Very few actors across the boardcan say that they have always been great. Most of the time, actors' skills have to be forged through hard work and dedication.
On Reddit’s r/movies,cinephiles decided to talkabout actors who used to be far from extraordinary but slowly got better over time. From the extremely versatileMatthew McConaugheyto the action legendKeanu Reeves, these performers may have started getting better roles, found a typecast beneficial for them, or sharpened their craft.
10Blake Lively
Blake Livelygot her break in smaller comedies and then slowly started moving her way up to major Hollywood productions, where she started to shine brighter.
u/shy247ersuggested that Lively has improved as the years have passed, which is evident in the increasingly important roles she has been getting. Whether as the lead in films such asThe Age of Adalineor in a supporting role in the likes ofCafé Society, the actress usually stands out as one of the better parts of each of her movies.
9Daniel Radcliffe
u/CompleteZilchsays that back in hisHarry Potterdays,Daniel Radcliffedidn’t show much promise. Although the movies were undeniably successful, the young actor’s performance was rarely a standout.
However, in the years following his tenure in the massive fantasy franchise, Radcliffe has surprised everyonewith his fascinating career choices. It seems that with each role he takes, he steers further and further away from being typecast. From playing Al Yankovic inWeird: The Al Yankovic Storyto a talking corpse inSwiss Army Man, he has only kept getting better.
8Channing Tatum
Although he’s now one of Hollywood’s most coveted comedic actors,Channing Tatumdidn’t always have that level of success, as you might judge from his early days in commercials and low-level comedies.
It was the action-comedy cult classic21 Jump Streetthat truly let audiences around the world see Tatum’s potential.u/MatsThyWitfeels that the turning point for the actor’s career was “when they let him be fun and charismatic instead of forcing him into generic pretty boy roles,” and it’s hard to disagree now that Tatum has proved his versatility and charm.
7Zac Efron
Some years ago, most people would have only recognizedZac Efronfrom theHigh School Musicalmovies and limited roles in smaller productions. Nowadays, however, he keeps very busy with a variety of roles.
Though some, likeu/zepzepzepzep, think that Efron is “still stuck in the pretty boy phase,” the actor has been doing an increasingly good job at distancing himself from his generic teen actor years.Starring in incredibly fun moviesand getting praise for his work in the likes ofExtremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, the future of his career is nothing if not exciting.
6Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth’s early roles in movies likeStar TrekandA Perfect Getawayweren’t exactly the kinds of performances that would have you thinking he would become a huge star.
Redditors, like asince-deleted account, think that even when his MCU outing inThorput him on the map, he still wasn’t a great actor. But as the years passed, Hemsworth brought gut-wrenching nuance and complexity to his Marvel role and provedhis value as an action star in movieslikeExtraction.
5Sandra Bullock
You probably wouldn’t know it now that she’s an Oscar winner, but once upon a time,Sandra Bullockwasn’t nearly as acclaimed an actress as she is today.
Her performances in generic action movies and rom-coms from the beginning of her career are far from extraordinary, and even today; she continues to offer some critically panned performances. And yet, cinephiles likeu/sumwaahpraise her “great comedic timing” and capacity to “deliver that emotional punch,” making her an actress as fun to watch in comedies as in dramas.
4Dwayne Johnson
The jump that WWE-famous wrestlerDwayne Johnsonmade to Hollywood movies in the early 2000s wasn’t the firsttime a wrestler became an actor, but it was definitely the most successful.
It’s not so much that The Rock has developed the skills of an award-worthy thespian but that he has found the type of roles that allow his charisma to shine and stuck to them. Redditors likethis oneagree it’s just fun “to see that persona in the flicks he does.” He rarely pushes himself outside of his capabilities, resulting in performances typically full of charm and grit.
3Keanu Reeves
Especially nowadays, with the still-growing popularity of theJohn Wickfranchise, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know Keanu Reeves.
Reeves has offered fans a bunch of memorable performances, fromThe MatrixtoBill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. However, he didn’t particularly shine in those years for his dramatic chops. It has been in recent years that he has found the best roles for his style — asu/spencerleveyplayfully points out, all Reeves needs are “minimum dialogue scenes.”
2Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaugheyis now a highly respected actor with an Oscar up his sleeve and a wide variety of roles. However, whenhe started in horror movies, rom-coms, and generic action flicks, he didn’t exactly get much praise.
It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly was the turning point that sparked the McConaissance, but fans likea since-deleted accountagree that the actor “really dug into the craft of acting” and that his efforts paid off. Praised for his work in things likeDallas Buyers Cluband HBO’sTrue Detective, today’s McConaughey is entirely different from ’90s McConaughey.
1Adam Sandler
Adam Sandleris regarded by many as a “bad actor,” but when given the right role, he can be absolutely phenomenal, and arguably the best part of a given movie.
When starring in the silly comedies that have given him his bad fame, Sandler typically does an admittedly bad job. But with the right material, in films along the veins ofPunch-Drunk Love,Uncut Gems, orHustle, he has proved that he can be one of the best in the business, and Redditors likeu/Spacegrass1138have taken notice.
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