When one pictures who qualifies as a hero, one must not only consider the effort that the subject exerted, but also the reward that was bestowed. To me, a hero is someone who puts forth alot of effort for very little reward. A great example is the extras that are commonly showcased in movies. All too often, however these extras provide a lackluster movie experience. Occasionally, however, you get the elite of the extras. One of these is the security guard from the movie "V for Vendetta". While there are several showcased throughout the film, I am referring to the last one standing in the scene where (SPOILER ALERT) V invades the BTV tower. His superb acting talent and acceptance of minimal credit for his services elevates him to hero level to me.

To start off the analysis of this actor, I will look at what an enjoyable and enthralling experience this actor presented to us. From the moment the "V's" stumble through the door to his "death", (fun fact: less than 2% of performances in which a character dies has the actor/actress actually dying!) he puts forth a believably and fascinating movie experience. Also of notability is the wide range of emotions that are exhibited by his character; from anger, confusion, and fear to acceptance of his fate as per standard plot guidelines. They convey an extra level of attachment to this character that is quite rare in recent studio movies throughout the years. It also makes the character more believable. It is easy for the audience to connect to him as an actual security guard loyal to his country, employers and people that his character serves to protect. (Have you even watched the movie? If not I could have just made this whole thing up.)
Throughout the next part of this in-depth report I will examine the rather depressing matter of his lackluster reward for his services given to the film. From the best of my knowledge, he was never nominated for any awards for his performance, not even given any true media coverage. He did appear in the movies trailers, although only for around a quarter second (may have been up to three quarters of a second, but his face was not visible.) In addition, it is doubtful that he received any major monetary compensation for his acting skills that so greatly assisted the movie to make $132,511,035 worldwide in the theater. I do not have any proof of this however, so we can hope that he received a large sum of money, preferably in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
To bring this around, one must seriously rethink how are actors are rewarded. The subject of my essay is a hero due to his incredible acting skills and his acceptance of little credit for his actions. All too often, the "stars" of movies are paid exhorbent amounts of money no matter how terrible their performance, while the truly great are made to endure a life of not being chased around by the paparazzi and unable to have E! Entertainment Tonight follow their drug-fuelled spiral into oblivion. Truly a terrible fate.