Jeffrey Wright, in my eyes, is one of Hollywood’s hidden gems. Why is he “hidden”? Probably because when I talk about how awesome Jeffrey Wright is, I basically have to draw a sketch of the brother or pull up a YouTube clip for people to be on the same page. Why is he a “gem”? Have you seen any of his movies? He’s an amazing character actor as well as an incomparable biographical film role actor. Plus, for the most part, he’s pretty easy on the eyes as well. Here are just a few reasons we have love for Jeffrey Wright, a very underrated yet amazing actor who’s having a great week…

Wright as Basquiat

He Can Play Just About Anybody

Seriously, have you seen him as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Boycott? Or how about crazy a** Peoples Hernandez in Shaft? Colin Powell in W.? Or Jean Michel Basquiat in Basquiat? Jeffrey Wright has crazy range, so much so that even if he doesn’t look exactly like a real person he’s supposed to be playing, he still embodies their voice, mannerisms and everything that makes them…well, them. How many folks (aside from an Angela Bassett or Morgan Freeman) can you say actually do that?

After the last few years have been spent doing WeightWatchers commercials, Jennifer Hudson is back on her acting ish, taking a fabulous role on one of my favorite shows on NBC, Smash, and starring in director George Tillman Jr.’s The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete, which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, which started last Thursday and wraps up on January 27. Aside from Jennifer Hudson, who plays the drug addicted and struggling mother of the character Mister, the film also stars big names like Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (remember him? He was Adebisi in Oz). Alicia Keys is a co-executive producer for the film, which is set in the Brooklyn projects.

According to the plot, which we checked out via Shadow and Act, Hudson’s character is the mother of Mister (played by Skylan Brooks), and after struggling to get back on her feet, she is arrested, which forces Mister to fend for himself. With the help of his best friend, Pete, who is also down on hard times thanks to his own mother’s arrest, the young men search for food, try to avoid trouble, child protective services and drama, even as they come upon obstacles that would break most people. The movie is said to take a good look at the important bonds of friendship, and according to the Sundance description, it also shows “the way transformation sometimes can happen just by holding on long enough.”

In the following clip, we see Hudson in her most gritty role, probably ever, as she argues with her son, who only wants her to get a job, put food in the fridge and do better for herself (Mister’s character is only 14 if you were thinking, “WHY DOESN’T HE GO AND GET A JOB!?”). I’m definitely impressed with what I see, and I’m excited to see the film when it’s finally released to the public later this year, just because I’m an indie film stan. Check out the clip below and let us know how you think Hudson and Brooks did so far.

Credit: allmoviephoto.com

They are some of Hollywood’s best kept secrets. These talented brothers and sisters can hold their own on the screen alongside the industry’s heavyweights and consistently give great performances. Yet when the awards seasons roll around, their names are barely, albeit, rarely mentioned. Here is our list of actors who we think are truly underrated, and not just the usual suspects. Do you agree?

Credit: toutlecine.com

Aunjanue Ellis has captivated audiences with her riveting performances in movies Ray, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and most recently in her role as Yule Mae in the box office hit The Help. She has also earned critical acclaim for her TV work on True Blood, Missing and The Mentalist. With her acting chops, it’s hard to believe she has yet to land a lead role on TV or on the silver screen. The Brown University graduate was recently invited to teach entertainment industry courses as an Artist-In-Residence at Hampton University.

Adequate representation of black people and culture in TV and film is a well-chronicled fight in America but most people forget why. If there’s one thing the world can stop producing right this second and still get along fine, it’s actors. So this isn’t as much about numbers as it is about impact.

It’s vital that black people are well represented in film because of the awesome power of moving pictures. The normal human brain is wired to believe what you see, above all else. For centuries, people could reliably believe what was before their eyes i.e. if you see a flying man, then men must be able to fly. But that all changed when movies were invented.

Now you’re forced to cope with images, many more vivid than actual memories, that are merely figments of a producer’s imagination. On a cognitive level, you know that you’re watching TV, and that it is not reality. But on a deeper, sensory level, your brain is processing those images as knowledge and experience, just like always.

Enter millions of Americans watching black people robbing, killing, rapping or serving on TV, all day, every day. Add that to the fact that most of them are white and it’s obvious these TV/Film watchers are going to have fcuked up knowledge and experience of black people.

Why go into all this to bring you a list of Underrated Hollywood Actors?

(A) Reminders are always helpful and (B) when minorities are lumped into a category of an industry already divided by genres and generic award systems, they end up fighting for what’s left. Too often black actors are seen as a homogeneous group rather than unique and talented professionals.

These next few actors are underrated because they forced America to cope with marvelously diverse images of black people. And that is what adequate representation in Hollywood is all about. First up:

Sunday is the big day! And while I won’t hate on the current Oscar nominees (The Social Network, Black Swan, and Inception are dope), I’d like to file a grievance with the Academy for ignoring, or robbing a few black actors & actresses their just due during Oscar season. They may not always have the lead roles in the films they’re in, but they definitely always steal our attention when they waltz across the screen and stay in our minds long after the movie is over. Quietly brilliant, they are the underrated stars in the little universe known as Hollywood.