Sir Ben Kingsley(bornKrishna Pandit Bhanji) is a veteran English actor who has been turning in marvelous performances across five decades. He started on the stage, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s, a dramatic education that deeply shaped his acting style. He then transitioned to television before breaking through in film with his towering, Oscar-winning performance in 1982’sGandhi.
Since then,Kingsley has proven himself as an actor of considerable depth and range, equally at home playing real-life figures or over-the-top characters.He can be sweet and innocent or slimy and villainous. Of his acting method,he has said, “I try to go into a completely zero, empty state and let all the intuition, all the training, all the lucky breaks, the knowledge of the dialogue, the knowledge and love of the character fill that empty space.” This approach shines through in his roles.These are Ben Kingsley’s best movies, an eclectic and rewarding bunchthat proves his talent as a chameleonic performer.
10’Lucky Number Slevin' (2006)
Directed by Paul McGuigan
“The unlucky are nothing more than a frame of reference for the lucky.” This neo-noir tells the story of Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett), a man who finds himself caught in a deadly feud between two rival crime lords, The Boss (Morgan Freeman) and The Rabbi (Kingsley).Lucky Number Slevinwas part of the wave ofPulp Fictionknockoffs in the late ’90s and early 2000s but is abox office flop with genuine value to it, with more than enough charm to warrant a viewing (even if some of the jokes get a little repetitive).
On the acting side,The Rabbi is Kingsley at his most reptilian. He’s mysterious and calculated, his calm demeanor concealing ruthlessness and sangfroid. He and Freeman make for an intriguing pair of rivals. “Ben’s a very intense actor – not him personally; it’s his characters,“Freeman has said. “So when you’re working with him, it’s allveryserious.”
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9’Iron Man' 3 (2013)
Directed by Shane Black
“You’ll never see me coming.” Kingsley appears as the villainous Mandarin inIron Man 3, an orchestrator of terror attacks who seems to evade all capture. However, in a twist, Kingsley’s character is later revealed to be Trevor Slattery, a bumbling actor hired to portray the Mandarin as a front for the true mastermind, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce). Slattery is simply the mouthpiece of Killian’s brain.
Many fans were disappointed by this unconventional twist, and it’s easy to see why.Kingsley was fantastic as the fake Mandarin, equal parts chilling and humorousand speaking in a memorable, preacher-like voice. “I wanted a voice that would disconcert a Western audience […] The rhythms and tones of an earnest, almost benign teacher trying to educate people for their own good,“Kingsley explains. This approach sets him apart from most ofthe otherwise bland MCU villains. Thus, seeing him reduced to being a performer was a major letdown. Nevertheless,Iron Man 3is still a ton of fun, and Kingsley is endlessly watchable in it.
Iron Man 3
8’House of Sand and Fog' (2003)
Directed by Vadim Perelman
“It is time for us to go home to our destiny.“House of Sand and Fogconcerns the battle for ownership of a house in Northern California. After recovering alcoholic Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) is mistakenly evicted, her home is purchased by Massoud Amir Behrani (Kingsley), an Iranian immigrant and former colonel seeking to restore his family’s lost dignity and secure a prosperous future in America.
House of Sand and Fogis heavy-going, but Kingsley is both believable and highly sympathetic, rightly receiving a Best Actor Oscar nomination.
Kingsley delivers a powerful performance, portraying Behrani as a man driven by a rigid sense of honor and ambition and keenly mourning the loss of his former status.Kingsley touchingly captures the character’s mixed feelings of pride, desperation, and cultural dislocation, making Behrani a sympathetic yet tragically flawed figure. There’s a particularly great scene where Behrani enters a posh building in soiled work clothes, bathes in the bathroom, and emerges transformed in a clean suit - the American Dream embodied. The film overall is heavy-going, but Kingsley is both believable and highly sympathetic, rightly receiving a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his efforts.
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7’Maurice' (1987)
Directed by James Ivory
“England has always been disinclined to accept human nature.” Adapted fromE.M. Forster’s novel,Mauricecenters on a young gay (James Wilby) man from a privileged background living in Edwardian England.Mauriceis widely considered a milestone work in gay cinema, dealing with these themes at a time when they were under-explored on-screen. Its DNA lives on inCall Me By Your Name, which directorJames Ivorywrote.
Kingsley has a supporting role as Dr. Lasker-Jones, a physician who initially tries to “cure” Maurice but eventually becomes the most understanding person in his life, encouraging him to move to a country where he will be more accepted. It’s a small part, but Kingsley gives Lasker-Jones nuance.He’s an unusually sympathetic figure in a judgmental societywho’s willing to be honest with Maurice. Whereas most of the other characters are so repressed that they’re blind to the repression, Lasker-Jones is at least aware of it.
6’Sneakers' (1992)
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
“The world isn’t run by weapons anymore, or energy, or money. It’s run by little ones and zeroes.“Robert Redfordleads this ensemble heist film as hacker Martin Bishop, joined by heavy hitters likeDan Aykroyd,River Phoenix, andSidney Poitier. Kingsley is Cosmo, Bishop’s former college friend turned nemesis, who has become a powerful and embittered criminal mastermind.
The characters are chasing a MacGuffin known as “the box,” which Cosmo wants to use to dismantle global financial systems.He’s a villain driven by a utopian vision, which he pursues with a potent admixture of intellect and charm. Cosmo is also out for revenge, blaming Marty for his arrest decades earlier. Kingsley clearly enjoyed taking on such a devious character: he plays Cosmo as practically Luciferian. Although some of the plot devices are a little clichéd,Sneakers' abundance of twists and the sheer star power present more than compensate.
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5’Sexy Beast' (2001)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
“It’s not what you’re saying. It’s all this stuff you’re not saying. Insinnuendos.“Ray Winstoneturns in perhaps his best performance inSexy Beastas retired gangster Gal Dove, who is dragged out of retirement by the volatile Don Logan (Kingsley). Viewers who only know Kingsley for his more dignified, highbrow characters should check this one out.Sexy Beastsees Kingsleyacting uncouth, frightening, and unstable, oscillating between charming manipulation and explosive violence.
On paper, Logan might have just come across like a bully, butKingsley hints at his deep inner darkness, suggesting a truly disturbed psyche. It was bold of directorJonathan Glazerto give Kingsley the part, as it was for the actor to accept it; he could have crashed and burned, but instead, Kingsley shines. Don Logan is a brilliant demonstration of Kingsley’s range and likely helped pave the way for the more diverse and intriguing roles he has played over the last two decades.
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4’Hugo' (2011)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
“My friends, I address you all tonight as you truly are; wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, magicians…” InHugo, Kingsley playslegendary fantasy directorGeorges Méliès, a once-renowned filmmaker now running a toy shop. Although the film mostly received attention for Robert Richardson’s breathtaking cinematography and the deft use of 3D, the performances are also worthy of praise.
Kingsley nails it as a man initially embittered by life but softened by his interactions with those around him. He’s the best character in this heartwarming movie, hands down, a man of hidden depth, harboring tragic secrets as well as immense creative powers.Kingsley conveys Méliès' disappointment and his latent sense of wonder. Through Hugo’s (Asa Butterfield) determination to repair an automaton and uncover its message, Georges’s lost films and shattered spirit are gradually restored, and the tired, curmudgeonly man comes to life once again. Kingsley’s lack of an Oscar nomination for this turn was something of a snub.
3’Shutter Island' (2010)
“Sanity’s not a choice, Marshall.” Inthe famously twistyShutter Island, Kingsley delivers a masterful performance as Dr. John Cawley, the enigmatic and composed chief psychiatrist of the institution. He’s layered and ambiguous, blending a calm, authoritative demeanor with an underlying sense of secrecy. His interactions with Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) are both intellectually challenging and subtly menacing, as Cawley appears to hold critical pieces of the puzzle that Teddy is desperate to solve.
Cawley is thus a microcosm of the film as a whole, Ashecliffe Hospital in human form. At times, Cawley appears almost kind and affable toward Teddy before unleashing the deepest cruelty upon him.Kingsley has saidhe saw Cawley’s role in the film as being “the bringer of unconditional love,” which only makes him more unsettling. Cawley may exude a sense of love and support on the surface, but ultimately, he just sees Teddy as yet another hopeless case to be managed.
Shutter Island
2’Schindler’s List' (1993)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
“Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.” Kingsley appears inSteven Spielberg’s Holocaust epic as Itzhak Stern, Oskar Schindler’s (Liam Neeson) Jewish accountant and the film’s moral compass. Stern’s meticulous organization and quiet strength are crucial to Schindler’s efforts.Kingsley touchingly conveys the character’s resilience, intelligence, and unwavering dedication. It’s perhaps his closest character to Gandhi in terms of moral clarity and rectitude.
Kingsley is also frequently funny in the part. Indeed, one ofSchindler’s List’s strengths is its undercurrent of humor. Prior to this, Kingsley had played Holocaust survivor and writerSimon Wiesenthal, so he was already deeply familiar with the history and the literature. He said he didn’t need to do factual research to prepare forSchindler’s List. Rather, “What I needed to do is to wait for an empathy to form between myself and the character Stern. It did very early on in the film,“he explains.
1’Gandhi' (1982)
Directed by Richard Attenborough
“There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail.” Kingsley turned in his defining performance inthis powerful historical epicas Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. The narrative spans Gandhi’s early days in South Africa, where he first employed nonviolent resistance, to his leadership in India’s struggle for freedom. His example would inspire countless activists up to the present day.
Kingsley’s work here is truly transformative.He embodies the character with intensity and wit and even mimics Gandhi’s distinctive determined gait. Not for nothing, the role won Kingsley the Best Actor Oscar. While some critics argue that this fictionalized Gandhi is more idealized and simplistic than the complicated man he truly was, the movie is still informative and touching, serving as a great entry point for those curious about Gandhi’s life. It’s definitely Kingsley’s finest work.
