10 Acting Performances Way Better Than You Thought They'd Be

2. Charlie Hunnam - The Lost City Of Z

Will Smith Genie
Amazon Studios

Charlie Hunnam has somewhat unfairly been stigmatized as a bad actor, which mostly stems from his wooden and charisma-free performances in studio blockbusters Pacific Rim and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Yes, he may not have been particularly good in those movies, but with the right material he can deliver a brilliant performance, which is exactly what he did in James Gray's The Lost City of Z.

Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch were both previously attached to the lead role of Percy Fawcett before Hunnam came aboard, with many skeptics doubting his abilities to convincingly play such a complex character. The actor proves much more suited to mid-budget movies than the blockbuster arena, and utterly convinces as a man consumed by his desire to find the titular lost city.

With more than able support from a stacked ensemble that includes Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland and Sienna Miller, it is still Hunnam who anchors the movie and does most of the emotional heavy lifting as a character that could easily come off as supremely unlikable as he unshakably focuses on his obsession to the detriment of his family in a transformative performance that should go some way to silencing the Englishman's more vocal critics.

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