Last Updated on 8 February 2026
Whether an actor is underrated is rather subjective, but I found 22 lists online of the most underrated or best underrated actors. I only included lists that had both male and female actors, using “actors” as a gender-neutral term. You may not think all of these are underrated, but this is just the math. I averaged these 22 ranked lists to get this definitive compilation of the 200 best, most underrated actors.
- Michael Peña
- Toni Collette
- Sam Rockwell
- Ben Foster
- John Carroll Lynch
- Guy Pearce
- Alan Rickman
- Eddie Marsan
- Judy Greer
- Gary Oldman
- Rooney Mara
- Scoot McNairy
- Ed Harris
- Cillian Murphy
- John C. Reilly
- Paul Giamatti
- Tilda Swinton
- Ralph Fiennes
- Alison Brie
- Stephen Tobolowsky
- Clifton Collins, Jr.
- Edward Norton
- Erin Kellyman
- Kristen Stewart
- Parvesh Cheena
- Patrick Wilson
- Timothy Omundson
- Barry Pepper
- Benicio del Toro
- Marlee Matlin
- Nicolas Cage
- John Turturro
- Idris Elba
- CCH Pounder
- Diane Kruger
- Thomas Brodie-Sangster
- Stanley Tucci
- Bokeem Woodbine
- William H. Macy
- Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Domhnall Gleason
- John Lithgow
- William Fichtner
- Dylan O’Brien
- Sean Bean
- J.K. Simmons
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Alexandra Shipp
- Orlando Jones
- Paul Sorvino
- D’Arcy Carden
- David Morse
- Hailee Steinfeld
- Timothy Olyphant
- LaKeith Stanfield
- Margo Martindale
- Paul Dano
- Stephen McKinley Henderson
- Tim Bagley
- Naomi Watts
- Benedict Cumberbatch
- Amy Adams
- Willem Dafoe
- Robin Wright
- Djimon Hounsou
- Andy Serkis
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt
- Carrie-Anne Moss
- Zoey Deutch
- Emily Blunt
- Jeff Fahey
- Alfre Woodard
- Blake Jenner
- Sebastian Stan
- Bradley Whitford
- Héléna Soubeyrand
- Toby Jones
- Kevin Kline
- Paula Malcolmson
- Shea Whigham
- Viola Davis
- Mark Ruffalo
- Hugo Weaving
- Hong Chau
- Michael Stuhlbarg
- Riz Ahmed
- Vera Farmiga
- Billy Zane
- Carey Mulligan
- Tim Roth
- John Hawkes
- Alyson Hannigan
- Jennifer Connelly
- Sam Elliott
- Gina Rodriguez
- Piper Perabo
- Hayden Szeto
- Kathryn Hahn
- Ken Watanabe
- Louis C.K.
- Rizwan Manji
- Sean Teale
- Garret Dillahunt
- Giovanni Ribisi
- Bill Nighy
- Paul Bettany
- Angela Bassett
- Keith David
- Tim Blake Nelson
- Brendan Gleeson
- Antony Starr
- Casey Affleck
- Catherine Keener
- Daniel Brühl
- Donal Logue
- Haley Lu Richardson
- Joel Edgerton
- John Ross Bowie
- Matthew Lillard
- Maya Rudolph
- Olivia Cooke
- Rebecca Hall
- Richard Jenkins
- Helena Bonham Carter
- Joe Pantoliano
- Mark Strong
- Elliot Page
- Stephen Root
- Ann Dowd
- Archie Madekwe
- Carol Ann Susi
- Emile Hirsch
- Indira Varma
- Jennifer Coolidge
- Kate McKinnon
- Kevin Corrigan
- Kevin J. O’Connor
- Khandi Alexander
- Kristen Bell
- Shia LaBeouf
- Kevin Pollak
- Gabriel Byrne
- Rachel McAdams
- Abigail Breslin
- David Oyelowo
- Henry G. Sanders
- Jensen Ackles
- Leland Orser
- Lily Rabe
- Maria Bello
- Sam Riley
- Sarah Paulson
- Stephen Lang
- Toby Kebbell
- Traylor Howard
- Chazz Palminteri
- Greg Kinnear
- Iain Glen
- Max von Sydow
- John Cho
- Aidan Turner
- David Boreanaz
- John Leguizamo
- Naomie Harris
- Ruby Rose
- Sarah Polley
- Walton Goggins
- Yaphet Kotto
- Aimee Garcia
- Andrew Garfield
- Carmen Ejogo
- Demián Bichir
- Don Cheadle
- Ellen Pompeo
- John Goodman
- Lena Headey
- Luis Guzmán
- Mckenna Grace
- Mischa Barton
- Sean Harris
- Jackie Earle Haley
- Damian Lewis
- Eva Green
- Patrick Stewart
- Bill Camp
- Blake Lively
- Bruce Greenwood
- Dove Cameron
- Emma Hunton
- J.T. Walsh
- Jessie Buckley
- Kelly Macdonald
- Kenneth Branagh
- Lizzy Caplan
- Olivia Colman
- Richard Kind
- Ron Perlman
- Seth Gilliam
- Vernee Watson
- Robert Carlyle
