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5 Underrated Actors Who Don’t Get Enough Credit

Sure, you've got your Brad Pitts, your Robert Downey Jr.s, your Johnny Depps. And yeah, there's that chameleon-woman Meryl Streep, the wonderful Helen Mirren, and the now-everywhere Jennifer Lawrence rounding it out on the female side. So what do all these players have in common? They're stars. They're the best of the best. They sell tickets. And though we appreciate the great performances they've given over the years, sometimes the big stars just get too much credit. I mean, yeah, these guys are brilliant, but what about the other people acting in the movies? The people who you just kind accept are just there time after time. So what's the big deal, you ask? That's their job, right? They're not supposed to overshadow the stars.

4) Giovanni Ribisi

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Still probably best-known as Phoebe’s goofy brother in Friends (those reruns will kill you, huh?), Giovanni Ribisi has been putting in consecutively excellent performances since 1997’s Saving Private Ryan, where he played medic Wade. Despite the fact that he’s been good in everything, Ribisi has never been nominated for a major award. And he’s an extremely unselfish actor, completely lacking an ego and willing to play each part the way it works best.

Take Lost In Translation, for example, in which he plays Scarlett Johansson’s vacant but well-meaning husband. It’s such a natural performance that it’s easy to overlook, but Ribisi nails it, making John a human being – despite the fact he only appears on screen for less than 15 minutes.

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