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For decades, Vincent D’Onofrio has proven to be one of the most diverse and talented actors in Hollywood. He is a man who slips into roles effortlessly, becoming almost unrecognizable until you realize you’ve seen him countless times before. Since 1987, D’Onofrio has become the go-to man in Hollywood when you need a character actor who will instantly understand the assignment, making picking the best Vincent D’Onofrio roles a tough task.

Popverse Picks: Full Metal Jacket (1987)

No list of Vincent D’Onofrio roles would be complete without Stanley Kubrick’s classic, Full Metal Jacket. It was D’Onofrio’s breakout and remains arguably his most famous role. He put on 70 lbs to play the clumsy, overweight marine cadet Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence, showing him go from gentle if oafish to broken and haunting by his final scene. Though the second half of the film contains some iconic moments, none are more memorable than D’Onofrio’s final scene where he unleashes his pain and rage at his abusive drill sergeant and himself.

Popverse Picks: Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

Because Full Metal Jacket is such an iconic movie, it is easy to forget that it wasn’t the only film featuring Vincent D’Onofrio that year. He plays a brief – but memorable – role as Dawson in Elizabeth Shue’s Adventures in Babysitting. Free from the extra weight of playing Pyle earlier and wearing the most ridiculous mullet we’ve seen, he is unrecognizable in this movie. We see touches of the intensity we associate with D’Onofrio along with just the right amount of humor to balance it out.

Popverse Picks: Men in Black (1997)

It is fair to say that Vincent D’Onofrio isn’t quite himself in this movie, but that only makes his performance that much better. His role as Edgar/ The Bug, an alien inhabiting the body of an abusive husband and unlikeable redneck, is bizarre but brilliant. Throughout the movie, you believe this is a man whose body is being piloted by something else. His movements are unwieldy and unnatural. His mannerisms are both funny and unsettling. D’Onofrio manages to make you believe he is a bug and it is amazing. This is, for our money, the best acting Vincent D’Onofrio has ever done.

Popverse Picks: Daredevil (2015-2018)

While Charlie Cox does an admirable job of holding his own as the star of Daredevil, it is undoubtedly Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin who steals every scene he is in. He is the embodiment of rage, barely restrained by the illusion of civility and propriety. D’Onofrio’s Kingpin is iconic in a way that redefined how we view the character, but it also shows his range as an actor. It isn’t just the years that have made him unrecognizable from Pyle; everything about his performance is intimidating. His body language is tense and stiff like he is a moment away from snapping and it makes him fascinating to watch.

Popverse Picks: Hawkeye (2021)

D’Onofrio might not have had a starring role in Hawkeye, but he instantly stole the show when he showed up about halfway through the mini-series. He brought back the intensity and terrifying presence that we loved about his Kingpin, but there was an added physicality that the character had been missing. While previously we believed that he wanted to rip apart anyone who dared to oppose him, this was the first time we believed he could. It added an extra layer of threat to Fisk that we didn’t know we needed.

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