Sunday, July 15, 2007

Always Awesome: David Morse

Never flashy or over the top, David Morse is an always reliable go-to Hollywood character actor.

There's no doubt that the "St. Elsewhere" veteran visits similar dramatic territory with his roles (usually as a soft-spoken cop, a menacing hood, or as the leading man's old, wise friend), but there is no doubt that he has brilliant screen presence. His steely gaze instantly gets your attention.

Morse in "St. Elsewhere" (1982-1988) and "Twelve Monkeys" (1995)

His roles are certainly getting bigger ("Disturbia"), which is promising, because it might lead him to more diverse, mainstream roles. He has such robust dramatic skills that I see no reason why he couldn't carry a feature, too. At least dramatically speaking-- I doubt the MySpace crowd is itching to see 'the new David Morse movie.' Although someone online put together a rather large website devoted to his work (David Morse Online).

Morse in "The Green Mile" (1999) and "The Rock" (1996)

My favorite role of Morse's might be the creepy, double crossing 'Dr. Peters' in "Twelve Monkeys" (directed by Terry Gilliam) or as Ellie Arroway's father in Robert Zemeckis' "Contact" (that was him talking to Jodie Foster on that alien tropical beach at the edge of the universe).

Read David Morse's IMDB page.
Read all Always Awesome posts.

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