Who is the most underrated actor in Hollywood?

F

Fionnan2

Rivendell
In my opinion that title should almost certainly go to Ed norton.I think he is a very versatile and great actor and yet you hear very little of him anywhere.
 
He's had two leading roles in the last year alone. An underrated actor, as I define it, would be someone who never gets a lead role but consistently outshines everyone else while playing a smaller part. I'd go with John C. Reilly, myself.
 
and has won more than a few awards for his craft, I do not think he is underrated; rather, I think he choses roles outside the mainstream because they are more interesting and character-driven than the big Hollywood blockbusters that make big names for their leading men. He is much like Johnny Depp in that regard; Depp abandoned his pop idol status from 21 Jump Street in favor of quirky, offbeat roles such as Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Ichabod Crane and The Man Who Cried. And Roux in Chocolat. *sigh* *sigh again* *swoon*

My nominee would be Gary Oldman. I think he is absolutely the best actor I have seen.
 
Action, drama, comedy, musicals, dancer. Best known as Snape in the Harry Potter movies. Critics agree he owns the movie whenever he's on screen. He should have been made a leading man a decade ago.

Most underrated actress: Tilda Swinton who can be warm or cold, overt or subtle, funny or serious. She owns the screen as Jadis the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Most overrated: George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
 
Both are usually supporting actors, but both bring something to their roles that a lot of others don't They just kinda fall into a role and you forget it's them. That kind of acting malleability is rare. Of course there are the big actors, but you never forget that you're watching Tom Hanks or Morgan Freeman. With these guys, you forget that they are there, other than the fact that the character does its job in the film. Now that's good acting as far as I'm concerned.
 
Have to agree (although Clooney surprised me in "O Brother"). Other overrateds: Meg Ryan, Cameron Diaz, and Owen Wilson.
 
in the reviews I read are usually dismissed as mere "stars"; even the Oscar wins by Clooney and Roberts are largely felt to be popularity awards, in my experience. I suppose it depends who's doing the rating: I find Clooney, Roberts and Ryan to be critically underrated (and Rickman highly respected).

Diaz and Wilson seem likewise not to be much praised for their acting (and generally I agree).
 
He was on the show 'Firefly', as well as the films ' Serenity' and 'Waitress'. He's such a great actor, and i'm still amazed that he's not more well known.
 
he hasn't forgotten where he came from. He wasn't "too good" to return---however briefly---to the soap opera that launched his career. You're just not cool or respected until you diss that genre and refuse to answer any more questions about such a dark past. ;)
 
Ed Harris is one of my all-time favourites. From Milk Money to The Rock to The Abyss... anything I've seen him in... he's phenomenal!
I also adore Oliver Platt! What a Bilbo he'd make! He's hilarious in Lake Placid. The sarcasm flies in that film! And Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody) has a BALL in it as well!
 
Edward Norton, not that many people have heard of him... that I know of. He is an incredibly awesome Actor but so is Nathan Fillion, and practically no one has heard of him either... so it is a battle between the two.



Edward[heart][heart][heart]~ Nathan [heart][heart][heart]
 
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That's a bit different:

Critically Overrated: Robin Williams and Halle Berry

Critically Underrated: Brendan Fraser and Milla Jovovich
 
But I was just telling my daughter, after we'd watched an episode of Smallville, that Tom Welling flies way under the radar of the critics. He can ACT.

Don't even make me start, though, on Elijah Wood.

WG
 
I first saw him as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham in the otherwise awful Kevin Costner "Robin Hood" in the early 90's. His rape scene towards the end ("Hold still, I'm trying to found a dynasty!") was worth the whole movie.

And he did get a romantic part in Sense & Sensibility.

I'm backing him for Smaug in The Hobbit.
 
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