Michael Shannon in The Iceman
Michael Shannon is one of the most talented and exciting actors working in Hollywood at the moment - and he really is going from strength to strength.
This week sees him return to the big screen with The Iceman, which looks set to be one of the best performances of his career to date.
We look back over some of the actor's best movies and performances; and boy have their been some good ones.
- Take Shelter
Take Shelter marked the second collaboration between Shannon and director Jeff Nichols when it was released back in 2011.
The movie followed Shannon who was a man plagued by apocalyptic visions and he questions whether to shelter his family from an oncoming storm, or from himself.
If you are not familiar with Shannon's work then you really should start here as he delivers a truly terrific performance as the very intense and slightly unhinged Curtis.
Pair that with the feeling of dread that director Nichols creates and you have a movie that will have you on the edge of your seat. This really is a movie that is not to be missed.
Take Shelter- Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road may have been all about Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio reuniting on the big screen, but it was Shannon who really did steal the show.
The movie was a big screen adaptation of the 1961 novel by Richard Yates and follows the deterioration of the relationship between a husband and wife.
Shannon's character is the son of real estate agent - played by Kathy Bates - who has spent time in a mental hospital.
Unlike everyone else he sees through the relationship of Winslet and DiCaprio for the sham that it is. It is a mesmerising performance from Shannon and you never quite know when he is going to explode.
The actor went on to be nominated for the Best Supporting Actor for his performance - however he lost out to Heath Ledger who won for The Dark Knight.
Revolutionary Road- Bug
In 2007 Shannon teamed up with director William Friedkin in another thriller that saw the actor at his tortured best.
An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.
Bug is gripping from start to finish as Friedkin notches up the tension frame by frame and moment by moment and there really is a very claustrophobic feel to it.
Shannon gives another fantastic performance as we see him go through a range of emotions throughout the film.
Bug- Shotgun Stories
Shotgun Stories was the movie that saw Shannon team up with director Jeff Nichols for the very first time.
The movie follow a feud between two set of half brothers following the death of their father in Arkansas.
Shotgun Stories did not receive the box office success that it should have done as it really is a terrific film.
Shannon is the key to the film as he really does give a commanding performance and most emotional performance.
Shotgun Stories- The Iceman
The Iceman sees Shannon back on the big screen as he tells the real life story of contract killer Richard Kuklinski.
The movie is based on the novel by Anthony Bruno and sees Shannon team up with director Ariel Vromen.
Richard Kuklinski (Shannon) and his wife Deborah (Ryder) appear to have a model American life, living with their three children in an idyllic suburban ranch house with a big lawn on a quiet street.
But unbeknownst to Deborah and the kids, when Kuklinski goes off to work in the morning - or, on occasion, in the middle of dinner or the middle of the night - he is carrying out executions at the behest of the Gambino crime family, employing a wide variety of deadly methods (guns, knives, explosives, strangling, poisonings) that make it difficult to trace all the fatalities to a single killer.
The Iceman shows the development of Kuklinski's career from the 1950s through the 1980s, chronicling his friendship with Gambino soldato Roy DeMeo (Liotta), his mentorship under assassin Robert "Mister Softee" Pronge (Evans), and his troubled relationship with his brother Joseph (Dorff), who, like Richard, was plagued by sociopathic tendencies all his life.
Other Michael Shannon performances to watch out for include The Woodsman, 8 Mile, Kangaroo Jack and TV series Boardwalk Empire.
The Iceman is released 7th June.
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