There are lots of actors and actresses out there who barely get nods for their talent, or they’re not leading men and women, so they don’t get the paparazzi chasing after them and are rarely mentioned.
I’ll name a few whom I like:
Albert Brooks (fantastic in Finding Nemo and Broadcast News, but always very good)
Marcia Gay Harden (brilliant in Pollock and Mona Lisa Smile)
Joan Cusack (her brother gets the accolades, but she’s damn good too)
Steve Buscemi (one of my all time faves–due to appear in Sopranos Season 5!)
along the same lines:
Philip Seymour Hoffman (but he’s getting the bigger parts nowadays, still not a leading man type, but a far better actor than Ben’s Afflict or Keanu could ever hope to become)
-Tony Shaloub. Well, maybe nor as underrated since he won the Golden Globe for best lead actor in a television comedy (to paraphrase it), but he’s a rather funny guy in his roles without getting top billing. And he’s Adrian Monk, fer cryin’ out loud.
-Charles S. Dutton. Seeing him in Gothika reminded me of his days on Roc. You have to see Roc. Absolutely brilliant program. Absolutely brilliant.
-Amanda Plummer…usually stuck with the psycho roles, but look for her in The World According to Garp as the raped, mutilated Ellen James who rescues and inspires Garp against the Ellen Jamesians.
-Shelley Duvall. She gets stuck in some rather silly movies, but she definitely has a certain onscreen characteristic that makes her just seem comfortable.
[quote=“Alien”]Steve Buscemi (one of my all time faves–due to appear in Sopranos Season 5!)
along the same lines:
Philip Seymour Hoffman (but he’s getting the bigger parts nowadays, still not a leading man type, but a far better actor than Ben’s Afflict or Keanu could ever hope to become)
[/quote]
Hey, you stole mine I love these two - if either of them appears in a movie it’s a big plus in deciding whether to see it. They are just amazing in everything I’ve seen them in.
I’ve always liked Jack Black, although he’s a bigger name now.
I also like Clint Eastwood doing comedy, and Jim Carrey doing drama
Dominique Pinon: the rubber-faced actor who usually gets minor roles in French films (aside from ones by Jean-Claude Jeunet), but he’s quite good. After seeing Se Souvenir des Belles Choses, I was reminded of how versatile an actor he is. Look for him in Amelie, La Cite des Enfants Perdus (City of the Lost Children), Delicatessen, Diva, and Aliens 4.
Tom Green. He was so funny on the Tom Green Show on Roger’s Cable 22 in Ottawa. He was the student council president of my high school. Colonel By High School in North Gloucester in Ottawa. A really nice guy too.
And I disagree that Tom Green is underrated. In my opinion, he’s very overrated. If he disappeared from the Hollywood radar today he would still be overrated.
Don’t forget Ron Perlman as One the strongman in La Cite des Enfants Perdus. I remember him when he was in Beauty and the Beast on TV. My mom loved that show.
I really like this guy’s work. He was Murph Murphy, a divorced father totally devoted to his son, in The Perfect Storm. Murph was the quintessential Irish-American working man, imo.
And I thought he was very funny as the insecure Reed Rochchild in Boogie Nights.
He was also Happy Jack Mulraney in Gangs of New York.
Unfortunately, his work was, imo, vastly upstaged by Daniel Day-Lewis, who was unforgettable as William ‘Bill the Butcher’ Cutting (what a great name for a great character, imo).