None of the three actors in question are particularly good actors, even if they all have their appeal at certain times.
Heston only ever played himself, no matter what role he was in, whether that was Moses in 'The Ten Commandments', Michelangelo in 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' or Taylor in 'Planet of the Apes'. He was a guy who was essentially a brand and used his brand well in the movies he appeared in, but every character he played was pretty interchangeable. The man had no range to speak of, but in the vehicles he chose or that were chosen for him he didn't really need it. He's typical of the generic Hollywood leading man of a particular era.
Price was an actor of extremely limited talent, but managed to find himself in a niche, largely due to Roger Corman who made him a household name in the AIP horror pictures. He was a character actor before, during and after his starring roles and you knew exactly what you were going to get when you saw Vincent Price on the bill. Price's voice and delivery accounted for a lot of the man's appeal and he wasn't afraid to do camp silliness when it was required...and it was often required of him. But without the Corman roles, Price would have probably sunk into history and be forgotten today. His output pre 1960, were mostly support roles (usually the villain) and his starring roles were only coming via horror, which was considered the lesser of the movie world. But, like Heston, Price was always Price because he couldn't do anything else.
Smith, for the most part, plays Will Smith from 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' to smacking Chris Rock in the mouth. People keep referencing 'Ali' as an example of his "range" (I haven't seen it myself), but outside of that movie he's just playing Will Smith. But playing Muhammad Ali would be rather easy if you can manage to emulate Ali, who was a very distinctive personality already on display for you. If you can do a relatively accurate copy of his mannerisms and voice patterns then you've got him and there's a ton of impressionists who have pulled that off because he was so unique. But, really, in anything that I've seen him in he's just been a version of himself.
Out of the three of them I, personally. get the most enjoyment out of Vincent because he's a man I grew up watching on late night TV. He was also a guy who simply embraced what he had and made it his own and he seemed to not take himself or his profession too seriously, which is always admirable in my book. And that luxuriously creepy voice is so associated with horror of a particular time and place. He is, however, in the Ha'penny place when put up against the likes of other horror icons of the period such as Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee.
I grew up watching Charlton Heston, too, in things like 'Ben-Hur', but with Heston it was always the films themselves that I was watching as opposed to him in the films. Those epics could have had a lot of other leading men in the Heston role and I don't think much would have changed at all. Heston is that leading man archetype of 50's conservative America. Always right, tough, and on the side of good. It's an easy role to play with little in the way of any kind of challenge and while he did it well, there's nothing really to write home about in any of his performances.
Will Smith? Well, simply put, I never cared for him and, frankly, he can be downright annoying at times.
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Originally Posted by shootemindehead
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