Underrated/Underused Actors
by wuzzy41123 | created - 27 Feb 2014 | updated - 18 Jul 2014 | PublicPeople that have had little to no recognition by the Academy Awards and/or by the mainstream movie audience. Please comment as to who should be added and why.
1. Anthony Mackie
Actor | The Hurt Locker
Anthony Mackie is an American actor. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Martha (Gordon) and Willie Mackie, Sr., who owned a business, Mackie Roofing. Anthony has been featured in feature films, television series and Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, ...
Academy Awards - None
Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
Mainstream popularity will increase with his role as Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
2. Ben Foster
Actor | Hell or High Water
Ben Foster was born October 29, 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Gillian Kirwan and Steven Foster, restaurant owners. His younger brother is actor Jon Foster. His paternal grandparents were from Russian Jewish families that immigrated to Massachusetts (his grandfather became a prominent judge in ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
3. Paul Dano
Actor | There Will Be Blood
An actor for all seasons and all kinds of roles (from dark, difficult characters to more loving ones) Paul Dano has an extensive body work that includes working with directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Steve McQueen, Dayton & Ferris, Ang Lee, Denis Villenueve and Paolo Sorrentino; acting with ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
4. Robert Knepper
Actor | Prison Break
Robert Knepper, the son of a veterinarian, was born in Fremont, Ohio, and was raised in Maumee (near Toledo). When he was growing up, his mother worked in the props department for the community theater, and because of her involvement, he became interested in acting. Robert began his career in ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
5. Thomas Jane
Actor | Boogie Nights
Thomas Jane is an American actor who is known for portraying Frank Castle from the 2004 Marvel Comics film The Punisher and the 2012 fan film Dirty Laundry. He also was in Boogie Nights, The Thin Red Line, Deep Blue Sea, The Predator, 1922, The Mist and Evening Raga of the West.
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
6. Tom Hardy
Actor | Inception
With his breakthrough performance as Eames in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi thriller Inception (2010), English actor Tom Hardy has been brought to the attention of mainstream audiences worldwide. However, the versatile actor has been steadily working on both stage and screen since his television debut...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
7. Alan Tudyk
Actor | Rogue One
Alan Tudyk was born in El Paso, Texas, but grew up in Plano, where he attended Plano Sr. High. In 1990, he went on to study drama at Lon Morris Jr. College. While there, he was awarded the Academic Excellence Award for Drama. He was also named Most Likely to Succeed and Sophomore Beau. During this ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
8. Sam Rockwell
Actor | Moon
Sam Rockwell was born on November 5, 1968, in San Mateo, California, the only child of two actors, Pete Rockwell and Penny Hess. The family moved to New York when he was two years old, living first in the Bronx and later in Manhattan. When Sam was five years old, his parents separated, at which ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
9. Wes Bentley
Actor | American Beauty
Wes Bentley is an American actor who first became well-known via his role in the Oscar-winning film American Beauty (1999), in which he played the soulful, artistic next-door neighbor Ricky Fitts. He also portrayed game-maker Seneca Crane in The Hunger Games (2012), and co-stars in Lovelace (2013) ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
10. Jake Gyllenhaal
Actor | Nightcrawler
Jake Gyllenhaal was born on December 19, 1980 in Los Angeles, California as Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, the son of producer/screenwriter Naomi Foner and director Stephen Gyllenhaal, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish (mother) and Swedish, English, and ...
Academy Awards - 1 Nomination (Brokeback Mountain) Mainstream Movie Audience - High
11. Chiwetel Ejiofor
Actor | 12 Years a Slave
English actor, writer and director Chiwetel Ejiofor is renowned for his portrayal of Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave (2013), for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. He is also known for playing Okwe in Dirty Pretty Things...
Academy Awards - 1 Nomination (12 Years a Slave) Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
12. Vincent D'Onofrio
Actor | Men in Black
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio was born on June 30, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York, to Phyllis, a restaurant manager and server, and Gene D'Onofrio, a theatre production assistant and interior designer. He is of Italian descent and has two older sisters. He studied at the Actors Studio and the American ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
13. Ewan McGregor
Actor | Moulin Rouge!
Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, to Carol Diane (Lawson) and James Charles McGregor, both teachers. His uncle is actor Denis Lawson. He was raised in Crieff. At age 16, he left Morrison Academy to join the Perth Repertory Theatre. His parents ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
14. William Fichtner
Actor | Crash
A small-town guy with a big heart, William Fichtner has been captivating the hearts of Western New Yorkers for decades. Bill was born in 1956 on Long Island, New York, to Patricia A. (Steitz) and William E. Fichtner. He is of German, Irish, and English descent.
Fichtner was raised in Cheektowaga, ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
15. Aaron Stanford
Actor | 12 Monkeys
Aaron Stanford grew up in Massachusetts. He studied acting at The Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers, and at the London Academy of Theater in the UK. After college, Aaron moved to NYC where he worked in off-Broadway theater and was cast in his breakout role opposite Sigourney Weaver in the ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
16. Kevin Bacon
Actor | Footloose
Kevin Norwood Bacon was born on July 8, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Ruth Hilda (Holmes), an elementary school teacher, and Edmund Norwood Bacon, a prominent architect who was on the cover of Time Magazine in November 1964.
Kevin's early training as an actor came from The Manning Street. ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Very High
17. Kris Lemche
Actor | Ginger Snaps
Kris Lemche was raised in Brampton, Ontario as the oldest of three children, which includes aspiring actor Matthew (Matt) Lemche. He is the son of a school teacher mother and a father who runs a heating business. Originally Kris wanted to become a doctor and study biochemistry in hopes of doing ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to none
18. Jackie Earle Haley
Actor | Little Children
Jackie Earle Haley is an American actor who started his career with The Bad News Bears. He had more adult roles in Little Children, the cult classic Zack Snyder film Watchmen, Alita: Battle Angel, and Freddy Krueger from a remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. He has been married three times and has...
Academy Awards - 1 Nomination (Little Children) Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
19. Kal Penn
Actor | Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Kal Penn was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, to Asmita, a fragrance evaluator, and Suresh Modi, an engineer. His parents are Gujarati immigrants to America from India. He attended the Freehold Regional High School District's Performing Arts High School where he participated in the ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Moderate
20. Zeljko Ivanek
Actor | Seven Psychopaths
Zeljko Ivanek was born on August 15, 1957 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is an actor and producer, known for Seven Psychopaths (2012), Argo (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to None
21. Neal McDonough
Actor | Minority Report
Multi talented and award winning actor Neal McDonough has been blessed to have an incredible career in the film industry.
He is now producing films alongside his wife Ruvé for the McDonough company. Films such as THE WARRANT, BREAKERS LAW, REDSTONE, BOON, BLACK SPARTANS ,and most recently the hit ...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to None
22. Jesse Plemons
Actor | Game Night
Jesse Lon Plemons is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and achieved a career breakthrough with his major role as Landry Clarke in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights (2006-2011). He subsequently portrayed Todd Alquist in season 5 of the AMC crime drama series Breaking Bad...
Academy Awards - None Mainstream Movie Audience - Little to None
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