2011 Black History Month: #26 Black Actor Performance
Michael Clarke Duncan as "John Coffey" in "The Green Mile"
Stephen King has written some outstanding novels. The Stand might be my favorite, but his Dark Tower series is an excellent read as well. He has had several of his books turned into films, some with moderate success. However, just once has one of King's scripts turned into a major hit at the box office, and it was The Green Mile which grossed more than $130 million in 1999. It was nominated four times in the 2000 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. But it was Michael Clarke Duncan's performance of John Coffey that lands it at #26 on this list.
John Coffey finds himself on The Green Mile because he was convicted of raping and killing two children. Unlike Big Ben and Ray Lewis however, Coffey had to pay for his crime ... with his life. As the film progresses we realize that Coffey might just not be the big dumb Negro everyone thinks he is.
Similar to Heath Ledger's supporting role of the Joker in The Dark Knight, Michael Clarke Duncan - though not the lead actor - commands the screen in every scene and has you walking away remembering him, not Tom Hanks. Obviously his massive build helps facilitate that process, but Duncan is more than just a big body. He showed incredible range in this performance, as he was able to portray Coffey as a slow man, but a humble man, and a miracle man on top of that.
Duncan has been working solidly in Hollywood since 1998, but it his role of John Coffey that is his most prominent and the one that earned him his first and only Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.
I dare anyone that has seen this movie to go and read The Green Mile and try NOT to picture Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey ... at this point they are one in the same.
Memorable Quotes
"I couldn't help it, boss. I tried to take it back, but it was too late." - John Coffey
"I helped it. Didn't I help it? I just took it back, is all. Awful tired now, boss. Dog tired." - John Coffey
"People hurt the ones they love. That's how it is all around the world." - John Coffey
"You can't hide what's in your heart." - John Coffey
"We each owe a death - there are no exceptions - but, oh God, sometimes the Green Mile seems so long." - Paul Edgecomb
Hint for #25: Comedy movie, early 1990s, SHE will be the first actress to appear on a KOA BHM list, but she is probably more well known for her singing.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
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