What exactly are the qualities that make a great actor? Is it a good stage or vocal presence? Or perhaps having the creative insight, paired with the confidence, energy, and dedication to perform? Or, is the sign of a great actor the ability to slip seamlessly into the skin of a litany of diverse characters—to the extent that the line between actor and character becomes completely blurred to the audience? While there may be no definitive answer, a new “no one has the range” meme making its way around Film Twitter makes a pretty solid case for the latter point.
It’s unclear exactly where this meme started, but the conceit is fairly simple. A user takes a number of still images of an actor or actress (typically four, which is the maximum number Twitter allows) and then tweets it with “no one has the range” or “the range” or some variation of the phrase.
As you can see from the following examples, many are using the meme to denote some of the most iconic actors of our generation, such as Adam Driver, Brie Larson and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (in the same tweet!), and Christian Bale.
https://twitter.com/adamdriverse/status/1229379581557141506
What they have: THE RANGE pic.twitter.com/4Z4YvMEHyl
— jules (@margotsbunny) February 19, 2020
i don’t know who needs to hear this but no one has this range pic.twitter.com/1KFtkhWdFO
— kat (@christianba1e) February 17, 2020
Not at all surprisingly, Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett has gotten several nods in the “no one has the range” meme. “She INVENTED THE RANGE,” tweeted one fan.
seeing so many “the range” tweets with pictures of artists in different works… and then we have cate blanchett delivering all of these in the SAME movie.
— berry (@sckberry) February 19, 2020
she INVENTED THE RANGE pic.twitter.com/2jQYktDrDd
She has THE RANGE. pic.twitter.com/Zch0zEPvCr
— Best of Cate Blanchett (@bestofcate) February 19, 2020
As did Johnny Depp, rather unfortunately:
i don’t know who needs to hear this, but no one has the range like johnny depp. pic.twitter.com/5ELEQFavfq
— am. (@deppsamarrx) February 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/iatemuggles/status/1229921694082621440
Not to mention Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black. Heck, this meme was practically made for her!
https://twitter.com/Xxxtra1300/status/1229344544501772288
all of your “no one has the range” tweets are trash. tatiana maslany INVENTED range when she started in the hit show Orphan Black pic.twitter.com/XPfCmnAJAC
— cheerful bear 🎀🎄🐻 (@honeybunwife) February 18, 2020
And of course, some people got rather silly with it—evoking the range of performances by comedians such as Amy Poehler and Eddie Murphy, as well as Tim Robinson stills from I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but no one has the range. pic.twitter.com/3Hj2Niob6G
— kaysi ✨ (@Iilithsternin) February 19, 2020
https://twitter.com/chuuzus/status/1230197887675568128
NO ONE has the range pic.twitter.com/ENKghFoHr2
— Ryan Perry (@rynprry) February 19, 2020
Although the “no one has the range” meme has not fully branched into the absurd territory, it’s getting there. Take, for example, this tweet roasting, shall we say, enthusiastic sports fans:
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but no one has the range pic.twitter.com/rDlmSzocHJ
— United Football League (@TheUFL) February 19, 2020
When it comes to acting, comedy, and so many other things in life—apparently, you either have the range or you don’t.
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