Underrated Actors- Page 2

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 11:52pm

It is urgent that I add:

Toni Collette
Claire Danes

[MaTakeALookAtMe]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:46am

Thanks for adding Toni Collette...she is great. I really enjoyed her small role in The Hours. When you can hold your own playing opposite Julianne Moore, thats an accomplishment...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:56am

She's great in everything she's ever been in!!!!!!

She broke my heart in THE SIXTH SENSE, she was fantastic in ABOUT A BOY, and she was robbed of a Tony Award for her amazing performance in THE WILD PARTY. I truly love her.

Addition:

Amanda Peet.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 3:33am

Molly Shannon! Can you say superstar! Just kidding.

[broadway86]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:07am

munk-

Collette definitely deserved a Tony for "Wild Party".

Caroline-Q:

I'm not saying that she's a great actress, I'm just saying that she's much better than people give her credit for. She was excellent as Ophelia in "Hamlet", and she was also good in "The Business of Strangers". She also had a wonderful scene in "The Bourne Supremacy".

I'd like to add:

Danny Glover
Christian Bale
Neve Campbell
Jeff Bridges
Ally Sheedy
Jeremy Davies
Joan Allen
Paul Bettany
Laura Dern
Zooey Deschanel
Agnes Bruckner
Robert Downey Jr.
Lupe Ontiveros
Alison Lohman
Samantha Morton
Diane Lane
Michelle Pfeiffer
Mary McDonnell
Bruce Greenwood
Michael Rapaport
Giovanni Ribisi
River Phoenix
Gary Oldman
Joaquin Phoenix
Gillian Anderson
Patricia Clarkson
Drew Barrymore
Brittany Murphy
Dan Futterman
Rebecca De Mornay
Janet McTeer
Sam Rockwell
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Patricia Arquette
Elaine Cassidy
Tilda Swinton
Bruce Davison
Frances O'Connor
Charlotte Rampling (watch "Under the Sand"!!!)
Lili Taylor
Dennis Quaid
Robin Wright Penn
Alan Alda
Catherine Keener
Kevin Bacon
Bonnie Hunt
William H. Macy
Liam Neeson
Madeline Stowe
Thora Birch
Linda Fiorentino
Robert Carlyle
Pam Grier
Kyra Sedgwick
John Turturro
Stockard Channing
Updated On: 3/22/05 at 10:07 AM

[Tom1071]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:39am

Tonya Pinkins
Cynthia Nixon

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:43am

*puts on Gary Coleman a la Avenue Q voice* Well, Damn! that's a lotta names Bway!

[Spooky]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:46pm

Bless you broadway86
Catherine Keener

This woman is the very definition of underrated. Which is probably a good thing in her opinion.

And to add to the list:
Cate Blanchett (even though she won the Oscar, her body of work is extraordinary)
Kate Beckinsale
Emily Mortimer
Billy Bob Thornton
Elizabeth Perkins
Toni Collette

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 12:56pm

I like Catherine Keener, but she was horrible in her stage debut in Burn This. She has no knowledge of stage acting.

[Spooky]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:19pm

I loved her in that!
She'd done some theater work (small) in LA prior to that.

[broadway86]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:37pm

I liked her in "Burn This". She started off rather shaky, but found herself by the time that Edward Norton came onto the scene. I thought he was sensational in that role. If only it came to Broadway, he would've had a Tony.

Spooky, I also agree with all of your added names. Emily Mortimer was heartbreaking in "Lovely & Amazing".

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 1:55pm

Hmmm, maybe I caught an "off" performance of hers, but I didn't even buy her performance at it's most basic level- the fact that she plays a ballet dancer. She slumped around onstage, and although she's going through a terrible situation, if that was a choice she made, it was a bad physical one.

Ed Norton was fantastic and explosive. Dallas Roberts was really wonderful. He seems to be making a career of playing "gay."

The final scene of the production with the two lovers lying on the couch, with snowfall in the background, was mesmerizing.

I think Keener is far more effective onscreen.

[broadway86]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 2:02pm

Roberts was really great.

I would love to see Ashley Judd, Robert Downey Jr. (or even Ed Norton), and Christopher Meloni (as Burton) do a movie version.

[Dextrous Existence]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:20pm

Me.

[Adoannie925]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:38pm

Jane Horrocks (Royal Shakespeare Company to Ab Fab to Little Voice to Nevermind The Horrocks...the woman can act), Wallace Shawn (mostly a character actor, but did anyone see him in Vanya on 42nd street??), and Julianne Moore is quite underrated. I've always enjoyed Julianne Moore's acting, but seeing her play Yelena in Vanya on 42nd Street was incredible.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:33am

And I'll add Adrien Brody. Sure, he was amazing in THE PIANIST and won an oscar, but why has he only done two movies since then, and they're both awful? He needs more work!

[broadway86]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 8:25am

Yeah, there must be a better way to showcase Brody's talent.

[JaiRoAngel]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:02pm

I totally agree with whoever said Parker Posey, Jim Carrey, and Kate Winslet!

Of the new up and coming actresses, I really love Keira Knightly. I think she is great, and oh so beautiful. I hope she gets the recognition she deserves.

And although he's an Oscar winner (and I read on here that alot of you guys are pissed at his support of hunting), I think Jeremy Irons is one of the greatest actors and deserves more fame and recognition for his fabulous body or work.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:05pm

I always thought I was underrated.

[broadway86]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 1:07pm

Feodor, you are underrated.

JaiRo-

I think Keira Knightey has a lot of talent that we haven't seen yet. She was fine in "Pirates...", but she had a really nice scene in "Love Actually" that releid on her facial reactions.

Speaking of Parker Posey, she is my GIRL! She was great in "Best in Show", "House of Yes", yada yada yada... but what about "Scream 3"? She was hilarious.

"Here's how I see it: I've got no house, no bodyguard, no movie, and I'm being stalked. Because someone wants to kill me? No, because someone wants to kill you. So right now, starting now, I go where you go. That way, if someone wants to kill me, I'll be with you, and since he really wants to kill you, he won't kill me, he'll kill you. Make sense?"

[Garland Grrrl]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 4:17pm

i just wanted to mention one of my favorite new york actresses, lizan mitchell. her range is infinite . you may be familiar with her as the sister from THE HUMAN STAIN but her accomplishments go far beyond stealing scenes from gary sinise. lizan rules. she pops up at the classical theater of harlem now and then. i wish i had a photo to share. i know you know her face!

Updated On: 3/23/06 at 04:17 PM

[Dre2387]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 4:43pm

I'd like to say that most of those are really good actors and actresses but I wouldn't consider them underrated.

One that I would consdier underrated is Damian Lewis. he was in Dreamcatcher, Band of Brothers and Forsythe Saga. And he's british and can put on a brilliant american accent, as shown in BoB and Dreamcatcher.

PS Sorry if I sound like a bitch. I'm tired and depressed cause I got turned down from an internship that i really wanted.

[justme2]

Posted: 3/23/06 at 4:49pm

There are plenty that I can't bring to mind right now; the two that come to mind immediately are:

Joan Cusack - This woman is funny in any movie, bad or good. Why isn't she utilized more? I hope it's because she chooses not to be, but that's probably not the case.

Annette Bening - She does fantastic work in comedy and drama, and I look forward to each piece of work released.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 7:32am

I agree with whoever posted about Madeline Stowe. I'm sorry she seems to have vanished while others have, shall we say, not. She was great in TWELVE MONKEYS and SHORT CUTS.

I still think that Johnny Depp is underrated. There's a lot more to what he does than mere ticks and twitches and weirdness for weirdness' sake.

In terms of older movies, I'd say that Claude Rains and Frank Morgan are seriously under-rated. Rains is always good in whatever he does, especially in CASABLANCA and NOTORIOUS. Frank Morgan will live forever as a result of THE WIZARD OF OZ, but his work in THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER is nothing short of brilliant, funny and moving.

And since I mentioned WIZARD, how about Margaret Hamilton? How many performances have gotten into our collective unconscious the way her Wicked Witch of the West has?

[peach]

Posted: 3/24/06 at 11:22am

Edward Norton - one of the most versatile actors out there -American History X, Fight Club, Primal Fear, The Score, the Italian Job, etc. etc. He's brilliant in every role he plays.

Up until recently, I alawys thought Reese Witherspoon was a bit underrated. Now she's gotten her recognition!

And this may seem an odd choice, but Matt Damon. He's a respected actor, but he is more talented than I think he gets credit for.

Leonardo DiCaprio. Yes, he can be annoying, but he is a very, very good actor. Particularly, I'm thinking of his performances in The Basketball Diaries and Gilbert Grape, and as much as I really didn't like the movie, he was great in The Aviator.
And I agree completely about Johnny Depp and Claire Danes.
Updated On: 3/24/06 at 11:22 AM