Underrated characters

We’re all familiar with the Don Draper and Tony Soprano from ‘Mad Men’ and ‘The Sopranos’, and everybody knows Michael Corleone from ‘The Godfather’ and The Joker from ‘The Dark Knight’, but neither a TV show or a movie would work very well without a strong cast altogether. Here are some actors and actresses that deserve all the praise in the worlds for their roles in various TV series and movies (some big roles, some smaller parts):

 

Regina King as Det. Lydia Adams in ‘Southland’

 

Regina King, currently starring in ‘American Crime’, has always been consistent. She played Will Smith’s wife in ‘Enemy of the State’, Margie Hendricks in ‘Ray’ and also starred in ‘Boyz n the Hood’, ‘Jerry Maguire’ and ‘Friday’. I’ve never seen her better than in ‘Southland’, though. She finds the perfect balance between tough and empathetic, and makes you believe every single scene she’s in. The cast for the show is great overall, but Regina King was made for this part.

 

Damon Herriman as Dewey Crowe in ‘Justified’

 

“He’s from Australia?!” That was my initial reaction when I learned that my favourite hillbilly from the brilliant TV show ‘Justified’ was born in Adelaide, Australia and not Harlan, Kentucky. The recurring character is hilarious in all his stupidity, without it ever crossing to line to being just stupid. Damon obviously has to give a lot of credit to the show’s incredible writing, but it’ll be hard to see the Australian actor in anything else for a while without thinking of ‘Justified’…

 

Mark Strong as Steve in ‘Fever Pitch’

One doesn’t get much further away from ‘Southland’ and ‘Justified’ as this movie. A British romantic comedy about an Arsenal fan (played by Colin Firth) who gets romantically involved with another teacher. Mark Strong is the “funny friend”, and for anyone who’s seen him in his later parts, such as ‘The Imitation Game’, ‘Low Winter Sun’ and ‘Body of Lies’, it’s… something else. He does a brilliant job, though, the highlight of the movie quite possibly the scene when he’s playing Subbuteo (football game) with Colin Firth’s character Paul… Boys will be boys.

 

Ross McCall as Joseph Liebgott in ‘Band of Brothers’

Although this show had a vast selection of amazing performances, one of the stand out scenes comes from McCall in the 9th episode of the show, ‘Why we Fight’, when the Jewish soldier is faced with one of the hardest orders of his life. It’s one of those scenes that breaks your heart again and again and again. ‘Band of Brothers’ is, despite me not being a fan of war movies or shows in particular, one of my all-time favourite shows, and McCall’s performance is one of the reasons for it. Hats off.

Scott Glenn as Roger in ‘Training Day’

In a movie that also featured Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg as supporting cast, you might not expect the best from the supporting characters. But Scott Glenn is perfect, and his scene with Denzel Washington’s Alonzo Harris and a Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), high out of his mind, is brilliant.