Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
This weekend, the James Gray-directed film The Lost City of Z opens (if you want to be accurate about it, the “Z” is pronounced “Zed,” but prepare to sound like a dink when you say it). Set in the early 20th century, it’s the story of an English explorer who becomes obsessed with finding a hidden civilization in South America that pre-dates even the glorious British empire. As the explorer, English actor Charlie Hunnam gives a performance of controlled obsession that has critics singing his praises. The New York Times‘ Manohla Dargis noted his “slow-burning charisma,” The Atlantic‘s David Sims calls him “sensational,” and The Los Angeles Times‘s Justin Chang says it’s “easily his finest and most disciplined film performance.”
It’s quite the string of superlatives for Hunnam, an actor whose name is usually accompanied by sneering disdain from critic types who cite ill-considered performances in movies like Pacific Rim or TV shows like Sons of Anarchy. He belongs to a whole caste of actors — young, handsome, and seemingly unable to keep from being cast as the leads in big, dumb blockbusters. Actors like Garrett Hedlund and Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. They’re incredibly easy to hate. They’re young, they’re pretty, and they’re seemingly incredibly bland. They keep making movies pitches at geek audiences that have a hard time giving up the ghosts of Harrison Ford and Kurt Russell. They’re avatars of a Hollywood that will keep plugging in interchangeable handsome white actors when actors of color can’t get any opportunities. They’re the himbos of the movie universe. And I’m taking the occasion of The Lost City of Z to declare that they shouldn’t be dismissed the way they are.
Here’s the thing: I’m not going to sit here and defend Pacific Rim or Terminator Genisys or Tron Lagacy, but we end up judging these guys based on bad movies that aren’t doing anybody any favors. Emilia Clarke is bad in Terminator Genisys too, but no one’s groaning when she gets cast in something the way they do when Jai Courtney gets another chance. The problem is, we can all point to Game of Thrones as proof that Emilia Clarke can be good. The problem with the Charlie Hunnams and Jai Courtneys of the world is that they’re often best when no one’s looking and worst when everyone is. (And given the fact that The Lost City of Z looks like a classic James Gray low-earner, that doesn’t seem likely to change.)
The bottom line is that while these mostly profitable and incredibly handsome men don’t need me to stick up for them. But stick up for them I will, because right is right, and every single one of the following actors have given legitimately great performances that don’t deserve to be swept into the rubbish bin simply because Pan was bad.
Charlie Hunnam
Maybe it’s that we keep forcing him to do a terrible American accent that he’s bad at. Certainly part of it is that he spent a LONG time on Sons of Anarchy, in a role that was central to the show but almost always boring as hell. Part of that was Hunnam’s performance, permanently set on “seething” with little variation, but part of it is that the writing of the show was so much more interested in other characters. His biggest film opportunities have been in two Guillermo Del Toro films, the irredeemable Pacific Rim, and in the formally interesting Crimson Peak, where he never stood a chance to make an impression with Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain swanning about.
Reason(s) to Have Faith: It may not be the reason he keeps getting cast in movies, but Hunnam’s early TV credits are all the reason in the world to keep going to that well. Before he ever did anything in America, Hunnam shined as a gay teen getting ushered into the big scary world of sex and relationships in the original British Queer As Folk. And then Judd Apatow cast him as the cool Brit roommate in the unfairly short-lived Undeclared.
Unfairly Maligned: He honestly wasn’t as bad on Sons of Anarchy as he was made out to be. That show wore out its welcome faster than he did.
Legitimately Terrible: Pacific Rim was real bad, you guys. Don’t listen to any attempts to normalize it.
Next Up: The Lost City of Z hits theaters in limited release this weekend. Seek it out if you can! He’s really good!
But Seriously How Hot Is This Guy? (NSFW)
Garrett Hedlund
Hedlund spent so much time being the cute young fresh-face in movies starring adults —the youngest brother in Four Brothers; the fit and gleaming Patroclus in Troy; Jeff Bridges’ kid in Tron Legacy — that when he started branching out, he had a hard time kicking that old concept of him. But he’s quietly been excellent in a lot of movies, even if the movies themselves have been bad.
Reason(s) to Have Faith: It was Hedlund’s performance as Neal Cassady in On the Road that started turning heads. As tends to be a common thread with our movie himbos, they tend to not get credit for the sexiness they bring to a role. Certainly not in the way young actresses do. But we can save the heteronormativity lecture for another day. For now, just know that Hedlund had that sexual charisma cranked up to ten in both directions, and it’s the best thing about the movie.
Unfairly Maligned: Last year’s Oscar-bait bust Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk was a mess of a movie, but Hedlund probably gives the best performance in it, as the title character’s commanding officer.
Legitimately Terrible: Don’t see Pan. Don’t see Tron: Legacy. Don’t see Country Strong. That last one fools you into thinking it’ll be so-bad-it’s-good, but it’s not. It’s just powerfully dull.
Next Up: Hedlund once again impressed critics in the Sundance movie Mudbound, coming to Netflix laster this year.
But Seriously How Hot Is This Guy?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
To a degree, Aaron Taylor-Johnson may have graduated out of himbo jail after winning the Golden Globe for his performance in Nocturnal Animals back in January. Except no, because pretty much everybody thought that Globe victory was preposterous. I’ve been a massive ATJ apologist for his entire career, and even I think that Globe victory was preposterous. But it’ll likely go a long way towards getting him the roles that will (ideally) help him break out of the cycle of uninspiring blockbuster protagonists.
Reason(s) to Have Faith: In terms of early successes that keep me loyal, I should probably say 2009’s Nowhere Boy, where he plays a young John Lennon. But while he’s good in that movie, he’s not great. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that what really earned ATJ my eternal loyalty was his one-man show in this R.E.M. video.
Unfairly Maligned: “Unfairly maligned” has been the territory Aaron Taylor-Johnson has occupied his entire American career, all the way back to his lead performance in Kick-Ass, which was honestly exactly the kind of beta-male meekness that the role required, all while everybody was falling over Chloe-Grace Moretz’s odious Hit Girl. He’s also great in Savages, Oliver Stone’s underrated bit of crime-drama nonsense, and his character-appropriate fecklessness in Anna Karenina was bizarrely slammed despite being exactly the kind of performance the role was asking for.
Legitimately Terrible: Neither of his performances in Godzilla or Avengers: Age of Ultron were very good, though they were massively over-criticized upon release, complaints boiling down to cracking on his narrative uselessness in the former (which was baked into the theme of the film) and his silly accent in the latter. But even if they were piled on more than they should’ve been, he’s not great.
Next Up: He’s starring in Doug Liman’s war-in-Afghanistan bottle-episode of a movie The Wall, for Netflix.
But Seriously, How Hot Is This Guy?
Jai Courtney
The quickest way to get movie dudes to dismiss you outright is to bomb in a Die Hard movie and a Tom Cruise movie back to back, but Jai Courtney did just that in A Good Day to Die Hard and Jack Reacher. Of the himbos listed here, he’s had the worst string of movies, though that might actually make him the one with the most potential, considering the fact that we still have never seen what he can do in an actual good movie.
Reason(s) to Have Faith: It’s a stretch, but I will stand by the fact that Courtney gave the best performance in Divergent, somehow playing a charismatic bad guy without overtly stealing scenes or chewing the scenery.
Unfairly Maligned: Suicide Squad is a terrible movie, but Courtney’s performance as the dirtbaggy Captain Boomerang was one of the few bright spots. He’s a lot of fun in a movie that felt like a slog otherwise.
Legitimately Terrible: Nobody escaped Terminator: Genisys alive. Nobody.
Next Up: He’s going to be able to test out his comedic chops in the upcoming Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later.
But Seriously How Hot Is This Guy?
Taylor Kitsch
Taylor Kitsch is kind of a special case, in that his best role is probably still the one most people have seen. Considering how hard his feature films bombed, he’s still almost certainly more known for playing Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights than for any of his movies. Which is a good thing! Tough to imagine he’ll be allowed to topline a movie again, though.
Reason(s) to Have Faith: Friday Night Lights. Lots of actors and actresses have been unable to translate TV greatness to the big screen, but any time you’re tempted to brush Kitsch off as just another pretty face, remember he was capable of playing a real and layered character on this show for several seasons.
Unfairly Maligned: True Detective season 2 was a bust, and Kitsch was saddled with the least interesting character, but the performance itself was nothing to be ashamed of. And while he got outperformed by his fellow himbo Aaron Taylor-Johnson in it, Kitsch gets to have some wargasms in Savages, so it’s cool.
Legitimately Terrible: The one-two punch of John Carter and Battleship won’t be outdone for catastrophic damage to a promising acting career for quite some time. The movies were both bad and giant bombs, and while it’s tough to blame Kitsch for everything that went wrong, he was bad in both.
Next Up: He’s playing David Koresh in a TV movie about Waco (oooh!) for the former SpikeTV (aw). He’ll also be co-starring with Dylan O’Brien in American Assassin.
But Seriously How Hot Is This Guy?
