Discuss James Woods

I don't know James Woods' entire body of work, but it seems that every role I can remember him doing, he's playing a jerk of some sort or other.

Which isn't to say he doesn't play those roles deliciously (The Specialist is among my guilty pleasures, it's not a great movie but his role is absolutely fun to watch). I even tweeted with him about that movie - he mentioned his great line "Get a new shirt" was ad libbed and, even after being directed not to say it, he kept shoving it in and it made it through editing!

About the closest I can consider his not playing a jerk was in The Hard Way, in which Michael J. Fox himself puts on a terrific display of acting chops, playing even more of a jerk than Woods' character who, while not being the most pleasant, yet is still the good guy, which makes for a change.

6 replies (on page 1 of 1)

Jump to last post

You do realize you're implying my man James is a jerk, don't you?

@Satch_the_man said:

You do realize you're implying my man James is a jerk, don't you?

I do indeed. I, personally, do think he's a terrific actor, even if he tends to play the same type of character more often than not.

But, if I had a nickel for every time I heard people say he's not a good human being...

Oh. I never heard anybody say anything like that. I guess I'm in the scenario where I admire the actor's work so much, I just automatically assume that he's a good guy, too.

@Satch_the_man said:

Oh. I never heard anybody say anything like that. I guess I'm in the scenario where I admire the actor's work so much, I just automatically assume that he's a good guy, too.

I admire his work too, although, as my post suggests, I'm starting to find it rather uni-dimensional.

If you can find it, watch his interview on Howard Stern. It speaks to the notion of his real life persona. And you can also follow him on Twitter, where he revels in the bombastic, combative, inflammatory style that William F. Buckley forged as conservative rhetoric and that rubs a "snowflake" like me the wrong way more often than not.

@DRDMovieMusings said:

@Satch_the_man said:

Oh. I never heard anybody say anything like that. I guess I'm in the scenario where I admire the actor's work so much, I just automatically assume that he's a good guy, too.

I admire his work too, although, as my post suggests, I'm starting to find it rather uni-dimensional.

SPOILER

Woods played an alright guy in Cat's Eye -- he just couldn't stop smoking, that's all.

Well it was kind of jerky the way his refusal to stop smoking got his wife electrocuted, but... anyway. I've never been a smoker, so I won't judge the character.

@CelluloidFan said:

SPOILER

Woods played an alright guy in Cat's Eye -- he just couldn't stop smoking, that's all.

Well it was kind of jerky the way his refusal to stop smoking got his wife electrocuted, but... anyway...

Yeah, and yet, the character he plays is a guy named "Dick" - go figure!

Can't find a movie or TV show? Login to create it.

Global

s focus the search bar
p open profile menu
esc close an open window
? open keyboard shortcut window

On media pages

b go back (or to parent when applicable)
e go to edit page

On TV season pages

(right arrow) go to next season
(left arrow) go to previous season

On TV episode pages

(right arrow) go to next episode
(left arrow) go to previous episode

On all image pages

a open add image window

On all edit pages

t open translation selector
ctrl+ s submit form

On discussion pages

n create new discussion
w toggle watching status
p toggle public/private
c toggle close/open
a open activity
r reply to discussion
l go to last reply
ctrl+ enter submit your message
(right arrow) next page
(left arrow) previous page

Settings

Want to rate or add this item to a list?

Login