Underestimated Actors
by arnohardwell-41638 | created - 4 months ago | updated - 4 months ago | Public
1. Mads Mikkelsen
Actor | Hannibal
Mads Mikkelsen's great successes parallel those achieved by the Danish film industry since the mid-1990s. He was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Bente Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a banker.
Starting out as a low-life pusher/junkie in the 1996 success Pusher (1996), he slowly grew ...
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 thirteen. 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) ...
3. Travis Fimmel
Actor | Warcraft
Travis Fimmel was born near Echuca, Victoria, Australia, to Jennie, a recreation officer for the disabled, and Chris, a cattle farmer. He was raised on a 5500-acre farm located between Melbourne and Sydney. Until the age of seventeen, his life was spent at school and working on the family farm, ...
4. Anthony Mackie
Actor | The Hurt Locker
Anthony Mackie is an American actor. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Martha (Gordon) and Willie Mackie, Sr., who owned a business, Mackie Roofing. Anthony has been featured in feature films, television series and Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, ...
5. Eric Bana
Actor | Star Trek
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 ...
6. Logan Marshall-Green
Actor | The Invitation
Logan is a native of Charleston, South Carolina. His parents are both drama teachers. His mother, Lowry Marshall, is the artistic director of Brown University's repertory theatre department.
Logan graduated with a Master's in Fine Arts from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch ...
7. Domhnall Gleeson
Actor | Ex Machina
Domhnall Gleeson is an Irish actor and writer. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter film franchise (2010-2011), About Time (2013), Ex Machina (2015) and The Revenant (2015).
He is the son of actor Brendan Gleeson, alongside whom he has appeared in several films and ...
8. Dan Stevens
Actor | Downton Abbey
Dan Stevens was born at Croydon in Surrey on 10th October 1982. His parents are teachers. He was educated at Tonbridge School and trained in acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He studied English Literature at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Whilst he was a Cambridge undergraduate, ...
9. Luke Evans
Actor | Dracula Untold
Luke George Evans was born in Pontypool, Wales, and grew up in Aberbargoed, in the south of Wales. He is the son of Yvonne (Lewis) and David Evans. He moved to Cardiff at the age 17. He then won a scholarship to the London Studio Centre, and graduated in 2000.
He starred in many of London's West End...
10. Chiwetel Ejiofor
Actor | 12 Years a Slave
English actor, writer and director Chiwetel Ejiofor is renowned for his portrayal of Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave (2013), for which he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. He is also known for playing Okwe in Dirty Pretty Things...
11. Robert Pattinson
Actor | Twilight
Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson was born May 13, 1986 in London, England, to Richard Pattinson, a car dealer importing vintage cars, and Clare Pattinson (née Charlton), who worked as a booker at a model agency. He grew up in Barnes, southwest London with two older sisters. Robert discovered his ...
12. Frank Grillo
Actor | The Grey
The oldest of three children, Frank Grillo was born in New York City, to an Italian-American family. He grew up in upstate New York, and got his first taste of acting in high school where he was in many plays. Frank was also a gifted athlete and his dream was to play sports professionally. Frank ...
13. Daniel Brühl
Actor | Rush
Daniel Brühl was born in Barcelona, Spain. His father was German TV director Hanno Brühl (1937-2010), who was born in São Paulo, Brazil. His Spanish mother was a teacher. He also has a brother and a sister, Oliver and Miriam. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Cologne, Germany, where he ...
14. Logan Lerman
Actor | The Perks of Being a Wallflower
One of today's leading talents across both independent and mainstream film, Logan Lerman is an immensely talented actor who takes on challenging roles and brings dynamic characters to life on screen.
Logan was born in Beverly Hills, to a Jewish family. His parents are Lisa (Goldman), who worked as ...
15. Freddie Highmore
Actor | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Freddie Highmore is an English actor who came to prominence for his roles in Five Children and It (2004), Finding Neverland (2004), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
He was born Alfred Thomas Highmore in Camden Town, London, England, to Sue (Latimer), a talent agent, and Edward Thomas ...
16. Pedro Pascal
Actor | The Mandalorian
Pedro Pascal is a Chilean-born actor. He is best known for portraying the roles of Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones and Javier Peña in the Netflix series Narcos.
In 2016 he starred in the American-Chinese film The Great Wall alongside Matt Damon.
17. Tom Ellis
Actor | Lucifer
Tom Ellis is a Welsh actor from Cardiff, Wales. He is best known for playing Lucifer Morningstar in the American television series Lucifer (2016-2020).
Ellis was born in Cardiff. He studied BA Dramatic Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (previously the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and...
18. Michiel Huisman
Actor | The Age of Adaline
Michiel Huisman most recently starred in Aoife Crehan's film The Last Right and in The Other Lamb directed by award-winning filmmaker Malgorzata Szumowska which premiered at the Toronto, San Sebastián, and London film festivals. He is currently shooting the limited series Angela Black opposite ...
19. Jai Courtney
Actor | Divergent
Jai Courtney was born on March 15, 1986 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia as Jai Stephen Courtney. He is an actor, known for Divergent (2014), Terminator Genisys (2015) and Suicide Squad (2016).
20. Scott Eastwood
Actor | Suicide Squad
Scott Eastwood is an American actor and model. He was born Scott Clinton Reeves in Carmel, Monterey County, California, to Jacelyn Ann Reeves, a flight attendant, and Clint Eastwood, an actor and director. He grew up in Hawaii. Scott has a younger sister, Kathryn Eastwood, and several half-siblings.
...
21. Alexander Ludwig
Actor | Vikings
After starring in the hugely successful blockbuster, The Hunger Games (2012) (for which he received two awards), Alexander has gone on to work in films such as Lone Survivor (2013), The Final Girls (2015), and Bad Boys for Life (2020), and received critical acclaim for his performance as Bjorn ...
22. Joe Cole
Actor | A Prayer Before Dawn
Joe Cole is an English actor, born in Kingston upon Thames, London. He has four younger siblings, including fellow actor Finn Cole.
Cole was taught acting by the National Youth Theatre. He started his career with theatrical roles. In 2010, he had guest star roles in the police procedural "The Bill" ...
23. Joel Kinnaman
Actor | The Killing
Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman, known professionally as Joel Kinnaman, is a Swedish American actor. He is best known for playing the lead role in the Swedish film Easy Money a role that earned him a Guldbagge Award in the "Best Actor" category - and for his role as Frank Wagner in the Johan Falk ...
24. Stephen Lang
Actor | Avatar
A distinguished and award winning actor who commands huge respect and is equally at home on the Broadway stage, on television, and in film.
Though he is arguably most well-known for his acclaimed performance in James Cameron's Avatar (2009), Lang began his career in theater. Broadway roles include ...
25. Ed Skrein
Actor | Deadpool
Ed Skrein grew up in North London, graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from Central Saint Martins, and is one of the most highly versatile artists of his generation. He was selected by Screen International as one of their "Stars of Tomorrow" in 2013, which showcases the next generation of talent ...
26. Asa Butterfield
Actor | Hugo
Asa Butterfield was born in Islington, London, England, to Jacqueline Farr and Sam Butterfield. He began acting at the age of 8, after a talent spotting casting director saw him at his local after school drama club, The Young Actors Theatre in Islington. Following on from a couple of small roles in...
27. Tom Hopper
Actor | Black Sails
English-born Tom Hopper has come a long way in his acting career. A former student of Rose Bruford College where he studied acting, Tom Hopper has become widely known for his involvement in both films and in some of television's highly popular drama series including Merlin (2008) as the strongman ...
28. Matthew Goode
Actor | Stoker
Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is an English actor. His films include Chasing Liberty (2004), Match Point (2005), Imagine Me and You (2006), Brideshead Revisited (2008), Watchmen (2009), A Single Man (2009), Leap Year (2010), Stoker (2013) and The Imitation Game (2014). Goode also ...
29. Ben Whishaw
Actor | Cloud Atlas
Proclaimed by many critics as one of the best young actors of his generation, Benjamin John Whishaw was born in Clifton, Bedfordshire, to Linda (Hope), who works in cosmetics, and Jose Whishaw, who works in information technology. He has a twin brother, James. He is of French, German, Russian (...
30. Ben Barnes
Actor | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
British actor Benjamin Thomas Barnes was born in London, England, to Patricia (Becker), a relationship therapist, and Thomas Barnes, a professor of psychiatry. He has a brother, Jack. His mother is from South Africa while his father is English.
Barnes studied at Homefield Preparatory and King's ...
31. Wilson Bethel
Actor | Hart of Dixie
Stephen Wilson Bethel born February 24, 1984, professionally known as Wilson Bethel, is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Wade Kinsella on Hart of Dixie and as Ryder Callahan on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. He is also the star and creator of the web series ...
32. Matthias Schoenaerts
Actor | De rouille et d'os
Matthias Schoenaerts was born on December 8, 1977 in Antwerp, Belgium. His mother, Dominique Wiche, was a costume designer, translator and French teacher, and his father was actor Julien Schoenaerts. He made his film debut at the age of 13, alongside his father in the Belgian film Daens (1992), ...
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