They showed "Species II" the other night on My20, and from watching those movies all I could think about was that ""the naked chick from Species" is getting her own show?!" when "She Spies" came out. I was surprised to see that Natasha Henstridge could act, was snarky and had a great sense of humor. (Too bad that show was canceled!)

Is there any actor who you dismissed as one-note but through future shows and viewings came to appreciate? Or is there someone whose acting you found great on something, but horrible on other shows?

Two recent examples:

1. Harry Hamlin in "Veronica Mars": I had Hamlin pegged as an aging pretty boy with one expression and no discernable acting talent whatsoever. But Hamlin's Aaron Echolls was pure acting ham crossed with scary psychopathic evil. One of the best TV villains in recent years.

2. Thomas Gibson in "Criminal Minds": Never thought much of him on "Dharma and Greg," but now that I see what he can do on CM, I'm thinking that playing affable straight man to Jenna Elfman's wacky free-spirit hijinks may not have been the best use of his talent.

Honorable mention: David Boreanaz. Liked him as Angel, but never in a million years thought he would ever get--never mind OWN--another lead role.

Matthew Perry. I didn't mind him on Friends, but that's as far as it went. He really surprised me on The West Wing. There were a few Chandleresque moments, but I think the type of humor Chandler had has so permeated the culture that there's no way they could write his character on TWW without a couple of lines in there that would ring some Chandler bells.

1. Scott Wolf. Annoyed the hell out of me on "Party of Five", and I pretty much written him off. Then he appeared on "Everwood", and I realised that he acutally is pretty talented. He's also doing a good job on "The Nine", right now.

2. Alan De La Garza. She was on the horrid "The Mountain", and I thought she was one of the weakest in the cast. I heard she didn't fare any better being David Caruso's fiance on "CSI: Miami." Now, she's on Law & Order, as ADA Connie Rubirosa. And she's currently one of the best things on that show, IMO. I did not see that coming at all.

Jeri Ryan. When I first saw the promotion for the 7 of 9 character I figured it was a really lame attempt to attract horney teen boys, but she ended up being one of the best actors on Voyager. Since then I've found her to be pretty entertaining in Boston Common and Shark, even though the shows themselves I've found pretty mediocre.


Yeah, given his lack of experience prior to Buffy and his somewhat wooden acting at times, I can honestly say I never thought I'd see him work again, but he's pretty much the main reason I watch Bones.

Jason Bateman. A c-list actor from the 80's in a hip, over the top comedy like Arrested Development? Was there something I didn't know? Apparently there was, because he completely made me forget the crap he did as a child actor.

Iyari Limon. She was so awful as Kennedy on Buffy, I wanted to stab her. But I've seen her in a few other things and, although she's no Katherine Heburn, I thought she did a credible job.

Elizabeth Rohm. She was bearable on Angel. Not great, but OK. She was on some other show before Angel, the name of which escapes me now, where again, she was OK. But I believe the term Hot Mess was probably coined for her performance as Serena Southerlyn on Law and Order. Most times, it was painful to watch her.

I hated Thomas Gibson on "Another World," hated him on "Chicago Hope," hated him on the big screen in "Far & Away". Hated his acting, hated his characters, hated the sight of him.

Then I got hooked on "Dharma & Greg" and within a few episodes I liked Thomas Gibson just fine and have never been able to go back to hating him. Go figure...

How funny! I've been on the opposite track as far as Thomas Gibson goes. First thing I saw him in was Tales Of The City, and loved him in that. Then I saw the film Love And Human Remains, and realized it was more than a one-time crush. That crush continued until I saw D&G... and that put an end to it. I guess I just prefer him as the egotistical nihilistic bad boy. But man, he sure looks good in tighty whities (or less)!

I'm doing a reversal on Wolf. I never watched PO5, but I thought he did a good job as Jake on Everwood. However, he irritates the crap out of me on The Nine.

I hated Audrey (?) with a passion on 24, and I thought it was largely due to Kim Raver's portrayal. However, I really like her as Katherine on The Nine, even though I was predisposed to liking Wolf and disliking her. Go figure.

Wow. I hadn't even opened the thread but just from the title, these were the first two that came to mind.

Hamlin had become such an acting joke in the past few years, and his wife Lisa is a bit nutty. So I was apprehensive to have them be the Echolls on VM. But they were just awesome. I look forward to them when re-watching season 1. Hamlin brought a whole other level to the word creepy. Excellent work.

Going along with the VM theme, Enrico who plays Keith is wonderful. I wouldn't have expected such good work after watching him on Just Shoot Me. It wasn't that he was bad on the show. But it's two separate roles all together and I didn't realize he was so capable.

As for Bateman, who knew he had it in him to anchor such a brilliantly chaotic show? He has perfect comedic timing, both on and off the show. I saw in him so many failed pilots, nothing which was noteworthy. To be quite frank, though, I don't think AD would have worked without him.

Prior to AD, I could not stand David Cross. Whether it was Mr. Show or a guest spot (yes, including "chicken pot pie" from Just Shoot Me), I either wanted to smack the smirk off his face or wish I'd changed the channel sooner. I even stayed away from AD mainly because of him. But I recently broke down and watched the first six episodes. Imagine my shock that I can't imagine the show working without him.

William Shatner: A television legend from Star Trek, but not a particularly facile actor. Then spent years trying to run away from James T. Kirk. Now, a two-rime Emmy winner and the anchor of Boston Legal, IMO. Not to mention being part of some of the funniest commercials in recent history, playing off old acting partner Leonid Nimoy.

On the other side of the fence:

Alyssa Milano---went from being a decent child actor in "Who's The Boss?" to a barely mediocre adult one in these recent years. I have the hardest time believing that she used to study acting as a child (and was once "Annie," I believe), to relying only on her "talents" as she got older.

Agree with both of these. Hamlin, never disliked him but never cared for him much as an actor. But he was so perfectly creepy I have a hard time seeing him as anything else. He nailed the role.

Enrico I only knew from "Just Shoot Me" and if anybody ever told me I would love him as much as I do now and that he was as great an actor as he is, I would never have believed it.

Jason Bateman, I partially agree with. I always liked him, but my mother on the other hand made a similar comment about how she didn't care for his work much as a child actor in the 80's, but is excellent now.

Jason Bateman doesn't surprise me at all, because, even though he was on some craptacular shows as a young'un, he was BORN with perfect comic timing. A comeback was inevitable.

David Morse surprised me on House last night. I remember him fondly as Dr. Boomer, the Job of St. Eligius, so I am always surprised to see him as an intimidating, scary character.

Exact opposite reaction. I was a big fan of David Cross before AD, but Tobias ruined him for me. Tobias' complete lack of self-awareness was funny for about one episode, and then it grated on me for the rest of the series. The character never escaped one-dimensionality, and it seemed to me that Cross deliberately avoided any humanizing aspects. Tobias had a weird sort of purity to him, I guess, but I felt Cross laughing at his own creation, and the archness of it all drove me nuts.

I was a huge fan of Christine Lahti's for many years, but her time on "Chicago Hope" as Dr. Kate Austin ruined her for me. I hated the character so much that I began to hate Lahti, and try as I did, I couldn't get beyond it. By the time "Jack and Bobby" - a show with an intriguing concept - came along, I figured it was time to give her another chance, because she really is/was a terrific actress and also had the good taste to love Thomas Schlamme, a really good director. Anyway, I watched the first episode and, not that it was my only problem with the show, but I found that my hatred was still burning.

Sorry, Christine. You're probably better than that.

I used to hate Rosanna Arquette. I didn't have a solid reason other than she bugged me, and I especially hated a movie she did in the 80s called "The Big Blue." But then she turned it around for me when I saw her documentary "Searching for Debra Winger," which is about trying to work in Hollywood while commiting the crime of being female and over the age of 25, basically. Rosanna directed and narrated the documentary, and she was so likeable in it that I found myself hoping that she would find a good role somewhere. And now I wish "What About Brian" would succeed (even though the show seems to be trying its hardest to alienate whatever fans it had to begin with) because I want Rosanna to have a good job.

Great topic!

I was never a Friends fan, so Jennifer Anniston was little more than a haircut for me. But her hilarious hosting of SNL (with the Girl Fight Club intro and the English street urchin scene with Rachel Dretch) got my attention, and her work in Office Space confirmed that she can be funny & likeable; Rock Star and The Good Girl confirmed my newfound opinion.



Woody Harrelson. I didn't care a bit about his corn-fed Hoosier boy schtick on Cheers, but Natural Born Killers & The People Vs. Larry Flint made me reconsider.

Maura Tierney annoyed me on NewsRadio, but I thought she was really compelling and believeable on ER.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, he was just another teen idol, all smirk and hair on Saved by the Bell, but I was really impressed with his work on NYPD Blue.

Which reminds me of Rick(y) Schroeder. He used to make me roll my eyes when he was a child actor, but I thought he really came through in Lonesome Dove and he was the only thing that made NYPD Blue watchable for me.

AimingForYoko, I agree with you re: MPG and will raise you his predecessor, Rick Shroeder. It's too bad he felt compelled to leave for the sake of his family.

The biggest one for me is probably Christopher Eccleston...not that I EVER thought he was a bad actor, just a reallyreally creepy motherfucker. Until "Doctor Who," EVERY role I saw him in, he played a bad guy or a creepy guy, to the point that when I saw his name in the opening credits of a movie, I was like, "Ok, he'll be the villain then." So, when I tuned into the DW for the first time, I half expected him to try to murder/kidnap/rape Rose when she first encountered him. Luckily, that was not the case. It's a family show, after all. Heh. And instead, his Doctor is goofy, sweet and intense, but not icky. It's a lovely perfomance and a complete 180 from a lot of his previous work.

Another one is Bill Paxton. None of his previous action films prepared me for the subtle, kindly (and sexy!) work he did on "Big Love."

Also, Christopher Marquette. I'd only ever seen him as Dr. Lu's son on "Strong Medicine," where he was fine, not especially notable, IMO. Although admittedly, I gave up on that show pretty early on. I had a slight case of whiplash when he turned up as Adam Rove on "Joan of Arcadia." I don't know what I was expecting from his performance, but it definitely WASN'T for him to have me in tears on a regular basis. Adam is such a gentle, weird and vulnerable boy, and CM just owned that role. I hope he gets another one as good sometime soon. I also loved Mary Steenburgen on "JoA" and I have LOATHED her in almost every role previous. That show was just magic. At least the first season was.

And total word to everyone who mentioned Harry Hamlin, Jason Bateman, David Boreanaz (NO REALLY! Who knew?!) and Mark-Paul Gosselar.

Do reality celebrities count? Non-actors? Because if so, I've got two words for you:

Jerry Springer.

Yeah, okay, he was a notably liberal mayor of Cinncinnati, and he is a devoted husband and father who has given away millions of dollars to charity. But all I really knew about him was that he was the host/referee of that horrible, trashy talk show.

And then... "Dancing With The Stars". He wasn't a good dancer. But he had good humor, a great attitude and showed appreciation and - when she was injured, concern - for his professional partner, and respect for the other competitors. The 'storyline' of his attempts to learn the waltz for his daughter's wedding was one of the few such 'plots' that emerged organically and seemed genuine to me. The fact that he did, in fact, master the waltz was just the icing on the cake. By the time he was voted off last week he'd won my heart, and evidently many, many more.

Jerry's arc on "DWtS" reminded me of a quote from the Bob Fosse film "All That Jazz," when Roy Scheider tells one of his chorus ladies, "I can't make you a great dancer and I can't even promise you I'll make you a good dancer, but if you stay, I'll make you a better dancer" [and he does!]. To me, that was part of Jerry's triumph. He stayed and he left a better dancer.

One of TV's biggest legends (pun not intended), Raymond Burr, went from a movie villian (Hitchcock's Rear Window) to one of television's upholders of the law (Perry Mason and Ironside). A couple of others in that category were Richard Widmark (Madigan) and Telly Savalas (Kojak).

So much word. I actually didn't pay much attention to him at first, on JoA, because I kept thinking of him as the cute little kid on SM. Then I saw the episode dealing with Mark's mother's suicide and I was hooked.

ITA, TudorQueen. I haven't seen all of DWtS, but what I have seen of Jerry Springer's appearances impressed (and surprised) me greatly. I never would have imagined that he possessed humor and charm.

My father, a big fan of House, thought I was putting him on when I showed him an episode of Blackadder and told him the dorky Prince Regent was, in fact, the same actor who plays House. Even after seeing Hugh Laurie's name in the credits I think he had trouble believing it.

I've struggled with the Hugh Laurie thing myself...He's amazing.

Since you mentioned actors that made break from previous types of roles (Raymond Burr et. al.), I think it is only fair that we include Leslie Nielson. He took his former persona and turned it on its ear in the 1980's. Smart way to revive a career - however I'm sure there are many of you young 'uns out there who don't even remember him as a serious actor.

Tom Welling has me going back and forth. One moment I think he's a good actor, but there are times where I cringe hearing his lines. I heard him say in a preview on the radio, "Please don't leave me." and i thought it sounded like he read it off a card.

I'm going to nominate the cast of Wings.

Tim Daly--the older brother. I loved him in Eyes, a show that wasn't on for long enough, and I think he's doing good work on The Nine. And how is it possible that he gets better looking with age?

Steven Weber--the younger brother. While Wings was filming, he was the lead in the movie Jeffrey, which I remember as being good. He went on to star in sitcoms that never went past the pilot. And now, he's Jack Rudolph on Studio 60, the perfect studio head.

Thomas Haden Church--Lowell, the dimwitted mechanic. Recently nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sideways. I was stunned by the transformation.

Tony Shalhoub--Foreign Guy as a taxi driver. Now best known as the obsessive-compulsive Monk, a role that has won him three Emmys.

Crystal Bernard--I got nothing.

Now, all of them did good work on Wings, but I think they've gotten better with age.

Does it count if it happened in reverse? I never liked him as a comedian, and I avoided his movies like the plague. After I saw Forbidden Planet from his leading man days, though, I kind of started to like him a lot.

More on topic: Justin Timberlake. Yes, this is on topic, because it's Saturday Night Live that made me like him. He irritated the hell out of me as a singer, and I shuddered to even think of him as a comedian, and hosting SNL when he was also the musical guest seemed so pretentious - but he was hysterical. And now I can't hate him no matter what he does, because I have the image of him in a giant omelet suit burned into my brain. Well done, Timberlake.

On that note, Pants Ninja, I'd totally have to nominate Garth Brooks. I really hate country music, I'd always thought that he was just abhorrent, but....SNL completely made me love him, in their particular format at least.

Seriously - does anyone else remember these bits but me? Old French Whore (he was a riot in drag); Who's More Grizzled? (with Robert Duvall, no less); the campfire/coboy thing where he complained about the lasers drying his skin, and offered the other cowpokes Pellegrino; the great moment with Tracy Morgan when they discuss Chris Gaines (Morgan calls him fat & gay); the list goes on.

Really, really funny and likable. I was surprised, but I think he was one of the best hosts in a long time - MUCH to my own surprise.

I would say Jamie Pressly (sp?) on My Name is Earl. I saw her in some things before this show (they must have been great if I remember them) and even watched the first season of MNiE and was like, "She's ok." But for some reason, so far she has knocked it out the part for me this season. I'm very impressed.

Also in MNiE, the guy that plays Randy. I saw him in "I don't want your life!", I mean Varsity Blues and he was ok. Didn't really notice him. I love him as Randy.

On the note of surprising SNL hosts, I was quite surprised by Eva Longoria's gig last season. I think she's okay on "Housewives" and has certainly improved, but I still figured they would just do a bunch of sketches where she's the pretty girl and the male cast members will do crazy sketches built around her for the whole show. Instead, she did impersonations of Lucille Ball and Teri Hatcher and seemed to be very prepared and dedicated.

To the bill of surprisingly good SNL hosts, also add Janet Jackson. I have that episode on tape and watch it all the time.

Regarding SNL, I was pleasantly shocked by Matt Damon, Sean William Scott, Colin Farrell and Gwyneth Paltrow. They really came to play. Biggest letdown? Peter Saarsgaard.

Never liked David Boreanaz on BTVS and Angel; he looked and acted as if he were carrying all the world's sins on his shoulders. However, he really seems to have found his feet in Bones (only seen it 3 times, but was quite impressed).

I agree with both of those. Actually, I would also throw Jason Lee in there. Whenever I saw him in whatever Kevin Smith film was out, I always found him to be the weakest of the casts (even Ben Affleck.) But ever since I've seen him as Earl, my opinion has changed. It helps that Earl is a different character then the ones he usually plays in Kevin's films (smug, arrogant, etc.)

You forgot Laura Innes as Bunny, the stereotypical dumb bimbo. She was a revelation as Kerry Weaver on ER.
It's sort of funny Lowell and Antonio have had a better career than the leads.

In his defense, that was in fact the character (not that I found him to be a compelling actor or anything).

[/i]Not It I thought that Daly turned in a chiilling performance as David Koresh in one of those movies after Waco happened. ITA about Church and Shaloub, particularly the former, since he'd been keeping a lower profile (TS had a pretty good movie resume Big Night among them, before [i]Monk. The strength of Nielsen is that he hasn't necessarily changed his acting style (Frank Drebin is pretty straight-laced).

I am in agreement over David Boreanez and Jaime Pressley. I liked Angel as a character and thought DB did a good enough job, but he seemed so one-note that I never thought he'd move beyond. But Bones is pretty fun.

And JP seemed like another Tara Reid. But she's got fantastic comedic timing.

As for the SNLs, I always picture Garth Brooks as a live action smurf: "Smurfette, I'm going to smurf you like you've never been smufed before."

I think Scrubs allows actors to really shine. Brendan Fraser was really enjoyable (IMlonelyO). Colin Farrell was actually likeable for one time in his life. And John C McGinley is just so fantastic, I'm sorta wishing he was that way in real life.

I never liked Sarah Chalke on Roseanne, so I was hesitant to give Scrubs a try. Boy was I wrong. She really came a long way.

Yeah, Sarah Chalke was the first name that sprung to mind pretty much immediately upon seeing this thread. Going from one-note SecondBecky to the eccentric and cartoony, yet nuanced and layered Elliot Reid (yes, I'm serious) is so drastic that you'd honestly think they were played by two different actresses.

And yeah, the Garth Brooks SNL episode surprised the hell out of me. I still find uncanny ways of inserting "I think my whore is dead" in conversations whenever something sad is about to happen.

This is a fun thread!

I agree about Garth Brooks. That was one of the funniest SNLs ever. My favorite skit was the cowboys around the campfire. Just the visual of Garth in one of his patchwork shirts with the huge microphone headset, and all the other cowboys looking like stereotypical cowboys, is enough to send me into gales of laughter.

AimingforYoko, I don't remember Laura Innes from Wings. I also don't remember the character Bunny, but I will take your word for it.

doguncle, I missed Tim Daly as David Koresh. I dimly remember the ads for that miniseries. It's hard to do a good biographical portrayal of a person who is still fresh in the public's memory.

How's this for obscure? I once saw a TV-movie with Crystal Bernard and Traci Lords called As Good as Dead and they both impressed me: Bernard when she had to pretend to be Lords' sexpot character, and Lords for turning in a believable performance with her clothes on.



She surprised me as well. I think that Roseanne just never wrote for SecondBecky, which is why Chalke seemed so vapid.

Sometimes movie actors do their best work on TV. Famke Janssen never really impressed me -- she was all right in GoldenEye and was background in X-Men, which boasts performances far more memorable than hers -- but she was pitch-perfect as Ava Moore, the bitchy incestuous transsexual life coach on Nip/Tuck.

Bunny was Lowell's wife. Dumb as a brick and she cheated on him on a regular basis.

My choice right now is going to be Mariska Hargitay. THe first thing I saw her in was on ER where she played Mark Greene's annoying, ditzy girlfriend. I had never hated a character and actress on that show that much (and wouldn't until the horrid Michael Michele showed up). It wasn't just the character thought - I thought MH was a terrible actress.

And now I've been watching SVU six or seven years and I think she's great on it. Sure St. Olivia is written a little over the top sometimes, but I think overall MH is a good actress and I enjoy watching her on the show.

I never watched Oz or Law and Order, so I wasn't fond of Christopher Meloni. He just seemed annoying to me. Then I saw him in "Wet Hot American Summer". Hilarious! I definitely see him in a different light now.

I never thought much of Timothy Olyphant the first season and a half of Deadwood-- I thought he was in over his head with some astounding actors-- but he just knocked my socks of this last season.

And, man, on re-watching, that whole cast of Wings was terrific. Crystal Bernard should have more of a comedic career.

Tricia Helfer, on Battlestar Galactica. I complained about her in the miniseries, as she seemed another lingerie-model-turned-"actress" with no talent.

Boy, did she prove me wrong. On a show surrounded by amazing acting, she not only holds her own but regularly outshines her castmates. I ate my crow early on in the first season, but by the time she showed up as the abused Gina on "Pegasus", I was ashamed I'd ever doubted her talent.

For me its the opposite. I thought that Paxton was completely outdone by just about every other actor in Big Love. His character seemed very one-note to me as well.