10 Best Acting Performances in Skate Videos

Tony Hawk as the pizza delivery guy
'89, Gleaming the Cube
It may not have been a skate video, but surely nobody else paid to see it. The look on his face, the backward visor, the coifed bangs-the entire scene is priceless-driving to Christian Slater's rescue, leading the charge of good-guy skaters against the bad-guy old man. The ground-zero impact that Tony Hawk leveled on '80s fashion climaxed in Gleaming the Cube (a.k.a. A Brother's Justice). Before the "Nine," before the video game, before "The Simpsons," Tony Hawk was still ours-the boy-next-door Brigader with the funny haircut, two cats, and an electronics habit. The rest of the movie pretty much sucks.

Steve Berra as Steve Berra, hunted
'98, Birdhouse, The End
In Jamie Mouseberg's '98 Birdhouse opus, Steve Berra rises to the occasion with a passionate depiction of a man hunted and ultimately killed by the sum of his own ambitions. Through an interwoven collage of sumptuous 16mm skateboard footage and couch-stumbling dream sequences, Berra lays bare the inherent curse of the footage monster. While many have argued over what exactly the monster represents, there is another question plaguing The End: What the hell is the food fight about?

Eric Koston as Charlie Chaplin
'97, Chocolate, Mouse
Makeup, P.A.s, scratchy film, a fake moustache, a historical reference, Spike Jonze-this is about as serious as it gets in a skateboard video. Sandwiched between Rudy Johnson and Mike York, the Chaplin skit is subtle, concise, and to the point. Koston takes on the role of the original tramp, duckwalk and all, mixes in some theatrical facial expressions, and rolls around town in a number of silent-film-styled Chaplin poses. While this may not be the first thing that comes to mind when somebody brings up Mouse-like Guy Mariano-I can guarantee you of one thing, you will never see something like this in a motocross video.

"Salba" and Dan Drehobl as S.F.P.D.'s finest
'95, Thrasher, Donut Duty
Greg "Salba" Ware and Dan Drehobl turn in some solid performances as disgruntled San Francisco police officers for Thrasher's seventh video release. So solid, apparently, that in one segment you can see real-life skaters like Mike York, unaware of the camera across the street, run from them like they're real-life cops. While Drehobl does his best to keep up, "Salba's" hunched-over demeanor and epic one-liners steal the show. It may not be as high-budget as some of the other nominees, but the donut dream sequence matches them blow-for-blow in intent. A for effort.

Owen Wilson as a Girl team rider
'03, Girl, Yeah Right! "I'm talking some flip-in to flip-out shit!" Many, many times, mainstream non-skaters from your dad to Tom Green have attempted to act the part. Many, many times, they have failed. There's something in the details that never rings right-they wear their pants too high, or they emphasize the wrong syllables, or they push the slang too hard. Never before have they pulled it off, until now. Owen Wilson-of Royal Tenenbaum fame, among other gems-steps to the plate and hits on all cylanders. His tone is perfect. His delivery is flawless. His timing is irresistible. Out of respect, please refer to Koston as "Frost" from this day forth. SB