10 Times Underestimated Actors Gave a Brilliant Performance

Certain actors have trouble being taken seriously even though they may be highly talented. There are many reasons why an actor might be underestimated. Some get typecast in goofy roles; others are thought of as sex symbols. Some actors give such natural performances they make it look like they are not acting at all. On the rare occasions when one of these people finally gets the chance to prove themselves by turning in a great performance in a demanding role, audiences are often shocked.

Here are 10 memorable times when previously underestimated actors gave brilliant performances.

Related: 10 Actors Who Portrayed Real-Life Criminals to Perfection

10 George Hamilton

George Hamilton’s slick, suave, pretty boy image has always received more attention than his acting. His willingness to play up this reputation and lampoon himself has reinforced his persona as a stereotypical “Hollywood” type. However, when he had the opportunity, Hamilton turned in some surprisingly good performances. The best among these is likely his portrayal of country music legend Hank Williams in the 1964 biopic Your Cheatin’ Heart.

This was a deeper, more serious role than the characters Hamilton typically played, and many moviegoers didn’t think he was ready for it. He exceeded expectations in Your Cheatin’ Heart, which, according to TCM, “earned George Hamilton some of the best reviews of his career until he parodied his own matinee idol screen image years later in Love at First Bite.^[1]

9 Adam Sandler

For many years, comedic actor Adam Sandler has never seemed to take himself seriously. His performances in popular movies like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Waterboy were entertaining in the most lighthearted vein. The uninhibited clownishness with which Sandler played these outrageous characters was part of his charm. Even when he did step into a more sensitive role like lovelorn wedding singer Robbie Hart, the comedic gags tended to overshadow the more poignant moments. So, when the former SNL alum tried his hand at weightier material in the early 2000s, it was hard to reconcile his image as a zany comedian with that of a serious actor.

Sandler has turned in several impressive, against-type performances in the last two decades in movies like Spanglish and Uncut Gems, but the one that really surprised fans and critics alike was as Barry Egan in the 2002 romantic dramedy Punch-Drunk Love. After watching Adam Sandler play the romantically frustrated, neurotic Egan, Roger Ebert encouraged moviegoers to re-examine his work in previous films: “Sandler reveals depths and tones we may have suspected but couldn’t bring into focus.”^[2]

8 Marilyn Monroe

The iconic Marilyn Monroe has always been known first and foremost as a glamorous sex symbol, but her attempts to develop her talent and be taken seriously as an actress were well-documented, such as her studies with renowned acting coach Lee Strasberg and her classes at The Actors Studio. Monroe had appeared in dramas from the beginning of her career but thrived in comedies and musicals.

However, a new dimension was added to her career, beginning with the 1956 romantic dramedy Bus Stop, which gave Monroe her first leading dramatic role, playing saloon singer Cherie, who is kidnapped by a cowboy. According to Filmsite, Cherie is “widely considered the best role of her career, mixing comedy with dark pathos, and clearly proved that she was a more-than-capable actress.”

One reason the performance made such an impact is probably because Monroe plays the sexually exploited Cherie, who is so similar to her own persona in such a touching, sympathetic way.^[3]

7 John Ritter

Some actors are so closely associated with a particular character it can be surreal to see them play anyone else, especially if the character is a completely different type. John Ritter lived with this double-edged sword throughout a career that was largely defined by his much-loved portrayal of the wacky, free-spirited Jack Tripper in TV’s Three’s Company. He played several complex, dramatic roles in the remaining two decades of his life, but it was difficult for audiences to accept him in serious parts until he played Vaughan Cunningham in the 1996 film Sling Blade.

The movie, starring, written, and directed by Ritter’s former Hearts Afire co-star Billy Bob Thornton, tells the shocking and heartbreaking story of the intellectually challenged Karl, recently released from a state mental hospital, where he was sent after killing his mother and her teenage lover. Karl gets a job and stays with a woman, her young son, and her abusive lover, Doyle (Dwight Yoakam).

Vaughan is the woman’s concerned boss and best friend who fears for her safety. The character is also a gay man who seems somewhat conflicted about his sexuality. Though it is a supporting role, Ritter made a big impression on critics like Roger Ebert, who said: “One of the movie’s many pleasures is Ritter’s performance as Vaughan; the character has a complexity and sensitivity that seem to have come right out of his small-town time and place.”^[4]

6 Goldie Hawn

Goldie Hawn first gained fame playing cute, flaky airheads in comedies like TV’s Laugh-In and feature films like Cactus Flower. She was so convincing in these roles that it came as a surprise to see how well she could tackle demanding characters as her career progressed. The first of these was Lou Jean in offbeat crime drama The Sugarland Express. The Film Magazine praises Hawn’s “vivid” portrayal of Lou Jean as one of “a trio of brilliantly believable performances” in the 1974 movie.

The character of Lou Jean, who is based on a real person, is interesting for many reasons. Desperate to get her baby son back before he is sent to foster care, she displays a single-minded determination and willingness to take dangerous risks when she helps her husband escape from prison with plans to kidnap their son. Hawn manages to not only realistically portray these qualities but, at the same time, bring a kooky, childlike quality to the part, which has long been the actress’s trademark.^[5]

5 Jackie Gleason

The legacy of actor-comedian Jackie Gleason is undoubtedly his classic sitcom The Honeymooners, which has kept audiences entertained since it first aired in the 1950s. He was hilarious as pipedreaming bus driver Ralph Kramden. However, like many great comedians, Gleason had a troubled, somewhat tragic side that made him very effective in heavy drama.

He finally established himself as a great dramatic actor with his powerful performance in the 1962 boxing melodrama Requiem for a Heavyweight. Gleason received widespread acclaim as Maish, the unscrupulous manager of past-his-prime heavyweight contender “Mountain” Rivera, played by Anthony Quinn.

Variety said: “Gleason is amazingly fine.” In an article about the film for TCM, Felicia Feaster called Gleason’s performance “some of the best work of his professional career.” While Jackie Gleason would also excel at dramedies, he rarely did straight dramas during the course of his career, with one notable exception being The Hustler (1961). This may be another reason his stunning portrayal of the sleazy Maish is so memorable.^[6]

4 Robin Williams

Though he is now remembered almost as much for his compelling dramatic acting as his off-the-wall-comedic genius, Robin Williams did not easily shed his Mork from Ork image, which established him as a TV star in the 1970s sitcom Mork & Mindy. Seven years after a somewhat serious role as a struggling writer in the 1982 dark comedy The World According to Garp, Williams gave a richly nuanced performance as inspiring poetry professor John Keating in the boarding school-set drama Dead Poets Society.

Not only is this highly praised characterization considered to be among Williams’s best, but according to Film Hounds, it is: “arguably one of the greatest performances of all time.” Williams went on to impress audiences in many challenging dramatic roles, including his Oscar-winning turn as a teacher/therapist in the 1997 hit Good Will Hunting.^[7]

3 Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston’s popular role as the perky Rachel Green in the sitcom Friends, followed by her successful transition to big-screen romantic comedies, set her up as more of a personality than a serious actress, which is why it was such a shock when she delivered an amazing Oscar-nominated performance in the intensely emotional and thought-provoking 2014 drama Cake. She plays Claire, a woman whose life is dominated by the chronic pain she suffers due to an accident and her addiction to painkillers. Obviously, it’s not an easy part, but Aniston rises to the challenge. As the “Waynesboro Record Herald” said in their review: “We get a performance from Jennifer Aniston that probably no one but Aniston knew she was capable of.”

Claire is a multi-layered character at a crossroads in her life. The physical pain she struggles with has such a negative emotional impact on her that it poisons her relationships with others, including her husband, who leaves her. But there are many interesting aspects to the character, such as her genuinely witty but biting humor and her conflict over whether or not she should go on living or commit suicide, as Nina, a member of her support group, did. The film takes a strange turn as Claire becomes fixated on the suicide and the family that Nina left behind.

Aniston also drew attention for drastically and bravely changing her appearance for the film to portray Claire as a woman who has completely let herself go.^[8]

2 John Wayne

Iconic film star John Wayne was one of those actors who almost exclusively played the same character repeatedly. Wayne built an incredibly successful career by playing likable, ulta-macho leads, often cowboys, who seemed to be a version of himself. After doing this for nearly forty years, audiences thought they knew exactly what to expect from “the Duke” as he was affectionately known, so it was more than a little surprising to see him turn in a deep, emotionally moving performance as Rooster Cogburn in 1969’s True Grit.

Though this movie, about a U.S. marshal who helps a young girl search for her father’s killer, is a Western like so many of Wayne’s films, his approach to the character is very different. In a 2019 article, Scott Tobias of The Guardian said, “…Wayne genuinely lets down his guard in key moments and allows real pain and vulnerability to seep through, enough to complicate his tough-guy persona without demolishing it altogether.”

The competition in the Oscar race for best actor was particularly stiff in 1970 with contenders Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Peter O’Toole, and Richard Burton, who launched an aggressive campaign to win for playing Henry VIII in Anne of the Thousand Days. However, John Wayne still managed to take home the statuette. His portrayal of Cogburn, which he would reprise in 1975, would serve to demonstrate that he was much more than an action hero.^[9]

1 Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore delighted audiences with her sweet, cheerful image on the small screen playing characters like Laura Petrie and Mary Richards and in movies like the frothy musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Few would have suspected that she had a side to her that would facilitate a performance like the one she gave, starkly against type, in 1980’s Ordinary People. The character of grieving, emotionally repressed, and dysfunctional mother Beth Jarrett would be difficult for any actress to realistically portray, which is why Moore’s Oscar-nominated characterization is so surprising.

Beth, who is tortured and broken after the accidental death of one son, Buck, and the suicide attempt of the other, Conrad (Timothy Hutton), is a mass of contradictions. She often appears cold and resentful but is actually terrified of losing Conrad and, as a result, distances herself from everyone, especially Conrad, who is struggling with his own pain. According to Collider: “In 1980, Mary Tyler Moore, the woman who turned the world on with her smile, delivered one of the most astonishingly chilling performances of the decade.”^[10]