Essential Terence Stamp

Some actors are fortunate enough to land the role they were meant to play. Terence Stamp was born to play Wilson, an elder British thief just released from prison in time to investigate the untimely death of his daughter in the United States. Not only does Stamp exude an off-the-charts cool factor, but director Steven Soderbergh creates a timeless atmosphere that is as much of a throwback to crime thrillers of the ’60s and ’70s as it is a modern day tale of French New Wave revenge. Come for the brilliant editing, the photography, and the killer soundtrack. But revel in Stamp’s compelling performance as a grieving father that really should have landed him the Oscar back in ’99, or at least a nomination.

In this existential thriller from the early days of English director Stephen Frears, Stamp steals the movie from everyone involved, including a quietly sinister turn from John Hurt and an energetic, and extremely young, Tim Roth. As Willie Parker, a former criminal turned informant, Stamp creates a character that gets abducted by a pair of hit men (Hurt and Roth) who take him a ways to execute him. Only Willie is not afraid of his inevitable death and toys with the minds of the two hit men. But what becomes one of the more unexpected twists in film history is Willie’s actual reaction to his fate, a reaction that leaves this quirky film’s viewers with much to discuss after it has ended.

Stamp’s performance as the villainous General Zod, an imprisoned outcast of the dying world of Krypton, still gets airplay from fanboys to this day, nearly 30 years later. Though introduced briefly during the first film, Zod takes on a more central role in Superman II when he and his sidekicks escape the realms of a mirror prison and head to Earth to wreak havoc and kill Superman. Sure, the film and its characters, come off dated today, but there is no denying the power of Stamp’s icy performance, which actually contains quite a bit of humor (at the expense of his alien character.)

It goes without saying that it takes some guts to take the lead role in an Australian movie about two cross-dressing drag queens and a transsexual that land a cabaret gig in the middle of the desert. Stamp landed multiple film festival nominations for his role as Bernadette, the top nomination coming in the form of a Golden Globe for Best Actor. Pulling off this role to the caliber Stamp did is no small feat I might add.

Stamp only has one Academy Award nomination to his name, and that is for his supporting performance in 1962’s Billy Budd. The film is actually Stamp’s big screen debut, and his performance is a layered one that creates a lot of sympathy for the situation his merchant seaman is put into back in the 1700’s.