The Most Underrated Actors/Performances of all time

[mrgarfunkle10]

Most Underrated Actors:
Don Cheadle: He is hilarious and amazing in everything he does. He makes the part his own. I really wish someone would give him a starring vehicle
Christian Bale: I remember him from one of his first films NEWSIES and thinking that someday he will be a star, I think that day has now come with his new starring role in Batman.
Pierce Brosnan: Not really considered an underrated actor but I think his work in the 007 series has made people forget actually how good of an actor he really is. I am looking forward to see Laws of Attraction.
Kate Hudson: Again not a person one usually considers an "underrated actor" but she has done all of these chick flicks everybody forgets her performance in Almost Famous which was truly amazing. Same can also go for Reese Witherspoon.

Underrated performances:
I will think of more later but these are all i got right now.

WIlliam Hurt in THE BIG CHILL: A great movie and a great performance. Glenn Close was nominated for the oscar but he was eually as good if not bettter.

Emma Thompson in WHIT: Okay look i know this wasnt actuallly a real movie and its definetly not underrated because she did win the golden globe for it but i think people forget how truly amazing it was. She would have one the oscar easily and i think it maybe one of the best performances of all time.

Tom Cruise in RAINMAN: Dustin Hoffman's performance is more well known but it is just as much Tom Cruises movie as it is Hoffmans

[Ted Pikul]

How can you mention Kate Hudson & Reese Witherspoon in the same breath.

Witherspoon has talent (even if she's misused it lately) whereas Hudson would have gotten nowhere without her famous mom.

Her career's headed firmly down the toilet like that other beneficiary of nepotism Mira Sorvino.

[Hannibal21]

Underrated actors/actresses:
JULIANNE MOORE (damn, when will this amazing talent get her due?)
Kieran Culkin
Frances McDormand
Don Cheadle
Leslie Howard
Humphrey Bogart (yes, as an actor he's vastly underrated)
Joseph Cotten
James Woods
James Cromwell
Ray Milland
Michael Madsen
Thelma Ritter
Claude Rains

Underrated performances:
Nearly all the performances in the LOTR Trilogy (particularly the ones from Astin, Serkis, Mortensen, and Wood)
Russell Crowe in The Insider (I'm still pondering over why he got the Oscar for Gladiator, but not for this or A Beautiful Mind)
Kevin Costner in A Perfect World
Humphrey Bogart in It's a Lonely Place
Charles Boyer in Gaslight
Penelope Cruz in Abre los Ojos
Jessica Walter in Play Misty For Me
Ava Gardner in The Night of the Iguana
Barbara Stanwyck in Meet John Doe
Clark Gable in Mogambo
Bette Davis in All This, and Heaven Too
Charles Boyer in Gaslight

More later as I think of them.

[Trinity]

Originally posted by Hannibal21
Ava Gardner in The Night of the Iguana
I thought she was so irritatingly over the top in that movie, as were all the other actors (even Deborah Kerr :eek:).

I'll only list a few underrated performances, because I'm not sure which actors I could consider underrated:

Paulette Goddard in Modern Times
Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire
Greer Garson in Blossoms in the Dust
Gene Tierney in Laura
Edward G. Robinson in The Woman in the Window
Deborah Kerr in Black Narcissus
Jodie Foster in Contact
Laura Harring in Mulholland Drive
Jennifer Westfledt in Kissing Jessica Stein

[mrgarfunkle10]

Ted Pikul


"How can you mention Kate Hudson & Reese Witherspoon in the same breath.

Witherspoon has talent (even if she's misused it lately) whereas Hudson would have gotten nowhere without her famous mom.

Her career's headed firmly down the toilet like that other beneficiary of nepotism Mira Sorvino."

This is exactly why she is underrated. Everyone thinks that she is only getting movies because of her mom but she really is a talented actress and like it or not people come to see her. I think you are very mistaken my friend

[The 8 Ball]

Underated Actors:

Maggie Cheung

Tony Leung Chiu-wai

Gong Li

Don Cheadle

Giovanni Ribisi

Barry Pepper

Phillip Baker Hall

Emily Watson

Jim Caviezel - No one even remembers his fricken' name!

Underrated Performances:

Adam Sandler -- Punch Drunk Love - His acting gave this interesting character more layers then he was written with. His facial expressions, and uses of his voice were so well done.

Lucy Liu -- Kill Bill: Vol. 1 - A respectful, sympathetic villian pulled off with so much attitude and energy by this actress, who gave her best performance.

[HHHLovesMovies]

Underrated Actors
- Barry Pepper
- Adam Beach
- Will Patton
- Greg Kinnear
- Jason Schwartzman

[VincentPrice]

Under-rated actors:

Bruce Campbell
William Forsythe
Vincent Price
Boris Karloff
Brian Cox
William Fichtner
Max Perlich
J.T. Walsh
Michael Rappaport
Kevin Corrigan
Donal Logue
Kiefer Sutherland

I could go on and on with this list.

Under-rated performances:

Boris Karloff in The Mummy
Boris Karloff in The Bride Of Frankenstein
Vincent Price in The Conqueror Worm
Peter Lorre in M
Kiefer Sutherland in...well....just about everything.

[ilovemovies]

Most underrated performance ever IMO is Arnold Schwarzenegger in Junior!


I'll list more later though.

[Ted Pikul]

"Russell Crowe in The Insider (I'm still pondering over why he got the Oscar for Gladiator, but not for this or A Beautiful Mind)"

Basically because he's a bit of an arse.

Fantastic actor but a lousy human being.

[Ted Pikul]

Michael Parks in From Dusk Till Dawn & both Kill Bills.

QT should definitely give him a lead role in one of his flicks.

The guy oozes star power.

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by Trinity
I thought she was so irritatingly over the top in that movie, as were all the other actors (even Deborah Kerr :eek:).

For the first time ever...Trinity makes me cry.


Tom Courtenay is very underrated. Admittedly, he's part of the most volcanic generation of actors in the motion picture era, and so tends to be overlooked from time to time, but goddamn does the man have an impressive career:

Strelnikov in Doctor Zhivago, the contrarian kid in Redgrave's utterly brilliant take on Allan Sillotoe's landmark novella, The Lonliness Of The Long Distance Runner, and (maybe best of all), the father of Eccleston's retarded, doomed son in Let Him Have It. A performance showing the kind of dignity and courage ordinary people can sometimes muster in intolerable circumstances.