Very saddened and more than a little shocked to learn of the death of the great Bob Hoskins. I knew he was suffering from Parkinson's disease and had retired from the acting world, but I hadn't expected him to go so soon.
As a child, I associated him first and foremost with WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, but as an adult I got a chance to appreciate the real diversity of his body of work. I'd be hard pressed to choose a favourite role of his, given the sheer number of movies in which he starred, but he was always one of those actors who was such a class act that, even when he was appearing in something that was complete nonsense, he always succeeded in raising the bar a few notches.
Case in point: for sheer insanity (plus the fact that it was shot in my home town), I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for DANNY THE DOG (a.k.a. UNLEASHED), a martial arts action film shot in Glasgow and starring Jet Li, Kerry Condon and Morgan Freeman. That's a combination of elements you don't see every day, but it somehow it made perfect sense for Bob Hoskins to be at the heart of all the insanity, hamming it up as only he could in the role of the film's main villain: a foul-mouthed, ill-tempered Cockney gangster.
Rest in peace, Bob.
Mona Lisa *nods* Just a brilliant performance. He was perfect anyway but he always seemed to up his game or enjoy himself for when his old mucker Caine was around. I love the story about how, with Neil Jordan working to such a tight budget, it was touch and go whether they could get Caine (he's previously tried for Connery with no joy whatsoever) "Here I am," Caine said to Hoskins on the first day "Bet you didn't think I'd be here did you? Well I am you cunt" haha
ReplyDeleteHaha, that's a brilliant anecdote. All the more so because I can just imagine it being true. :D
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