That Actor Whose Name You Don’t Know: Rhys Darby

There are quite a few actors in Hollywood whose names people don’t know and there are just as many reasons why that usually boil down to just a few pertinent reasons such as the idea that they’re not as famous, they don’t feel the need to push their name out there as much, and possibly that they’re more of a supporting actor and don’t often get recognized for much save for their most popular roles. Rhys Darby is one of those that you might recall from a handful of movies and other appearances, but unless you’ve followed the guy’s career for a while it’s very likely that he’ll be ‘that guy’ from ‘that movie’ since he’s easy enough to recognize once a person really wracks their brain, but otherwise it’s easy to think that someone could pull a blank when trying to place him. He’s been in a few prominent roles over the years and has shown himself to be a decent actor and a very funny individual, but whether or not he just isn’t firing on all cylinders with some fans could be an explanation of why he’s not any bigger than he already is. As I’ve said about anyone that manages to get their name in the movies, they’ve already made it, and as a result, they’re cemented in pop culture in some way, but getting bigger and having a big reputation that they can work with is likely one goal that many actors want to work towards.

One role that comes to mind that Rhys took on was that of Nigel Billingsley in the most recent Jumanji movies since he’s part of the game apparently that we weren’t introduced to when Robin Williams assumed the lead role in the very first movie. But upon becoming a video game, something that the kids of the current era could understand and associate with, his part became a lot more noticeable since he became the opening guide to the world of Jumanji that described the peril that the land was in and set the characters on their way. It was a role that he definitely nailed since as per the programming of any game, Nigel only spoke to those that he was meant to speak with and only answered the prompts that he was given to answer. That part of the movie was only a little awkward since anyone that’s ever played a video game in which one of the guide characters stands around or moves around waiting for interaction knows is that these characters have a very limited amount of programming when compared to many other characters, and Rhys performed wonderfully in both movies.

Another part that he took on was that of Norman Stokes in Yes Man with Jim Carrey, in which he played a rather goofy boss character that was a nice guy but was also admittedly a big nerd that had one themed party after another that Carrey’s character finally decided to attend. Like many of the other characters in the story, he was eventually affected by Carrey’s insistent need to say ‘yes’ to everything, as Norm ended up losing his job, but also was introduced to his girlfriend in the end by Carrey’s character. It was a pretty silly role, but it was one that he took on and nailed since one couldn’t help but cringe at the level of nerdiness he displayed since some of us can likely admit that we get that way too when it comes to things we care about. He also took on a role as a homeless man in Guns Akimbo, which starred Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving, giving out advice to Radcliffe’s character that was kind of suspect but still managed to convey some type of meaning that was taken throughout the length of the movie. In a big way, Rhys is far more effective when he’s being funny than when he’s being anything else. He can do drama, he might even be able to do action, but his comedy routine is by far his best and the one that has managed to make him as famous as he already is. Thinking on whether he’ll become even bigger as the years pass on is kind of difficult if only because he is a funny guy, but in Hollywood that doesn’t mean much since comedy is always changing and the kind of stuff he’s done has been good and worth laughing at, but trying to satisfy everyone with comedy is something that’s almost impossible.

So far in his career, he’s been a success, and it’s obvious that he’s not stopping yet, which is fortunate since he is a talented man and it’s going to be fun to see what else he can come up with as the years continue to roll by.