Everyone has a favorite actor. Clearly, there are only a finite amount of roles to go around, and your favorite actor can’t always appear in everything you watch. Given that there are plenty of underrated actors who don’t get the roles or love they deserve. Some actors seem to just drop off the face of the earth. Whatever happened to Michael Beihn? I’ve drawn up a list of eight actors who deserve more attention, others include Richard Brooks and Jason Ritter.
One: Jimmy Bennett
Jimmy Bennett is one of the more skilled young actors out there, and yet you never seem to hear about him. His only starring role was No Ordinary Family, but he’s played numerous memorable bit parts, such as the young Kirk at the beginning of Star Trek. His best recent supporting role recently was mass murderer Alfie Rentman, the initial villain at the start of Murder In The First season 2.
Two: Sarah Carter
Sarah Carter, despite some bad early roles, is known for her performance as the wonderfully badass biker Maggie May on TNT’s Falling Skies. A character who was arguably one of the most compelling of the entire series. She also gave one the better dramatic performances on Falling Skies. Carter is clearly a capable action lead.
Three: Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller’s career seemed to be on the rebound with his performance as Leonard Snart in the first season of The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, but since he was killed off that rebound now unclear. Prison Break is a cult hit and Miller’s acting was one of the driving forces of the show’s success. Despite expectations he was a good Chris Redfield in Resident Evil Afterlife.
Four: Jesse McCartney
Jesse McCartney is mostly known from his early pop star status, but he has been playing supporting TV roles lately along with voice acting for Young Justice and Kingdom Hearts. His most recent minor role was as a sadistic villain on Fear The Walking Dead.
Five: Cary Elwes
Cary Elwes, like Michael Beihn, had great success as an action star in the 80s and 90s but he has since appeared to drop off the face of the earth. The only noteworthy role he’s had since than was his well-acted foray into horror with Saw. He doesn’t even to get roles geared towards his own nostalgia value as the star of The Princess Bride and Robin Hood Men in Tights.
Six: Rupert Grint
Rupert Grint, like most of the cast of Harry Potter, seems to have disappeared. As an 11-year-old he was good enough to make main cast, he gave good performance over the 10 years of the franchise. Clearly Grint is an A-list talent, and he has the credentials and aura of an action star.
Seven: Summer Glau
Summer Glau has the impressive distinction of playing more than one cult sci-fi character, and has appeared in several other popular series of the years. After Terminator SCC, the length and importance of her roles plummeted. That said her performances are compelling and fun to watch.
Eight: Nick Stahl
Terminator 3 was a lackluster movie. Nick Stahl isn’t a lackluster actor despite his lack of a career. He’s given several well-acted diverse performances in film and TV. His versions of John Connor and Yellow Bastard were on point and memorable.
I purposefully made a random list from off the top of my head to make the point that so many actors go unnoticed and under the radar.
Who else would you put on this list? Comment below.
