# Actors you love--but NOT in their most famous/lauded roles! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2017, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220 "2017-02-07T12:07:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/1 "2017-02-07T12:07:11Z")
I’ve got two good examples, I think: **Daniel Radcliffe.** I think he’s a fantastic actor. Charismatic but not doesn’t put ego into his roles. I loved him in [Horns](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1528071/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_13). This is where I was first really turned onto his acting chops. But he is actually not very good in the Harry Potter movies. He’s not terrible mind you, and a bunch of it is not is fault: Harry Potter is a pretty weak character, all told, and Hermione, Ron, Snape, and, well, just about everyone else ends up more interesting than Harry. But I think it’s also fair to say that Radcliffe doesn’t bring anything special to the character that helps it transcend its weaknesses. Harry just seems to be going through the preordained motions most of the time. **Heath Ledger.** I liked him a lot before [The Dark Knight](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/?ref_=nv_sr_2). His charm and charisma makes [10 Things I Hate About You](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147800/?ref_=nv_sr_1) a really good movie. He is also very good in [A Knight’s Tale](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183790/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_13). (And I need to see [Brokeback Mountain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_6) sometime.) But as the Joker? Nope. I am a fan of _Batman Begins_, but I think _The Dark Knight_ is a really stupid and tiresome movie (and _Rises_ is just abysmal trash). I think the Joker in this movie isn’t fun or interesting, just overly mannered and kinda fake. All of the lizard tongue and tics and whatnot: overdone. As with Harry Potter, however, I don’t think the character is very well written, so I don’t blame Ledger for doing as much as he could with little, though I don’t praise the direction he took, either. Feel free to concur or disagree with my examples and… what are YOURS?! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/2 "2017-02-07T12:28:53Z")
I’m a big fan of the 1985 film _Witness_, so that’s what I always think of first when I hear the name “Harrison Ford.” Does he _act_ better in it than in, say, _Star Wars_ or the Indiana Jones flicks? I suppose he does. (A very young Viggo Mortensen also appears briefly in _Witness_, so I almost gave that as my answer to the OP, but that would have been a joke answer – his part is too small to demonstrate acting skills.) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/3 "2017-02-07T12:53:17Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > I’ve got two good examples, I think: > > **Daniel Radcliffe.** I think he’s a fantastic actor. Charismatic but not doesn’t put ego into his roles. I loved him in [Horns](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1528071/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_13). This is where I was first really turned onto his acting chops. > > But he is actually not very good in the Harry Potter movies. He’s not terrible mind you, and a bunch of it is not is fault: Harry Potter is a pretty weak character, all told, and Hermione, Ron, Snape, and, well, just about everyone else ends up more interesting than Harry. But I think it’s also fair to say that Radcliffe doesn’t bring anything special to the character that helps it transcend its weaknesses. Harry just seems to be going through the preordained motions most of the time. If you’ve got a strong stomach for gross-out medical humor, check out _[A Young Doctor’s Notebook](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2164430/)_ with Radcliffe as the young doctor and Jon Hamm as his older self. (The hardest thing to buy here is that Radcliffe could grow up to be Hamm, who’s a good 8 - 10 inches taller). He was also very good as Kipling’s son in _[My Boy Jack](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0851430/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_22)_ with David Haig. I’m not big on Harry Potter either, but I like what Radcliffe’s been doing with his grown-up career when he could have just coasted. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@The\_Pork-Chop\_Express](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Pork-Chop_Express)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/4 "2017-02-07T13:59:53Z")
Here’s a twofer; Daryl Hannah and Aidan Quinn in Reckless (1984). ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/5 "2017-02-07T13:59:56Z")
The _Twilight_ had me thinking Kristen Stewart would be a trendy, disposable, flavor-of-the-month blessed to have her flavor last artificially longer than it should since she lucked out and booked a franchise. I was disappointed to hear she would get to play Joan Jett in _The Runaways_, but I actually thought she was great in it. Since then I’ve seen her in _On the Road_, _Clouds of Sils Maria_, _Still Alice_, _American Ultra_, _Café Society_, _Certain Women_, and I’m really looking forward to _Personal Shopper_ (same director as _Clouds of Sils Maria_). She has consistently been quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/6 "2017-02-07T14:05:30Z")
Horns was a fucking awesome movie! I’ll go with Woody Harrelson in “Natural Born Killers”. Especially for the time in his career he played it. He went from the lovable rube on Cheers to playing the part of a total psychopath. No way I could have guessed he could pull off a bad guy role before that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/7 "2017-02-07T14:06:40Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > [Kristen Stewart] has consistently been quite good. Yes, I haven’t seen her in much but she does seem to have turned out to be a “real” actress. And now she’s directing as well. She seems to be a strong-willed, genuine person: Hey, I’m dating a chick, I don’t care what you think. Good on her. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/8 "2017-02-07T14:13:14Z")
Michael Moriarty, glittering alongside the usual grunge in the sci-fi monster picture entitled _ **"Q".** _ Martin Sheen in “Badlands” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/9 "2017-02-07T14:24:09Z")
**Aeschines** , can you clarify what kind of discussion you intended to start? I had thought you were asking: “You like the actor but you DO NOT LIKE their most lauded role.” But the discussion seems to be: “MY FAVORITE of the actor’s work is something other than the most lauded role.” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/10 "2017-02-07T14:54:24Z")
Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones where never better than in [The Sunset Unlimited](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510938/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/11 "2017-02-07T14:58:56Z")
I think Jim Carrey’s dramatic work is 10 times better than all his comedy ones. No offense to Ace Ventura (his best comedic work) but he’s fantastic in The Majestic, Truman Show and Man on the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/12 "2017-02-07T15:28:29Z")
I’m not a big fan of Jack Black, and could live without most of his films. But I have to admit, despite my misgivings when I first heard about it, I liked him as Carl Denham in peter Jackson’s remake of **King Kong**. The part was completely different from Robert Armstrong’s original depiction, but it was supposed to be, and Black carried off the re-interprtetation surprisingly well. I kinda liked him in _Kung fu Panda_, too. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/13 "2017-02-07T20:44:48Z")
How about actors I like a lo but NOT in the movies that earned them Oscars? I have admired Ben Kingsley in LOADS of movies. He’s a superb actor of admirable range. But he bored me silly in\*\*\* Gandhi.\*\*\* Geoffrey Rush is a wonderful actor who got the Oscar for a gimmicky, one-note performance in \*\*\*Shine. * * * ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/14 "2017-02-07T20:47:28Z")
I loved David Duchovny as the cross-dressing federal agent in _Twin Peaks_. Everything else has left me unimpressed. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/15 "2017-02-07T21:23:57Z")
Marlon Brando is a Master Thespian, who always gives a good performance. However, I did not really care for Vito Corleone in _The Godfather_, or Stanley Kowalski in _A Streetcar Named Desire_. (Although I will admit that those may have been intentional, and that my dislike of the characters could be a testament to the greatness of the actor.) Someday I may force myself to watch _On the Waterfront_, but the subject matter does not interest me. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/16 "2017-02-08T03:16:08Z")
I’m only a mild Star Trek fan. But Patrick Stewart really was at his best playing Sejanus in the excellent series _I, Claudius_. I’m sure his performance was lauded but I also am sure many fans aren’t familiar with it. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/17 "2017-02-08T21:15:00Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I’m only a mild Star Trek fan. But Patrick Stewart really was at his best playing Sejanus in the excellent series _I, Claudius_. I’m sure his performance was lauded but I also am sure many fans aren’t familiar with it. Nice reminder. I put this on my IMDb watchlist. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/18 "2017-02-08T21:23:27Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I’m a big fan of the 1985 film _Witness_, so that’s what I always think of first when I hear the name “Harrison Ford.” Does he _act_ better in it than in, say, _Star Wars_ or the Indiana Jones flicks? I suppose he does. > > (A very young Viggo Mortensen also appears briefly in _Witness_, so I almost gave that as my answer to the OP, but that would have been a joke answer – his part is too small to demonstrate acting skills.) Actually I’d say Harrison Ford’s best work was in _The Mosquito Coast_. After only seeing him in adventure films and hero roles (_Star Wars_, _Indiana Jones_, _Witness_) to suddenly see him as this obsessed patriarch, it was a revelation. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/19 "2017-02-08T22:56:40Z")
I love Hugh Laurie. I will NOT watch him in “House.” ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220/20 "2017-02-09T00:18:55Z")
I’m a big fan of Al Pacino…in one of my favorite movies, _Author! Author!_ I haven’t seen most of the other work that he’s known for (except in the ubiquitous clips), and what I have seen - _Sea of Love_, _Scent of A Woman_, \*The Devil’s Advocate \*- I didn’t like much. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-love-but-not-in-their-most-famous-lauded-roles/779220.md?page=2)