March 31, 2011

An Appreciation of Some of My Favorite Actors

Jeff Bridges, Harry Dean Stanton, Christopher Walken and many other actors are finally getting their due, and they probably would've been on this list, but the 2000s and beyond have been largely a time of public and critical appreciation for these three actors in particular and for that I am very thankful as a fan of motion pictures.

When Frances McDormand won an Oscar for Fargo way back in 1996, I think many movie goers breathed a sigh of relief at the MPAA getting something right at least, where we the public often get it wrong. No one will ever wonder whether Tim Allen could have done more with the opportunities given him, no one will ever cite him and many, many others who grace the marquees, as unappreciated.

Some of the people on this list just didn’t live long enough to contribute according to the scale of their gifts and abilities. I felt I needed to recognize them too.

This isn't so much a list about actors who are just underrated in my opinion, so much as a look at certain talents in movies who just haven't, or didn't go as far as they could have. Thankfully for many, the shot clock is still running. Harrison Ford could easily have been on this list had he never been cast in Star Wars. Like Baseball's Cooperstown, so very little substance separates the deified icons of cinema from the remarkable talents who remain (for whatever reasons) outside the pantheon of lasting, inarguable superstardom. There is something heartbreaking for movie lovers about those actors who it is assumed are struggling to find work, or appearing in material beneath their prodigious talent, or have yet to reach their full potential... or tragically never will.

Everyone has their hall of underdogs past and present, and this is mine.

***


Elizabeth Shue (Could never act in enough movies to satisfy me.)

Bruce Campbell (If I'd been casting a Superman movie in 1990, Campbell would have been my choice for the lead... or a Batman movie for that matter.)

Robin Tunney,

Eric Bana (Just hasn't clicked yet with world audiences, but he's good in everything he's ever been in; especially his entertainingly overwrought and unrecognizable turn as a villain in the last Star Trek film by JJ Abrams.)

Aidan Quinn,

Rutger Hauer (The man whose performance carried Bladerunner deserved better, bigger projects.)

Emily Watson, (A walking, talking, breathing genius of an actor.)

Courtney B. Vance,

John Cazale (My favorite actor of all time.)

Brooke Adams,

Rufus Sewell,

Patrick Wilson,

Carla Gugino,

Michael Rosenbaum,

James Mason (Sure he was in great movies but he should have been in many more. Once he lost the role of James Bond to Sean Connery, his career took questionable turns.)

Dennis Christopher,

Andre Braugher,

Treat Williams,

Katrin Cartlidge,

Richard Jordan (Simply one of the finest actors this country has ever produced.)

Tim Roth,

Stephen McHattie,

Kyle Secor,

Giancarlo Esposito (Got his start in Taps with Sean Penn, Timothy Hutton, and Tom Cruise, then somehow, for some reason, didn’t become a leading man, a household name or big star.)

Franka Potente,

Andy Garcia,

Damian Lewis (Seriously, someone needs to do something about this guy soon, before he’s relegated to just Masterpiece Theatre in America, and only BBC mini-series programming in the UK.)

Adolph Caesar,

Keir Dullea,

Bill Nunn,

Jeff Daniels (In one of the most notable cases of one star replacing another altogether, Daniels had his career seemingly absorbed by that of Bill Pullman's.)

Michael Sarrazin,

Peter Weller,

John Savage,

Jean-Marc Barr (I'm still praying this guy will suddenly breakout somehow.)

Scott Grimes,

Terry O'Quinn (is just a great actor who has done incredible things with sometimes terrible scripts.)

Howard E. Rollins Jr. (I still think he died far too soon, as did a few others on this list.)

***

If a few of these names struck you as odd, or altogether unknown, search the IMDB website for their filmographies and you may understand their inclusion. If not? Post your own picks in the replies below.
-SJ
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