The New York Times presented a video series called "Fourteen Actors Acting" which simply showcases actors portraying classic screen types you might see in films. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Javier Bardem   

Vincent Cassel

Anthony Mackie

Jesse Eisenberg

Can you guess what films they were portraying?

If you are interested in studying the craft of acting, check out these books from the Free Library:

The Technique of Acting by Stella Adler with a foreword by Marlon Brando.

An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski

Building a Character by Constantin Stanislavski

A Dream of Passion: The Development of the Method by Lee Strasberg

The Art of Auditioning: Techniques for Television by Rob Decina

An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary by Konstantin Stanislavski

The Theatre: A Concise History by Phyllis Hartnoll