Actors Who Are Better On TV Than In The Cinema

In cinema, Michael Sheen is often cast as real-life people, where he's basically asked to be a glorified impersonator (which is how I first came to know him), or quirky and eccentric characters.

But on TV, he's asked to play *real* people (as opposed to *real-life* people), and that's where one gets to finally see the depth of the man's acting ability and range. He gets to emote. He gets to be relatable. He gets to be the type of character one can identify with and believe, and in many ways, that's even more impressive to me than his, admittedly, brilliant chameleon-like ability to play real-life historic figures, like Tony Blair or Brian Clough.

I'm inclined to agree with you with respect to Hugh Laurie, although as a Brit who wasfirst introduced to Laurie via stuff like "The Young Ones" and other comedy shows, I regarded him as a comedian. He first came to fame through his comedy sketch show with Stephen Fry, and so, when he, and indeed Fry, transferred to more dramatic performances, starting arguably with 1992's Peter's Friends (the brilliant TV adaptation of "Jeeves and Wooster", which predated Peter's Friends, was still very much in the larger-than-life comedy realm), it was a genuine surprise to realise that Laurie, and Fry (who, alas, doesn't seem to do thata much acting these days, but was superb playing Oscar Wilde in the eponymous Wilde, in the late 90s, which, aptly enough, featured an early performance by Michael Sheen) had dramatic chops, alongside their comedy talent.

Very much agreed. In fact, we rarely see Tennant in movies at all, unlike Sheen, who tends to divide himself between TV, film, the occasional theatre, and even as a team captain on UK panel shows.

Although I think Wilkinson deserves some more lead roles, he has been brilliant in a few films, including In The Bedroom (a rare lead role) and The Full Monty (in which his part was arguably the film's highlight, and evoked the most pathos). However, I think on balance, you're probably right, and he does tend to do his best work on TV. He first came to my attention as the duplicitous and pompous Pecksniff in a 90s adaptation of "Martin Chuzzlewit" which I'd highly recommend, for Wilkinson's memorable performance alone.

Benedict Cumberbatch I feel has been great in TV *and* film, and is one of the few actors who is able to seamlessly jump between various mediums without losing anything in the process.