So on May 29th the veteran actor Dennis Hopper unfortunately passed away, only two short months after the public announcement that his battle with prostate cancer had spread and was now irreversible.
I'm a huge fan of Hoppers roles throughout the years. As a character actor he's always been able to move seamlessly between highly opposing characters. Hoppers roles in Apocalypse Now and Blue Velvet probably stand out as his strongest and most publicly memorable. But being a boy of the 90's myself it was his role in "Speed" that first introduced me to him. For me Dennis Hopper makes this film what it is. Speed redefined the action genre and to me it isn't Keanu Reeves all American hero that sells it but Hoppers psychotic and unmerciful villain. Rarely has a the action film, over the top terrorist bad guy been portrayed so perfectly. In the original "Speed" script Hoppers character dies in the opening scene and in a twist ending the villain turns out to be a split personality of Keanu's character. After seeing the strength of Hoppers role the producers decided to keep him on, and in my opinion made the right decision.
These over the top roles were further explored in the more fantasy based "Mario Bro's" and "Waterworld" although not the most memorable films for me Hoppers performances still stand out due to his larger then life personality he brings to these characters. For me tho it is his role in one of my all-time favorite films that I'll remember him for. "True Romance" is the type of cast where every role is a leading actor but still Dennis Hopper stands out for me in that movie. This is mostly down to him delivering the best lines in the films best scene. The face off between him and Christopher Walken will always stand out as some of the best acting between two of of my favorite actors. The dialogue is perfectly delivered by both and has and always will be one my favorite scenes of all time.
RIP Dennis Hopper
