Who Is the Most Under Rated Actor?
 

I was having a discussion with a friend of mine and she posed a question that I really couldn’t answer. So I thought this thread would generate some thoughts that are evading me at the moment. It’s an easy task to name some of the greats: Pacino, Nicholson, Deniro, etc. Some of my personal favorites are Gary Oldman, Denzel Washington, and Liam Neeson. Who do you think is a great actor, but hasn’t received the recognition you feel they deserve?

I agree that Gary Oldman, Denzel Washington, and Liam Neeson are all great actors, but I think that they all have been recognized a good amount. Probably not as much as they should be, but they are still pretty well known, especially for how great they are as actors.

Andre Braugher. Incredible actor who deserved bigger roles than he received. He was great on Homicide: Life on the Street, but I expected him to have better roles than he's had recently.

And call me crazy on this one, but I think at some point Will Ferrell will be similar (probably not at the same level, but close) to Tom Hanks and Robin WIlliams. Going from being known strictly as a great comedic actor to being recognized for his ability in dramatic roles.

I would've put Steve Carell in the same category as Ferrell, but I think he's on the verge of being seen that way right now anyway.

I third the mention for Gary Oldman. Great actor.

I also agree that, at some point, Will Ferrell will be truly great. He needs to do more Stranger Than Fiction and less Blades of Glory, though. lol

Peter Saarsgard. I love him in almost everything he's been in.

William Macy
Luis Guzman
Paul Giamatti

Daniel Day Lewis, Sean Bean, & John Cusack


I think, though, this might have something to do with the roles they choose. I blame their agents. Maybe they have the same one.

...forgot about Cusack...

I agree. I wasnt clear on what I was trying to say. Oldman, Neeson, and Denzel with his Oscar are all definately recognized. That's where I was having difficulty. I was trying to think of bad movies that had great acting in them. Otherwise if crappy acting contributed to a movie being bad then its no mystery why they havent been recgonized.

The Oscars dont seem to like Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. I admit they are a couple of guys that would be hard for any comic to impersonate becasue like Affleck their presence seems stale. However Cruise did do a couple of roles I thought he did better than the rest: Last of the Samuri and Born on the 4th July. I still dont consider him to be under rated.

I heard something about Bill Murray doing a serious role that alot of people said he should have won an Oscar over, but I havent seen it.

John C. McGinley - the cockbite in platoon, the fbi agent in point break (swayze and neo, oooh) the suit in office space, and the hilarious dr cox on scrubs.

are you talking about the razor's edge? an old movie, based off the somerset maugham book, serious role, excellent.

It was Lost in Translation. God, I forgot about ol' Bill. He's possibly my favourite actor, especially when you take into consideration what he's done lately.

Seriously, someone give that man an Oscar already.

Bill Murray in Broken Flowers? Flawless.

...

I'll toss my Kurt Russell hat in the circle.

Snake Plisskin

how about actresses?

Stranger than fiction kind of sucked though. It had an interesting idea and decent enough plot it just seemed to move very slow for me and was a bit dull in some portions not a well-rounded movie.

Also about the actors how about Jeremy Irons?

I second Jeremy Irons. He's an amazing actor and his voice alone should be preserved for future generations.

Thirded. Jeremy Irons is better than 90% of the roles he's cast in.

Im glad to see some fellow Jeremy Irons fans. Although, I have to say I felt a bit ashamed that he was Eragon.

How long until we name every actor in hollywood? That's how these threads always turn out. They start out with boundaries and then just involve your favorites, and then eventually people list a bunch of honorable mentions. And oh hey, almost forgot.. this guy too.

With that said, I wish Will Farrell will drop the shitty "comedy" movies he does and start doing serious roles. He's got a chance to take over what Jim Carrey was only able to dabble in. Intelligent comedy. As stated, Stranger Than Fiction was GREAT!

C'mon, even us, the unwashed masses of moviedom, have some standards.

You'll never see Jean-Claude Van Damme OR Steven Seagal in this thread.

I like your hat Hal but im going to have to disagree with you Stranger Than Fiction was in no way Great or really that good at all it was pretty mediocre. In my opinion anyway.

I've found that posting reasons for your opinions make the TFP happierish.

Haha agreed sorry about that I posted my reasons earlier in this thread.

I dunno if I see any names in here that are actually underrated. Most of them have a great deal of acclaim.

Underrated?
How about supermodel Adriana Lima, as seen in the short film "The Follow"? Or maybe Emelio Estavez's work on "Bobby".
Patton Oswalt and Zach Zilafanakis in the "Comedians of Comedy" were some of the most creative comedians I've ever seen.

When i hear great actors mentioned I can say honestly only once have I ever heard Jeremy Irons he does not get a great deal of acclaim.

Whoa... her mouth opens?

YES! finally the truth is told haha great one crompsin great one:)

John Turturro, John Cusack, Jeff Bridges, Bill Paxton - off the top of my head.

Don't forget the ladies: Laura Dern, Madeleine Stowe, Geena Davis.

Jeff Bridges is one of the greatest living actors... I wouldn't suggest that he is underrated at all (he just doesn't make it into tabloids).

I totally agree with Paxton and Turturro.

Jean Claude Van Dam and Steven Seagal

John Lithgow - highly underrated since he has played damned near every character there is.

Oliver Platt. Fine comic actor. His execution of Porthos in the Three Musketeers was flaweless, and his portrayal of the White house counsel in the West wing was astoundingly good - deadpan, but good. I think he is limited by the writing, though - he'll nail whatever part he gets, and if it's poorly written (Executive Decision) then having him in the role will highlight the bad writing.

Here's a truly underrated actor: Keanu Reeves. Not that he's great, or even particularly good, but he's not wretched, which seems to be the prevailing wisdom. When he phones it in (Point Break) he's amusing in his ineptitude, but when he's on (Bill & Ted, Much Ado About Nothing) he verges on quite good.

Arnold Schwartzenegger. Who'd'a thunk he had the skillz to play a convincing Governor?

I LOVE John Cusack.

I'm also adding Morgan Freeman.

Brad Pitt

Brendan Fraser.

That's right, I said it. The guy who was in George of the Jungle and Bedazzled. And oh gods, Monkeybone. (sigh)

But he was also in School Ties and Gods and Monsters. And he was great. Plus, he did a fine job with the Mummy movies - very charming and all that. I know he's well known, but not for being a good actor. Let's get this man some decent roles! I heard he was filming Inkheart.. I hope it's true and I hope it doesn't suck. :)

Don't forget Encino Man.

Maybe if the element of "should have received an Oscar, but wasnt even nominated"- might have put a filter on it.

Zach Galifianakis - excellent in his bit part in "bubble boy"

the "how far will this get me" gag had me rolling

My 2 cents for this topic would be Rutger Hauer. While his roles have been absolutely horrid for 2 decades now, his performances in both Blade Runner and The Hitcher are two of my favorites of all time. For whatever reason he completely fell apart after the 80s, but hes got the chops to hang with the best.

Also, although I don't know how underated he is, Daniel Day Lewis' performance in Gangs of New York was the single best performance I have ever seen, bar none.

As far as being underrated goes, I'd venture to say that Jeff Daniels belongs on the list. His work in films such as The Squid and the Whale show that he has serious acting ability.

I'd also say Danny Huston will soon be getting his due. His character work in Birth and other recent films has been outstanding.

John Goodman and Terrence Stamp are also very good but not used very much.

Agreed, especially with Danny Huston. He was great in a short bit in Children of Men, and his detective act in Silver City was wonderfully understated.

In fact, I have a real admiration for the great character actors. I think they are almost always the most underrated thespians out there. Stephen Root, for example, has done great comedy and drama work. He's in just about everything, but rarely gets the kinds of accolades he deserves. Along those lines, J.K. Simmons, of Ladykillers, Spider-Man I, II, and III, Juno, Law & Order, The Closer, etc., has always been excellent. I have yet to see him do a bad job, and his range is out of this world.

On the female side of things, Maria Bello has always been a favorite of mine. She pulls off a kind of classy, intelligent beauty that almost no actresses are willing to try for. Kind of like Jody Foster, she never hides her intelligence for even one moment on screen.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...od-sticker.gif
Terence Stamp was utterly superb in Priscilla Queen of the desert. Everyone in that movie was great, but to go from Zod to a transsexual is some range, there.

Under rated, exposed or appreciated,
I believe Mary Louise Parker, and
Johnny Galeckie should be on the list.

I will add a film I believe was under rated...Salton Sea.

Jeffrey Combs - I consider him to be the Jim Carry of science fiction.

I loved him as Shran on Enterprise. Best. Andorian. Ever.

He was PERFECT in Reanimator. That, however, is the only movie I have ever seen him in.

Christopher Walken

The Frighteners? His role in that, and every role I seen him in after watching that, makes me see him as the Jim Carey of scifi. Every time I see him, I think back to Frighteners and have to laugh.

Vince Vaughn. (sp?)

the way he talks just gets me. he talks so fast, and says some great things.

also, Edward Norton. i love all his movies.

I want to ask the OP, what do you mean by under rated?

Because a bunch of these names here are fairly common, Vaughn, Walken, Norton, guys/girls that are common household names and movies. Ones like Paul Giamati (loved in Lady in the Water), John Cusack (Identity rocked), Jeremy Irons (... eh... Time Machine?), you know you've heard of them, just can place your finger on where or what they exactly looked like.

i'd say that jeff daniels is a great actor who's never been completely recognized as such

Vin Diesel

Yeah, I said it!

I have to think you're going the same place here as I was with Keanu Reeves, in that he's underrated in that he's not great, but he's not Jeff Goldblum either.

Bill Murray.

He's known far too much for all the idiotic roles he played when he's been killing it as of recently.

He was incredible in Lost In Translation as well as Broken Flowers. He made the terrible Life Aquatic tolerable and did the same with The Royal Tennenbaums. And while I haven't seen it yet, I hear he was awesome in The Darjeeling Limited....SNL anyone?

Someone give him an Oscar already.

john malkovich

ok so he's got a movie with hisname in the title..but i still think hes underated by most

JCVD and steven sea-gull have to be some of the worrst actors to hit the big screen. in saying that i still watch kickboxer with awe..the scene where he breaks the palm treewith his leg is awesome...

..but really.. neither JCVD for mr sea-gull cant act for shit

It has got to be Christin Bale. Sure people recognized him in batman but check out American Psycho or The Prestige. He is Legit.

I thought he had some acting chops in "Find Me Guilty".

You're right, in that he's not great, at least yet, but imo, he has the potential to be a serious actor.
Maybe not a leading man, though.

Ellen Page

My absolute #1 is Steve Buscemi. From "Resevoir Dog's" to "Charlotte's Web", he completely embodies the character he's portraying. He obviously imprints them with his own person, but that is unavoidable with any actor, and his "own person" is why no one else can play the roles he does.

My 2nd pick is Michael J. Pollard. Terrific character actor that disappears into most movies he's been in. "Roxanne" with Steve Martin is the most well known movie I can think of that he has been in.

I take just a "little" exception to Jeff Goldblum being scoffed at, in that one of my favorite movies stars him, "Mr. Frost". In fact, I just recieved a VHS copy via Amazon because I couldn't find it produced on DVD.

Bill Murray: Caddyshack is classic lowbrow (maybe the crowning achievement!). He completely transended that legacy with "Lost In Translation".

Nikilidstrom: Hey fellow Michigander/Red Wings/Lidstrom fan! I completely agree with Rutger Hauer. It so disappoints me when great actor's either can't get work or choose not to work. "The Hitcher" is the last movie (besides some awful sci-fi vampire flick) I saw Rutger in.

Although not quite the same, two other actor's (specifically the "acting" aspect) that have squandered their last good acting years (IMO) are Clint Eastwood not doing any western's since "The Unforgiven" and Harrison Ford eshewing the pure action roles that made him famous in favor of playing CIA/the President/some other "official". It's sad that he held out until this late date to play Indy again.

Jewels443 and Charlatan: Everytime I see Bill Paxton, I can't help but think of "Wierd Science".:lol: Love him in "Big Love" though!

Ali

1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Sean Penn of his generation. Watch Love Liza and you will see.
2. Jeff Bridges - Already mentioned but The Fabulous Baker Boys is one of my alltime favorite movies
3. Sam Rockwell - He can do just about anything and do it well.

I'd pretty much go with the cast from Band of Brothers..

yes.. the CAST!

Damian Lewis (Winters)
Neal McDonough (Buck Compton)
Ron Livingston (Nixon)
and even Donnie Walberg (Lipton)

These 4 specifically, are exceptional actors in my opinion, even from their other work..

Office Space!
Dreamcatcher!
Saw 2, 4!
Annapolis!
and many more! =D

I think BoB probably had the best casting ever.. but thats just my opinion.

I can't stop thinking of him as Pvt. Hudson in "Aliens":
"Have you ever been accused of being a woman?" "No, have you?"
"You want some of this, ok. Oh, you want some too?"
(If you didn't see the movie, do yourself a favor and just buy it right now!)

I think he was also in the original "Terminator". I like him as a candidate! :)

I second Bale, awesome in everything he does. Can't wait to see how he does in Batman II and as Jon Conner in the new terminator.

Yeah I definitely agree with Philip Seymour Hoffman. He's in practically everything. Just see every Anderson film (boogie nights, magnolia, punch drunk love, and I can't remember if he's in hard eight) capote, patch adams, state and main, almost famous, etc etc. He's incredible and so versatile.

I have to agree 100%. He does not get enough credit for his work. He is flexible role-wise, witty, creative, and damn handsome. ;)
He's pretty picky about his roles too so I hear, which is why he hasn't done a huge pile of films that were anything like his previous films. I never saw Monkeybone, but I was a tween when I saw George of the Jungle and Bedazzled, and while they are pretty corny, they made me laugh. :P George of the Jungle still makes me laugh. :P
One other film I liked him in was Mrs. Winterbourne, where he played twins. :)
But I really liked him in The Mummy series, he fit the role perfectly I think.

Another actor who people don't take seriously (mostly his own fault for being such a goofball), but when he isn't being his loony self or playing someone similar, Ashton Kutcher is actually a pretty decent actor.

Christian Bale gets my vote. I thought he was great in American Psycho.

He's also right there with Michael Keaton for Best Batman. Might even be better. Hard to say. (Sort of the Connery/Brosnan thing. Each is better at a particular aspect of the character.)

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's playing a very convincing politician.

Agreed, Batman Begins was excellent and I'm definitely looking forward to The Dark Knight. Such a shame about Heath too. :sad:

It's Connery/Craig now. :thumbsup:

No, It's Moore/Craig. Not that I didn't enjoy Casino, but he's definitely second tier. (At least it's not Lazenby/Dalton/Craig)

You equate Roger "I discovered it had a crush on me-type joke" Moore with Daniel "I just blew up a terrorist with what looks like a USB flash drive" Craig?

I'd go as far as saying that Craig's Bond is in a league with Bauer and Norris.

"Daniel Craig can kill two stones with one bird."
"Daniel Craig can slam a revolving door."
See what I mean?

I agree with you 100% that Daniel Craig is in the same league as Bauer and Norris (one of whom just got out of jail and the other of whom is stumping for Mike Huccabee, but that's neither here nor there). They are (and Craig is) a badass of the first water.

That Craig is capable of effortlessly dealing in metric tonnes of badassery, though, is also beside the point. This is a baseline for playing James Bond, a gating criterion, not a ranking one. You must be at least This Badass to play this role. (Where "This Badass" is Roger Moore on his best day - say blowing up Drax's Moon Base.)

So while Craig in his initial appearance is in the same league as Connery and Brosnan in the dealing of Smackdowns, he is more in the same leauge as Moore and Dalton in the Panache/Finesse department.

However, with only one film under his belt, it is unfair of me to compare him to anyone other than Lazenby and Niven, and, frankly, neither of them are really applicable, though Niven was Fleming's first choice for the role. Of all of them, Brosnan comes closest to Niven in style. What Craig's style will eventually evolve into is an open question, but he is likely to suffer from being written as a more "human" Bond. I wonder if it is even possible to truly play the character of James Bond in a world where women have begun to successfully demand their right to rise and fall on merit. Unless the Quantum of Solace solidifies the mysogynistic/emotionally detached Bond, I would not be surprised to outlive the series.

/ End threadjack

John Cusack is the man. High Fidelity is amazing! I'm also a big fan of Christian Bale. Everything I've ever seen him in, yes, including Newsies, has been outstanding. As far as actors that are great, but don't get much press, I'd have to say John Travolta. Yes, he's be in a ton of movies, but you never really hear anything about him. He's the shit. Seriously, Pulp Fiction? In my opinion that was Tarentino's masterpiece.

I would go with Daniel Day-Lewis. He was amazing in There Will Be Blood.

Gabriel Garcia Bernal. Everyone knows Motorcycle Diaries, but his Y Tu Mama, Tambien and Almodovar movies are also very good. I enjoyed his role in The Science of Sleep. Wasn't too impressed with his role in Babel, but I don't mind looking at him anyway. ;)

Tony Leung. Just watched the new Ang Lee movie, Lust, Caution, and was reminded of just how fantastic of an actor Tong Leung is. I last saw him in In the Mood for Love, which is just sexy as fuck... outstanding job in both films, but have never heard him recognized in common circles.

Gael Garcia Bernal, yes, amazing on the screen. I'm trying to get caught up on all his movies I've missed. Don't forget Dot The I and El Crimen del padre Amaro, both good.

I know a lot of people will disagree with this one, which is precisely why I feel I need to add him. After seeing I am Legend I think Will Smith has become a really good actor. There are movies he has done that I didnt care for and his acting didnt draw me in at all- but that really could have been his choice of parts to play.

I'm gonna put in for Edward James Olmos, Tony Shalhoub, Neil Patrick Harris (who knew he was a comic genius?!) Martin Sheen, and Steve Harris (from The Practice). And in the female category, I second Laura Dern, and will put in for Mary McDonnell, Uma Thurman, Allison Janney, and Linda Fiorentino.

I haven't watched enough BSG to agree with Olmos. I do like Tony Shalhoub, and not because he does Monk. I don't know if I can agree with Doogie Howser just yet, even though, "Suit up!" (from How I met your Mother) is one of my favorite things to say. Linda was good in Liberty Stands Still.

Tony Shalhoub was brilliant in The Siege-- a highly underrated movie! And as for Neil Patrick Harris, I could say he was great in Starship Troopers (another deeply underrated movie), but really-- Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle! Come on, that was awesome! And for Linda, I gotta say Dogma!

Jenna Jameson.... hands down

Starship Troopers, while not my favorite movie, does get credit. The commercials/propaganda videos throughout the movie made it interesting like I was part of that time.

Shalhoub always seems to pop up in various movies with little roles, and each one is something different and to the point, which was why I like him.

I really don't know what to say about Dogma. It is just one of those movies. I'll laugh at it, I might watch a couple minutes of it if it happens to be on the tube, but I sat through it once and that was enough for me.

Jim Carey is the best actor of our time. He should have at least three Oscars; Man On The Moon, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Truman Show. He has created two of the funniest characters of all time in Ace Ventura and the Mask. His roles in Limony Snikets, The Grinch and Horton Hears a Who will make those movies classics for young people and those young at hart to watch generation after generation.

Some of those old time character actors were really good. My favorite is Fujiwara Kamatari, who was in just about every PCL/Toho movie from 1933 to 1965, and quite a few after that. He had a sly and idiosyncratic manner of speaking which made him quite funny. You can see him in a bunch of Kurosawa movies, but i don't think he was well suited to Kurosawa, who wanted over-the-top emotion. (Mifune is much better in non-Kurosawa films.) Fujiwara was the lead in "Tabi yakusha" (Travelling actors) 1940, where he played a misunderstood & underappreciated pantomime horse Artist. Just great!

I'll add myself to the Jeremy Irons followers. His Oscar for Dead Ringers apparently got misplaced (so did Cronenberg's, come to think of it).

Also, to drag in my Fright Night fanboy POV, I must mention Chris Sarandon (husband of Susan) and, of course, Stephen Geoffreys, who was so underrated that he ended up in gay porn. I win.

"Oh, you're SO COOL, BREWSTER!"

Abe Vigoda

Come on it's Abe Vigoda, he's the best.

Martin Sheen isn't underrated, just underused. That may be his choice.

My vote: Terrence Howard. I see his face and sit down to watch whatever he's doing. He's intense, absorbed in his roles and easy on the eyes.
Another: Gary Sinise. Good presence but can't seem to get a movie role unless Tom Hanks is there.

Chris Walken...not many actors could play the exact same character everytime and still get cast in as many movies as he does.
I heart him.