# Talanted, but wasted actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2001, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288 "2001-12-01T09:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/21 "2001-12-02T07:28:09Z")
Jeffrey DeMunn has never been anything less than absolutely convincing on screen, but never gets anything other than small supporting roles and guest shots on TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/22 "2001-12-02T10:39:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > **Crusoe, I’m not sure how you come up with Jim Broadbent; only recently he’s given very good performances in high-profile movies like _Topsy-Turvy, Moulin Rouge, Bridget Jones’s Diary_ and _Little Voice_, all fairly meaty roles. He’s also appearing in the soon-to-be-released _Isis_ and _Gangs of New York_** I hadn’t heard of his new films. Apart from _Topsy-Turvy_, though, I never feel he gets more than ‘talented bit-part’ status. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/23 "2001-12-02T11:26:39Z")
**Val Kilmer** absolutely _stole_ ‘Tombstone’. And if you like Val, you have to check out ‘Thunderheart’, a great murder mystery set on an Indian reservation. I think **Orlando Jones** (the guy who does the 7UP commercials) and **David Allen Grier** are criminally underused comic actors. ---
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/24 "2001-12-02T12:21:02Z")
I suppose I would be a smartass if I said Robert Downey Jr. But really, even though he has brought his trouble on himself, he really is falling way short of his potential as Mickey Roarke, Gary Busey, or Jan Michael Vincent have before. They all had a some good roles and quickly sank into ‘wasted’ infamy. I think “minority” or “ethnic” actors get wasted a lot, in that they may be ideal for leading roles, but often get mainly “ethnic” or genre roles. For instance, many of the young Hong Kong actors only get parts (in America) in action or martial arts films. Other than Chow Yun-Fat’s role “Anna and the King”, its rare to see Chinese actors in any get good non-action parts. Since Jon Voight was rightly mentioned, some other older actors that were very big in his heyday come to mind. Tom Skerritt…maybe not completely wasted, but he never became as big as many of his equals and contemporaries. And as big as Eliott Gould was in the 1970’s, you’d think he’d end up in something bigger and better than secondary sitcom roles. And what happened to Ellen Burstyn? Maybe they are just semi-retired, but how about Sidney Poitier and Donald Sutherland? Perhaps they doesn’t seek big roles any more, and really prefer character parts and TV movies instead. ---
**Author:** ![drgonzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@drgonzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drgonzo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/25 "2001-12-02T19:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jaimest \* > \*\*And what happened to Ellen Burstyn? \*\* Ellen Burstyn last performed as Sara Goldfarb in Darren Aronofsky´s “Requiem for a Dream”. Why she didn´t get an oscar for that role is still totally beyond me… ---
**Author:** ![okielady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/fbc32d/32.png) [@okielady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/okielady)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/26 "2001-12-02T20:24:48Z")
I have to agree with Leonardo DiCaprio. When I first saw him in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape I was convinced he actually was mentally retarded. And then came the pretty boy roles. From his work in WEGG it appears that he’s a convincing actor and could pull off just about any role, but instead he became a teen idol. It will be a long time before anyone takes him seriously, if they ever do. Also, John Goodman. He’s typecast as a comedy actor, but I absolutely loved his parts in Coyote Ugly and Fallen. I think he’s capable of great things. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/27 "2001-12-02T21:03:07Z")
One more vote for Val Kilmer absolutely stealing _Tombstone_. He’s really the only thing that makes the movie worth watching. The “gun spinning” duel where Kilmer uses his drinking cup in place of his gun is priceless. “I’m your huckleberry” indeed… He’s been in some good roles, so I can’t say he’s been “wasted,” but John Cusack deserves more recognition that he usually gets. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2001, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/28 "2001-12-03T00:40:04Z")
Another bit-part actor who usually gets wasted in crap movies: Oliver Platt. What the hell was he doing in _Lake Placid_ and _Ready to Rumble_? I’ll give a big second for Robert Downey Jr., too. Yeah, he’s terminally screwed up in the head, but the man is blessed with a staggering talent. It’s an obscure movie, and it’s got a lot of problems, but in _Two Girls and a Guy_ Downey turns himself inside out and puts his soul on screen. A criminally unknown performance, in my opinion. If he were ever to put his life back together, he could be a formidable film presence on a regular basis instead of just every now and then when he happens to be clean and focused. Oh, and somebody please tell me why Terence Stamp isn’t as well known as Anthony Hopkins? Ditto for Helen Mirren. And a few years ago I would have pointed to Frances McDormand, but she finally seems to have broken through. Same goes for Reese Witherspoon, one of the only actors of her generation who can truly be said to be an Ack-Tor. P.S. Incidentally, how come 95% of the nominees in this thread are men? What about Angela Bassett, or Illeana Douglas, or Christine Lahti? And what the hell happened to Ellen Barkin? ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/29 "2001-12-03T02:31:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*It’s an obscure movie, and it’s got a lot of problems, but in _Two Girls and a Guy_ Downey turns himself inside out and puts his soul on screen. A criminally unknown performance, in my opinion. \*\* I saw this movie by accident. (it was on cable) Everyone should see this movie today!! Hopefully there will be more to come, but it dosen’t look good. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/30 "2001-12-03T03:33:21Z")
Jet Li is a rapidly becoming the McClain Stevenson of the Hong Kong stars. He declined some roles, including the Chow Yun-Fat role in **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon** for family reasons. Understandable. But he went on and chose doing **The One** over **The Matrix** sequel?!?! I’d kill the writer for that one. It almost put Bhuddism back a few years, the opposite of what Li intended. On the other end of the spectrum, Zhang Ziyi is the luckiest woman in all of acting, Hollywood, Bollywood, Hong Kongwood, whereever. Three memorable roles in three memorable movies, including the focal point of the best movie ever to come out of mainland Asia, **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon**. Johnny Depp, another unlucky actor. He proved that you can put in in any role, and he will do very well with it. Yet no one lately is taking advantage of his versatility. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/31 "2001-12-03T03:39:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by okielady \* > \*\*I have to agree with Leonardo DiCaprio. When I first saw him in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape I was convinced he actually was mentally retarded. And then came the pretty boy roles. \*\* Which roles are you talking about? Sure, he played romanic leads in Romeo + Juliet (what actor would turn down playing Romeo?), Titanic (it’s said that James Cameron pursued DeCaprio for months…Leo did _not_ want to do the film) and Total Eclipse (where he plays the gay poet Arthur Rimbaud), but he also did This Boy’s Life, The Quick and the Dead, Marvin’s Room, The Man In The Iron Mask, The Basketball Diaries and The Beach. It doesn’t seem that he’s been taking on “pretty boy roles” as a matter of course. > [@](#): > > \*\*From his work in WEGG it appears that he’s a convincing actor and could pull off just about any role, > \*\* And yes, he’s proven that since then, ranging from a charming drifter in Titanic to a desperate drug addict in The Basketball Diaries. > [@](#): > > \*\*but instead he became a teen idol. \*\* Geez, that’s not his fault! Romeo + Juliet was a teen cult hit, but no one could have predicted that Titanic would be the massive blockbuster it was when he was cast and while they were filming, and if teen girls were fawning over him after its release, that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) have any bearing on his ability as an actor or color the rest of his career. > [@](#): > > \*\* > It will be a long time before anyone takes him seriously, if they ever do.\*\* Like that! He’s damned no matter what he does, simply because of one role out of many. That’s so unfair. Well, I for one am looking forward to Gangs of New York and Catch Me If You Can. Eq ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/32 "2001-12-03T03:45:53Z")
In response to the OP, I nominate Steve Railsback and Fairuza Balk. Eq ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/33 "2001-12-03T04:02:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Three memorable roles in three memorable movies, including the focal point of the best movie ever to come out of mainland Asia, **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon**. [Mainland?](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/maps/tw-map.jpg) As for the OP, what’s Sean Penn been up to recently? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/34 "2001-12-03T04:26:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by waterj2 \* > \*\*As for the OP, what’s Sean Penn been up to recently? \*\* Quite a bit! He directed one of the best films from last year, The Pledge, and is coming up in I Am Sam, which looks as if it could be dangerously sappy, but I’ve heard good things about it. He was brilliant in Sweet and Lowdown, excellent (and nearly unrecognizable) in Before Night Falls. I haven’t yet seen Up At The Villa, The Weight Of Water, Dogtown and Z-Boys or The Beaver Trilogy, all done in the last 2 years. Sean Penn doesn’t really belong in this thread. He keeps busy and is never wasted. Eq ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/35 "2001-12-03T18:59:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwtno \* > \*\*John Candy and Phil Hartman never found their definitive role. Lot’s of memorable bit parts, plenty of on-screen potential, but never the master-work that would have demonstrated what they were truely capable of. \*\* John Candy was well on his way before his death – he was wonderful in **Uncle Buck**! There is also another film he starred in which he was more dramatic than comedic…can’t recall the name, but he played a lonely bachelor who fell in love with a girl who, I think, worked in a funeral home. I only saw it once and was blown away! I agree about Phil Hartman, though. I think he would’ve been an A-list TV star if he hadn’t met his untimely end. ---
**Author:** ![DaveX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/96bed5/32.png) [@DaveX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveX)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2001, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/36 "2001-12-03T19:31:52Z")
Another overlooked flick that he was great in: “Happy, Texas”. Which brings me to one of his co-stars in that film, Steve Zahn. He has been working (he was the only redeeming part of “Saving Silverman”), but it seems like only in low-budget, formulaic movies. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_O.Pinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/839c29/32.png) [@Frank\_O.Pinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_O.Pinion)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/37 "2001-12-04T03:21:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Sean Penn doesn’t really belong in this thread. He keeps busy and is never wasted. Well, except in “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”. He seemed pretty wasted in that movie! ---
**Author:** ![someone\_else](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@someone\_else](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/someone_else)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/38 "2001-12-04T05:21:10Z")
Morgan Freeman. Three great movies (“Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Seven”–sorry if I’ve left some out, and I know someone will hate me for putting that last one there) and a whole bunch of crap action flicks like “The Long Kiss Goodnight”. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/39 "2001-12-04T05:42:57Z")
I would love to see more of [Terrence Stamp](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Stamp,+Terence). He works regularly, but rarely in things that make a mark in the population’s memory. Most people I know remember him as General Zod in Superman II, but couldn’t name a single other film he’s done. And most of the supporting cast of _Saving Private Ryan_. Adam Goldberg was outstanding and had a great turn on Friends as Chandler’s psychotic roommate for a few episodes. Giovanni Ribisi gave an impressive turn and has gotten work, but I’d still like to see him in bigger roles in better films. Edward Burns, mostly an independant filmmaker, needs to get his ass onscreen again, but not in one of his own movies – his writing and directing hasn’t impressed me much – it’s not bad, just not that great either (IMO). And the name Paul Giamatti connected with a film will spark my interest in it. And lastly, could someone cast Gary Oldman in a role other than the villian please? He’s a great actor being wasted playing the bad guy all the time. Let him act! He can do comedy, he can do drama, quit type-casting him! ---
**Author:** ![tronvillain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@tronvillain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tronvillain)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288/40 "2001-12-04T08:06:28Z")
kiz: > [@](#): > > John Candy was well on his way before his death – he was wonderful in Uncle Buck! There is also another film he starred in which he was more dramatic than comedic…can’t recall the name, but he played a lonely bachelor who fell in love with a girl who, I think, worked in a funeral home. I only saw it once and was blown away! I’m guessing it was [Only the Lonely](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303394051/qid=1007452767/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_7_1/002-9910751-4916008). Now that I think of John Candy, I’m in the mood to watch _Who’s Harry Crumb_ and _Armed and Dangerous_ again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talanted-but-wasted-actors/96288.md?page=3)