Is Daniel Craig an overrated actor?

[Axl Van Sixx]

This guy is one of the biggest stars in the world right now, but he seems to act the same in every movie. He doesn't have a huge range of expressions. Anybody else agree with me?

[Note: he still makes a great Bond]

 

[redhawk23]

I think he has far more range than you are giving him credit for, its just that his more mainstream acting work the past few years, essentially his hollywood work, has been made up of generally similar roles.

Also he pulls off American accents pretty much better than any other Brit.

 

[danoyse]

I saw him on Broadway in A Steady Rain - doing a full-out Chicago accent and playing this little mope of a character. Probably the best non-Bond performance I've seen from him, he was great.

I think the biggest problem is that film roles all tend to be the same type of character. He's a really good actor.

 

[Hamill-Joker]

I just don't think he's been given the best mainstream roles in order to show off his true range of skill.

I really enjoyed his work in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo much more than any of his work as James Bond.

 

[AnneFan]

He's excellent at what he does. I think he has range, but why not play to your strengths?

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

He's a decent actor mostly in crap movies. I wouldn't put him in the league of someone like Daniel Day Lewis or Cate Blanchet, they are good to the point that they can make a really bad movie enjoyable through their screen presence. Daniel Craig can't do that, if a movies bad, he's bad.

 

[SuperSoldier985]

OP most likely just doesn't like Daniel Craig's face...

You think he's overrated? By who? No one ever said he was some fantastic actor in general. He's better than average, but I doubt anyone's saying he's anything amazing.

With that said, I disagree on the limited emotions thing--you could say the same thing about 90% of all celebrities in Hollywood with that logic.


Yep---I'm sure you just don't like his "face".

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

He's a decent leading man but he has a bad eye for projects and tends to pick alot of crap to star in.

 

[flickchick85]

I saw him on Broadway in A Steady Rain - doing a full-out Chicago accent and playing this little mope of a character. Probably the best non-Bond performance I've seen from him, he was great.

Agreed, I saw him in that too and he was fantastic.

He was also great and quite different in Infamous.

 

[kvz5]

Overrated? Nah.

I haven't really even seen any acclaims for him as an actor outside of the Bond movies.

 

[Blue Sugar]

Acting is not all about having the greatest range.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

He's a pretty damn good actor. He's just had the displeasure of being in a few bad movies (Cowboys & Aliens, Tomb Raider etc).

 

[bunk]

Besides the Bond movies, I've only seen him in Defiance and Munich, both of which he is really good in. I think he just likes darker characters, like Christian Bale. He hasn't had as many good roles though.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

I loved him in Dragon Tattoo, Munich and Defiance. All very different characters portrayed pretty damn well.

He's also possibly my favourite Bond. He's a winner in my eyes .

 

[danoyse]

Agreed, I saw him in that too and he was fantastic.

He was also great and quite different in Infamous.

I read somewhere that after A Steady Rain's closing performance, he had shirts made up for the crew that had the show's logo on the front, and [BLACKOUT]"Where's My ****ing Puppy?!"[/BLACKOUT] on the back.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

People who say he has no range forgot his role in Road to Perdition.

 

[Max J Power]

The movies I've seen Craig in are Road to Perdition, Layer Cake, Munich, and the two Bond movies. In all of them, I felt like I was watching a character and wasn't thinking about the fact that I was watching a person act. Thus, I think he is a good actor.

 

[The Morningstar]

He's a great actor. Can play a convincing villain as well as good guy. He should have got award recognition for Casino Royale.

 

[jnmx2000]

well you're looking at his mainstream work, if you want to go with his indie stuff as far as his range goes, look at love is the devil. I will admit the movie is borderline unwatchable but it's got some quirky performances in it. If I remember correctly Craig is a thief who gets caught breaking into someones apartment and then that man says Craig must sleep with him for doing that, and he does and they have a relationship, incredible bizarre movie that doesn't have any strict narrative.

 

[bullets]

I've always thought he was a good actor. After Layer Cake I didn't realize he was in Road to Perdition until I went back and watched it.

 

[flickchick85]

I read somewhere that after A Steady Rain's closing performance, he had shirts made up for the crew that had the show's logo on the front, and [BLACKOUT]"Where's My ****ing Puppy?!"[/BLACKOUT] on the back.

I will now forever be searching for one of those to turn up on Ebay.

 

[Soapy]

If anything I would say he's underrated. I've personally never really heard very much praise for his acting ability other than "he's a pretty badass Bond".

 

[kvz5]

If anything I would say he's underrated. I've personally never really heard very much praise for his acting ability other than "he's a pretty badass Bond".

Yup.

 

[DacoitONE]

The first time I remember becoming aware of Mr Craig was when he appeared in a one off made for tv thriller where he played a new house guest. It was called Shockers: The Visitor.

I also think his roles in both Road to Perditionhttp://www.imdb.com/character/ch0005731/ as Connor Rooney and Joe in Enduring Love are often overlooked.

 

[Mandalore464]

It's not his fault you get the feeling he's always playing the same character. Actors have always been typecast, that's no news.

But I personally don't think he's always playing a Bond-esque character. His portrayal of Blomkvist in TGWTDT was far from his superhuman kick-ass Bond persona, he looked very human and much more sensitive, sometimes fragile, in it.

Anyway, it's extremely hard (and always has been) for anyone to make it in Hollywood without playing the same character over and over again, no matter what your acting abilities are. You get to replay the character that made you famous forever, because the money people know they can rely on you to provide good performances in similar roles.

Hollywood should be bombed... Bless the filmmakers who actually take risks and get the recognition they deserve for it.