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Some actors have starred in timeless hits, but which performance means the most to them? Join us as we look at the personal favorite roles chosen by legendary screen icons, from Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro to Robin Williams and Gene Hackman. Some picks are obvious, others are surprising, but all of them reveal a lot about the craft behind the fame. Let us know your favorite in the comments below!
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00:00Tell us what it was like making this fabulous picture.
00:05Yes.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the most personally beloved performances
00:11by some of the most beloved screen actors.
00:14Uh, what do you think of my work?
00:19You've been looking at it ever since we left the station.
00:21Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, the aviator.
00:25Okay, it's in course for zero, nine, zero, compared to the sand.
00:34The first release from Appian Way Productions was a longtime passion project for founder
00:39Leonardo DiCaprio.
00:41He's since regularly boasted about taking pride not only in the success of the biopic The
00:46Aviator, but in his portrayal of Howard Hughes.
00:50Fastest man on the planet.
00:51Hot dog, I'm so proud of you.
00:55DiCaprio's immersion into the infamous entrepreneur's soaring charisma and debilitating mental illness
01:01earned him his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
01:05Out of all his celebrated collaborations with director Martin Scorsese, fans widely praise
01:10The Aviator as their most nuanced acting vehicle.
01:14That car is there for your protection.
01:16The only one I need protection from is you, you sick bastard.
01:19DiCaprio doesn't mind mentioning that it's the biggest exception to his reluctance to watch
01:24his own movies.
01:25It's a hugely entertaining three hours, but the lead performance alone is endlessly rewatchable.
01:31I don't know the date today, but I have to be, I have to be, I have to be.
01:36All right, take it easy.
01:37Robert De Niro as Frank Goode.
01:39Everybody's fine.
01:41Stop eating for a minute.
01:45I keep asking myself why you all lied to me.
01:50All of you.
01:51Martin Scorsese's first golden boy delivered some of the most influential performances in
01:57modern cinema.
01:58Rather than praise his milestone method acting with everyone else, Robert De Niro prefers to
02:03promote a hidden gem he found personally important.
02:06There wasn't anything you wanted to achieve?
02:08No, I didn't really think much about it.
02:11Never really gave it much thought.
02:12Based on Giuseppe Tornatore's 1990 classic Everybody's Fine follows retiree Frank Goode's
02:19either humorous or heartbreaking journey across America to visit his estranged children.
02:24What are you doing here?
02:25What do you mean, what am I doing here?
02:27Everybody didn't show up for the visit, so I said, if you don't come to me, I'm gonna go
02:31to you.
02:31After so many on-screen transformations, De Niro connected deeply with this tale of family,
02:37loneliness, and difficult perspective with age.
02:40Otherwise mixed critics saw that commitment in the heartwarming acting.
02:44The poorly marketed Everybody's Fine has slowly gained a cult following thanks to De Niro's
02:50performance, as well as his openness about how much it meant to him.
02:54If you were to ask me, I would have to say, in all honesty, everybody's fine.
03:04Everybody's fine.
03:06Samuel L. Jackson as Mitch Hennessey
03:08The Long Kiss Good Night
03:16Shane Black's catchy writing couldn't find many better interpreters than Samuel L. Jackson.
03:23The greatest honor came in a 2018 interview with ESPN's The Undefeated, when the commanding
03:29character actor picked The Long Kiss Good Night as his favorite project.
03:32The action thriller pairs him with Geena Davis as a suburban mom who pulls struggling private
03:38eye Mitch Hennessey into the conspiracy behind her amnesia and elite spy skills.
03:44So what's next?
03:45What do we do now?
03:46I contact Chapter.
03:48I come in for debriefing, bury the last eight years, get back to work.
03:53Jackson relished the mix of liberating stunt work, compelling characterization, and dynamite
03:59dialogue.
04:04He also resented New Line Cinema for not promoting the female-driven actioner to appeal more to
04:10women.
04:11The Long Kiss Good Night underperformed in 1996, but now enjoys a fierce cult following with
04:17Jackson's enthusiastic endorsement.
04:19I'm always frank and earnest with women.
04:22In New York, I'm frank.
04:23In Chicago, I'm earnest.
04:29Jane Fonda as Gertie Nevels, The Dollmaker.
04:32I can see two little girls in their eyes, Mom.
04:35That's you, honey.
04:36With two Academy Awards and countless classic films, Jane Fonda particularly enjoyed her
04:42work on TV.
04:43And no, it wasn't the riotous production of Netflix's Grace and Frankie.
04:48It was ABC's far darker The Dollmaker, which follows an Appalachian woman whose husband moves
04:54the family to Detroit for working during World War II.
04:57You know what my paycheck will be this week?
05:00Better than $100.
05:02Pa, we're rich!
05:05A hundred dollars?
05:07Based on Harriet Arno's literary masterpiece, the bold working-class drama suited Fonda's
05:12feminist beliefs and subverted her affluent background.
05:16She cherished telling Gertie Nevel's story as much as the Emmy it won her.
05:20This is all that's feeding our young'uns now.
05:23And they're mine!
05:26Don't you tell me to do it your way!
05:28Fonda also asserts that the groundbreaking Oscar-winning Clute is another point of immense
05:34pride.
05:35As far as truly getting to whittle a powerful character piece, however, The Dollmaker was
05:40a deeply personal triumph.
05:42Come on, Casey!
05:45Come feed that hungry child of yours!
05:47Robin Williams' Dr. Malcolm Sayre, Awakenings.
05:51There's no shortage of wacky Robin Williams comedies for fans to love, but his most loved
05:59role was nothing to laugh about.
06:02The Penny Marshall drama Awakenings follows Dr. Malcolm Sayre's experimental treatments at
06:07a hospital psych ward in New York.
06:09To put all the others on the same dosage as Mr. Lowe would be, um, $12,000.
06:15How much?
06:16$12,000.
06:18Williams shadowed and mimicked the mannerisms of Oliver Sacks, the British neurologist whose
06:23memoir was the basis for the film.
06:25And acting against Robert De Niro allowed the multi-talented comedian to tap into the quiet
06:31pathos behind his eccentric persona.
06:34They said it's a different world out there, and you may not be prepared for it, and they
06:38couldn't be held responsible for what might happen to you.
06:41Williams describes the experience as a gift in a Reddit Q&A held a year before his death
06:46in 2014.
06:48Undoubtedly, Awakenings is a gift to the world he touched with both humor and profound empathy.
06:54My son is in pain.
06:56Please stop this.
06:58He's fighting, Mrs. Lowe.
07:00He's losing.
07:01Want to know more about your favorite actors and their process?
07:04There's more to discover on the 24-7 WatchMojo Pop Culture Livestream.
07:10Kate Winslet as Clementine Krasinski, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
07:15Don't you know any other adjectives?
07:17I don't need nice.
07:18I don't need myself to be it, and I don't need anybody else to be it at me.
07:23Between the stardom and the Oscar buzz is a niche group of Kate Winslet fans who hold
07:28particular regard for the cerebral rom-com Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
07:34In an interview at the 2017 New York Film Festival, Winslet agreed.
07:38She was glad to escape the typecasting as Clementine Krasinski, whose heartbroken ex-boyfriend
07:44consults a clinic to scrub her from his memory.
07:47She also loved experimenting with the wild assortment of hair dye.
07:51Come up to Boston with me.
07:53Sure, yeah.
07:53We can go next weekend.
07:55No, no, no.
07:55Now.
07:56Now.
07:57Yeah.
07:57I have to go now.
07:58I have to see the Frozen Charles now.
08:00The cathartic emotional whiplash of it all earned Winslet numerous accolades and a spot
08:06on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
08:10Once considered an unlikely masterpiece, Eternal Sunshine is now a satisfying pick for Winslet's
08:16most satisfying project.
08:18This is it, Joel.
08:20It's gonna be gone soon.
08:25I know.
08:27What do we do?
08:32Enjoy it.
08:33Marlon Brando as Sir William Walker
08:35Burn
08:36Being so far ahead of his time made it difficult for method actor Marlon Brando to appreciate
08:42his work in Hollywood.
08:44In the 1994 autobiography Songs My Mother Taught Me, he expressed particular pride for the acclaimed,
08:51then-forgotten Italian production, Burn.
08:58Ghilo Pontecorvo's follow-up to the Battle of Algiers further explores the moral complexities
09:04of a rebellion through a fictional Portuguese colony.
09:08Brando boldly cited his portrayal of the cynical mercenary William Walker to be the, quote,
09:13best acting he'd ever done.
09:20It was certainly a challenge, given the grueling filming conditions, but the mostly non-professional
09:26cast and even hostilities with Pontecorvo.
09:29But Brando found Burn so rewarding in the end that he posted it as evidence of his revolutionary
09:35talent.
09:42Kathy Bates as Dolores Claiborne
09:44Dolores Claiborne
09:46Hell, even Miss Vera kissed my back cheeks Donovan couldn't help but be impressed.
09:50Though she owes her Academy Award, if not her stardom, to misery, Kathy Bates prefers another
09:56Stephen King adaptation. The title character in Dolores Claiborne is a hard housekeeper who
10:02reconnects with her daughter while under suspicion for murdering her employer.
10:06Sooner this girl starts telling the truth, the sooner we'll be done here.
10:09If he's out to torture somebody, I'd be more than happy to get back in the hot seat.
10:12Bates was thrilled enough to play the role's distinct main accent and subtle growth in a
10:1720-year timeline. With her intensity and moral ambiguity, it wasn't upset when Bates was
10:23snubbed at the Oscars. She herself considered it a greater honor to receive a fan letter from
10:36none other than the great Anne Bancroft. Now Bates is the one speaking to so many women with
10:41her haunting performance in Dolores Claiborne.
10:54The gravitas that Morgan Freeman has brought to so many films goes back to a less-than-dignified
11:00role in the grimy noir Street Smart. The 50-year-old had been acting for decades before playing Leo
11:07Fast Black Smalls, a volatile pimp implicated in murder by a fraudulent journalist played
11:13by Christopher Reeve.
11:21Hollywood could no longer overlook Freeman's magnetism after he was nominated for the Academy
11:27Award for Best Supporting Actor. He's long singled out Street Smart for the acting challenge and what
11:33it did for his career, though it wasn't immediately smooth sailing. Freeman spent years turning down
11:39more criminal roles, favoring positive black images to captivate all audiences after his incredible
11:46midlife renaissance.
11:47He thinks he can hide from me in jail? I can reach him anywhere. Anywhere.
11:59Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's audio, Songs from Iran, reimagining Persian
12:06melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs. Check out the full track and album below.
12:241. Gene Hackman as Max Millen – Scarecrow
12:29In a 1988 film comment interview, Gene Hackman made a somewhat surprising pick for his favorite
12:40role. 1973's Scarecrow wasn't a huge hit for the established star in recent breakout
12:46Al Pacino. Still, the gritty road-dramedy won the top prize at Cannes and remained a favorite
12:51among enthusiasts of the actors.
13:00Hackman's affinity for the project mostly stems from it being shot in chronological order. This
13:06allowed him to build the prison-hardened Max Millen's deep emotional development in real time.
13:11Look, I make plans, I stick with them, man.
13:13He did recognize his best written character as Harry Call in the Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece,
13:19The Conversation. But Scarecrow represented the height of Hackman's process with the role and what it
13:25means to be a truly great actor.
13:27Listen, I don't want to talk. I want to be left alone. Both of you, beat it.
13:31What are your favorite performances from these and other acting greats? Give your notes in the comments below.
13:37We'll see you next time.
13:38Bye-bye.
13:38Bye-bye.
13:38Bye-bye.
13:40Bye-bye.
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