Who Was That Guy Again?: Not Well-known But Great Actors

So, does he look familiar?

Image taken from Wikipedia

I have recently watched The Avengers and I tell you, it really packs a wallop. The plot is solid, and the actors are top-notch, if not only stellar and star-studded. But some of the actors in there are those you know you already watched before, and they're really good, but you just can't seem to remember their name. Take the guy whose picture is above. That guy is Stellan Skarsgard. I knew of him and well, his name, when I watched Angels and Demons (He was the director of security). He did great acting there. Not only that, he also had roles in other brilliant films like Good Will Hunting (He was the math professor classmate of Robin Williams' character, Dr. Lambeau), the Pirates of the Carribean series (He was Bootstrap Bill Turner - bet you didn't know that), Thor and of course, the Avengers (He was Dr. Erik Selvig in both Thor and The Avengers).

Putting those handful of films in retrospect, you'll realize that this guy's a great actor who starred in smashing, block-buster movies, and yet it seems that not many people know him. Quite unfortunate, ain't it?

Here are some other actors who do great acting and starred in popular roles but don't seem to get much attention, the actors whose names just slip through our minds.

Keith David

Image taken from Rotten Tomatoes

Keith David is another great actor whose name many of us would forget. He had starred in films like Stomp the Yard 2, Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, Agent Cody Banks and Death at a Funeral. His main asset is his deep, resounding voice, so much so that he has lent his voice to many video games, most considerably Mass Effect and Call of Duty. I particularly liked him in his role in Agent Cody Banks as well as his voice work on The Princess and The Frog. Cool movies, those two.

Tim Curry

Image taken from fanpop.com

If you immediately recognized this actor from the name alone, then I commend you. I myself had to search for his name since even I didn't know of it before I typed in this paragraph! All I know is that I liked his roles in Home Alone 2 and Criminal Minds so he had to be put in this list, right? Besides his roles in those I mentioned, he also did good work in films like It, The Hunt for Red October and Charlie's Angels.

David Paymer

Image taken from askactor.com

Now this guy is another actor who skills I really am impressed with. I first watch him from Disney's TV-movie titled School of Life. For me, he did really well there, and his personality in that movie stood well beside his co-actor Ryan Reynolds. His other films include Bad Teacher and Ocean's Thirteen (He was that person who won the slots after Brad Pitt intentionally left a coin in its slot.)

Bob Gunton

Image taken from IMDb

Bob Gunton. I've watched him from a lot of movies, like Fracture, Bats, The Lincoln Lawyer and one of my favorites, Patch Adams. The films I just stated went on to become popular movies, and yet Gunton's name seem to easily slip through people's mind. Sad, considering he has a commanding presence on the screen.


John Turturro

Image taken from Wikipedia

Now this guy is a very popular one. You see his face and you immediately remember his cool roles in Transformers, You Don't Mess with the Zohan and Taking of Pelham 123. The thing is, and this is what qualified him in this short list of mine, you can't seem to remember his name. Turturro is a really cool and funny actor often overshadowed by his co-actors in a cast. His name got trumped by Edward Norton and Matt Damon in Rounders, Adam Sandler in Zohan and the big power cast of Transformers. Its a bit unfortunate, but he still does superb acting nevertheless.

Stanley Tucci

Image taken from nilsfelicia.blogminds.com

His name may not bring much of a bell to many (I admit, even I forget his name sometimes) but he has had a lot of brilliant roles in a lot of blockbuster movies. Stanley Tucci is inarguably the best actor in this list - though this list is a bit short. Still, that doesn't undermine the acting prowess this guy has. From comedy to suspense to drama, this man is so versatile, so flexible, his acting is simply marvelous. His roles include: Nigel (Anne Hathaway's character's friend) in The Devil Wears Prada, the airport director in The Terminal, Julia's wife in Julie & Julia, the killer in The Lovely Bones, the Sunset Boulevard manager in Burlesque, Dr. Erskine (the doctor who pulled strings to make sure Captain Rogers gets recruited) in Captain America: The First Avenger, the talk show host Caesar in The Hunger Games - what more can you ask for?