# Underrated Actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281 "2005-04-07T19:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/41 "2005-04-13T20:19:59Z")
Ooh! Now that I think about it, I’d like to throw some props towards Michael Keaton. Most commonly thought of as a comic actor (_Beetlejuice, Night Shift_), he’s done several dramatic roles that have been very, very good (_My Life, Batman_ - in my opinion, he was the only actor who understood that Bruce Wayne and Batman were, essentially, two different people - _Much Ado About Nothing, Pacific Heights, Jackie Brown_). Granted, he’s done some stinkers (_Jack Frost_), but when he’s on, he’s on. And, according to [www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com), he was a stagehand on _Mister Rogers_! ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/42 "2005-04-13T20:56:27Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > William H. Macy knocked me out in _Fargo_, and has been pretty great in almost everything else I’ve seen of his since then. I just love William H. Macy. His wife, Felicity Huffman, is wonderful, too. She is finally getting wide recognition, on “Desperate Housewives,” but Macy isn’t a household name yet (which I suspect is the way he wants it). If, as is probably inevitable, they ever make a live-action version of “The Simpsons,” Macy would be my choice to play Ned Flanders. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/43 "2005-04-13T20:59:03Z")
> [@gum](#): > > Rutger Hauer:) I _adore_ Rutger Hauer. I own Soldier of Orange and watch it once or twice a year. Enjoyed Hauer in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind as well. Agree about Christian Bale, and think he is somewhat following in Jeff Bridges’ footsteps. Bridges is well known, but he has been plugging away for _years_ with some of his best work going unrecognized and unappreciated. He was dynamite in this year’s The Door in the Floor. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/44 "2005-04-13T21:39:08Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Ooh! Now that I think about it, I’d like to throw some props towards Michael Keaton. > > Most commonly thought of as a comic actor (_Beetlejuice, Night Shift_), he’s done several dramatic roles that have been very, very good (_My Life, Batman_ - in my opinion, he was the only actor who understood that Bruce Wayne and Batman were, essentially, two different people - _Much Ado About Nothing, Pacific Heights, Jackie Brown_). > > Granted, he’s done some stinkers (_Jack Frost_), but when he’s on, he’s on. > > And, according to [www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com), he was a stagehand on _Mister Rogers_! Unfortunately, his newest movie seems to be [Herbie: Fully Loaded](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400497/). WTF Mike? Hook up with Tim Burton, or hire another agent or something. I’m tired of weeping. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/45 "2005-04-13T21:47:24Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > …as is Donel Logue’s. It’s hard to believe that Jimmy the Cab Driver from the old 90s MTV spots, the oafish dad from Grounded for Life and Stephen Dorffs hench-vampire in Blade are all the same guy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/46 "2005-04-13T22:13:37Z")
He’ll always be bka stoner-Mexican-funnyman, but I think _Cheech Marin_ is an underrated actor. Especially in recent years he has really started branching out playing more “responsible” and complex characters (yeah, I know, everybody’s hearing “Apple pie p\*ssy!”) and done a really good job (or, as his former partner calls it, “selling out”). Couldn’t agree more with Simmons: he can play inhumanly evil (Schillinger) and give it just a twinge of pathos, or he can play the comedy relief and make it real (Garth). I thought that Eugene Levy & Catherine O’Hara should have received Oscar nominations for _A Mighty Wind_. Their characters were two of the best comedy-drama constructions I’ve ever seen (especially considering how improvised they were). _Megan Mulally_ has made fame and fortune galore as Karen on _Will & Grace_ but I fear it’s at the expense of the fact she’s a great actress. The fact that Harvey Feirstein has received great reviews as [Tevye](http://fiddleronbroadway.com) makes me wonder if he’s been underrated. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/47 "2005-04-13T23:04:28Z")
**Alicia Witt.** What is the problem, Hollywood? Is she not sleeping with the right people? **Charles Martin Smith,** the likable nerd/scientist/guy-next-door/wry sidekick. Usually gets killed off in the second reel. Made it all the way to the end of _American Graffiti,_ then got offed in the epilogue roll. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/48 "2005-04-13T23:10:56Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > **Alicia Witt.** What is the problem, Hollywood? Is she not sleeping with the right people? One can only hope that I’m the right people. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/49 "2005-04-13T23:12:24Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > If, as is probably inevitable, they ever make a live-action version of “The Simpsons,” Macy would be my choice to play Ned Flanders. From imdb’s bio: The writers and producers of “The Simpsons” (1989) have joked semi-seriously that if there was ever a live action version of the show, then he would be the perfect choice to play Ned Flanders. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/50 "2005-04-13T23:23:57Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Yes, no can convince me he’s burning a swastika into a man’s ass more effectively than JK. in an interview a few years ago on fresh air, he told teri gross that he was in a series about murderes, rapists and drug dealers, and he played “the bad guy” ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/51 "2005-04-13T23:59:22Z")
Christian Bale Jake Gyllenhaal Simon Pegg ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/52 "2005-04-14T01:07:32Z")
> [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](#): > > Wow, I never, ever, ever, ever would have put it together that JK Simmons was both the Spiderman guy as well as the Law and Order guy. That is awesome. _ **And** _, he’s the yellow M&M in the TV commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/53 "2005-04-14T03:28:32Z")
**Hugh Laurie** **Colin Firth** **Steve Buscemi**" I told him you were the biggest Mexican I’ve ever seen." **John Goodman** always gives an excellent performance. Shut the f\*ck up, donnie! **Joan Cusask** and her brother, too. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/54 "2005-04-14T03:36:21Z")
Cheech Marin is evidently a very knowledgeable art collector and all-around cool guy, I’ve heard. But I’d like to stick up for Antonio Banderas. While he’s got awful taste in women and scripts, he’s always the best thing in his crappy movies. It must be very difficult to be a handsome man with a Spanish accent in Hollywood and want to get interesting roles, and he was amazing in _Desperado_. I’d love to see him in a complicated, interesting role. I don’t think John Goodman is really underrated, but I do have a great deal of love for him. Also, he’s a wonderful singer, and I think his TV work is really excellent. Sometimes he still makes me cry on _Roseanne_ (remember when Becky ran away and got married and he wouldn’t speak to her?) and he has the best time in the world with character actor parts, like in _O Brother Where Art Thou?_. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/55 "2005-04-14T07:51:18Z")
> [@Caprese](#): > > I _adore_ Rutger Hauer. I own Soldier of Orange and watch it once or twice a year. > Enjoyed Hauer in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind as well. I don’t know if it’s available in America **Caprese** , but try to find [‘Turkish Delight’](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070842/). Yes, it’s directed by Paul Verhoeven, but it’s a decent movie anyway. 🙂 And you _did_ see Hauer in ‘Blade Runner’, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/56 "2005-04-15T15:30:45Z")
I’ll add Michael McKean. His obituary will probably lead with “Lenny of _Lenny & Squiggy_ is dead”, but he has also created and been believable as a mini-talent British rocker, a gay dog groomer and a washed-up folksinger (and those just in Christopher Guest movies), as a morally bankrupt realtor in _The Brady Bunch_, an Australian media mogul and in dozens of sketches on _Saturday Night Live_ (as their oldest cast member for trivia sake). He’s also been nominated for an Oscar as a songwriter and he’s still going strong, but he’s rarely mentioned on any list of accomplished actors. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/57 "2005-04-15T19:07:44Z")
My vote goes for Peter Scolari. Every bit as talented as Tom Hanks. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/58 "2005-04-15T22:45:35Z")
Jason Alexander gets a fair amount of kudos, so I don’t know if I’d call him underrated. But due to his years on Seinfeld playing a duplicitous nebbish, I think people view him a bit more negatively than he deserves. When I heard he was going to be in The Producers, I was struck by the notion that he could play either Byalistock or Bloom with equal effectiveness. That’s versatility, that is! ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/59 "2005-04-16T11:29:43Z")
> [@gum](#): > > And you _did_ see Hauer in ‘Blade Runner’, right? In the theaters! (He and I were younger then.) 🙂 Thanks for the Turkish Delight rec, Netflix does indeed have it. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281/60 "2005-04-16T12:03:52Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I don’t think John Goodman is really underrated, but I do have a great deal of love for him. Also, he’s a wonderful singer, and I think his TV work is really excellent. Sometimes he still makes me cry on _Roseanne_ (remember when Becky ran away and got married and he wouldn’t speak to her?) and he has the best time in the world with character actor parts, like in _O Brother Where Art Thou?_. Personally, I don’t think “Roseanne” would have survived for very long without John Goodman. Roseanne is annoying as hell, but Goodman is awesome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-actors/298281.md?page=4)