unsung actors

[Dominic]

Give us your favorite unsung actor or actress and why you like them so much...

here's a couple of mine:

Bruce Greenwood



Bruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor seen in lots of Hollywood movies mostly as a corporate or government villain-type, as in Double Jeopardy, I Robot and Rules of Engagement. But when he's allowed to stretch in big movies or star in little ones, Greenwood is a striking film presence. Check out his work in Capote, Being Julia, The Sweet Hereafter, as a poignant and doubt-stricken JFK in Thirteen Days, and in my favorite performance of his, Exotica.

Although he first came to prominance as Mark Harmon's replacement on St. Elsewhere, it was in Exotica that I think I first noticed Greenwood, as a man who has suffered an unspeakable tragedy and finds unlikely solace at strip club. He's absolutely heartbreaking and just a little creepy at the same time.

Whenever I see his name in the credits I perk up, knowing I'm going to at least be interested in seeing what nuances Greenwood will bring to the role. He reminds me of a 21st century J.T. Walsh.

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Bill Nighy



I love this guy. He's one of those British actors who seems equally at home in a stark drama as he does in a silly comedy. He's had a long career in English television and features but has now been doing international and Hollywood films for a number of years now, and they are all much better for it.

You've seen him in many movies: as the Chief Inspector in Hot Fuzz, Slartibartfast in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Viktor in the Underworld movies, Cate Blanchet's put-upon husband in Notes on a Scandal, the British Lord in The Constant Gardener, and the aging rock star in Love, Actually. He's also the man underneath all that make-up and CGI giving the best performance in all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, playing Davey Jones.

But it's his "little films" that I find Nighy most astonishing. Check out The Girl in the Cafe, Still Crazy (as another very funny aging and drugged-out rocker), and my favorite, Lawless Heart. In this one, Nighy plays a long-faithful husband whose life and passions are re-awakened due to the death of his friend. It's a little miracle of a movie, and one you should go search out right now! (In fact, I think that'll be my next "Obscure movie review.)

Really, this guy can do it all. He's so funny and yet can blow two pros like Dench and Blanchet off the screen in his minor role in Notes on a Scandal. Truly a great actor - one who will always get me to see a movie he is in.