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OT: Underrated Actors

Mahershala Ali

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Best known for playing Cottonmouth on Luke Cage (Netflix) but has been in other stuff. Think he has an awesome future
 
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Idris Elba- I like a lot of his supporting roles. He's starting to become a lead actor more.
Oscar Isaac-he's starting to come into his own
Don Cheadle- I'm having a hard time remembering his last bad flix
Mark Ruffalo-I like his movies as well.
 
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zappaa said:
Brad Pitt…Inglorious Bastards, Fury
Tom Cruise….Last Samurai, Born on the fourth of July, Rain man
Paul Newman…Cool hand Luke, Verdict, Hud, The Hustler, The Sting, Butch Cassidy
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You left out Brad Pitt in Snatch. A classic!
 
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PatrickRU92 said:
Mahershala Ali

cottonmouthnavy-main106.jpg


Best known for playing Cottonmouth on Luke Cage (Netflix) but has been in other stuff. Think he has an awesome future
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Isn't he Remi on House of Cards? I'd say more people know him from that. Agree that he's quite good.

Zap's list looks an awful lot like a list of overrated "superstars," though seems like he's really looking at underrated performances, not actors.

Tom Hardy's my favorite actor at the moment. Not sure he's underrated, but he's not quite a blockbuster superstar despite being light years better than most. Guy just transforms into all kinds of weird characters.

Oscar Isaac is a good one, have enjoyed his stuff and gone from "movie sounds good but who's Oscar Isaac" to someone I'd watch a movie to see.
 
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PatrickRU92 said:
Mahershala Ali

cottonmouthnavy-main106.jpg


Best known for playing Cottonmouth on Luke Cage (Netflix) but has been in other stuff. Think he has an awesome future
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Agree on Ali, though I'm not sure he qualifies as underrated anymore. Also had roles in House of Cards, Moonlight (won Oscar), and Hidden Figures. He's kinda broken out bigly.
 
Okay, gotta stop this madness right now. How are Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe underrated? Like, at all. They could all be near the top of a list of "biggest names in Hollywood over the past two or three decades." Not exactly flying under the radar.
 
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Ann Dowd is a great actress who ends up under the radar a lot. She was in leftovers. She was in a crazy movie called Compliance and many others.
She is also super nice, friendly, and humble from the times I've spoken to her.
 
Two Paul's -- Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti.

Jon Lovitz, I personally find to be one of the funniest people on the planet yet he is never regarded as such.

Also Joey Slotnick, largely unknown, was excellent in some of his roles. Particularly as Woz in Pirates of Silicon Valley
 
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FanuSanu52 said:
Okay, gotta stop this madness right now. How are Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe underrated? Like, at all. They could all be near the top of a list of "biggest names in Hollywood over the past two or three decades." Not exactly flying under the radar.
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I do think that Brad Pitt never gets enough credit because of his good looks. Everyone just says he's a pretty boy but when you look at his body of work he has done some amazing movies.

I think the other guys have gotten a little bit more critical acclaim.
 
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SirScarlet said:
I do think that Brad Pitt never gets enough credit because of his good looks. Everyone just says he's a pretty boy but when you look at his body of work he has done some amazing movies.

I think the other guys have gotten a little bit more critical acclaim.
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I don't know - maybe in the 90's. At this point he's not that pretty and has gotten his fair share of acclaim, awards, nominations, etc. He's also the definition of an A lister.

To me, an underrated actor is the type who you recognize by face, immediately realize, "oh yeah, he's great," but have no idea what his name is until someone else drops it. Or, in the message board version, you Google the name, find a photo and realize - yeah, that guy really is good. Either you're bad with names, or those guys really are flying under the radar.
 
FanuSanu52 said:
Okay, gotta stop this madness right now. How are Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe underrated? Like, at all. They could all be near the top of a list of "biggest names in Hollywood over the past two or three decades." Not exactly flying under the radar.
Click to expand...
You're right- I remove Russell Crowe and nominate - Ben Kingsley, Joe Pecci, Stanley Tucci.
 
ClassOf02 said:
Agree on Ali, though I'm not sure he qualifies as underrated anymore. Also had roles in House of Cards, Moonlight (won Oscar), and Hidden Figures. He's kinda broken out bigly.
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He's that guy when you see him you go "oh he's the guy on Luke Cage "(or House of Cards which admittedly I don't watch) but you don't remember his name, which makes him underrated in my book :)
 
The whole former cast of "The State".
Michael Ian Black
Michael Showalter
Ken Marino
Etc.

Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down, Vice Principals etc.)

James Franco in everything

Paul Rudd in everything
 
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FanuSanu52 said:
Okay, gotta stop this madness right now. How are Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe underrated? Like, at all. They could all be near the top of a list of "biggest names in Hollywood over the past two or three decades." Not exactly flying under the radar.
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Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are underrated by their peers, critics and the Academy, not the public.
It took one of Newman’s worst performances to win his Oscar.
Crowe doesn’t belong on the list.
Kevin Costner is an A list actor who’s an underrated actor imo.,
Watch him In Open Range
 
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FanuSanu52 said:
I don't know - maybe in the 90's. At this point he's not that pretty and has gotten his fair share of acclaim, awards, nominations, etc. He's also the definition of an A lister.

To me, an underrated actor is the type who you recognize by face, immediately realize, "oh yeah, he's great," but have no idea what his name is until someone else drops it. Or, in the message board version, you Google the name, find a photo and realize - yeah, that guy really is good. Either you're bad with names, or those guys really are flying under the radar.
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I think we're just using different definitions for underrated.

clearly, Pitt is recognizable by everyone. I am not contesting that.

I was more getting at what people think of his acting ability. I do agree with you that more recently he is getting recognized for his abilities.

for a long time, people thought he was a bad actor, and I would go nuts arguing he was excellent. Usually by the time I got done listing his movies, people agreed. I guess he still catches sh!t for that scene in thelma and louise...lol.
 
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zappaa said:
Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are underrated by their peers, critics and the Academy, not the public.
It took one of Newman’s worst performances to win his Oscar.
Crowe doesn’t belong on the list.
Kevin Costner is an A list actor who’s an underrated actor imo.,
Watch him In Open Range
Click to expand...

Love Open Range. "Men are gonna get killed here today, and I'm gonna kill 'em."

I'll agree that Open Range is an underrated movie, and Kevin Costner was great in it. He got his due back in the day, though, then kind of disappeared - Waterworld really sunk his career, as I recall it.

IMO, when Hollywood keeps giving you starring or major role in huge movies (Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise), it takes away any claim to "underrated" you might have had. Tom Cruise is a great example of someone who's been overrated that way - constantly a star of movies in which dozens of other actors would have seemed better choices.

I can agree he's had some great roles that might have been underrated (Born on the Fourth of July was a great movie, great performance), and maybe underrated by critics (wtf cares what critics say), but no way has someone with a career like that, complete with all kinds of awards, been underrated by their peers or the industry.
 
RU82 said:
Randy Quaid
Jeff Daniels
Joan Cusack
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I really like John Cusack for this category. Whenever I partake of a discussion of who our greatrest actors are, his name rarely comes up. But he has been in some very good movies. Quirky, but good:

High Fidelity
Grosse Pointe Blank (one of my all time favorites.)
Say Anything
Better Off Dead
The Grifters
The Sure Thing
Con Air (belongs in the great bad movie thread)

His sister Joan may belong in the underrated category as well.

I like Jeff Bridges for this also. Yes, he is a star, but not often mentioned as one our "great actors."

The Big Lebowski (a classic)
Crazy Heart (another of my favorites)
Last Picture Show
Fearless
The Fabulous Baker Boys
 
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HeyHuey said:
Russell Crowe Gladiator, Beautiful Mind, American Gangster, 3:10 to Yuma, LA Confidential, Master and Commander, Cinderalla Man
images
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I'd have to agree with the others, Huey. When you look at the list of movies Crowe has made, he might just be one of the greatest actors of his generation. . . . . . . Which might make him underrated because I don't think I have ever heard anyone describe him this way. :)
 
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Bobby Cannavale- I think he's very underrated. Not sure if he'll ever be a lead actor but his supporting roles are great. Also he's from Union City, NJ
 
zappaa said:
Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are underrated by their peers, critics and the Academy, not the public.
It took one of Newman’s worst performances to win his Oscar.
Crowe doesn’t belong on the list.
Kevin Costner is an A list actor who’s an underrated actor imo.,
Watch him In Open Range
Click to expand...

Open Range...good call Zap...great movie!
 
This thread is mostly underrated performances, not actors, which are very different things. Highly rated actors can have performances that don't get enough credit, I suppose, but if they're highly rated actors they probably aren't being greatly overlooked. On the other hand, underrated actors are likely not getting enough credit for anything they do--although they're all just actors, not people trying to cure cancer.
 
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Good call on Jeff Bridges. I liked him in True Grit, along with a bunch of other movies

I'd list all the main actors in Trainspotting
Ewan Mcgregor - besides his numerous movies, he can actually sing
Robert Carlyle - besides The Full Monty, he's plays a mean bad guy, along with Hitler
Jonny Lee Miller - like him in the TV series Elementary
Ewen Bremner - more of a character actor, but very recognizable

Chris Pine - definitely has good acting chops. Besides Star Trek, he's shares the screen with Bridges in Hell or High Water, with Denzel in Unstoppable, and a crazy redneck assassin in Smokin' Aces.
 
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