The first thing I ever saw him in was Armageddon with Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, and I thought: "okay, this is a likeable guy".
Then I saw The Green Mile...
I thought to myself :"HOLY $#!T THIS GUY CAN ACT!"
Then I saw him in Daredevil (again with Ben Affleck) as Kingpin...
...and he nailed the role.
First of all, if you ever get the chance, watch the Director's Cut. It has roughly 15 minutes or so of footage that didn't make it into the Theatrical Version and is so much better.
Second, if you watch the extras you'll see Director Mark Steven Johnson talk about the difficulty he had casting the part. According to Johnson, there were several auditions with wrestlers that looked like Kingpin but couldn't act, and with actors that looked nothing like the character in the comics.
In a bold move, Johnson went with Duncan (who actually had to put on weight for the part) saying that in the end it's better to go with someone who could play the part rather than look the part.
He was absolutely right. I like Daredevil, and the only thing about it that bothers me to this day about it is Affleck...but that's a story for another time.
Duncan was famous enough at that point to be recognized on the street...and gave complete strangers money from his pocket if they got his name right.
He also did a lot of voice work...and if you've ever heard his voice, you'd recognize it in an instant.
Most recently, I've been enjoying his work on The Finder, the Fox network's spin-off series from Bones that he was working on until his untimely death this past September.
So when I leave this plane of existence, I'll keep my eyes open. And when I see him, I'll make a point of getting his name right...'cause hey, free money's always good.
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