William Petersen; greatest actor of our time.

[bacdorbetty]

My thinking is he good in most everything he does, My pick of his best is : "To Live And Die In L.A.", good movie he played his role damm good...!!!

[gladehatch]

A solid performance. Would I call it the best acting of our time? Absolutely not. I agree with the other comments that say this performance is really only different levels of anger. It's actually a very stereotypical angry gangster performance. I could mention half a dozen other actors that do twice the job of being a mobster. Also, I must disagree with your comment in the description about actors today not taking the screen for more than thirty seconds, it confuses me actually.

[jwklbm326]

soul416, you're a nasty dude. Why the meanness? I'm comfortable with my knowledge of acting from years of performing and serious education in the craft. So I don't value your comments at all. If I cranked out a scene like this, my teachers would have beat me up on many, many points. You just don't see it. Try it for your self, go and spend some years in acting school. Learn how to do it first, then comment.

[mickeydougal]

@jwklbm326 try playing to your audience instead of trying to please your teachers. Based on his career, I'd say Petersen's audience has been quite pleased, no matter what you or your teachers might think. It sounds like just a bit of envy in your criticism.

[jwklbm326]

Of course William is a fine actor. But here I'm seeing him play mostly anger and it's calculated. Playing one emotion can be exciting in moments, but not as a constant and is a limiting trap. The anger is revved up, slowed down, idles here and there, revs up again. I would want more depth and color, personal history, pathos, humor. He doesn't need to be charging through his words, losing his breath or violent to be in control or threatening.

[mickeydougal]

@jwklbm326 Next time I see him, I'll pass on your acting advice to him.

[soul416]

@mickeydougal You're being facetious right? @jwklbm326 knows nothing about acting, if he did then he wouldn't complain about William knowing how to show emotion (which is 95% of acting anyway) & that William's great at multi-tasking his scenes. William is hands-down 1 of the best actors I've ever seen & I'm half his age plus I'm from a pretty jaded generation.

[soul416]

@mickeydougal I have a low-tolerance for stupidity & pain (a result of watching bad acting), so I can't watch a lot of the actors from my own generation much. And if all this clown saw was simply repeated anger, then he needs his eyes checked. He had freakin' tears in his eyes and that's someone who's not just angry about the situation but also sad about it and trying to cover it up.

[soul416]

@jwklbm326 This is ONE scene from ONE film, of course it'll be 1 constant emotion - that's the point of knowing how to act & that's why you know zip about it. I want you to have taste & brains but that's not going to happen. Retard, he's showing REAL EMOTION. What else would you have him do? Stand there like a stunned beast like Katherine Heigl or Johnny Depp? What you know about acting you can fit on the head of a small pin, the same pin that you should use to let the air out of your head with.

[ksbaxter]

After seeing this Billy Petersen is amazing in this scene.

[getlikemc]

i think he overracted there a bit, but that might be the whole point

[MegaDreamer88]

great stuff :)

[MegaTreblinka]

Is insain....jsut great, i have no words...

[kaylei97068]

dang, he was bad-ass!!! :D

[deandrec42]

this is my boy. the best..

[bennybutch87]

that was.....awesome....

[5eurocups2005]

Great Acting............He was Exceptional in Manhunter and To Live and Die in La

[ararat123457]

Average At Best

[TomClark2]

It's really well acted and presented but his voice doesn't vary enough through it. It seemed way too smooth when his face was litteraly red. I'd of expected a little more break in his voice.

Just my opinion, still a great scene. Will have to hunt down the film.

[CookingCowell89]

have you found the movie? i'd like to have it too.. :)

he's my number one most adorable handsome charming man! haha

[Alyssa0401]

" Awsome ".......... love him ...... .

[BornXinXcostaXrica]

i think this film is rather crap

the only good bit is when billys on screen

and the end credits it's not realy that long

but there are bits that just go too long in my opinon it on of william petersens worst films ...i don't mean performance wise i just mean the film choice

[mickeydougal]

@BornXinXcostaXrica definitely not a blockbuster film. But a good story nevertheless. Hardly "crap." Could easily take awards at Sundance or Cannes.

[bdogdog123]

luv him too death

[GaryPvt]

Looks like Gary private.......huh?

[ldajfo]

speachless!! william is a the best actor in the world

[trplxl2]

Awesome clip,thanks for posting!

[janlloyd12]

looks like a cool film

[paolacifu]

Awesome... I can't stop watching this vid! Billy's performance is impresive... Damn good!

[paolacifu]

Damn!!! I have to say it again... Damn! He's good, damn good! If I were "Al" I'd be scared to death... Lol

[mickeydougal]

Ha! You know Al peed his pants just a little bit.

[WatchMyAwesomeVideos]

@paolacifu Bill's the man but is it true that Michael Biehn's character is such a small part?

[mickeydougal]

I think it was around '93 to '95. I guess I should have mentioned Petersen wasn't in it all that much. But it's a really good story anyway. Btw, I think we all looked younger and skinnier 15 yrs ago, lol.

[gmuny2002]

mickeydougal got the DVD in the mail today and I liked the movie, though I was disappointed in the length of it, also Petersen was only on the screen for about what, 15 minutes? Other than that, it was ok. What year was it made? Was it after TLADILA and Manhunter cause Petersen looks awful young and skinny!

[gmuny2002]

mickeydougal, I ordered the DVD fm Amazon the other day and the shipping cost more than the actual price of the DVD! Can't wait to see it, though!

[mickeydougal]

Great! Let me know what you think! Meanwhile, I'll contact Amazon for my commission, hee hee. Enjoy!

[jfitz1275]

i know im gonna get hounded for this, but...

i wasn't a fan. it seemed kitsch and over-acted. it lacked any form of subtlety. and for me, the icing on the cake, right in the beginning, at about 0:41, he looks directly into the camera; that threw off the entire rest of the speech for me.

[mickeydougal]

Hey, you're entitled to your opinion. Are you an actor yourself? That's my guess as to why you would be so critical. Plus, if you see the movie and see the scene in context, it might change your opinion.

[gmuny2002]

and here I thought when he played chance in to live and die in l.a. was excellent I see this! Christ, he scared the shit out of me and it was just a video!!!!

[mickeydougal]

Get the movie. It's excellent.

[Snicki1946]

Wow, just...  WOW.

[diamondkillswitch]

The guy has an amazing talent to elevate just about any movie he's in, regardless of the movie being good or bad. I'd say he's right up there with Jimmy Stewart as one of the best.

[mickeydougal]

Interesting comparison to J.S., but I'll buy it...

[NnyJthm]

O.O Wow. This is... So DIFFERENT from Gil Grissim.. Holy.. ^.^ Wow. THis IS the BEST monologue.

[amaone]

wow... just wow.

[GrissFan]

Great actor, great performance.

[wyss132]

I tottaly agree!!William is a brilliant actor!

Thank you for sharing!

[icegirl955]

that was amazing. greatest indeed

[FancySilverRobot]

The greatest is correct

[mickeydougal]

I was afraid some might think that an overstatement.