Underrated and overrated actors + your favourite actors

[Lalanae]

Reviving this old thread to say that I think Zooey Deshanel is completely overrated. She has the same deadpan delivery in every movie. She's always playing the same "quirky" roles. There is nothing remotely talented about her beyond her ability to open her eyes real wide, wear kooky clothes, and talk in a monotone voice.

Selma Blair is worse though. That's one chick who always acts as if she's in a little pain and 2 seconds away from losing consciousness. She looks the same whether she's playing a happy scene or a sad scene. I can't tell the difference betwen her smile and her grimace and she has less emotional expression than my eliptical machine.

I've seen a few movies of theirs' recently and have been so incredibly overwhelmed with the mystery of how these two get movie roles that I had to post. No acting range at all.

[Winnow]

Reviving this old thread to say that I think Zooey Deshanel is completely overrated. She has the same deadpan delivery in every movie. She's always playing the same "quirky" roles. There is nothing remotely talented about her beyond her ability to open her eyes real wide, wear kooky clothes, and talk in a monotone voice.

I agree for the most part. I think she performed well in Bridge to Terabithia, although that was a small role, and didn't ruin the Tin Man series but she does make a living off of her "look" as opposed to her acting talent.

Selma Blair has always sucked unless you like the miserable beaten dog acting style/look.

[Mak]

Reviving this old thread to say that I think Zooey Deshanel is completely overrated. She has the same deadpan delivery in every movie. She's always playing the same "quirky" roles. There is nothing remotely talented about her beyond her ability to open her eyes real wide, wear kooky clothes, and talk in a monotone voice.

I agree for the most part. I think she performed well in Bridge to Terabithia, although that was a small role, and didn't ruin the Tin Man series but she does make a living off of her "look" as opposed to her acting talent.

Selma Blair has always sucked unless you like the miserable beaten dog acting style/look.

My wife spent half the time we spent watching Tin Man laughing at/groaning over her performance.

[laneela]

I just IMDB'd Zooey Deschanel because though the name sounded familiar, I couldn't place her. Is it weird that with the exception of Almost Famous, where I don't remember her, I haven't seen anything else she's in?

And I completely agree about Selma Blair. I thought she did well enough in that re-adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons but that's because I don't think much acting was involved. Her character is supposed to be empty and so is she.

[laneela]

I guess while I'm here, I'll do my list.

Favorite actors:

John Cusack
Kathy Bates
Kevin Spacey
Morgan Freeman
Kate Winslet
Christina Ricci
Casey Affleck
Paul Bettany
George Clooney
Toni Collette (she's also extremely underrated)
Emma Thompson
Kenneth Branagh (also underrated)



Overrated Actors:

Scarlett Johansson
Matthew McConaughey
Ben Affleck
Kiera Knightley
Colin Farrell
Reese Witherspoon
Natalie Portman (sorry fanbois but she is)
Tobey Maguire


Underrated Actors:

Giovanni Ribisi
Stuart Townsend
Djimon Hounsou
Joan Cusack
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Rachel Griffiths
Ben Foster
Rosario Dawson
Cillian Murphy
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Rufus Sewell

One actor that has been in all 3 lists at one point is: Heath Ledger
He was completely underrated at first. He got some notice for The Patriot but nothing ever came of it. I always felt he was a great actor and would watch anything he was in just because he was. Then Brokeback Mountain came and the world went Heath crazy and while I always thought he was great, he wasn't *that* great. But then he died and Dark Knight proved to be his masterpiece. Had all the previous commotion been about that, I may have not felt he was overrated.

[Winnow]

Overrated Actors:

Natalie Portman (sorry fanbois but she is)

I'm so proud of you!

[Keverian FireCry]

I agree about Portman, and I've been a fanboi of hers for years. She's has had some good roles, but needs to stay away from dramatic roles. I did like her as a more light-hearted character in Garden State though.

[Gzette]

I really liked Tom Cruise in Magnolia. I'm one of those Magnolia fanbois. I hear he's playing a sympathetic nazi or something in an upcoming film. It sounds like disaster.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is very good in everything he does. Even if the movie sucks, he elevates beyond it. If you can get past the fact that he's a pudgy atypical looking actor you can see many wonderful performances. From bit roles in Punch Drunk Love (extremely underatted IMO) and Boogie Nights to Capote and even Mission Impossible III, he always delivers a top-notch performance.

Who I really can't stand is Nicolas Cage. Any movie with him in it, you can pretty much stamp with a sticker reading CRAP

[Aslanna]

Underrated Actors:

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Eww. You put that in there just to see if we were paying attention didn't you?

[Momopi]

I just saw the happening and after watching that tarded lady with the stupid blank looks and the bugging eyes for 2 hours I felt like jumping under the lawn mower too. I have to say this movie was trying to give battlefield earth a run for its money but in the end it just barely fell short of worst movie ever.

[laneela]

Underrated Actors:

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Eww. You put that in there just to see if we were paying attention didn't you?

No! I actually think she's a great actress. She just has a fantastically horrible agent and sucks at choosing roles. With the exception of Heartbreakers (which I actually really liked - yes, I'm the one person that enjoyed that movie), I can't think of anything else she was in that I liked. I guess I have issues?

[Momopi]

I liked hewitt when she played audrey hepburn.

[masteen]

I like Hewitt when she guest stars in my naughty dreams. She's got a big bottom.

Also, Scarlett Johannsennen is not overrated. Her tits are better actresses than half of Hollywood!

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

I like Jennifer Love Hewitt's bootay.

That is all.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

Actors who should get more love:

James Nesbitt
John Hannah
Stephen Fry (not just a funnyclevercharming man built out of tweed)
Robert Downey, Jr.

Actors who should get far far less:
Gerard Depardieu
Liam Neeson

[Truant]

Stephen Fry (not just a funnyclevercharming man built out of tweed)

edit. Can I be built out of tweed?

[Nick]

James Nesbitt

Nooooo! He's terrible! He was only ever funny in Cold feet, which wasn't a great show. He did at least make it bearable though, I'll give you that .

I probably dislike him because for some reason he's a total bbc "cheap drama" whore. Any cheapass drama that BBC makes for its saturday night lineup he ends up being on.

Given the number of great actors in Ireland, I always find it sad seeing James Nesbitt being given more credit than the (imo) deserving ones.

As for Liam Neeson, he is pretty awesome in Breakfast on Pluto. In fact, he's amazing in it. And his theatre work is absolutely incredible, but maybe you have to see it to believe it. I don't see why he does american films, for, as family guy rightfully mocked, he is somewhat ridiculous in those. But frankly if you get Neeson in a good Irish production he's pretty much untouchable.

Not to mention he is incredibly important to the last 30 years of live theatre in Northern Ireland. Along with Rea, Neeson shaped a number of extremely influential live performances of plays that have become incredibly relevant in Ireland's literary sense ("Translations" being a good example)

But I don't and cant expect that to be common global knowledge, so fair enough - but it is the case!

Definitely agree with your assertion of Stephen Fry though. He was fantastic in Wilde. Then again, he is effectively a living pastiche of Oscar Wilde anyway. Still, he's a class act all the same. Robert Downey Jr is always entertaining. Iron man should be proof enough that he can carry an entire film. He's also hilarious in Natural born killers.

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

James Nesbitt

Nooooo! He's terrible! He was only ever funny in Cold feet, which wasn't a great show. He did at least make it bearable though, I'll give you that .

I probably dislike him because for some reason he's a total bbc "cheap drama" whore. Any cheapass drama that BBC makes for its saturday night lineup he ends up being on.

Given the number of great actors in Ireland, I always find it sad seeing James Nesbitt being given more credit than the (imo) deserving ones.

As for Liam Neeson, he is pretty awesome in Breakfast on Pluto. In fact, he's amazing in it. And his theatre work is absolutely incredible, but maybe you have to see it to believe it. I don't see why he does american films, for, as family guy rightfully mocked, he is somewhat ridiculous in those. But frankly if you get Neeson in a good Irish production he's pretty much untouchable.

Not to mention he is incredibly important to the last 30 years of live theatre in Northern Ireland. Along with Rea, Neeson shaped a number of extremely influential live performances of plays that have become incredibly relevant in Ireland's literary sense ("Translations" being a good example)

But I don't and cant expect that to be common global knowledge, so fair enough - but it is the case!

Definitely agree with your assertion of Stephen Fry though. He was fantastic in Wilde. Then again, he is effectively a living pastiche of Oscar Wilde anyway. Still, he's a class act all the same. Robert Downey Jr is always entertaining. Iron man should be proof enough that he can carry an entire film. He's also hilarious in Natural born killers.

Nesbitt was fafuckingbulous in Jekyll. And Neeson...well, you know, I can see that he's a great actor, I just can't stand him. He bored me in Batman Begins, made me snort derisively in Star Wars, in Rob Roy he managed to make me completely uninterested in the character he played. Hell, two minutes into Fallout 3 I turned the audio off just so I wouldn't have to listen to him. He just seems so distant from everything when he acts - he fails to convince me every single time. Except maybe Schindler's List. He was ok in that.

fry.

[Nick]

Ah yes I forgot about Jeykll. Everyone says its brilliant but I've never seen it

[laneela]

And Neeson...well, you know, I can see that he's a great actor, I just can't stand him. He bored me in Batman Begins, made me snort derisively in Star Wars, in Rob Roy he managed to make me completely uninterested in the character he played. Hell, two minutes into Fallout 3 I turned the audio off just so I wouldn't have to listen to him. He just seems so distant from everything when he acts - he fails to convince me every single time. Except maybe Schindler's List. He was ok in that.

fry.

Neeson was awesome in Kinsey. That's my contribution.