James Franco

127 Hours

If Franco, 32, gave a singular performance as trapped hiker Aron Ralston in 127 Hours, it's partly because he had the best research material of his career: Ralston showed him the videos he made when he thought he was going to die. "He's not an actor giving a Shakespeare death soliloquy," Franco says of the footage. "He didn't want to lose himself, because that would make it harder for his mother to watch. I knew that if I captured that somehow, it would feel very authentic and powerful."

See James Franco talk about his favorite performances:

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