Most Underrated actors/actresses
by kirsty_logan | created - 13 Oct 2014 | updated - 24 Oct 2014 | PublicA compilation of some of the best actors and actresses who have just never truly made it big!
1. Gillian Anderson
Actress | The X Files
Gillian Anderson was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Rosemary Alyce (Lane), a computer analyst, and Homer Edward Anderson III, who owned a film post-production company. Gillian started her career as a member of an amateur actor group while at high school. In 1987, her love of the theatre took her to ...
2. Djimon Hounsou
Actor | Blood Diamond
Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin, in west Africa to Albertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook. He moved to Lyon, France, when he was 13. Hounsou has graced the catwalks of Paris and London as a popular male model. He has since left his modeling career and has worked on Gladiator (2000) by ...
3. Karl Urban
Actor | Star Trek
Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Karl Urban now lives in Auckland. Born on June 7, 1972, he is the son of a leather-goods manufacturer (who had hoped that Karl would follow in his footsteps). His first acting role was when he was 8 -- he had a line on a television series. However, he did ...
4. Jon Heder
Actor | Napoleon Dynamite
Jonathan Joseph Heder is an American actor and producer who is known for portraying Napoleon Dynamite in 2004. He returned to play the role in an animated series and a 2005 MTV Movie Awards skit. He also acted in the Pororo the Penguin films including Pororo's Racing Adventure, Pororo's Dinosaur ...
5. Cillian Murphy
Actor | 28 Days Later...
Striking Irish actor Cillian Murphy was born in Douglas, the oldest child of Brendan Murphy, who works for the Irish Department of Education, and a mother who is a teacher of French. He has three younger siblings. Murphy was educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork. He went on to study law ...
6. Sharlto Copley
Actor | District 9
Sharlto Copley was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Linda Stocks and Bruce Copley, a former university professor. His childhood dreams of acting were put on hold for many years when his television production company was one of few in his native South Africa granted licensing to create content...
7. Harvey Keitel
Actor | Reservoir Dogs
American actor and producer Harvey Keitel was born on May 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York City, to Miriam (Klein) and Harry Keitel. An Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominee, he has appeared in films such as Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973) and Taxi Driver (1976), Ridley Scott's The Duellists (...
He has been in copious stellar films, but he has never truly found fame.
8. Stephen Baldwin
Actor | The Usual Suspects
Stephen Baldwin was born on May 12, 1966 in Massapequa, Long Island, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Usual Suspects (1995), Bio-Dome (1996) and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000). He has been married to Kennya Baldwin since June 10, 1990. They have two children.
He was exceptional in the Usual Suspects and just hasn't reached the fame of his brother.
9. Jeremy Irons
Actor | Dead Ringers
British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...
10. Eric Bana
Actor | Dirty John
Eric Bana was born Eric Banadinovic on August 9, 1968, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He is the younger of two brothers. His father, named Ivan Banadinovic, came from Zagreb, Croatia, and worked as a manager for Caterpillar Inc. His mother, named Eleanor Banadinovic, came from a German family ...
11. Richard E. Grant
Actor | Gosford Park
Richard E. Grant is an actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy Withnail and I (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Marielle Heller's drama film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), winning various awards including the Independent Spirit ...
12. Mark Strong
Actor | 1917
British actor Mark Strong, who played Jim Prideaux in the 2011 remake of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), is often cast as cold, calculating villains. But before he became a famous actor, he intended to pursue a career in law.
Strong was born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia in London, England, to an ...
13. Ed Harris
Actor | Appaloosa
By transforming into his characters and pulling the audience in, Ed Harris has earned a reputation as one of the most talented actors of our time.
Ed Harris was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, to Margaret (Sholl), a travel agent, and Robert Lee Harris, a bookstore worker who also sang professionally. ...
14. 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 ...
15. Michael Peña
Actor | American Hustle
Michael Peña was born and raised in Chicago, to Nicolasa, a social worker, and Eleuterio Peña, who worked at a button factory. His parents were originally from Mexico. After graduating from high school, he went to an open casting call for the Peter Bogdanovich feature To Sir, with Love II (1996), ...
16. Ed Burns
Writer | The Wire
Ed Burns is an American novelist, writer and producer. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and was wild in his early years. This led his parents to move him and his brother Michael to the suburbs. He went to Catholic schools as a boy and graduated from Loyola College in Baltimore. He worked as a ...
17. Timothy Spall
Actor | Mr. Turner
Timothy Leonard Spall is an award-winning classical character actor who was born on February 27, 1957, and raised in London. The son of blue-collar parents, Joseph L. Spall, a postal worker, and Sylvia R. (Leonard), a hairdresser, his interest in acting happened early and Spall auditioned and ...
18. Rafe Spall
Actor | The Big Short
Rafe Spall was born on March 10, 1983 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Big Short (2015), Life of Pi (2012) and Hot Fuzz (2007). He has been married to Elize du Toit since August 14, 2010. They have three children.
19. Jaime Winstone
Actress | Love, Rosie
Jaime Winstone was born on May 6, 1985 in Camden, London, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Love, Rosie (2014), Tomb Raider (2018) and Kidulthood (2006).
20. Ray Winstone
Actor | The Departed
Ray Winstone was born on February 19, 1957, in Hackney Hospital in London, England, to Margaret (Richardson) and Raymond J. Winstone. He moved to Enfield, at age seven, where his parents had a fruit and vegetable business. He started boxing at the age of twelve at the famous Repton Amateur Boxing ...
21. Paul Bettany
Actor | WandaVision
Paul Bettany is an English actor. He first came to the attention of mainstream audiences when he appeared in the British film Gangster No. 1 (2000), and director Brian Helgeland's film A Knight's Tale (2001). He has gone on to appear in a wide variety of films, including A Beautiful Mind (2001), ...
22. Mark Addy
Actor | The Full Monty
Born in York, on leaving school he started work as a stage hand at York's Theatre Royal and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art .from 1982 to 1984 after which he joined such companies as Hull Truck Theatre and The Royal National Theatre. He achieved international fame in his film debut...
23. Peta Wilson
Actress | The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
With her distinctive voice, ultra-intense eyes and statuesque frame, Peta Wilson probably could have carried her breakout television show, "La Femme Nikita," on looks alone. Such was television in 1997. But when viewers realized that this killer- with-a-killer body could actually act, the show ...
24. Mena Suvari
Actress | American Beauty
Mena Alexandra Suvari was born in Newport, Rhode Island, the youngest of four children. She is the daughter of Ando Suvari, a psychiatrist, and the former Candice Chambers, a nurse. Mena's first name comes from her British aunt named after the "House of Mena" Hotel (at the base of the pyramids in ...
25. Thandiwe Newton
Actress | Crash
Thandiwe Newton was born in London. She is the daughter of Zimbabwean mother Nyasha, a health-care worker from the Shona tribe, and British father Nick Newton, who worked as a lab technician. She lived in Zambia until political unrest caused her family to move back to the UK, where she lived in ...
26. Elizabeth Mitchell
Actress | The Purge: Election Year
Elizabeth Mitchell was born in Los Angeles in 1970. Shortly after her birth, her parents moved to Dallas, Texas. She was graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas. Later, she earned a BFA degree in acting from ...
27. Debra Messing
Actress | Will & Grace
Debra Messing was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the daughter of Jewish American parents, Sandra (née Simons), who has worked as a professional singer, banker, travel and real estate agent, and Brian Messing, a sales executive for a jewelry manufacturer. When Messing was three, she ...
28. A.J. Cook
Actress | Criminal Minds
Canadian born actress/director, AJ is best known for her role as "Special Agent Jennifer 'JJ' Jareau" in the CBS long running series CRIMINAL MINDS. She can currently be seen reprising her role on CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION for Paramount+, which will be going into a second season later this year. AJ...
29. Patricia Heaton
Actress | Everybody Loves Raymond
While studying acting in New York with drama teacher William Esper, Heaton made her Broadway debut in the gospel musical "Don't Get God Started." She and her fellow students then formed Stage Three, an acting company that produced plays Off-Broadway. They took one production, "The Johnstown ...
30. Neil Flynn
Actor | Mean Girls
Neil Richard Flynn is an American actor and comedian, known for his role as "The Janitor", in the medical comedy-drama, Scrubs (2001). He currently portrays "Mike Heck" in the ABC sitcom, The Middle (2009). Neil was born in the south-side of Chicago. He is of Irish descent and was raised Catholic. ...
31. Jenny Slate
Actress | Obvious Child
Jenny Sarah Slate is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts, Slate was educated at Milton Academy and studied literature at Columbia University, where she became involved in the improvise and comedy scene. She lent voice performances to the animated ...
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