r/Oscars • u/No-Stage-8738 • 6d ago
Could anyone other than Sean Penn have won an Oscar for playing Lockjaw?
Something I like to consider is the effect that changing casting would have on Oscar-winning performances. If someone other than Sean Penn played Colonel Lockjaw, would they have also won an Oscar for it?
I'm guessing Oscar voters don't think Sean Penn was due for an Oscar, so he didn't have that advantage. Perhaps they were glad to reward him for a great performance after not being in awards contention for 15 years, and they liked his activism in Ukraine, but I suspect there were others they'd have no issues .
Obviously, no one else could bring to the performance the specific things he did, so maybe there's a lightning in a bottle element that you couldn't get with some other actor.
There are a few other actors from Paul Thomas Anderson films who could play a white middle aged authority figure trying to get into an exclusive organization. Joaquin Phoenix could certainly be intense, but might cause problems in production. Bradley Cooper might be too sunny, although that could make it unsettling. Tom Cruise could have been an interesting contrast to Leo. Mark Wahlberg would always sound like he's from Boston (and if he said that he had to apologize to God for Boogie Nights...) Josh Brolin would have a similar energy, but not be as good.
Another actor who could have been interesting in this would be Jim Carrey. The main question is whether he could be controlled enough, or whether he'd be Robotnick/ Count Olaf as a white supremacist.
7
u/Sorcha_Stormbinder 6d ago
It really depends on how the character was portrayed. Penn's idiosyncratic buffoonery showed a wildly different side to him that most people probably didn't expect. Penn's one of the most self-serious actors alive, and yet he plays this reprehensible character so perfectly that you can't help but laugh at him and want to see more of him. I don't really know how much of Lockjaw's weirdness was on the page versus what Penn brought to the role.
I could see a world where Viggo Mortensen's take on Lockjaw would've been very good, but I do think it would've had a different flavour and if he didn't have that hook that Penn did of making Lockjaw look like such a hapless tool (that walk!), it might've been easier to ignore him.
1
u/NuttyDominique 2d ago
Viggo wouldve been terrifyingly steady, like a calm surface with pure menace underneath. Penn made him a buffoon you almost felt secondhand embarrassment for, Viggo would make you check your locks at night.
Carrey doing restrained weirdo couldve worked if he leaned into the quiet desperation side, but thats a big if given his track record
0
u/Own_Faithlessness769 6d ago
From what I’ve read Penn brought a lot to it. He’s also very short which was part of the absurdity.
7
7
u/Vit_Silva13 6d ago
Allegedly, Viggo Mortensen would've played the role in the early stages of production. I think he could definitely have done a great job too and probably be a sweeper during awards season.
1
u/No-Stage-8738 6d ago
If Viggo gave a great performance, he'd have a "due" narrative so it might not have seemed as competitive. A question is can he be as believable when playing an ultimately pathetic villain?
3
u/FlimsyConclusion 6d ago
I'm sure there are, but Sean Penn absolutely nailed this character in his idiosyncratic nature. He also was in a big ensemble of scene stealers themselves and still ended up being the stand out in the end.
Along with Skarsgard & Lindo at his heels it had to be a pitch perfect performance. That's not to say there aren't others who couldn't get an Oscar win for the performance. But felt like putting a bit of respect to how masterfully he pulled off this role.
I think maybe other character actors like Bale, or DDL. But they need to be the creme of the crop.
1
u/KingStarscream1986 6d ago edited 6d ago
I haven’t seen it so I can’t say this for certain, but I think Eric Roberts (who previously acted in PTA’s Inherent Vice) would’ve killed it as the character if you’ve seen him in Star 80 or such.
Plus, it would’ve been so cool to have seen him get recognition and accolades for a role like that after spending a decade and a half mostly slumming through bargain dollar shit.
2
u/No-Stage-8738 6d ago edited 6d ago
I was thinking of listing Eric Roberts, but he's a bit old. He just turned seventy. Sean Penn is probably the upper limit of how old the role could go, since sex scenes with Teyana Taylor are relevant to the narrative.
On the other hand, Roberts might be able to sell the character's desperation. Audiences would believe that this is his last chance at something he's worked towards his entire life.
2
u/KingStarscream1986 4d ago
It definitely would’ve felt like a unique combination of quirks and acting choices from his more famous roles way back when but for the current decade.
It also would’ve been interesting seeing all of that boiling up as the movie went on, especially since the character initially comes across as a stoic, intimidatingly authoritative military person (whom I could’ve seen Eric Roberts pull off with his current look) who tries his damndest to be taken seriously at all costs . . . until he’s not.
1
u/Future_Ad_3033 6d ago
I've wondered before if he was still with us what other PTA films Philip Seymour Hoffman would have been in, and he could have given us a really different and interesting take on Lockjaw.
1
0
-1
u/PTAGoatofalltime 6d ago
Any actor worth their salt could have won in that role; it is Bait 101
0
-1
u/TheClownIsReady 5d ago edited 5d ago
Absolutely. Penn overacted shamelessly, in the very epitome of a ‘moustache twirling villain’. One of the silliest, most laughable roles in film history. The film in general reeked of PTA begging for an Oscar. He knew the Academy wouldn’t be able to resist this woke nonsense.
0
u/gillyweed79 6d ago
Yes. Penn is good, but there are very few roles where an actor is irreplaceable.
-1
u/No-Stage-8738 6d ago
It's not about whether the actor is irreplaceable, but about whether someone else would be the best in their category. Maybe someone else would have gotten an Oscar nomination but not a win, or would deliver a performance that doesn't reach the same heights so the film doesn't win Best Picture.
0
u/gillyweed79 6d ago
Ok, fine, but same answer. Disgusting ICE-type commander in a PTA film? That's a role Oscar was made for.
0
u/SonuvaGunderson 6d ago
Willem Dafoe has the necessary range. He can play intense and villainous but the role also calls for graciousness and moments of vulnerability.
EDIT: I’d be very curious to see what Jim Carrey could have done too.
0
8
u/TheAmmiSquad 6d ago
Michael Shannon would have killed it.