It’s no secret that acting is difficult to break into. Furthermore, making it into Hollywood as an A-list actor or actress is even more challenging. Sometimes, all it takes is one great performance in the right movie for an actor’s career to take off, or being discovered as a child and progressing through the industry from youth. Meanwhile, other actors grind away, turning in one stellar performance after another but never really reaching stardom. Some actors make the cut, while others sadly don’t.
Yet, this doesn’t mean that their performances go unnoticed. Just as there are tons of underrated television and a bevy of underrated films which develop strong interest, there are also great underrated actors who audiences root for. Today, we are taking a look at the most underrated working actors or actresses. These are the artists who brought tears to our eyes, laughter to our lips, and inspired us by pouring their hearts into their roles. Here are the actors who have yet to receive the critical acclaim and praise they deserve from the mainstream populace at large.
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9 Andy Serkis
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
This is a tough one– everyone knows Serkis’ performance, but not too many of them know his name. Perhaps the reason that Andy Serkis fails to reach A-list status is that we hardly ever actually see his face when he is acting. That’s because he is most notably known for his roles portraying creatures such as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and Caesar in the reboot of the Planet of the Apes movies. While Andy Serkis has done his fair share of portraying humans, those movies have slid under the radar and have never reached the same level as LOTR, or his extensive work with Matt Reeves on the Apes films and the upcoming The Batman. It’s a shame though, as Andy Serkis is a master of distorting his voice, and incorporates a physicality to his characters that is rare in other actors.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
8 Mia Wasikowska
MUBI
Australian actress Mia Wasikowska made her screen debut by playing a mentally unstable gymnast in HBO’s acclaimed drama In Treatment. Shortly after, she was in the ensemble cast for The Kids Are All Right, for which she received the Hollywood Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Actress. Following that, she has starred in many movies, including Alice in Wonderland, Jane Eyre, and Crimson Peak. Yet, despite her many acting credits, she has yet to make Hollywood’s A-list and truly become a household name. There is a subtleness to her work that always makes her characters multidimensional.
7 Kristen Bell
Netflix
Kristen Bell has dominated the TV industry, having starred in several popular shows over the years including Veronica Mars, The Good Place, and House of Lies. Additionally, her voice is easily recognized as Anna from Disney’s Frozen and Frozen II, and also as the narrator of Gossip Girl. Despite her work in these successful TV series, Kristen Bell has yet to win or be nominated for an Emmy, and was only nominated for one Golden Globe for The Good Place, but did not win. Perhaps the reason Kristen Bell often slips under the radar is because, other than Frozen, her cinematic roles have mostly been in mediocre movies such as When in Rome (2010), The Lifeguard (2013), and CHiPs (2017). However, with her lead role in Netflix’s number one show as of February 2022, The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window, she might be getting the credit she deserves.
6 Carrie-Anne Moss
Carrie-Anne Moss
Many people will know Carrie-Anne Moss from the original Matrix series as well as the newest film, The Matrix: Resurrections. In addition, she played Jeri Hogarth in Netflix’s dark Marvel drama Jessica Jones, and starred in films like Disturbia, Brain on Fire, and Chocolat. While Carrie-Anne Moss is great at what she does, her projects do tend to be relatively similar to each other and, as she typically plays a fiery and fierce, dark and brooding woman (and does it excellently). Most people only know her as Trinity in The Matrix, but that doesn’t mean that her work elsewhere should go unnoticed, as there is a silent power behind every character she plays.
5 Lena Headey
Entertainment Tonight
British actress Lena Headey gives one of the standout performances in Game of Thrones. For her portrayal of Cersei Lannister, she gained international recognition and acclaim and received several Emmy nominations as well as one Golden Globe nomination. Playing a villain can be challenging as some actors portray them as one-note, inherently evil. However, Headey brought humanity to Cersei, and brings the same level of empathy to all her parts, though she isn’t very well known outside of Game of Thrones. In addition to that show, she has starred in other projects such as the 2005 action-adventure/fantasy The Brothers Grimm, the original horror cult classic The Purge (2013), and her newest action/thriller film Gunpowder Milkshake (2021).
4 Aidan Turner
Hello Magazine
You may or may not remember Aidan Turner from The Hobbit trilogies, where he played Kili, the dwarf who had feelings for the elf Tauriel and who unfortunately met a tragic ending in The Battle of the Five Armies. As he played one of many dwarfs, his performance may have gotten lost in the crowd at times. However, his performance in the British historical drama Poldark showed his potential and range as a leading actor. Besides The Hobbit and Poldark, he has been in other smaller projects like the TV series Leonardo, and the dark horror show Being Human.
3 Edward Norton
The Independent
Edward Norton began his career shortly after graduating from Yale. He worked for a few months in Japan, and then relocated to New York to pursue acting. His first big break was Primal Fear in 1996, for which he received recognition and critical acclaim for his work. In addition, he was also nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor but unfortunately, did not win either. Since then, he has appeared in several well-known films such as the cult favorite Fight Club and the award-winning film Birdman, though Norton has never won an Oscar and has been unfortunately relegated to smaller, supporting characters as of late. He’s one of the great actors who doesn’t get the awards and roles he desrves.
2 Diane Kruger
Mubi
German actress and model Diane Kruger began her career pursuing ballet at the Royal Ballet School in London but had to stop due to a knee injury. She then moved to Paris where she started modeling and later acting, her debut being a TV film titled The Piano Player. Since then, she has racked up credits in huge films, including the National Treasure films, Troy, and The Host, yet is not a household name by any means, and has never received a Golden Globe or Academy Award nomination, despite some incredible performances, like In the Fade. Kruger is also multilingual, and as a German actor, she has said that she often receives offers to do World War II films but turns them down. However, that was not the case when she was offered a part in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. In the film, her character Shosanna Dreyfus is strangled to death in one of the most realistic death scenes ever filmed (partly because she was actually briefly strangled by Tarantino himself). The end result is incredible, showcasing Kruger’s talent and trust in her craft, and why she deserves much more recognition than she gets.
1 Thomas Brodie-Sangster
British actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster is the youngest actor on this list. His first major theatrical film was Love Actually in 2003 followed by Nanny McPhee in 2005. In addition, he voiced Ferb in Disney’s animated show Phineas and Ferb and played Newt in the popular young adult dystopian film trilogy The Maze Runner. Other projects include Netflix’s western miniseries drama Godless and The Queen’s Gambit, which sadly won’t get a second season. Despite being nominated for an Emmy for his role as Benny Watts in that series, he did not win and is still looking for the recognition and roles his talents deserve. While young and relatively inexperienced compared to others on this list, Thomas Brodie-Sangster stands out in every project he has done by letting his expressions reveal his thoughts and putting power into his actions.
