37 TV Actors Who Gave Award-Worthy Performances, But They're Still Not Talked About Enough
We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which TV performances are so good, but they consider underrated. Whether people don't talk about them enough and/or they didn't get any awards season love, here are some of the best responses:
🚨 In order to talk about some of their very best scenes, there are some BIG SPOILERS below! 🚨
1.First, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul
"Those last two seasons...she was phenomenal. Especially these three scenes: when she confronts Lalo, when she leaves Jimmy, and when she finally processes what her actions did to Howard. She is incredible."
2.Domhnall Gleeson as Sam Fortner in The Patient
"His portrayal of a killer was both chilling and oddly endearing. His performance blew me away."
3.Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth Pearson in This Is Us
"You can’t talk about underrated TV performances without mentioning Susan as Beth on This Is Us. Rather than just supporting the rest of the cast, she elevated them. She brought a level of realness to that show, especially with those tiny movements and personal quirks that only good actors know how to do. That flicker of hope and thankfulness and relief she exudes after receiving the goodbye postcard from William...the comfort and strength she radiates while consoling an overwhelmed Randall as they watch Black Lives Matter protests on TV...the TEARS that fall from her face as she says goodbye to Rebecca on her deathbed and thanks her for all she's done. Whew! Beth was the backbone of the Pearson family, and 'underrated' doesn’t even begin to describe how brilliant Susan was in the role."
4.Mandy Moore as Rebecca Pearson in This Is Us
"For the life of me, I’ll never understand how she wasn’t nominated for an Emmy for the final season."
5.Annie Murphy as Allison McRoberts in Kevin Can F**k Himself
"I loved her in Schitt's Creek, but assumed she would only be great at comedic roles. I’d heard good things about Kevin Can F**k Himself, and she’s incredible in it, you wouldn’t even believe the two characters are played by the same person. I fully believe that in a few years she’ll be up for an Oscar."
6.Kunal Nayyar as Sandeep Singh in Criminal: United Kingdom
"He put forth such a formidable performance. Kunal played such a creep. It was a 180 degree switch from his role as Raj on The Big Bang Theory!"
7.Eva Green as Vanessa Ives in Penny Dreadful
"She should've won so many awards. Overall, this show is criminally underrated."
8.Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham in Fringe
"Anna and John Noble were so amazing. They played multiple versions of the same characters. Such powerful performances. Anna really convinced the audience that she was playing different people."
9.Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector/Steven Grant/Jake Lockley in Moon Knight
"Oscar in Moon Knight should have at least been nominated for something! The way he played three different people so well that you could TELL who was who, and the way he showed emotion and vulnerability in Episode 5 in particular...he really should have at least been nominated, if not outright won, an award."
10.D'Arcy Carden as Janet in The Good Place
"D'Arcy not winning an Emmy for The Good Place episode 'Janet(s),' where she so flawlessly played not only her character but all the other main characters along with Neutral Janet should be a crime. Hell, her not getting an Emmy for her role as Janet alone should be a crime!"
11.Ilana Glazer as Ilana Wexler in Broad City
"She was so effortlessly natural and funny that it felt like she wasn't even acting on screen. Comedy was the focus, but damn she nailed the emotional moments just as well. That whole show was criminally underrated."
12.Christopher Meloni as Nick Sax in HAPPY!
"He plays an INCREDIBLE piece of shit cop. He's so gritty and awful. I feel like that show never got enough praise when the first season was an absolute masterpiece."
13.Chris Wood as Kai Parker in The Vampire Diaries
"His playful acting style made his character so deliciously and convincingly evil in TVD that I felt guilty for liking his character. I think he's in my top two favorite TVD villain and he's not number two."
14.Antonia Thomas as Alisha Daniels in Misfits
"Not many people can have that amazing character development and pull it off on their first official acting gig. I still cry in the scene where she's holding her dying man in her arms."
15.Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell in Charmed
"Her acting was phenomenal in the Season 3 finale and Piper's grief in Season 4 was fantastic. Shannen Doherty was already an amazing actor, but Holly proved that she was excellent too with this performance."
16.Connor Swindells as David Stirling in SAS: Rogue Heroes
17.Nick Offerman as Forest in Devs
"I know a lot of people are talking about him right now because of The Last of Us, so he's awesome in this too. The whole show is very thought-provoking and philosophical."
18.Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders
"Absolutely incredible acting. He’s won several awards but no mainstream US awards like an Emmy, which he deserved 100%."
19.Lola Kirke as Hailey Rutledge in Mozart in the Jungle
"The whole cast is phenomenal, but she does an amazing job with her character as well as holding her own amongst the biggest names in the cast."
20.Aimee Garcia as Ella Lopez in Lucifer
"She was my favorite character!"
21.Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson in Dickinson
"This is personally one of the most underrated TV performances ever. Hailee was so incredible as Emily and I'll forever be bitter that this show came and went without her getting some awards season love. The range she was able to pull off as Emily was outstanding. There's a reason Hailee was nominated for an Academy Award at just 14 years old."
22.Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred in The Last Kingdom
"He conveys so much emotion with just a glance and makes you root for him always. Amazing show, amazing actor. He does not get enough credit AT ALL."
23.Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Iain and Elizabeth Henstridge are so talented and I feel like not enough people know who they are and how they should be in more things (read as everything)."
24.Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Specifically the episode 'Self Control' from Season 4, and Simmons and Fitz's stand alone episode from Season 6, 'Inescapable.'"
25.Jeff Daniels as Frank Griffin in Godless
"Just started binging Godless on Netflix. Jeff is an awesome villain! He won an Emmy for this role, but I still think not enough people knew about this show at the time."
26.Najwa Nimri as Zulema Zahir in Vis a Vis
"Looooooooove Vis a Vis. The characters are so complex and I am obsessed with Najwa Nimri. Her and Alba Flores are in quite a few things together, including Money Heist!"
27.Bellamy Young as Mellie Grant in Scandal
"She had moments of pure acting beauty throughout that whole show!"
28.Drea de Matteo as Wendy Case in Sons of Anarchy
"Drea needs to get more credit in general. Not only was her work as Andrea in The Sopranos award-winning, but more people need to talk about her as Wendy on SOA."
29.Alex Lawther as James in The End of the F***ing World
Suggested by: runner1399
30.Jessica Barden as Alyssa in The End of the F***ing World
"Jessica and Alex Lawther were absolutely made for those roles! The show in general was incredible and never got enough attention."
31.Chicha Amatayakul as Nanno in Girl from Nowhere
"Unlike most other media like Tomie and The World of Kanako, her character completely deconstructs the stereotypical 'mysterious and beautiful but psychotic Asian schoolgirl' trope and subverts it's expectations. Nanno is actually one of the sanest and closer to earth characters on the show. Chicha's performance is mesmerizing, especially when you take into account the character is dealing with mental health issues as well."
32.Rosy McEwen as Libby Hatch in The Alienist
"I'll say it once and I'll say it again: Rosy in The Alienist was phenomenal!"
33.Noah Emmerich as Stan Beeman in The Americans
"He's the kind neighbor everyone knows but also a CIA agent, and you believe these two sides coexist. Bonus points for his last scene, all the emotions are on his face."
34.Patty Guggenheim as Erica in Florida Girls
"Pre-She-Hulk she was in this little PopTV series called Florida Girls, and stole every scene she was in. How another show didn't snatch her up to give her a bigger main cast role is beyond me."
35.Hamish Linklater as Father Paul Hill in Midnight Mass
"He was just phenomenal. His entire performance blew me away!"
36.Eliza Taylor as Clarke Griffin in The 100
"She portrayed Clarke with such skill and finesse through the years, and she embodied happiness, grief, fear, bitterness, love, guilt, and every other emotion under the sun. Her performance was already captivating, but then in Season 6 when she played two very different characters, and there was never a moment when she was Josephine that I questioned it. It reminded me so much of the Elena vs. Katherine acting prowess that Nina Dobrev showed on TVD. We always knew which character was which because the actor portrayed them so very distinctly."
37.And finally, Geena Davis as Dr. Nicole Herman in Grey's Anatomy
"She was only on the show for 12 episodes during Season 11 but she was brilliant. Especially the scene where she gets emotional after Arizona Robbins tells her that she's giving up her chance to live by refusing brain surgery."
We can't fit everyone into one post, so which other TV acting performances are incredible, but underrated? Tell us in the comments below!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
