# Actors whose talent is wasted **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868 "2003-07-12T01:26:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/41 "2003-07-16T13:36:28Z")
If you like Jeff Daniels see _The Purple Rose of Cairo._ (By the way, on this board you code with brackets “” not the more standard HTML arrows. (What are they called? Sideways carets? Arrows? Greater than and less than?) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/42 "2003-07-16T13:41:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by detop \* > \*\*That would be [Graham Greene](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Greene,+Graham+(II)) \*\* Would his appearances on The Red Green Show count as wasting his Oscar-winning talent? Red seemed to think so. Greene went through a rough spot mentally, which paused his career in the 90s. He’s said to be feeling much better now. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/43 "2003-07-16T13:46:53Z")
I think Brendon Fraser is a terrific actor, and I can’t for the life of me imagine why he picks the movies he does. I feel a personal need to become his agent, despite the fact that I don’t even know very much about what an agent does, I KNOW I could do a better job than whoever it is who is his agent now. He is great in serious roles like in _Gods and Monsters_, and I think his comedic skills are right up there. His comic timing is so fantastic that he does good work even in fairly lame comedies. There are some lines in _Blast From the Past_, a movie with a good concept and Christopher Walken(!) that fell rather flat anyway, that have me howling with laughter because his delivery is so perfect. Then he goes and does movies like _Duddly Do-Right_ – what is he thinking? And I second Oliver Platt, he’s also a favorite of mine who should get more screen time. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/44 "2003-07-16T16:23:41Z")
Since people have asked about Mark Linn-Baker… he’s currently on Broadway, starring in the Tony-nominated musical, “A Year With Frog and Toad.” For the record, he’s Toad! He married the daughter of Arnold Lobel, the creator of the Frog & Toad series of children’s books, and together, they adapted Lobel’s stories into a successful musical. So, while he may not have achieved the kind of stardom some fans hoped he would, neither is he starving, driving a cab, or waiting tables. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/45 "2003-07-16T16:32:44Z")
Eve said, “I’ve always thought Paula Prentiss was terrific and am disappointed she didn’t have a bigger career. Funy, gorgeous, smart–maybe she is too happily married to Richard Benjamin; or maybe being about 6’ tall hampered her. Shame; she’s hardly acted in 20 years now.” I love her too! I read an article way back when in which she said her and Richard decided they wanted a more traditional family so she gave it up to stay at home with the young 'uns. Maybe we’ll see more of her now that the kids are grown. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/46 "2003-07-16T22:52:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > If you like Jeff Daniels see _The Purple Rose of Cairo._ He’s also very good in _Fly Away Home_ with Anna Paquin. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/47 "2003-07-16T23:31:25Z")
As well as **Blood Work**. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/48 "2003-07-18T21:59:34Z")
Pah. You guys don’t KNOW what wasted talent is. I’ll give you some wasted talent: Kira Reed. She’s an actress who does mostly softcore sex films – Skinamax kinda stuff. She’s pretty good. Has a nice feel for light comedy – very nice touch in The Alien Files, a softcore parody of The X Files. Coulda been doing TV work or character roles if she’d started learning to act before she started doffing her clothes. But she kinda learned on the job so now she’s a porn actress. Penelope Pace. A hardcore bondage porn actress. Probably does not think she can act. She is wrong. I’ve seen few mainstream damsels in distress who can match her for convincingly playing DiD roles. Could probably do Marisa Tomei’s role in The Watcher with one hand tied behind her back … or both hands come to think of it. Was great in ZFX’s The Hitchhiker. But with her silicon breasts and her track record, I doubt if she’s gonna show up on the A list anytime soon. Now, THAT’s wasted talent. The other actors listed in this thread have had at least a SHOT at mainstream roles, however unworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/49 "2003-07-19T00:22:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Intaglio \* > \*\*Jason Alexander > The only Movie I remember him in that was any good was Pretty Woman - and that was a while ago, > But he was George on Seinfeld, probably other unmemorable Movies, or TV, now hacking Chicken at KFC that wastes any talent he has/had. \*\* He’s also good in a small part as a lawyer in **Jacob’s Ladder**. He’s a good character actor. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/50 "2003-07-19T00:31:44Z")
[Rutger Hauer](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Hauer,+Rutger) He seems too good for the little roles he’s played. Or maybe I’ve just seen him in too few films? ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868/51 "2003-07-19T00:38:30Z")
Anthony Zerbe, who has been a phenominal actor for three decades, but never has had a starring role. Most recently he was in Matrix Reloaded as the confidant of Morpheus (you know the politician guy), but his ability to fully realize a character is amazing. he did some fantastic guest roles in the 70’s on Hawaii 5-0, and Kung Fu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-talent-is-wasted/187868.md?page=2)