# Favorite Actor Who Was Never In A GREAT Movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980 "2020-03-05T21:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/61 "2020-03-09T23:35:37Z")
Bryan Cranston. There must be a ton TV and stage actors that fit this category. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2020, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/62 "2020-03-09T23:57:59Z")
Great scene from Moscow on the Hudson , a guy is following Robin Williams. He says “KGB?” the guys says “No, GAY” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/63 "2020-03-10T00:01:51Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > Without going down the “was it GREAT or just good” rabbit hole, I think Duane “The Rock” Johnson is a really good leading man who has never gotten a breakthrough role. He is a lot of fun to watch, but it seems like he is stuck as lead in second-rate movies–back when we had double-features, the B movie. I’m not sure he’s stuck in them; I think it’s what he likes to be in. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/64 "2020-03-10T00:15:43Z")
I’d say Martin Freeman. He’s very funny and he’s been in a lot of movies, but no great movies. If it weren’t for _Schindler’s List_, I’d say Ralph Fiennes. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/65 "2020-03-10T00:47:17Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m not sure he’s stuck in them; I think it’s what he likes to be in. Like my pick from earlier-- Jean Claude van Damme, I think The Rock and van Damme are quite content with their place in the movie industry. And they both are quite humble; they never tried spend almost 40 minutes to the end of one of their movies to preach about a pet cause they cared about.(i.e. Steven Seagal and _On Deadly Ground)_ > [@](#): > > Producer and Director Steven Seagal filmed almost forty minutes of footage for the environmental message at the end of this movie, and planned to use it all in the final cut. After pressure from Warner Brothers, and a disastrous preview screening, where audience members booed, laughed, and made obscene gestures for the entire sequence, Seagal cut the final scene down to about seven minutes. > **[On Deadly Ground (1994) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110725/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv)** > > On Deadly Ground (1994) - Trivia on IMDb: Cameos, Mistakes, Spoilers and more... ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/66 "2020-03-10T00:49:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > How about _The World According to Garp_? _Moscow on the Hudson_? _The Fisher King_? At least one of those has to be considered “great”. IMHO, those sucked, too. But Disney’s **Aladdin** was great. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/67 "2020-03-11T00:52:05Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > IMHO, those sucked, too. > > But Disney’s **Aladdin** was great. I think **AI: Artificial Intelligence** is also great, but like the Disney, he only provides a voice (briefly). ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/68 "2020-03-11T01:00:56Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’ll probably get some disagreement on this, but: Robin Williams. > > He was in some pretty good movies (Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society; some would say Good Will Hunting although I personally dislike everything about that movie except for Williams) but none that were truly great. Then there were the bad movies, like the inexcusably maudlin Patch Adams. > > I always wanted to see Robin Williams in the right role in a great movie, but it never happened. It didn’t get much press but I always thought that [WHAT DREAMS MAY COME](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/what-dreams-may-come-1998) was fine movie. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/69 "2020-03-11T01:16:57Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Jo Shishido is a favorite actor of mine. He has over 220 credits on IMDB and I just learned he passed away in January. I might have seen 20 of his films and would not call any of them “great,” though all were entertaining. BRANDED TO KILL is brilliant and TOKYO DRIFTER is amazing. > [@](#): > > Robert Taylor is an actor I don’t like. He has 79 credits on IMDB and not a single one is a “great movie,” usually because he is in them. I think the best argument can be made is that CAMILLE and PARTY GIRL are great in spite of him, but that’s still pretty thin evidence. ---
**Author:** ![AlTraina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/altraina/32/50_2.png) [@AlTraina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlTraina)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/70 "2020-03-11T07:33:47Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > I’d say Martin Freeman. I’m not a fan of science fiction, so I’m not in a position to say if they are great movies per se, but he did play Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![AlTraina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/altraina/32/50_2.png) [@AlTraina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlTraina)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2020, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980/71 "2020-03-11T07:36:29Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’ll probably get some disagreement on this, but: Robin Williams. I disagree. Good Will Hunting was a great movie. From an objective standpoint, it was nominated for Best Picture Oscar in a competitive year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-actor-who-was-never-in-a-great-movie/848980.md?page=3)