20 Underused Actors We Hope to See Break Out in 2017
By Amy Woolsey
Adrian Lester in Hustle season 8, image courtesy of BBC1
17. Adrian Lester
Why you should know him: A classically trained actor born in Birmingham, England, Lester first received acclaim for his work on stage. Throughout his career, he has starred in productions of Othello, Hamlet, As You Like It (in which he played Rosalind in an all-male cast), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Sweeney Todd, winning numerous awards.
It’s fitting, then, that he caught my attention in a Shakespeare adaptation: Kenneth Branagh’s 2000 film version of Love’s Labour’s Lost. The movie as a whole is an instantly forgettable trifle (as Roger Ebert pointed out, there’s a reason no one had bothered adapting this play before), but Lester prevents it from being a complete waste. Even in the minor role of Dumaine, he’s delightful, delivering banter with a polished conviction that the rest of the ensemble lacks. And, since this is a musical featuring 1930s Broadway tunes, he gets to show off his song-and-dance skills.
Lester has appeared in plenty of other movies and shows, including the recent BBC miniseries Undercover with Sophie Okonedo. Yet, against all odds, Love’s Labour’s Lost has stuck with me. I mean, how cool would it be to see this guy leading an energetic La La Land-style musical?
Upcoming projects: He has supporting roles in a couple of films, Breakable You, starring Holly Hunter, and Euphoria, starring Alicia Vikander and Eva Green. He’s also set to direct episodes of Riviera, a TV drama created by Neil Jordan.