something more meaningful for him and away from the books he's become tired of writing. Having Caan in the role instantly strips away the hint of pretension in this motivation as he makes Sheldon just a likable down to earth guy in the film's brief introduction.

Sheldon's car accident leaves him in the company of Annie Wilkes as the film becomes a two character piece, outside of the welcome cutaways to the investigation thanks to the fact that Richard Farnsworth plays the local sheriff. Caan has two particularly major challenges to deal with the first being that he is physically very restricted by the character's predicament, and also has to deal with the flamboyancy innate to Annie Wilkes, which is played to utter perfection by Bates. Well firstly although Caan is either in a bed or in a wheel chair for most of the film there's nothing underwhelming about his physical depiction of Paul. In fact Caan perhaps gives one of the very best portrayals of a straight forward physical anguish. Caan does not leave it to simply all the slings and made up bruises to sell Sheldon's injuries from the accident. Caan expresses every inch of that pain in his portrayal as he shows it to be almost overwhelming in the earliest scenes of the film. This particularly important as Caan properly depicts the very slow and gradual recovery of Paul over the weeks. There never is a misstep in Caan's performance he keeps the condition that Paul is in a constant.

The role of Paul Sheldon was repeatedly turned down before it was finally accepted, and it is easy to see why as Sheldon is most often a reactionary role with the big emotional moments given to Annie. Those actors perhaps correctly predicted that the actress playing Annie was likely to be the one to receive the plaudits. Caan though apparently took on the role due to the nature of the part which was very much opposed to his usual characters who often did not hesitate to speak their minds. Caan's performance is brilliant in that he creates much of the terror through the way Paul interacts with Annie. Caan's good in the earliest scenes with her as he shows Paul to be appropriately thankful towards her for saving his life, but he also does well in the role as he kinda puts on the gracious author to the fan routine. It is not that he's being overly cruel to her or anything but Caan's great at showing kinda the autopilot manner as he accepts her rabid praise as she declares her love for everything related to Misery. Caan does well though to bring honesty to thanking her as well as in the moments where Paul wonders how his daughter is coping with his disappearance.

Of course not everything stays peachy and that's when Caan really starts to facilitate Bates's performance with his own. Caan always stays at his core a realistic depiction of a man in the situation that Paul finds him in which is essential to play against the crazy horror that is Annie Wilkes. Caan is terrific in the first instance where Annie shows her dark side as she gives her thoughts on his new book, which she does not care for largely it seems due to the swearing in the book. Caan at first keeps that same gracious artist routine until she becomes more intense with her complaints and Caan's reaction is absolute perfection as he realizes the unease in Paul as he starts to see the side of her that's not so cheery. In this way Caan becomes one of the very best straight men ever. There is a very strong vein of dark humor in the film and Caan brings a great deal of this out with his performance. When Bates goes on a mad tirade about something that would seem incidental to anyone who's not her, Caan brings out both horror and the humor through his nervous reactions of complete disbelief that only grow stronger the more obvious it becomes just how bent Annie is.

Caan does not waste really an inch of himself through his down to earth performance that so well amplifies Bates's. One scene in particular I think expresses this best which is the infamous hobbling scene, where Annie gruesomely ensures that Paul stays disabled. The spine tingling nature of the scene would not be found if it weren't for Caan. His squirming in an overpowering fear as he sees what she's doing, along with his meekly asking her to please stop builds up the moments to an almost excruciating point. Then as he writhes in pain of the moment of the act, Caan brings it all home as he delivers in showing just how horrible the act is. Caan is so on point here it is incredible in the way he jumps around the part with such ease. Whether its portraying the points of the torture or the way Paul tries to handle Annie. Caan's performance is pivotal once again in the scenes where he convinces Annie to do something as he believably puts on a false charm when he tries to play into Annie's fan girl tendencies. Caan though is flawless in the way he jumps to genuine fear, if the plan goes wrong, or to such earned exasperation when she turns around or simply he's just had too much of her insanity. Also even though some of the most emotional scenes are given to Bates, that's not to say Caan has none. In fact Caan is very moving in the scene where Annie forces him to burn his new book as he expresses just how much losing the new work means to him as he is made to destroy it. Caan absolutely convincing in this meeker role, he does not allow himself to be overshadowed by Bates instead he fulfills the need of grounding her work. He realizes every step of Paul's terrifying predicament with his fantastic work. I have to say I love this performance which deserves to be praised right along with Bates's.

Alternate Best Actor 1990: Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Michael Rooker did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying the titular character of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer bluntly depicts the life of a murderer.

The reliable character actor Michael Rooker had a bit of a strange break as an actor in that he apparently received many of his more notable roles from the late eighties due to this film's festival runs while the film itself struggled through several years of limbo before finally getting a theatrical release. He was usually given the roles of pretty rotten men which is not surprising given his performance that caused his pseudo breakout. The film takes the approach of focusing very specifically on the behavior the killer. It does not gives us his whole life, nor does it even gives us any police investigation to stop him. We are simply given Henry as he well behaves in the way that he does. There's a very specific lack of theatricality about the depiction of the killer which in turn plays into Michael Rooker's performance as Henry. This is one of the performances where the character really is granted. There is never a question of the performance of Rooker. Rooker simply is Henry here without ever there being the slightest hint of acting in his realization of the man which is essentially in giving us the most unfortunate fly on the wall view we are given of Henry and his life.

Rooker strikes up a particularly unpleasant manner with his performance in that he does not present Henry as someone who hides his psychopathy exactly, well otherwise than strictly not killing someone. At the same time Rooker in on way wears on his sleeve to the point that someone would go running the opposite direction once they see his face. Rooker instead portrays him as an introverted loner, which works particularly well in creating how Henry goes about his life. There's nothing clearly wrong with him yet there's nothing clearly right with him either. Of course this is only through a cursory glance and this might change a bit when someone is unfortunate enough to get to know him for a more than just a few seconds. Rooker carries that withdrawn intensity incredibly well in his performance as the violent tendencies becomes a constant with the character. Rooker realizes something especially off-putting through this approach as he shows that Henry does not need to be set of to kill. The ability or potential for him to kill is just a constant in Rooker's portrayal of him. When Henry is going to kill it's merely something that he does which is no way needs to be that of a special occasion.

Many of the scenes of the film have a brutal effectiveness when we merely see Henry go somewhere, and then later see the death later on in gruesome detail. Again there is something so disturbing though about Rooker's method in portrayal as he shows the behavior to be just his natural course of action. There's nothing that needs to go wrong, it is just something he will do. The film eventually does depict some of the murders when Henry's friend Otis (Tom Towles) gets in on the murders as well. Rooker is frightening in these scenes through his uncompromising depiction of Henry's brutality towards his victims. What seems almost most cruel about it is how quick and really meaningless the way Rooker portrays Henry commits them. There's not a second thought about it, it's just what he's going to do and that's a cruel fact about the man. Where Towles shows that Otis is obviously getting a kick out of the murders this is less the case for Rooker's performance. There might be the momentary glimpse of it when Henry comes with something new to do to a victim, but it is almost as if he's been doing it so long it in a way is basically his job which he performs so regularly that it is a routine.

The film never has any moments that depict the past of Henry but he does tells a story about his childhood to Otis's sister Becky (Tracy Arnold). Henry details his childhood where he suffered constant abuse by his prostitute mother. Rooker is outstanding in the scene as he reveals the pain in Henry's past in such a brilliant fashion. What is so remarkable about it is that he does not breakdown exactly in a way that would not make sense for Henry. Rooker is fascinating in the way he shows this in a man who really is without humanity. Rooker is very powerful and moving in his own way as he conveys a hollowness about Henry as speaks the past. There is a real emotion there somewhere as Rooker presents it almost as Henry is looking to where the warmth of his life should have come from with his mother. Rooker though portrays past the deepest hate in Henry instead though as he remembers his mother as he suggests in part the creation of the man as he is. The suffering of his past is made palatable through Rooker's portrayal of it though he always keeps something missing that keeps Henry from ever finding any real humanity within himself.

Much like Richard Attenborough's portrayal of John Reginald Christie in 10 Rillington Place, Rooker rightly keeps Henry's nature as a constant. At most we are given the moments where Henry puts Otis in his place when Otis makes incestuous moves towards his sister. Again though Rooker is terrific by presenting it as almost instinctual reaction towards his own abuse by a family member. It does not indicate a change rather it is as natural of a behavior as his killing. What is so unnerving about his Rooker's performance is the way he makes this such a constant in the man, and that the violence is merely a guaranteed reaction from him. By the end of the film he has not changed and the simple truth he never will change. Henry is not arrested by the end of the film, but he likely just will eventually be after committing more murders in the same way he was going at the beginning of the film. The strength of his performance seems almost like a relatively simple one which is to just genuine be the working class murderer that Henry is. It's an absolutely chilling performance by making the behavior of the man feel so honest.

Alternate Best Actor 1990

And the Nominees Were Not:

Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands

Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Ray Liotta in Goodfellas

Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild

James Caan in Misery