Hollywood is filled with overlooked, underrated and misused actors. Here are three more deserving a fresh look.
Nathan Fillon
Fast becoming a Bruce Campbell for the Flickr generation, Canada's Nathan Fillon is best known as Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds in Joss Whedon's sci-fi series Firefly. Like a cross between Han Solo and a war veteran, Mal was the standout character in a show that was filled with memorable rogues. As the series progressed Fillon showed a keen skill for both darkness and humour, often flitting between the two in the space of a single scene.
However, the failure of Serenity to turn the show from a cult sensation into a mainstream smash has proved to be something of an Albatross round his neck. Fillon's performance is exceptional, but the modest box office returns stopped him becoming a household name. Since then he has turned up in a fun horror film (Slither), a terrible horror film (White Noise: The Light) and returned to Television, playing the lead in ABC's Castle. The small screen may be his natural home but this is a great loss to cinema audiences who are missing one out on a whole host of charismatic anti-heroes.
Patrick Wilson
Back in March when Watchmen was released, critics were falling over themselves to praise Billy Crudup and Jackie Earl Haley for their roles as Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach respectively. In their frenzy over the naked blue demigod and the husky voiced vigilante though, they overlooked Patrick Wilson's Nite Owl. This was a tremendous oversight as he put in arguably the finest performance of the entire cast. A dignified and subtle portrayal of middle-age insecurity and regret, Wilson's character might not have been as instantly memorable as the others but it was certainly a heartfelt turn next to his co-star's grandstanding.
However, while he might not be a star per se, his reputation as a reliable actor is on the rise and a quick glance at his IMDB page reveals four more movies in development, alongside such luminaries as Rachel MacAdams, Harrison Ford, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. Granted, his time as a leading man appears to have been limited to 2005's Hard Candy, but Wilson has a promising future ahead of him. Chances are it'll involve him quietly stealing a lot of movies.
Stephen Graham
If Paddy Considine is Britain's answer to Robert De Niro, Stephen Graham is her Joe Pesci. After a career filling support slots, Graham put in an unforgettable performance as a racist skinhead in Shane Meadows' This Is England. Exploding into the frame about twenty five minutes in, Graham turns what appeared to be a cheerful portrayal of the British skinhead culture into an utterly phenomenal movie.
Known only as 'Combo,' his gang leader is a twitchy, psychotic but charismatic powerhouse. Short in stature but bristling with unchecked anger, he quickly becomes the very epicentre of the storyline and it's nigh on impossible to look away from him. Critics were overcome and his career looked set to skyrocket, but unfortunately he seems to have quickly been relegated back to the reserves bench. His next major appearance will be alongside Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in Public Enemies but an actor of his undoubted talent really deserves equal billing.
Not everyone gets to be Tom Hanks and not everyone gets to raise a Golden Statue above their heads while an audience of the rich and famous applauds, but so long as there are films, there will be a veritable army of unsung actors out there. Underrated maybe, but who knows, perhaps one day Nathan Fillon will get to headline a blockbuster of his own.
