30 Underrated Actresses 2020
by syd_reeses_pieces | created - 15 Jan 2019 | updated - 20 May 2019 | Public[They are all amazing talents and get lots of work- but they aren't well known/household names in comparison to some A-Listers]
1. Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Actress | Belle
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was born Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England. Her father, Patrick Mbatha, is a Black South African doctor, and her mother, Anne Raw, is a Caucasian English nurse. Her parents separated when she was a year old, and she was brought up by her mother ...
2. Sarah Gadon
Actress | Cosmopolis
Sarah Gadon was born in a quiet residential area in Toronto, Ontario, to a teacher mother and a psychologist father. She grew up with the support and encouragement of her parents and older brother, James, and with this was inspired to go headlong into acting and dance alike. Sarah spent much of her...
3. Maeve Dermody
Actress | Beautiful Kate
Australian actress Maeve Dermody is the daughter of Susan Murphy Dermody, a film theorist, historian, and director. Her father is a psychologist. Dermody's family encouraged a love of literature and the arts, and supported performing as well - her mother gave the 5-year-old a part in her film ...
4. Sarah Snook
Actress | Predestination
Sarah Snook was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia. Showing promise in performing arts at a young age, Sarah was awarded a scholarship to study drama at Scotch College, Adelaide. After high school, she was accepted in to the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) and ...
5. Florence Pugh
Actress | The Falling
Florence Pugh is an English actress. She is known for Midsommar (2019), Little Women (2019), her MCU debut Black Widow (2021), and Fighting with My Family (2019).
Pugh made her film debut in The Falling (2014). She also appears in Lady Macbeth (2016), Outlaw King (2018), Malevolent (2018), and the ...
6. Holliday Grainger
Actress | Cinderella
Holliday Clark Grainger also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series Roger and the Rottentrolls, Lucrezia Borgia in the Showtime series The Borgias, Robin Ellacott in Strike, DI ...
7. Sarah Greene
Actress | The Guard
Sarah is originally from Cork and trained in Dublin where she graduated from the Gaiety School of Acting in 2006.
Sarah played Helen McCormick (Slippy Helen) opposite Daniel Radcliffe as Billy Claven in Martin McDonaghs's The Cripple of Inishmaan, directed by Michael Grandage at the Cort Theatre on ...
8. Jessie Buckley
Actress | I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Jessie Buckley is an Irish singer and actress, who came in second place in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything, and subsequently played Anne Egermann in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Most recently, Buckley played Lyudmilla Ignatenko in the...
9. Sophie Rundle
Actress | Peaky Blinders
Sophie Rundle is an English actress. Born on April 21, 1988 to Fiona and Michael Rundle, she has two brothers James and Henry. She attended the Bournemouth School for Girls before going on to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she graduated in 2011 with a BA in Acting.
Upon graduation, she ...
10. Nathalie Emmanuel
Actress | Fast & Furious 7
Nathalie Emmanuel is an English actress, known for her role as Missandei on the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2011) and Ramsey in Furious 7 (2015).
Nathalie was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, to a father of Saint Lucian and English descent and a mother of Dominican origin. Nathalie ...
11. Essie Davis
Actress | The Babadook
Esther Davis is an Australian actress and singer, best known for her roles as Phryne Fisher in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and its film adaptation, Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, and as Amelia Vanek in The Babadook. Other major works include a recurring role as Lady Crane in season six of the...
12. Mia Goth
Actress | Pearl
Mia Gypsy Mello da Silva Goth, also known by her nickname Brush Cut, was born October 25, 1993 in Southwark, London, England to a Brazilian mother and a Canadian father.
Aged 14, she was discovered at the Underage Festival in London by fashion photographer Gemma Booth, who signed her to Storm Model ...
13. Perdita Weeks
Actress | As Above, So Below
Perdita Rose Weeks is a British actress who plays Juliet Higgins in the CBS-turned-NBC reboot series Magnum P.I. Weeks was born in South Glamorgan, to Robin and Susan (née Wade) Weeks, was educated at Roedean School in East Sussex, and studied art history at the Courtauld Institute in London. She ...
14. Claudia Jessie
Actress | Bridgerton
Claudia Jessie is a British actress, born on October 30 in Moseley Birmingham, in the West Midlands. She grew up in London, but moved back to settle in her home town permanently in her early 20's and after finding her agent. She has worked continuously, appearing in a number of television ...
15. Sydney Sweeney
Actress | Euphoria
Sydney Sweeney (born September 12, 1997) is an American actress best known for her roles as Haley Caren on In the Vault (2017) and Emaline Addario on the Netflix series Everything Sucks! (2018). Sweeney is set to star in recurring roles in the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects (2018) starring Amy Adams ...
16. Erin Moriarty
Actress | The Boys
New York City-born Erin Moriarty launched her acting career in a way many hopefuls dream of: with an awards-recognized project. Erin first appeared on screen in the Emmy-nominated soap opera One Life to Live (1968) in 2010, playing the character Whitney Bennett in six episodes. In 2011 she built on...
17. Thomasin McKenzie
Actress | Leave No Trace
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to actress Miranda Harcourt and director Stuart McKenzie. She is the granddaughter of actress Dame Kate Harcourt and Peter Harcourt. Peter's family founded the real estate company Harcourts International in Wellington. She has an elder...
18. Romola Garai
Actress | Atonement
Romola Garai was born on 6th August 1982. She is an English actress-writer-director who has worked extensively on film, television and theatre. As an actress she is known for her performances in films such as Atonement (2007), Angel (2007), I Capture the Castle (2003) and (Suffragette). On ...
19. Ellie Bamber
Actress | Les Misérables
Born Eleanor Elizabeth Bamber in the South of England, UK, Bamber has a younger brother, Lucas. She acted on stage from an early age - becoming the youngest ever member of The London Player's Theatre, before playing Young Jenny in Sir Trevor Nunn's "Aspects of Love" at The Menier Chocolate Factory,...
20. Sonoya Mizuno
Actress | Ex Machina
Sonoya Mizuno's a Japanese-born English actress, model & ballet dancer. She was born on July 1, 1986 in Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from the Royal Ballet School.
She has starred in Ex Machina (2014), Annihilation (2018) & Devs (2020). She had minor roles in La La Land (2016), Beauty and the Beast (...
21. Elena Anaya
Actress | La piel que habito
Spanish actress Elena Anaya impressed the critics with her performance in Sex and Lucía (2001).
Elena was born in Palencia, Spain, on July 17th, 1975. An active child, she excelled in karate and mountain climbing. By the time she was 17 Elena knew that she wanted to channel her energy into ...
22. Alexa Davalos
Actress | The Chronicles of Riddick
Alexa most recently starred as "Special Agent Gaines" on FBI: MOST WANTED on CBS, alongside Dylan McDermott. She also starred in Amazon's Emmy-award winning drama series, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE. Her other television work includes Marvel's THE PUNISHER and Frank Darabont's MOB CITY.
Alexa's film ...
23. Clara Paget
Actress | Furious 6
Clara Paget was born on September 12, 1988 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Furious 6 (2013), Black Sails (2014) and One Day (2011). She has been married to Oscar Tuttiett since July 17, 2021.
24. Bel Powley
Actress | The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Isobel Dorothy Powley is an English actress. Powley was born and raised in London, where she was educated at Holland Park School. She began acting as a teenager on television, starring on the CBBC action television series M.I. High (2007-2008), the period miniseries Little Dorrit (2008), the crime ...
25. Elizabeth Debicki
Actress | The Great Gatsby
Debicki was born in Paris to a Polish father and an Australian mother of Irish descent who were both dancers. When she was five, the family moved to Melbourne, where she grew up with two younger siblings. She became interested in ballet at an early age and trained as a dancer until deciding to ...
26. Hannah New
Actress | Maleficent
Born in London, England, Hannah insisted at age 4 to attend ballet school, setting her on a performing path in life. She later turned her focus to acting and joined The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. Her interest in other cultures led her to travel around the world, including Bolivia ...
27. Bae Doona
Actress | Cloud Atlas
Doona Bae was born in Seoul, South Korea. Her mother, Hwa-Young Kim, is a stage actress. Bae started out as a model. She soon moved to T.V. and movies, and it proved the right move. Her first movie was The Ring Virus (1999). Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) (aka "Barking Dogs Never Bite") and Take ...
28. Julia Garner
Actress | The Assistant
Julia Garner is an American actress and model. She has appeared in the films Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), and played leading roles in Electrick Children (2012), We Are What We Are (2013) and Grandma (2015). She also ...
29. Kristine Froseth
Actress | Apostle
Kristine Frøseth is a Norwegian actress and model. Frøseth was born to Norwegian parents and her early life was spent travelling back and forth between the United States and Norway due to her father's work.
Frøseth was scouted at a mall fashion show in Norway by local agency Heartbreak. She has ...
30. Ashleigh Cummings
Actress | The Goldfinch
Ashleigh Cummings was born on November 11, 1992 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She is an actress, known for The Goldfinch (2019), Hounds of Love (2016) and NOS4A2 (2019).
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