"Paris Texas" was a bit of a bore but Harry Dean was heart rending. He is truly an actors actor. Probably never made a lot of money but he loved his craft.

Always fntastic.

I watched Door In The Floor again last week. He is brilliant in it.

fantastic wired, energetic actor - been in some shite movies I know but at least he is always worth watching.

plus
Burt Lancaster
Robert Mitchum
and the grandaddy of all cult actors, Warren Oates

although that hasn't extended to 'The Boat That Rocked'

also William H. Macy

I'll watch anything with him in it.

Other old reliables, even if the film's shit:

Brenda Blethyn
Tom Hanks
Paul Giamatti

... Johnny Depp. Pirates stretched that goodwill a lot though.

If Michael Caine is in something it always gets an increased chance of getting watched.

I'm beginning to feel this way about David Morrissey as well.

As for actresses, Toni Collette and Laura Linney really do it for me.

And Kate Winslett. Though not necessarily together.

Jeff Bridges - from object of punk-era derision ("Rock 'n' roll - phew!", anyone?) to my favourite living screen actor.

Warren Oates - the capo di tutti capi.

Sean Penn - still underrated, imo, but he's always been great.

Joan Cusack - her bro is great as well, but she's a hugely underrated comic actress (as is Anna Faris).

Cate Blanchett - proper A-list and therefore eminently bankable, but for me, she wipes the floor with Meryl Streep (yes, I said it).

Tilda Swinton - has gone from her arthouse past to a point where she can now make a rubbish picture like Constantine worth watching for her two scenes alone.

Salma Hayek - I'd watch five hours of her sat in a chair reading a book in silence, to be quite honest.

Regina King - black character actresses tend to get overlooked, but she's an enduring favourite of mine.

Denzel Washington - always watchable.

Christopher Walken - where to begin?

Kevin Costner.

Jack Thompson - Oz actor was always at least watchable, and usually stole any scene he was in.

and a young Gary Oldman just imagine if they appeared in a Les Blair Play for Today type thingey.... Oh! they did and I just recently transfered it from VHS to DVD. Honest, Decent and True about an advertising agency in that London at the height of Thatcherism. Ade Edmondson and Arabella Weir are also in it, should anyone need a copy, ye ain't seen me, roight?

very bankable but I suspect sneered at in these quarters. I saw her in a very untypical role in the movie 'In the cut' and she was excellent.

Also Timothy Spall - one of our very best.

I scroll and I scroll and there's still no Robert Duvall?

No Tommy Lee Jones?

No Powers Boothe?

No Vincent D'Onofrio?

No Michael Madsen?

I can't help it. He only ever plays Nicolas Cage, and he does that unconvincingly, but I can't help watching whatever he's in - and generally enjoying it.

Robert Shaw was always watchable. Whether playing Bond villains,Nazi Panzer commanders,or a mad fisherman with an undersized boat. The scene in Jaws where Quint describes the fate of the USS Indianapolis is pure cinema gold.

watchable actors.

My case for Wahlberg:
Basketball Diaries
Boogie Nights
I heart Huckabees

In The Name Of The Father, The Usual Suspects, just about everything else he's ever been in, even the current ads for Sky HD.

Just to hear the way he says a line with such.... ridiculous enunCIATION and...pauses and.. suddenfastbits with that weird slow blink and creepy smile.
.
He's the only actor who's completely unconvincing as a character. He's only him. I love it.

Shurely shum mishtake?

laugh loud, laugh long - but i'm serious - he's good

is always great value. And William H Macy

Does he really "open" a movie in Hollywood speak? The Oceans stuff aside which is formulaic drossfest incarnate. Even then, he is usually the most watchable thing in these movies (other than the parlour game of "guess what part of the world Don Cheadle's 'corkney' accent is headed to next?").

He takes on challenging roles in non-blockbuster films and puts in compelling performances - Syriana,The Good German - for example.

The mark of a good actor is, it seems to me, is whether they are good at comedy - and he is. Great timing and lightness of touch in his Coen brothers outings.

Hell yes! I can't count the number of times I've watched 'The Eagle Has Landed' and his rotten Oirish accent, knowing it's total cr*p but quite enjoying it. Can I mention Clive Owen? Really warmed to him in the past couple of months, even if he appears in some dross.

Surely most of these names are stars and perfectly bankable. For real unsung heroes, capable of shining even with 2 feet mired in a pile of thorough artistic poo, I nominate...
JT Walsh (a good baddy in just about everything: eg Good Morning Vietnam)
M Emmet Walsh (stunning in Blood Simple)
Brian Dennehy (Best Seller, Belly of an Architect)

Stephen Rea..Ireland´s answer to William Macy

Brilliant in everything I've seen him in, including Shine, Shakespeare in Love, Lantana and especially the Life and Death of Peter Sellers.
Bankable ? No idea.

Timothy Hutton
Ryan Reynolds
Amy Adams
Ian Holm

A favourite of the Coen Brothers, who's Fargo script famously referred to him as 'kinda funny lookin'. Fantastic actor, though not even his name amongst the credits could convince me to go and see 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'. Hardly ever gets a lead role though.

I almost forgot about him because he is such a good actor that you forget he is there...

Alfred Molina.

Always brings an air of gravitas to his roles. He was even good in The Haunting In Connecticut, which was a truly awful film.

He was exceptional in Zodiac amongst a group of great actors.

I suspect he turned up on time, hit his marks, read his lines, then cleared off back to his swimming pool for a tea with lemon.

No artistic pretentions, just a great deal of skill.

Also - Roy Scheider!!

Brilliant in Ghostworld, Reservoir Dogs and The Sopranos, yet more bankable and mainstream work eludes him..........