I was wondering who people think are under rated actors, I know there may be a lot of over rated, but I think there are even some big Hollywood stars that are seen not as actors, but just big names.

The first one that comes to mind is Bruce Willis, he has given several good performances, I think he deserved and Oscar for both The 6th sense and Unbreakable, I think most just see him as John McClain, but even that character is very well acted, yes he has made shit movies, in fact he was in the worst movie of all time (north), but I don't think he is a hack, like I think a lot of people do.

Another one is Kevin Bacon, he is great as a villain and as a hero, he gave a great performance in Stir of echos and the woodsman.  But he never gets big leads, I think that's a shame cause he's got talent.

Eddie Murphy has mad A LOT of crap, but when he's hot there is nobody better at comedy, do you think any other actor could pull of the nutty professor, I don't think even Robin Williams could.

Michael Keaton is also great at comedy and drama, plus he owns BATMAN.

Mickey Rourke I think is an amazing actor, he is the best at scruff, and I don't think he has given a bad performance, not even in shit movies.

Robin Williams - I think most still see him as the wacky comedy guy, but I think he's given some really good performances. Insomnia, One Hour Photo, Hook, and Good Will Hunting to name a few. His new one the Night Listener looks like it could be great too.

Edward Norton - great in Primal Fear and American History X

Jim Carrey - Great in Eternal Sunshine and Man on the Moon. He's also in two of my favorite comedies

Others off the top of my head, Tim Robbins doesn't get as many big roles as I think he deserves, John and Joan Cusack, Ben Foster I think will be great.

Quoted from Steve-Dave Ben Foster I think will be great.

I agree, he was very frightening in Hostage, his Trent reznor type of villain was scary as hell, plus he can do comedy.

He was totally wasted in X-3, I was kinda disappointed there.  I look forward to his future projects.

I also think Sean Austin is great, I mean he RULED return of the king, he was so good there, I know most think of him as Mikey from the Goonies, but his Sam was my favorite character in the LOTR trilogy.

Quoted from The boy who could fly I agree, he was very frightening in Hostage, his Trent reznor type of villain was scary as hell, plus he can do comedy. He was totally wasted in X-3, I was kinda disappointed there.  I look forward to his future projects.

Wow, I didn't know he was in Hostage. I haven't seen that yet, though I want to. I'll get around to it eventually. X-3 I agree, he only had like two lines of dialogue, not much to display his talent. I thought he was great in Bang Bang You're dead, which I'm sure very few have seen and he was good in 11:14.

I also can't believe I forgot to mention Clive Owen. PHENOMINAL in Closer and great in Sin City. He's probably my favorite actor right now.

I think Christian Bale is one of the most underrated actors today.

He's probably the most talented actor I've seen for a very long time, much like Johnny Depp to me (except he's huge), every character he does for each of his films is so different.

This is a Trivia part to his page on the IMDb: "He has an uncanny ear for accents - he has used a different accent for each of his films to date."

I think that's pretty good and he I haven't seen him in a film yet that hasn't made me think "That deserves an Oscar... or at least some prestigious award for acting".

Paulie Shore one of my favorite actors is very under rated. He puts on a good show as In the Army Now, Son - In - Law. Encino Man. Also Edward Norton is Fight Club and Rounders was awesome Edward is under rated all the time.

Ryan Gosling. He was in the "Slaughter Rule", which is one of my all time favorite films. He was also good in "The Believer".

After he did that box office hit "The Notebook", I thought his career was about to take off big time, it hasn't, yet, but he has a bunch of films coming out in the next year or so.

Shawnee Smith ahs starred in Saw and did a great performance in the otehrwise average Saw 2.  She was in Becker....

My first choice for actor would be Peter Krause. Six Feet Under and We Don't Live Here Anymore show just how dynamic this man could be.

Second choice would be Brian Cox. He's been in a lot of movies, but my favorite performance would be in The Boxer, as a conflicted IRA commander torn between his duty to the cause and his love for his daughter and desire for her happiness. As good as DD Lewis is, Cox carries that film.

For Actress, my first choice would be Laura Linney - critically acclaimed, but not with the type of credit she deserves. The fact that Julia Roberts took home the oscar Linney deserved is still a tragedy Hollywood should be ashamed of.

Second choice, Anna Pacquin. When she's not doing Marvel Comics crap, her turns in Buffalo Soldiers and Almost Famous show a type of grace rarely seen anymore.

Peter Sargaard is one of the most underrated actors out there.

He's done  Jarhead, Skeleton Key, and Boys Don't Cry. All of which he plays completely different people. That something some of these big time actors can never pull off. They act the same in every movie the play. This guy's different.

the one that comes to mind is Michael Biehn ...why isnt this guy a superstar??? Aliens, Tombstone, The Abyss, The Rock, Terminator....fabulous in all of them.... hopefully his potential roll in Grind House will revive his career.

Quoted from TAnthony Peter Sargaard is one of the most underrated actors out there. He's done  Jarhead, Skeleton Key, and Boys Don't Cry. All of which he plays completely different people. That something some of these big time actors can never pull off. They act the same in every movie the play. This guy's different.

Don't forget his character in Garden Sate.

Versatility is a quality that's hard to come by. Lots of hollywood stars like Bruce Willis or Julia Roberts often play the same character in most of their films.

John Turturro is an actor that is very versatile and pretty underrated. Just watch a few Spike Lee movies and you'll see what I'm talking about.

You can find Phillip Seymour Hoffman popping up in numerous films made before he won his oscar in Capote. He seems to play a different part each time. He was the gay crew member in Boogie Night and played a very different role in Magnolia and he did a pretty good job as a villain in MI:III.

Quoted from thegardenstate89 John Turturro is an actor that is very versatile and pretty underrated. Just watch a few Spike Lee movies and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I agree Tony. John Turturro was also great in "Barton Fink" and he did a nice cameo in "The Big Lebowski".

Quoted from thegardenstate89 Don't forget his character in Garden Sate.

Probably his greatest acting in a film to date. He's also pretty fantastic in Shattered Glass too, with an equally good, maybe slightly underrated Hayden Christensen. I know a lot of people don't like him because of his "okay" acting in Star Wars... I think that's what made him quite underrated but I think he's very good.

Still, Peter Sarsgaard is one of my favourite actors... not sure if he's that underrated but he certainly needs more credit like maybe... an Oscar. Especially for the way he acted his heart out in Garden State (my favourite movie of all time... I've actually just finished watching it for the hundredth time ten minutes ago).

One of my favorite actors is Kurt Russell.  He is always cool, even though he may do shit movies once in a while. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

I also had the chance to meet him and Goldie Hawn once(actually I met Kurt twice).  They live in Vancouver and were standing in line at this Greek restaurant.  They were both so polite and talked with everyone, then the host comes out and says they could go in front of everybody else, but they refused, they said they will wait like all the other people standing in line.  Both are very nice people.

Then I got to meet Kurt again as he filmed a movie called Miracle in Abbotsford(the town I live in) and they were shooting at the hockey rink I play at, and I got a second chance to meet him, and he was very nice again.

This may seem prejudicial, but he was one of my fav's even before I met him.