Article: Lance Henriksen's Best Role

[ethsnafu]

Dear friends,

Here's an interesting article that has cropped up over at cinematical.com in which the author, Alison Nastasi, discusses what she think is Lance's best role. Alison concludes that in her opinion his best role is as the android Bishop in Aliens (1986). Here's some of what she has to say:

Veteran actor Lance Henriksen has had a long and distinguished career. From his humble beginnings as a character actor through to his current status of cult icon, the actor seems to have climbed the mountain of celebrity by starting at the very bottom and working his way to the summit .... However, his greatest onscreen achievement remains his portrayal of the android Bishop in James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens.

I wondered what you guys made of that? Whilst the role is undoubtedly one of his finest, and probably most well known, it would take a huge jump for me to place that portrayal above Frank Black in Millennium but then I'm a fan, so I would say that.

To read the rest of the article, visit here and then pop straight back and let us know what you think.

Eth

[Guest lilblackgirl]

I'd say he's most recognized in his Aliens role. I'm not sure it's his best though. For an actor that's played so many roles, it's hard to narrow it down to just one. For me, my favorite above all is Freddy in Jennifer 8.

[Guest SpooktalkGiGi]

I would have to disagree with her that Bishop was his best role, she's wrong, while it might be his most recognized role it isn't his best. I think his best roles have been in Pumpkinhead, Frank Black and Jimmy in Bone Dry. If you haven't seen this movie Bone Dry you need to, it is Lance at his best, such a strong, gritty performance with much emotion.

Laura :)

[Earthnut]

I totally agree that Lance is most known for his role in Aliens. But for me, there's will always be only one favorite, Millennium's Frank Black. One scene, for example, in Borrowed Time, with Jordan in the hospital, and especially the intensity of Frank's prayer, I believe, are his finest.

[Walkabout]

'best role' is very much a subjective thing. My choice is 'Hank' of Survival Quest as it reflects his own life to some degree.

[ethsnafu]

Now as Walkabout says, it is subjective so there is no right or wrong when it comes to discussions like these but I cannot agree that Bishop was his best role. Glen Morgan said it best he stated that part of the genius of Lance Henriksen is that he can convey so much emotion with barely a flicker of movement. He has an uncanny ability to emote in such a powerful way with very little dialogue or facial movement. Bishop, by his nature, doesn't emote and despite Lance shining in that role he isn't able to display the full range of his abilities because the character doesn't require it. In the case of Frank Black, he displays the whole gamut of tricks that he has up his sleeve and shows what a varied and powerful actor he is. There are very few actors who could play two thirds of an episode with the camera focussed solely on them and with virtually no dialogue and still have the viewer transfixed by the performance.

I vote Frank Black but I have to give credit for Jimmy in Bone Dry, Jesse in Near Dark, Freddy Ross in Jennifer 8 - actually I could go on all night so I will just end it there.

Eth

[Earthnut]

There are very few actors who could play two thirds of an episode with the camera focussed solely on them and with virtually no dialogue and still have the viewer transfixed by the performance.

Perfectly stated. Lance portrays every character with perfection.

[Guest Alison]

Thanks for sharing the article Eth! I'm a huge fan of Lance and it was extremely difficult to choose just one role, but I stand firm by my choice. I will say that I'm a HUGE Millennium fan and if Cinematical was a TV website, I would have chosen Frank Black hands down :)

Cheers!

Alison

Dear friends,

Here's an interesting article that has cropped up over at cinematical.com in which the author, Alison Nastasi, discusses what she think is Lance's best role. Alison concludes that in her opinion his best role is as the android Bishop in Aliens (1986). Here's some of what she has to say:

I wondered what you guys made of that? Whilst the role is undoubtedly one of his finest, and probably most well known, it would take a huge jump for me to place that portrayal above Frank Black in Millennium but then I'm a fan, so I would say that.

To read the rest of the article, visit here and then pop straight back and let us know what you think.

Eth

[ethsnafu]

Well hello Alison, thank you for taking the time to drop by TIWWA and for your kind thanks. Truth be told almost everything Lance or Millennium ends up here at some point thanks to our members and forgive us if we are a little partisan at times. It's difficult for a bunch of fervent Millennium Fans to see beyond their noses and consider any other role than Frank Black as the pinacle of Lance's career though we did have a superb skype group meeting about this not too many days ago in which we paid tribute to the plethora of roles he has had over the years.

I also remember sharing your interview with Lance here as well, as I said, we tend to sniff these things out like the Bucksnort Dogs so thank you for giving us food for thought.

I do hope you will drop by a time or two and if you have anything Lance or Millennium related be sure to let us know. You will have a captive audience from the off.

Warm wishes,

Eth

[Guest WaveCrest]

Is this Alison, the Screamstress?