He was always the consummate performer, that actor's actor who did not have particular ambitions beyond acting because he was so competent at it to begin with. Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. (born 26 December 1942) was an Englishman who could play your average working stiff with gusto, adding just the right amount of idiosyncrasy, reserve and mystery, even, to the roles he took on.

But what makes a great actor, among other things, is versatility.

British actor Bob Hoskins, famous for his role in “Who […]

Allen Coulter’s Hollywoodland features wordly characters played by even wordlier stars (Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck and Bob Hoskins) who live in the fantastic land of Hollywood and get entangled in a crime intrigue. Hollywoodland is set up like a film noir and reminds of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity or even Sunset Boulevard, with its jaded and disturbed characters turning to each other for support only to find a knife planted in their back.