Underrated Actors - Chris Tucker, Larenz Tate, A
Another Look at Three Skilled, but Under-Appreciated Actors
Apr 20, 2009 Tim Bolitho-Jones
It's a sad fact, but not everyone who goes to Hollywood gets to enjoy quite as much success as they deserve. Whether its critical acclaim, massive box-office revenues or just simply being acknowledged as a better actor than Adam Sandler, sometimes the rewards are just a little too far out of reach. Not everyone can be Robert De Niro after all, so without further ado, it's time to shine a spotlight on three men who can't quite seem to fulfill their potential.
Chris Tucker
The fast-talking jive-turkey of the Rush Hour trilogy, Chris Tucker is undeniably fun to watch when bouncing off Jackie Chan. Ever since his supporting role in The Fifth Element though he has been pigeonholed as a motor-mouthed comic, with a tendency to be slightly annoying. This is a massive shame and fans of Dead Presidents will agree, Tucker is a much better actor than many give him credit for.
In that film he plays Skip, a young street hoodlum with low morals and a bleak outlook on life. Sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam, he returns with nothing more than a head full of trauma, a heroin addiction and a diminishing immune system, the junk having gone to town on his bloodstream. Spitting out macho one-liners while his eyes brim over with sadness, Tucker gives a standout performance in a film that's filled with them.
Larenz Tate
Another of the Dead Presidents alumni, Tate first rocketed into the limelight with his charismatic portrayal of a ghetto thug named O-Dog in the Hughes Brothers Menace 2 Society. Tate's twitchy, psychotic character isn't especially likeable, but he is the all-or-nothing heart of darkness at the film's core. The Hughes were so impressed they cast him as the lead in their next film, but when Dead Presidents failed to set the box office alight his leading man days were effectively ended.
Since then he has still been prolific and his resume is undeniably impressive, but bar another memorable support turn in Crash, he has largely appeared on television rather than cinema screens. Someone needs to give him another lead role soon, for there was a brief period when he had 'Future Oscar Winner' written all over him.
Alexander Siddig
Aka Dr. Julian Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Siddig is another highly skilled actor who has remained extremely prolific these past few years. However he seems to have largely been relegated to token Arab supports. His best so far have been the back-to-back appearances in Kingdom Of Heaven and Syriana, especially the latter where he outshone not only George Clooney, but Matt Damon, William Hurt and Mark Strong as well.
Since then he has spent his time giving the Romans a particularly difficult few years in the TV movie Hannibal and blowing his own head off in Neil Marshall's gore marathon Doomsday. With his commanding presence and assured voice though, he is designed for bigger things.
Of the three men above, Siddig perhaps has the strongest chance of glory but all three deserve a second appraisal. They are far from the only ones though and Hollywood is practically built on forgotten, underrated actors.
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