R-E-S-P-E-C-T

We've had a long-standing love affair with Stephen Dorff for many years, and it looks like he might finally be about to receive the love and affection from Hollywood he's deserved for such a long time. Dorff's appearance in the current issue of VMan Magazine underscores his "comeback", which has been signalled by his critically acclaimed role in the current movie "Somewhere". There's even talk of an Oscar nomination.
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It must feel strange for the 37 year old actor who has toiled for so many years in t.v. and films, to suddenly reap mainstream acceptance, especially after staking out the persona of someone who would do anything for a role, sometimes even venturing into the territory of the bizarre. Dorff got his first role at the age of 12 in "The New Leave it To Beaver" t.v. series in 1985, and he first got our attention four years later when he played one of Becky's boyfriends on "Roseanne". Dorff was such a good-looking kid, and even then, you could tell that he had "something".
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(dorff in 2003's
"cold creek manor")
.Dorff started making movies in the early 90's, and in 1996, he shocked more than a few people by brazenly playing the famous Candy Darling in the independent film, "I Shot Andy Warhol". To play gay or a transvestite in the mid-1990's was still a risky thing to do for an up-and-coming actor, but it was almost Dorff's way of holding up his middle finger to established convention, and we loved him for it. In the same year, Dorff co-starred in "Blood and Wine" opposite major heavyweights Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine and Judy Davis, and he more than held his own with the others as a serious dramatic actor. From that point on, Dorff's career should have vaulted onto the "A-List", but for some reason, it just didn't happen. He did star in one big hit, "Blade", in 1998, but after that success, Dorff's movie choices got stranger and stranger, and sometimes even bizarre. He got some notice for "Cold Creek Manor" in 2003, but mostly because he was just so fucking sexy with his shirt off.
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And then, in 2005, Dorff really went for it, appearing frontally nude with a semi-erection in "Shadowboxer". That's the kind of career choice that rarely turns out well, and it seemed to cement the idea in the minds of many in Hollywood that Dorff was a lost cause. Fast forward through four more years of bad B-movies and unsuccessful t.v. series, and then, finally, in 2009, Dorff won a small role in the Johnny Depp vehicle, "Public Enemies". Dorff's participation in the film was minor, but he was good. And then came the role in Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere" which will, hopefully, put Dorff back in the good graces of Hollywood and keep him on our movie screens for a long time to come. The guy is just too good of an actor to waste any longer. Welcome back, Stephen Dorff!