Alan Tudyk: Single Greatest American Actor

I was first exposed to Alan Tudyk's brilliance in Firefly as Hoban "Wash" Washburne, pilot of the Serenity. His first line in the show guaranteed Firefly a permanent spot in my heart.

Firefly is brilliant because of it's characters. The best shows all are. Its plot line is interesting it setting is inspired but it's the characters we fall in love with. Wash was my favourite. 

The most important quality in a character is their humour. I rarely watch anything that can't make be laugh. Wash not only could make me laugh but he could make me cry. Never have a cast of characters felt so real. Even Doctor Who has an otherworldly feel to it. It has been five years since the first and last season of Firefly yet I still say "mine is an evil laugh" after every outburst of hysterical laughter.

A Knights Tale 
This may sound shallow but for me the second most important quality in a character is their accent. Even though he's a Yank Alan Tudyk has a remarkable talent with accents. Unlike most Americans he doesn't sound like a Beatle or Eliza Doolittle. He sounds like a proper Brit. He proves this as Wat in one of my favourite movies, A Knights Tale. He plays sort of the same character as he does in Firefly but I really don't mind. He ones again spins the line I we always fall back on as being the best line in the movie.

Death at a Funeral
When you put those to traits together, funny and British, you get British comedy. You get Death at a Funeral. Not the awful American remake but the original British dark comedy.This movie can only be described as screwball. It reminds me of old Howard Hawks films. For me there is no greater compliment.

In Death at a Funeral Tudyk plays a relative of the deceased who accidentally take hallucinatory drugs to quell his nerves. I won't tell what happens because one it's too complicated and two you probably already get the general idea, all i'll say is at one point he gets naked. In a nutshell it's funny, dark (adult) and very British.


Minera