With only Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington and Jamie Foxx as the only 3 black actors to win Oscars for best actor, I think that Hollywood leaves a lot to desired in its treatment of black actors. In between and after, many promising black actors have burst onto the scene. In my opinion, the most underrated black actors are: Don Cheadle His star has only begun to burn and I believe will one day outshine Denzel's. He already has more range than Denzel because he can do comedy in his sleep as he did in Ocean's Eleven and various interviews, but can play more serious roles as in Crash. He can effortlessly switch between being the hero (as in Hotel Rwanda) and the villian (as After the Sunset). It's only a matter of time before he at least matches Denzel in depth, especially given their age difference. Djimon Hounson Lately, I haven't seen him in much, at least nothing of significance. Yes, he has starred in blockbusters such as The Gladiator and The Island, but nothing since his most memorable appearance in Amistad. In Amistad, he delivered an Oscar-worthy performance, but since then, nothing has really tested his true acting ability. Why Hollywood doesn't better use the potential of such as a talented and intelligent actor is beyond me. The list I started only includes movie actors, but please feel free to add TV actors (e.g. Dennis Haysbert, the president from the hit show "24").
Derek Luke!!!!!! also my boy Cuba hasn't gotten a decent role since winning his oscar all those years ago.
I don't see Jamie Foxx as being underrated. He once was typecast as being just a comedian, but ever since he did "Ray" and "Collateral", I think everyone now knows how good he is. Terrance Howard, though, despite his current popularity, has been a great actor for a long time. I remember him from Dead Presidents. Speaking of Dead Presidents, here is another underrated actor: Keith David I've never been much of a fan of Cuba Gooding, Jr., but his brother Omar Gooding is a very good actor. He's had some bad breaks; the ESPN show "Playmakers" that he starred in was canceled because of pressure from the NFL, and he was killed off HBO's "Deadwood" a couple of weeks after he first appeared on it. Omar Gooding By the way, I voted for Don Cheadle. Peace. _________ “I didn't get the job because I look like a lion. I got the job because I can read the words on the page and say them out loud.” - James Earl Jones
Idris Elba is another underrated black actor. Remember him from "The Wire"? And who can forget Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who played the role of Simon Adebisi on "Oz"? His character on that show is one of the reasons why I would never want to do time in prison. Peace.
My vote is for Don Cheadle closely followed by Terenca Howard. Like someone else said Jamie Foxx is not underrated, he might get a little over-exposed to be quite honest. Cuba Gooding picked to many bad roles (whatever was that gay cruise ship movie called??)
Don Cheadle is awesome...I think he should have won for Hotel Rwanda, but I was also thinking Mekhi Pfeffier is underrated but I think he is quite good.
I think Don Cheadle is a great actor, but better than Denzel?? In my opinion, the only other black male actor on the level of Denzel is Samuel L. Jackson. That oscar snub for his role as Jules in Pulp-Fiction is probably the biggest travesty of all-time. I mean, not even John Travolta could compete with him on the same screen. I loved Djimon Honsou in Gladiator and Constantine, but Amistad was really good too. One of my new favorite black actors is actually Tyrese. I know that musicians aren't supposed to be able to transfer over to the big screen, but he's really good. If you've seen the movie Baby Boy, you'll know what i mean. He was great in that. Question...where is Wesley Snipes?? I love that guy. I'll watch any movie that he plays in. By the way, about Crash.... i just don't get it. :smt102 That movie made absolutely positively no sense to me. I didn't like it for whatever reason. It seemed like they tried a little too hard or something. I dunno.
oh, but to answer your question, Terrence Howard is the most underrated from that list. He's been really good for a long long time.
Mos Def. Not only does he completely blow away all other rapper turned actors, but he can hold his own onscreen with just about anyone. Mos Def really started to get noticed when he starred in an HBO film called "Something the Lord Made." In it he plays Vivien Thomas, who along with Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman)--(That's Hans from Die Hard by the way develped a surgical technique to correct a condition called "Tetralogy of Fallot." This enabled future surgeons to operate directly on the heart, which was previously thought impossible. Mos Def proved he can definitely handle lead on a serious drama.
My vote was for Djimon but also I love Don and who could forget Mos Def - the one rapper that can truly act amazingly. Djimon is also the yummiest man I have seen in ages!
Terrence howard is underrated and the reason he is underrated because he has been playing the same type of roles in most of his films! he usually plays the slick permed out drug dealer/pimp/hustler/musician lol in almost every "black" movie he is in. With that said his performance in Hustle & Flow was great :shock:. Personally, I think in terms of acting skill I think Morgan Freeman/Denzel Washington are about even and Don Cheadle comes after them. Samuel L. is great but some of the movies he has been coming out with like Snakes on a plane and The Man have been weak has hell :vom:
