Actors in Character (5) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sean Penn

The 2008 biographical "Milk" saw Sean Penn gain an Oscar for his performance as Harvey Milk. The film narrates Milk's life as a gay activist and politician in California, and his assassination along with the Mayor of San Francisco by a former colleague.

In the 1995 drama "Dead Man Walking", Sean Penn's Matthew Poncelet is on death row. The film is an adaptation of the 1993 book of the same name by death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean. She becomes Poncelet's spiritual adviser prior to his execution.

Dennis Lehane's 2001 novel of the same name was adapted for the 2003 drama film "Mystic River" where Sean Penn's Jimmy Markum is one of three childhood friends who 25 years later all become involved in investigating the murder of his daughter. Penn's character survives the film this time, although he wrongly kills another.

Answer: Kathy Bates

In an adaptation of Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name, the 1990 horror film "Misery" earned Kathy Bates an Oscar for her performance. A writer wakes from a car accident to find himself in the care of Annie Wilkie (Katy Bates), who turns out to be an overly-obsessive fan.

In another psychological thriller and adaptation of a Stephen King novel, Bates plays the titular role in the 1995 film "Dolores Claiborne". In this case, her character is accused of killing her elderly charge and her estranged daughter reluctantly comes to support her.

In the 2006 comedy drama "Bonneville", Bates' character Margene accompanies two friends (one being played by Joan Allen) in what ends up being a road trip around the US accompanied by her friend's husband's ashes as they revisit meaningful places from that marriage.

Answer: Jeff Bridges

A powerful virtual intelligence sucks Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges) into a virtual world where there is a battle for control in the 1982 science fiction action film "Tron". The film was ground-breaking for its computer animation and spawned various video games. Bridges reprises his role in the 2010 sequel "Tron: Legacy".

The 2010 remake of "True Grit" has Bridges in the Rooster Cogburn role played by John Wayne in the 1969 film adaptation of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis. Lawman Cogburn is hired by 14-year-old Mattie Ross to go after her father's killer.

In the 1976 version of "King Kong", Bridges plays the role of Jack Prescott, a primate paleontologist, who goes to rescue the kidnapped Dwan from King Kong. It does not end well for the protective animal.

Answer: Sissy Spacek

The 1980 biographical film "Coal Miner's Daughter" sees Sissy Spacek portraying a 25-year period in the life of the country music singer Loretta Lynn from the age of 13. It finishes with her 1970 song "Coal Miner's Daughter" recounting the singer's childhood. The performance earned Spacek an Oscar.

Spacek's character has shot and wounded her husband in this 1986 comedy film "Crimes of the Heart". This causes the three sisters to meet at the family home to provide support. The family history emerges.

In the 1976 film adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 horror novel "Carrie", Sissy Spacek plays the protagonist with telekinetic powers. School bullying leads to an overdone response when Carrie seeks revenge. This was Spacek's breakthrough role.

Answer: Clint Eastwood

Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" brought Clint Eastwood international success as the Man with No Name. The first of these spaghetti Westerns is a "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964) in which Eastwood plays the lead role. The other two films were released in the same year.

In a departure from his typical roles, Eastwood starred in the 1978 action comedy "Any Which Way But Loose" as a trucker and bare-knuckle fighter roaming the US in the company of his brother and an orangutan named Clyde. Its success resulted in the 1980 sequel "Any Which Way You Can".

The 1971 "Dirty Harry" film saw Eastwood playing Harry Callaghan, a loose-cannon police inspector, in the first of five appearances. A regular refrain where the perp is cornered with Callaghan's gun pointed at him (which may or may not be empty) is equivalent to: "Do you feel lucky, punk?"

Answer: Meryl Streep

The prime minister Streep played was Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 biographical drama "The Iron Lady". Streep earned an Oscar for her performance with the film largely based on an abridged version of the biographies by John Campbell.

In another biographical drama, Streep portrays Karen Silkwood, a whistle-blower who died in a car crash while gathering evidence on her employer's wrongdoing. The 1983 film "Silkwood" was adapted from the 1983 book "Who Killed Karen Silkwood" by Howard Kohn.

In the 1982 psychological drama "Sophie's Choice", Streep portrays a Polish immigrant in the US whose war-time experiences are slowly revealed. The 'choice' (from the title) involves the fate of her children. Streep had an Oscar-winning performance. The film was based on William Styron's 1979 novel of the same name.

Answer: Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman plays NYPD Detective Popyeye Doyle in the multi-award winning 1971 action thriller "The French Connection". Doyle and his partner pursue a French heroin smuggler who is importing the drug into New York. The film is based on the 1969 non-fiction book by Robin Moore.

In a supporting role, Hackman portrays Buck Barrow, elder brother of the gang leader Clyde, in the 1967 biographical crime film "Bonnie and Clyde" set in the Depression era. This is a simplified version of the gang's story with compensation paid as a result of one inaccuracy.

On the right side of the law again, Hackman is an FBI agent investigating the disappearance of three civil rights movement activists in the 1988 crime thriller "Mississippi Burning". The local law turns out to be part of the problem in a story based on a 1964 incident involving the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi.

Answer: Joan Allen

Joan Allen portrays Warden Claire Hennessey who controls the Death Race after which this dystopian thriller takes its name. It is a form of monetised reality TV using the prison population and set in the then near-future at the time the 2008 "Death Race" film was released.

Her award-nominated role in the 1995 historical drama "Nixon" is as the President's wife, the focus of the story being the political and personal life of the President. This was the second of three 'President' films directed by Oliver Stone.

In the political drama "The Contender" (2000), Allen is at the centre of events involving the appointment of a new vice-president. The part was written with her in mind and was in the era of the Monica Lewinsky scandal to which parallels have been drawn. Jeff Bridges is also in this film, portraying the fictional president.

Answer: Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis plays the protagonist in the 1995 science fiction thriller "12 Monkeys", which is based on the 1962 short film "La Jetée". In a post-apocalyptic world caused by a virus in 1996, Willis is a prisoner sent back in time to try and get a sample of the original virus so that a cure can be developed.

John McClane is the New York City Police detective who gets into crisis situations where he is usually the target but also solves the problem. Willis portrays the character in five of the "Die Hard" series of films. The first, the 1988 action film "Die Hard" was based on the 1979 novel "Nothing Last Forever" by Roderick Thorp.

The 1997 science fiction action film "The Fifth Element" sees taxi driver Korben Dallas (portrayed by Bruce Willis) take on responsibility for saving the Earth when Leeloo falls into his taxi. It helps that he is a former special forces major. The award-winning film was directed by Luc Besson and polarised the critics.

Answer: Juliette Binoche

Romance is probably the common theme here. In the wartime drama "The English Patient" (1996), based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Saul Zaentz, Juliette Binoche is the nurse looking after the 'patient' (modeled on a Hungarian aristocrat). The patient narrates the love story that brought him to where he is. The film resulted in the award of nine Oscars with Binoche receiving one of them.

Adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name by Joanne Harris, the 2000 romance film "Chocolat" has Binoche in the main role. She opens a chocolaterie in a small French village and changes the lives of the villagers in interesting ways.

Set in ancient Greece, the 2024 drama "The Return" is a retelling of part of Homer's "Odyssey" where Odysseus returns from Troy to discover his palace full of suitors pursuing his wife Penelope. Binoche plays Penelope, and Ralph Fiennes, who was 'the English patient' in 1996 film, plays Odysseus.