I’m sorry to admit, I hadn’t seen anything with American actor Michael Shannon (okay, not anything where I Noticed Him), until I recently saw Death by Lightning and 1) loved his performance and 2) LOVED his voice. Grrr! And then he was in Nuremberg! So I promptly went out to see what other frock flicks he’d done, and there’s more than enough to make a post!
Sgt. Filmore in Tigerland (2000)
A Vietnam War film, and so beyond our usual time period, but I’m working with what I’ve got here!
Gooz in Pearl Harbor (2001)
I have no memory of Shannon’s role in this World War II shlock-fest (okay, with a great depiction of the titular bombing), but I assume he played a military guy.
Clyde in Dead Birds (2004)
A horror film set amongst Confederate deserters during the Civil War.
John Givings in Revolutionary Road (2008)
I THINK Shannon plays the son of a complicated couple in the 1950s.
Doc Cross Williams in Jonah Hex (2010)
An adaptation of a Western superhero comic book. Shannon plays the ringleader of a gladiator circus (don’t ask me!).
Emile in The Broken Tower (2011)
A biopic about poet Hart Crane (1899-1932). Shannon might play one of his lovers?
Nelson Van Alden in Boardwalk Empire (2010-14)
What you all know him from, no doubt, but I’ve never watched! A TV crime drama set in 1920s Atlantic City. Shannon plays “a former straitlaced Bureau of Prohibition agent on the run” (Wikipedia) who becomes a bootlegger.
Elvis in Elvis & Nixon (2016)
A film about a meeting that took place between the singer and president in 1970.
Grey Villet in Loving (2016)
Shannon plays the Life magazine author who profiled the couple behind Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case that made anti-biracial marriages legal.
Richard Strickland in The Shape of Water (2017)
Shannon plays a 1962 military colonel who has captured a humanoid amphibian in this romantic dark fantasy film.
George Westinghouse in The Current War (2017)
I tried and failed to watch this film about the real-life late-19th-c. struggle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over whose technology would be used in the US electrical grid. I was so close to appreciation Shannon!
Henry Norcross in Amsterdam (2022)
A mystery comedy film about three friends investigating the murder of a general in the 1930s. Shannon plays a naval intelligence officer.
George Jones in George & Tammy (2022-23)
A bio-series about country singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette, which I SO want to watch! Because I love me my biopics. The couple married and began performing together in 1969.
Zipco in The Bikeriders (2023)
A crime drama film set amongst a motorcycle club in 1965.
Robert H. Jackson in Nuremberg (2025)
Shannon was GREAT as the Supreme Court justice who prosecuted war criminals at the end of World War II.
James Garfield in Death by Lightning (2025)
Shannon’s turn as the assassinated-in-1871 president gave me hope that we might again one day have politicians who actually care about improving the country and world and have actual ethics (it could happen?).
What’s your favorite of Michael Shannon’s historical roles, and why did it take me so long to appreciate him?
He was a bit of comic relief in Pearl Harbor. I remember him as being sweet in it.
He was great in Nuremberg, but I’m realizing I clearly blocked out more of Amsterdam than I thought because I do not remember him in it. As for The Broken Tower, generally any ‘period’ drama direct by James Franco is going for a ‘looks not obviously modern day’ rather than period accurate in my opinion.
Not period, but his best work was when he read the Delta Gamma sorority letter for Funny or Die! https://youtu.be/dngOH9G4UPw?si=h0jnWpmVvplfFGJD
The way he says Becca lives rent free in my head. LOLOL
He was the son of associates in Revolutionary Road, just a miserable film about a couple with issues in 1950s suburban Connecticut, but the performances were top notch, especially by Kate and Leo, they still have chemistry to burn!
You can’t go far wrong with Michael Shannon (Amusingly, it only struck me today that if he and John Ford had been working at the same time he’d have almost certainly been caught up in the ‘John Ford Reparatory Company’).
DEATH BY LIGHTNING is a particular favourite (Despite breaking my heart with the knowledge that Mr Garfield came so far, only to be cheated of his chance to make his name mean more than “not the orange cat” to people).
Michael Shannon’s role Revolutionary Road is a relatively small one, but it is much richer than just being the son of a complicated couple. He also manages to steal scenes from Leo, Kate, and Kathy Bates. It’s a tremendous performance.
Holy Smokes, he stole scenes from KATHY BATES?!?
YES!
At this point I was about to launch into an AIRPLANE! routine, but I’m not sure if your name actually being ‘Shirley’ would make the joke better or worse.
He would make a very plausible Nicholas II imo.
Except that he’s way too tall… Nicholas was not a tall man, if you look at historical photos.
Those Elvis photos! Back in the day, I remember a local morning drive time DJ referring to Elvis’ sideburns as “capitol punishment” sideburns. At the time, that’s how men in jail groomed themselves. Epic, just like the polyester.
Not a frock flick, but no mention of Michael Shannon’s career would be complete without a mention of his appearance in the utterly baffling Christmas movie Pottersville, in which he plays a small-town nice-guy general store owner who gets drunk after his wife (played by Christina Hendricks) cheats on him with the sheriff (played by Ron Perlman) in fursuits (yes), dresses up in a Bigfoot costume and goes on a rampage, gets mistaken for actual Bigfoot and revives the town’s economy. But then a Crocodile Hunter style TV host, the sheriff, and a Quint-from-Jaws ripoff character played by Ian McShane (yes) set out to hunt down Bigfoot…
It must be seen to be believed, and even if you see, you may not believe. The above isn’t even all the crazy stuff.
SOLD! One ticket and a side order of “What sort of blackmail material did that casting director HAVE?!?” please and thank you.
You’re not the first to speculate about blackmail material being at the root of so many relatively famous actors appearing in such a weird and low-budget film. I think it may have been some sort of university project and the stars may have done it as a favour.
I’ve seen Michael Shannon in Waco, Knives Out, and The Current War (only the latter being historical) and he’s impressed me in each. I need to watch Death By Lightning for sure.
I feel like I vaguely remember The Current War coming up in the past, so maybe I’ve commented on it before, but I really liked it. Great cast, compelling story, including a (sad but interesting & well-done) subplot on the invention of the electric chair, tight pacing, and really complex, human portrayals of the main characters. It’s almost a dual biography of Edison & Westinghouse. Costume-wise, as an enthusiast but non-pro, I don’t think they fully captured the changes in women’s fashion (bustles) over the period in the film (~1880-1893), but overall seemed broadly accurate to me. Of course not everything is everyone’s cup of tea but I do recommend it.