Tatiana Maslany managed to not only play a number of different clones in the show “Orphan Black,” but she did it in a way that made each of them unique and memorable. Cosima, the bookworm of the group, enjoyed reading and researching and let the other clones handle the intense stuff.
Maslany had to get plenty of makeup done to turn her into the dowdy Cosima, but she’s quite the stunner in real life. Maslany also lent her voice to the audiobooks of the “Hunger Games” series, reading the Katniss Everdeen parts. She’s gaining awards faster than you might think and has even had a nom for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2018.
John Francis Daley – Freaks and Geeks
Surviving high school at all can seem like an impossible task when you're staring down the barrel of four full years. Surviving when you're nerdy and anti-social is even harder. Such is the case for Sam Weir, played by John Francis Daley, who was labeled “Sam Queer” by bullies and stuck to comedy shows for his getaway.
John Francis Daley is now not only an actor but a musician as well, playing keyboards and singing in the band Dayplayer. He's also a screenwriter, putting pen to paper for movies including “Horrible Bosses,” “Vacation” (which he also directed), and even “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
Rainn Wilson – The Office
Nerds are sometimes the smartest person in the room. Other times they think they're the smartest and won't shut up about it. Such is the case with Dwight Schrute, everyone's favorite punching bag on the legendary sitcom “The Office.” Rainn Wilson did such a good job as this dorky doofus that he had to immediately branch out into other roles when he could to avoid being typecast forever.
Those roles include providing the voice of Superman villain Lex Luthor in numerous animated films, appearing as a professor in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and violent crime fighter Crimson Bolt in “Super.” Such versatility is quite the cool trait.
Julia Sawalha – Absolutely Fabulous
One of the longest-running and most popular British sitcoms, “Absolutely Fabulous” introduced us to Julia Sawalha when she played the character of Saffron, the most mature person on the show despite being one of the youngest.
Cynical Saffron was a scholar and overachiever, and Sawalha is no different, but while Saffron ignored fashion, Sawalha was a bona fide brunette beauty. She has a huge list of roles on TV, in movies, and even in video games, and while she's never had a big breakout role, there are lots of people on the other side of the pond who consider her a star.
DeRon Horton – Dear White People
Netflix's ten-episode adaptation of the film “Dear White People” brought us DeRon Horton as Lionel Hughes, a shy, reserved, closeted freshman who finds himself as a loner in college. While presented as nerdy, it's clear that Horton cleans up nicely.
Born in Texas but raised in Saudi Arabia, Horton has had quite the life. There's not much about him – he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page – but he's been in “American Horror Story,” “Burning Sands,” and “Lethal Weapon.” He has plenty of roles that are coming up soon, and as Palpatine said in “The Phantom Menace,” we will watch his career with great interest.