# Actors you like \[even\] more than before **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [August 29, 2022, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555 "2022-08-29T19:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/1 "2022-08-29T19:15:03Z")
In contrast to [Actors you don’t like anymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-dont-like-anymore/970458), who are some actors that you like more now than before? I’ve always enjoyed Henry Winkler, but watching him in **Barry** has given me a whole new appreciation of his depth. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/2 "2022-08-29T19:25:32Z")
How about **James Spader**? He was sorta okay for decades, but as an older guy he is able to pull off so much more. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/3 "2022-08-29T19:26:34Z")
I like Kevin Costner once again. He made a lot of crap movies after the Bodyguard and Dances with Wolves (like Water World and Robin Hood). He has found a new start with with his character on Yellowstone. Grizzled old man fits him well. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/4 "2022-08-29T19:28:26Z")
**John Ritter** was cringeworthy for me as a comedian. I found him shallow. Then I saw him in _Sling-blade_ and other dramas. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/5 "2022-08-30T01:20:37Z")
Stana Katic. I’ve always liked her, but the more I see of her the more I wish I could direct her in Shakespeare—or Æschylus, for that matter. (I was one of the several hundred who got to catch her the one night she did the terrifying [if you’re an actor] _White Rabbit Red Rabbit_ in New York.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/6 "2022-08-30T02:36:53Z")
I like both David Tennent and Michael Sheen but seeing them together as friends in real life and their zoom show made me like both more. Seeing Sam Jackson interact as an old married couple with his wife of over 40 years is adorable and makes me like him more. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/7 "2022-08-30T02:40:54Z")
I didn’t like Ryan Reynolds for years, but of late he’s won me over. Free Guy especially but many other of his roles in the last 4 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/8 "2022-08-30T02:47:56Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Seeing Sam Jackson interact as an old married couple with his wife of over 40 years is adorable and makes me like him more. Yeah, Samuel L Jackson just gets better and better. If you can find it, he reads a children’s book called _Go the F#$% to Sleep_ that’ll put you on the floor, laughing, imagining him reading it to a small kid. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/9 "2022-08-30T04:14:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > **John Ritter** was cringeworthy for me as a comedian. I found him shallow. Then I saw him in _Sling-blade_ and other dramas. Wow. He read the audiobook for a book called Stargirl and he did just a fantastic job. A great audiobook and he is the reason why. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/10 "2022-08-30T04:34:35Z")
**Keanu Reeves.** As a younger actor, he made a conscious effort to stretch himself, looking for roles that would test the boundaries of his ability. That’s a respectable impulse, but it necessarily meant he would exceed them now and then. For every _Speed_ or _Point Break,_ there would be an embarrassing _Much Ado_ or _Dracula._ As an older actor, he’s definitely found his comfortable lane, and he has the confidence to make fun of himself occasionally with stuff like _Always Be My Maybe._ Plus he keeps doing incredibly generous and classy things like this: > **[Keanu Reeves Wasn't On A Wedding Guest List — But He Dropped By Anyway](https://news.yahoo.com/keanu-reeves-wasnt-wedding-guest-131723292.html)** > > The bride described the "John Wick" actor as friendly and kind after he appeared at her reception this month. In my mind he’s spent a few decades slowly evolving from something like a “whoa” stoner joke to a national treasure. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/11 "2022-08-30T11:49:13Z")
Jon Hamm did a very good job as the star of a very good TV series. But other than **Mad Men** , he has seemingly done whatever goofy cameos or interesting supporting parts he feels like, whenever he feels like. “You want me to play the voice of an automated condo in the obscure Canadian web series **The Amazing Gayl Pile**? Sure, why not!” ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/12 "2022-08-30T15:08:52Z")
Michael McKean’s performance in _Better Call Saul_ made me respect him a lot more as an actor. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/13 "2022-08-30T15:44:35Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > As an older actor, he’s definitely found his comfortable lane, and he has the confidence to make fun of himself occasionally with stuff like _Always Be My Maybe._ Have you seen the series _Swedish Dicks_? It’s another “Reeves pops in occasionally to do a completely ridiculous cameo” show. (It also stars Peter Stormare, who is also great fun to watch.) My opinion of his acting is mixed (e.g. loved him in _Constantine_, found him wooden in _The Devil’s Advocate_), but there are a bazillion stories of his off-camera behavior that suggest he is an excellent human being. And I’ll take “good person, so-so actor” over the reverse any day. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/14 "2022-08-30T16:11:45Z")
More of a “no opinion” changing to “huge fan,” I knew basically nothing about Selena Gomez before this year. I knew she was on some Disney kids show, maybe? Had some pop albums that I’d never heard. Didn’t dislike her, just had no thoughts about her at all as teen fluff isn’t my thing. Then she shows up as the third lead on Only Murders in the Building, holding her own with Steve Martin and Martin Short with absolute crack comic timing and serious dramatic chops. Now I’m a fan, and I suspect she’ll have a much longer career than a lot of her teen industry compatriots. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/15 "2022-08-30T16:31:35Z")
I didn’t think much of Brad Pitt in the admittedly few roles I’ve seen him in. I thought he was just a looker and not much else. But he stole the show in _Once Upon A Time . . . In Hollywood_, IMO. Leonardo Dicaprio was very good, as always, but I liked Pitt’s performance even better. And I didn’t care for Wil Wheaton much in _Stand By Me_ or at all in _Star Trek TNG_, but I loved him in _The Big Bang Theory_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/16 "2022-08-31T13:29:36Z")
I absolutely hated Steve Martin, both as an actor and a comedian. Then I read something about that he wasn’t being a comedian, he was acting like he was a comedian. It changed my perspective and movies like _Roxanne, Three Amigos, L.A. Story,_ and others of that era showed him to be quite a good comic actor when he dropped the schtick. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/17 "2022-08-31T14:06:45Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > **My opinion of his acting is mixed** (e.g. loved him in _Constantine_, found him wooden in _The Devil’s Advocate_), but there are a bazillion stories of his off-camera behavior that suggest he is an excellent human being. And I’ll take “good person, so-so actor” over the reverse any day. - A scene with Reeves where an actor emerges. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QFaUX9ZbyRM/hqdefault.jpg "Parenthood (1989) "Tod's Dad's Breakfast"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFaUX9ZbyRM) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/18 "2022-08-31T15:39:34Z")
I agree with the aforementioned Henry Winkler and Michael McKean. Their over-the-top, gag-driven performances in **Happy Days** and **Laverne and Shirley** turned me off of them for a long time. But Winkler’s subsequent dry wit development and McKean’s fine acting chops eventually won me over. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/19 "2022-08-31T20:46:26Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > **Keanu Reeves.** As a younger actor, he made a conscious effort to stretch himself, looking for roles that would test the boundaries of his ability. That’s a respectable impulse, but it necessarily meant he would exceed them now and then. For every _Speed_ or _Point Break,_ there would be an embarrassing _Much Ado_ or _Dracula._ > > As an older actor, he’s definitely found his comfortable lane, and he has the confidence to make fun of himself occasionally with stuff like _Always Be My Maybe._ > > Plus he keeps doing incredibly generous and classy things like this: > > [Keanu Reeves Wasn't On A Wedding Guest List — But He Dropped By Anyway](https://news.yahoo.com/keanu-reeves-wasnt-wedding-guest-131723292.html) > > In my mind he’s spent a few decades slowly evolving from something like a “whoa” stoner joke to a national treasure. Yeah, even back in his younger days when he was memetically wooden, I respected the courage it took to attempt challenging roles in movies like _My Own Private Idaho_ and _Much Ado About Nothing_. Especially the latter; for a young actor primarily known for playing a dimwitted stoner to share a screen with RADA-trained heavyweights like Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Brian Blessed and Richard Briers, and in a Shakespeare adaptation to boot, took some stones. And, as you say, he’s famously one of the nicest people in Hollywood; I remember when he bought motorcycles for all the stuntmen involved in the “Burly Brawl” in (?) _The Matrix: Revolutions_. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555/20 "2022-09-02T12:58:23Z")
If you haven’t already, try him in a non-comedic role: [The Spanish Prisoner - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanish_Prisoner) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-like-even-more-than-before/970555.md?page=2)