I just read a new story about one of those actors I think is sorely under utilized, Ryan Reynolds. The story (How to Save Ryan Reynolds’ Career) http://bit.ly/oB1Twc seems to think the only way for Ryan Reynolds to get ahead in his career is to pull a Darth Vader and "go to the Dark Side." Granted that works for a lot of people but it doesn't mean its the way for everyone to go. Reynolds is a good actor, he's also extremely likable, he could just make his career running on that. A lot of actresses manage to do that and have long satisfying and Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, pre-surgery Meg Ryan had a phenomenal career as the lovable every girl that was a shoe-in for any romantic comedy. Ryan could do the same thing as a guy. Not saying he should do all romantic comedies, but he has a quality similar to 2 other great actors with huge fan followings: Nathan Fillion and one of my all time favorite actors Bruce Campbell. Both of those guys have range, but they both have a quality that calls to a specific type of role. Both can play witty, snarky heroes and in fact have made quite a bit of money playing unique and colorful heroic characters. In fact, Reynolds should have fought hard to get the role of Nathan Drake in the (in production) Uncharted movie. The character of Drake plays to all of Reynolds strength and if done right will be a very lucrative franchise, it's a missed opportunity.
I get why Hollywood wants Reynolds to play evil/bad roles, diversification. The problem with doing all kinds of roles however means your not commoditized as a brand to one specific role. In a market of people trying to be a jack of all trades sometimes it's better to be the master of one. Then again it's just an opinion, hopefully one that Reynolds will see and consider.
