People We'd Like to See More of
by generationofswine | created - 12 Sep 2011 | updated - 12 Sep 2011 | PublicA small list dedicated to touting the unsung stars that are capable of much more than Hollywood offers them.
1. Ron Perlman
Actor | Hand of God
Ron Perlman is a classically-trained actor who has appeared in countless stage plays, feature films and television productions.
Ronald N. Perlman was born April 13, 1950 in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York. His mother, Dorothy (Rosen), is retired from the City Clerk's Office. His father, ...
Let's be honest here, When haven't you seen Ron Perlman do anything but a great job?
2. Elias Koteas
Actor | The Thin Red Line
Elias Koteas was born on March 11, 1961, in Montreal, Canada. Both his parents are of Greek descent. Elias attended Vanier College in Montreal before leaving to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1981, of which he is a graduate. He also attended the Actors Studio in ...
Just like Perlman, the only difference is that I remember Elias Koteas' cheap bit parts in bigger movies a lot more readily than I remember the rest of the movie. Hollywood could cast him in any role, he'd nail it, & yet we hardly ever see him.
3. Elliot Page
Actor | Juno
Elliot Page was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia to Martha Philpotts, a teacher, and Dennis Page, a graphic designer. Page wanted to start acting at an early age and attended the Neptune Theater School. They began their career at the age of 10 on the award-winning television series Pit Pony (1999), for...
She nailed "Juno," she deserved an Oscar for that role, at a young age she's seemed to master the art of playing comedy straight--and that's, arguably--how it should be done.
4. Whit Stillman
Director | Love & Friendship
Whit Stillman was born in 1952 and raised in Cornwall in upstate New York, the son of a impoverished debutante from Philadelphia and a Democratic politician from Washington D.C. Stillman graduated from Harvard in 1973 and started out as a journalist in Manhattan, New York City.
In 1980 he met and ...
yeah, yeah, yeah, in our current economic crisis, maybe dry comedies about the upper-class won't fly, but the three movies he's written & directed--at least the three I've seen--have been pure genius, & it's about time Hollywood took decent writer/directors seriously again.
5. Noah Baumbach
Writer | The Squid and the Whale
Born in Brooklyn in 1969 Noah Baumbach is the son of two film critics, Georgia Brown and Jonathan Baumbach (also a writer). His studies at Vassar College were the subject of his first film (made as he was 26 years old), Kicking and Screaming (1995). His second major picture, made ten years later, ...
He seems to be the reigning king of writing the understated drama-comedy.
6. Val Kilmer
Actor | The Doors
Val Kilmer was born in Los Angeles, California, to Gladys Swanette (Ekstadt) and Eugene Dorris Kilmer, who was a real estate developer and aerospace equipment distributor. His mother, born in Indiana, was from a Swedish family, and his father was from Texas. Val studied at Hollywood's ...
His career fell with the expansion of his waist line, leaving him in role after role of carp direct-to-video fair. But let's face it, anyone that's seen "Real Genius" can testify that he nails comedy, and he owned "Tombstone." Despite the lackluster fare of his latter career, he's going to go down in time as one of the best actors in Hollywood history. Let's hope he gets the roles he deserves.
7. Benicio Del Toro
Actor | Sicario
Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-1990s as one of the most watchable and charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest Mexican policeman in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).
...
Give us a break, when Benicio Del Toro gets into a role, he owns it, even when he's a crap Bond Villian, he owns the role. And yes, seeing him together with Johnny Depp in "Fear and Loathing," was priceless enough to leave you wondering who did the better job. Why isn't he in more movies?
8. Terry Gilliam
Writer | Brazil
Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...
He's brilliant, his movies are just fun to watch, he's the best director out there for unbridled escapism, and isn't that what movies are all about?
9. Eddie Izzard
Actor | Ocean's Thirteen
Best-known for her surreal and digressive stand-up, British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard was born on February 7, 1962, in Aden, Yemen, where her English parents -- Dorothy Ella, a nurse and midwife, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant -- worked for British Petroleum.
Izzard worked as a street ...
Alright, for those of us that love his stand-up--which is probably everyone that has ever seen his stand-up--it's always a shock to see him dressed as a man. In all honesty, he's probably the most consistently funny person out there today. We don't care how he's dressed, he makes us laugh & that's priceless.
10. Ethan Hawke
Actor | Training Day
Ethan Green Hawke was born on November 6, 1970 in Austin, Texas, to Leslie Carole (Green), a charity worker, and James Steven Hawke, an insurance actuary. His parents were students at the University of Texas at the time but divorced when Ethan was 5 years old. His mother raised him alone for the ...
Again, another actor that seems to be able to do anything, & is hardly in anything.
11. Ben Browder
Actor | Farscape
Ben Browder is an American actor, writer and director born in Memphis, Tennessee on December 11, 1962, as Robert Benedict Browder.
After a successful college football career with the Furman University Paladins as a Championship-winning Linebacker while starring in theatrical productions and gaining ...
When I first started watching "Farscape" I thought I was going to hate him, but I stayed with the series & it turned out that Browder knows how to make you laugh, & has a far better range than most people that make their living in Sci-fi fare.
12. Julie Delpy
Actress | Trois couleurs: Blanc
Julie Delpy was born in Paris, France, in 1969 to Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet, both actors.
She was first featured in Jean-Luc Godard's Detective (1985) at the age of fourteen. She has starred in many American and European productions since then, including Disney's The Three Musketeers (1993), ...
I'll admit, I had a thing for her since the 90's, but still, she's always solid.
13. Wes Anderson
Director | Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an ...
He's either far over-rated & not as brilliant as we think he is, or he's just dry & hysterical, the verdict is still out, either way we'd like to see more of him.
14. Eric Stoltz
Actor | Pulp Fiction
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is a theater-trained actor and producer who has starred in both independent and studio films. He was born on September 30, 1961 in Whittier, California, to Evelyn Vawter, a violinist and schoolteacher, and Jack Stoltz, an elementary school teacher. He has English, German and ...
Fair enough, Eric Stoltz plays Eric Stoltz, but who care's, he's fun to watch.
15. Owen Wilson
Actor | The Royal Tenenbaums
Self-proclaimed troublemaker Owen Cunningham Wilson was born in Dallas, to Irish-American parents originally from Massachusetts. He grew up in Texas with his mother, Laura (Cunningham), a photographer; his father, Robert Andrew Wilson, an ad exec; and his brothers, Andrew Wilson (the eldest) and ...
Sure, we'd like to see more of Wes Anderson, but the movies he did with Owen Wilson were instant classics.
16. Steve Buscemi
Actor | Fargo
Steve Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Dorothy (Wilson), a restaurant hostess, and John Buscemi, a sanitation worker. He is of Italian (father) and English, Dutch, and Irish (mother) descent. He became interested in acting during his last year of high school. After graduating, he moved to...
And speaking of Tarantino, Steve Buscemi might play himself in every movie, but at least he play's someone I'd pay theater prices to watch.
17. Graham Greene
Actor | The Green Mile
Graham Greene was born on June 22, 1952 in Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for The Green Mile (1999), Wind River (2017) and Dances with Wolves (1990). He has been married to Hilary Blackmore since December 20, 1990. They have two children.
There's not a lot of call for Native American's in film, but "Skins" proved he can hold his own at the helm of a film, "Maverick" proved he can do comedy, even guilty pleasures & hidden gems like "Thunderheart," make a strong case for more Graham Greene, or at least more prominent Graham Greene
18. Forest Whitaker
Actor | The Last King of Scotland
Forest Steven Whitaker has packaged a king-size talent into his hulking 6' 2", 220 lb. frame. He won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film The Last King of Scotland (2006), and has also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He is the fourth African-American male to...
Forest Whitaker, was even great in "Blown Away," a film that neither Bridges nor Jones could make into a decent flick, he made "Ghost Dog," a film that would have been crap without him, and yet he seems stuck in supporting roles, let's face it, the man can act & direct, & still seems to be largely hidden.
19. Stephen Rea
Actor | The Crying Game
Stephen Rea was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended Belfast High School and the Queen's University, where he studied English. He later trained at the Abbey Theatre School in Dublin. In 1970s, he acted in the Focus Company in Dublin with the talented Gabriel Byrne and Colm Meaney. After ...
Maybe "Blown Away" would have been better with Rea rather than Jones (who is good but not constantly good). Rea, however, is consistently a great actor, and, unfortunately, a great actor that consistently gets nothing but supporting roles.
20. Alan Rickman
Actor | Die Hard
Alan Rickman was born on a council estate in Acton, West London, to Margaret Doreen Rose (Bartlett), of English and Welsh descent, and Bernard Rickman, of Irish descent, who worked at a factory. Alan Rickman had an older brother (David), a younger brother (Michael), and a younger sister (Sheila). ...
"Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" was a horrible movie, but Alan Rickman's villain was priceless, I own the movie, it's not a guilty pleasure, at least not when you watch it just for the Rickman parts. In fact, just about every Alan Rickman role is priceless.
21. Claire Danes
Actress | My So-Called Life
New Yorker Claire Catherine Danes was born in Manhattan, the daughter of Carla (Hall), a day-care provider and artist, and Christopher Danes, a computer consultant and photographer. She has an older brother, Asa. Her paternal grandfather, Gibson Andrew Danes, was a Dean of the Yale School of Art ...
90's kids loved her in "My So-Called Life," we liked her in "The Family Stone," we liked her in "Brokedown Palace," Claire Danes can act....& for some reason is in hardly anything, at least when compared to most of Hollywood.
22. Aidan Quinn
Actor | Benny & Joon
Aidan Quinn was born on March 8, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Benny & Joon (1993), Practical Magic (1998) and Flipped (2010). He has been married to Elizabeth Bracco since September 1, 1987. They have two children.
Yet another actor that seems to be in a ton of movies, always gives a solid performance, and is stuck in obscurity.
23. Chris O'Donnell
Actor | Batman & Robin
Christopher Eugene O'Donnell was born on June 26th, 1970 in Winnetka, Illinois, to Julie Ann (Rohs) and William Charles O'Donnell, Sr., who managed a CBS radio station, WBBM-AM. He is the youngest child in his family, with four sisters and two brothers. His father had Irish ancestry and his ...
Again, I'm a 90's guy, as such I feel obligated to like Chris O'Donnell, but let's face facts here, he was the only good part of "Batman & Robin," and in a steaming piece like that, it's saying something.
24. Brad Pitt
Actor | Fight Club
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt was born on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri to Jane Etta Pitt (née Hillhouse), a school counselor & William Alvin "Bill" Pitt, a truck company manager. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student ...
OK, we see him all the time, he's in everything now, but didn't we like him more in roles like the stoned out roommate Floyd in "True Romance," & the crazed killer in "Kalifornia?" thank God Tarantino came around & gave him a decent role again.
25. Mark Wahlberg
Producer | The Fighter
American actor Mark Wahlberg is one of a handful of respected entertainers who successfully made the transition from teen pop idol to acclaimed actor. A Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee for The Departed (2006) who went on to receive positive critical reviews for his performance in The Fighter (...
When he want's to act, he can act, the problem isn't seeing enough of him on the big screen, the problem is the type of movies we end up seeing him in. He has the Natalie Portman factor, he's a really good actor that ends up doing a string of crap films.
Tell Your Friends