Movies Who's the 5 most intense actors based on their performances on screen?

[Zer]

Klaus Kinski is my fav actor for intensity. He has the unique kind of intensity that can only come from being both a legit megalomaniacal madman and also German

 

[I Am Legion]

Mel Gibson:
Lethal Weapon
Conspiracy Theory
Ransom
The Patriot
Braveheart

 

[Bullitt68]

Never any classic actors in these convos, but mandatory mentions to James Cagney and Kirk Douglas. And to shout-out some actresses, Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis hit some impressive notes of intensity.

 

[Patrick Jane]

 

[Madmick]

Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast, Eddie Marchan in Happy Go Lucky, Stephen Graham in This is England, and Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List all gave some of the most intense performances I can recall seeing: terrifying portraits of mental instability. Jack Palance was always intense.

But I think the actor who may have given the most intense performance in film history was this guy. We all knew it was amazing, but we didn't appreciate how amazing it was until we saw a dozen other actors utterly bork it. To do so much with so little.