Actors with unique voices
Have you ever noticed how the most memorable actors are the ones with unique-sounding voices? I’ve been noticing lately that actors with ordinary voices are completely forgettable for me–take for instance January Jones. I just watched some movie on DVD that she was in–oh yeah, Unknown. With Liam Neeson. Neeson has a very recognizable voice. Jones doesn’t. And to me she just seemed unremarkable.
I’m wondering if maybe this is why women actors in general don’t get as much praise as men. By that I mean, if you were to list the top actors of all time, most would be males. And all of them would have unique voices. Who are the greatest women actors? Meryl Streep, Judy Dench? I don’t even know anymore. Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts used to be the top actresses. They all have voices you’d recognize instantly.
So who do you think has the most interesting-sounding voice? Jack Nicholson? I think my vote might go to Steve Buscemi, who incidentally is one of my personal fave actors.
Posted on August 17, 2011, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 28 Comments.
I love Buscemi.
Well there’s James Earl Jones, who has perhaps the most distinctve voice in history, but I woudn’t say he’s the greatest actor.
I think great actors do a lot with their voice even if it isn’t unique. Streep’s voice isn’t excessively distinctive but she makes every syllable magic.
Cate Blanchett gets a lot of great roles, and her voice isn’t particularly unique, but again, she does a lot with it.
The problem with an actor like January Jones is that she gets a lot of roles because she’s hot, but she doesn’t do much with the role.
Part of the reason Bob’s Burgers delights me so much is the voice acting by stand-up comics with distinctive voices.
I haven’t seen any movies with Cate Blanchett. None that I can remember, anyway. But I’m betting her voice is more distinctive than you think. Or she’s managed to make it so.
I’m not saying a unique voice is all it takes, but I think it’s more of a factor than most people realize. And I do think that it’s part of the reason women aren’t as popular as men as actors.
When I saw the title I immediately thought of Howard Keel. http://youtu.be/yfNAUCKGcaE
I have to agree with the comment about the Bob’s Burgers characters.
I love Howard Keel.
Does Christian Bale’s uniquely indecipherable growling count?
Bale is another actor with a pretty normal voice who does a lot with it. If you haven’t seen The Fighter, you really should, for his performance alone.
The first time I saw a televised interview with him I was shocked by his accent. He appears to have had few roles where he speaks the way he does in real life.
Derek Jacobi. I will listen to any audiobook that he reads. Georgeous voice.
Also Edward Hermann.
Susan, you’ve never seen the Lord of the Rings or The Aviator?
Oh yeah. She was in Lord of the Rings? Never saw Aviator.
Gotta love Cate Blanchett doing the Bob Dylan voice in I’m Not There.
There may be something to this voice thing. Some other good examples: Brando, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne (maybe not the best actor, but memorable), George C. Scott.
On the female side: Katharine Hepburn, Betty Davis, Ingrid Bergman.
So who do you think has the most interesting-sounding voice?
Pat Buttram (not likely anybody’s favorite actor).
I think it’s REALLY because January Jones sucks. And is a horrid actress.
I think it was easier in past decades because there were so many regional accents. People like Jack Nicholson, Katharine Hepburn or Christopher Walken just had the accents of where they grew up. The problem is that the past 40 years those regional accents have been lost in many ways. (Primarily due to a lot of movement of people not to mention the place of television in how people develop linguistically) I’m still shocked how the last decade or so it’s amazingly common to meet people from the south with only a trace of a southern accent.
None of this is to neglect that there still remain accents. But now there’s even more emphasis among actors at losing accents.
The bigger question is whether you can name a younger actor (say younger than 35) who has a very distinctive voice. I’m racking my brain and I can’t think of one. The closest I can come up with is Justin Long (of the old Mac commercials) but even he’s not exactly distinctive.
If you’ve heard any audio books the name Will Patton comes to mind. Smooth southern voice and not a bad actor either. James Stewart was always a fave. Micheal J Fox does have a good voice. Sheldon (forgot the actor) has a very interesting voice. Mike Rowe(sp?)from Dirty Jobs has a very pleasing voice and does lots of shows, commerical work.
Good point Clark. My first thought was Justin Long, too. My problem is I don’t know many young actors, too out of it–but that might back up your point. If the young actors aren’t memorable it’s probably because their voices are average.
Only other one I can think of is Shia le Bouf. He has a voice that stands out–and it might help prove my point. He’s not the greatest actor, but he’s really popular.
I’m trying to think of younger actors (under 35) with distinct voices. Jason Schwartzman has a pretty unique voice. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a pretty good voice. I like Ellen Page’s voice. Michael Cera has a unique voice.
It’s actually kind of hard to think of really great actors under 35. The age of the movie star seems over. We are currently (and unfortunately) in the age of the reality-TV-celebrity.
I think there are plenty of good actors out there. Here’s a list of young(ish) actors, both men and women, who are getting a lot of good roles, good press or both lately:
Men:
Ryan Gosling,
Casey Affleck,*
Matt Damon,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Mark Wahlberg,*
Christian Bale,*
James McAvoy,*
Tobey Maguire,
Shia Lebeouf,
Emile Hirsch,
Ryan Reynolds,*
Jesse Eisenberg,*
Sam Worthington,*
Chris Evans,
Cillian Murphy,*
Jake Gyllenhaal,
James Franco,
Mathew Goode
Women:
Abbie Cornish,
Evan Rachel Wood,*
Jennifer Lawrence,
Keira Knightley,
Mia Wasikowska,*
Zoe Saldana,*
Amanda Seyfried,
Reese Witherspoon,*
Scarlett Johansson,
Zooey Deschanel,
Anne Hathaway,*
Carey Mulligan,*
Chloë Sevigny,
Maggie Gyllenhaal,
Natalie Portman,
Rachel McAdams,*
Amy Adams,*
Kate Winslet,
Marion Cotillard,
Michelle Williams,
Samantha Morton,
Cate Blanchett*
I’m not sure how the uniqueness of their voice correlates with the qulaity of their acting, because, to me, it’s hard to separate uniqueness of voice from native accent. I will say that those actors who have a facility with accents, like those mentioned in other comments, seem to also be considered good actors.
There are some actors who clearly have very unique voices but who are not, in my mind anyway, top notch actors (though they may get a lot of work).
One of those is Owen Wilson. He has a very unique voice, owing mostly to the fact that his nose is broken, and he’s been in some funny movies but I don’t know that I’d call him one of the best actors out there. As all-around actors I like his brothers better.
I forgot to mention that the asterisks indicate those actors that I personally think are pretty good at what they do.
I bet you Owen Wilson is more memorable to people than his brothers. I actually only remember one brother. There’s a third?
Yeah, there’s Luke, who has been in a lot of movies, and then there’s the third brother, whose name is Andrew. He has been in several movies, but is most recently known for playing Ellen Page’s roller derby coach in Whip It.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNWawlQjGyE&w=420&h=345%5DBut the fact that Owen is memorable (and he definitely is) doesn’t mean he’s necessarily the better actor. He’s definitely funny, and because of that he’s been in some pretty good comedies. Wedding Crashers and Marley and Me are probably his biggest movies (not counting animated movies) but just because he’s more famous doesn’t make him better. I did think he was great in You Me and Dupree.
MCQ,
I don’t disagree with your list. Most of those actors are older than 35, though. Many are even older than me.
John Hamm has a really great voice. He’s almost the exact same age as I am, so he’s obviously not young.
You’d think Gilbert Gottfried would be the best known actor of his time.
Angie Harmon has a very distinctive (and sexy) voice.
Yeah, I didn’t use 35 as a cut-off. 40 is still young though. Ask anyone over 40.
If you compare the amount of work/exposure Gilbert Gottfried has done/had, to the amount of people who know who he is, I bet the ratio would put a lot of other actors to shame.
If that makes sense.
Tommy Lee Jones.