Top Actors
by feeheelee | created - 26 Feb 2013 | updated - 28 Feb 2013 | PublicAlways changing, never a set list. The order of the list is also questionable...
1. Daniel Day-Lewis
Actor | There Will Be Blood
Born in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of the U.K., and his second wife, actress Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, an important figure in the history of British cinema and head of the famous Ealing ...
He hasn't done the most movies but what he has done has been mind blowing! He is an enigma, a once in a generation actor. So great, yet so humble.
2. Tom Hanks
Producer | Cast Away
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has ...
His body of work is perhaps the most impressive of anyone working today. His versatility is what makes him great, he can make you laugh, cry, and want to be a better person.
3. Robert De Niro
Actor | Cape Fear
One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained ...
What can you say about De Niro? Perhaps one of the most accomplished actors of all time. He has already peaked many years ago, but he is still around, for better or worse.
4. Jack Nicholson
Actor | Chinatown
Jack Nicholson, an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter, is a three-time Academy Award winner and twelve-time nominee. Nicholson is also notable for being one of two actors - the other being Michael Caine - who have received an Oscar nomination in every decade from the '60s through ...
It's Jack Nicholson! He makes it look so easy, there is no one else like him!
5. Brad Pitt
Actor | Fight Club
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt was born on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri to Jane Etta Pitt (née Hillhouse), a school counselor & William Alvin "Bill" Pitt, a truck company manager. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student ...
His career started out like he was just going to be a flash in the pan. With his soap star looks and below average acting chops. But then he did Kalifornia, while not a great movie, it forced people to look at him differently. It's not all been smooth sailing, but whose career is free of stinkers?
6. Bill Murray
Actor | Lost in Translation
Bill Murray is an American actor, comedian, and writer. The fifth of nine children, he was born William James Murray in Wilmette, Illinois, to Lucille (Collins), a mailroom clerk, and Edward Joseph Murray II, who sold lumber. He is of Irish descent. Among his siblings are actors Brian Doyle-Murray, ...
Bill Murray could be in a movie for 5 seconds and automatically make it better. He is the only comedic actor in my list so far. He toes that line, he's never obviously comedic, yet not deadpan. His acting is so honest and subtle. I could watch him in anything!
7. Denzel Washington
Actor | Fences
Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He is the middle of three children of a beautician mother, Lennis, from Georgia, and a Pentecostal minister father, Denzel Washington, Sr., from Virginia. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled at ...
Denzel is one of the, if not THE most accomplished Black actor working today. His body of work is impressive and his barn storming performances in Malcolm X, He Got Game, The Hurricane, Training Day, Man on Fire and so on, match, if not better his peers. One thing stops him though, movie choices. he is not a picky as he should be. But hey, work is work right?
8. Christian Bale
Actor | The Dark Knight
Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January 30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Bale. His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries ...
Christian Bale is perhaps the most versatile actor working today. A fearless actor who jumps in feet first to everything he does. A passionate method actor who will, it seems, go to any lengths to embody his characters. Trevor Reznik in The Machinist being the most extreme. he has been making movies for 26 years! An incredible feat considering he just turned 39!
9. Bruce Willis
Actor | Die Hard
Actor and musician Bruce Willis is well known for playing wisecracking or hard-edged characters, often in spectacular action films. Collectively, he has appeared in films that have grossed in excess of $2.5 billion USD.
Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany,...
Bruce Willis is one of Hollywoods elite, yet he will probably never win and Oscar or even be nominated. He's the action movie star, Die Hard was his first staring role and that's what he is and always will be. He plays the underdog so very well, but as well as he does that it doesn't warrant a spot on the list, so why is he here? Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Pulp Fiction, Twelve Monkeys! He may not be as versatile as some, but he has quite the back catalogue.
10. Mel Gibson
Actor | Braveheart
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...
Yeah, yeah, yeah! He cuts a controversial figure these days, but you cannot deny what he has done. Lethal Weapon (1,2 & 3. 4 was a mistake) isn't suddenly a bad movie, nor is Braveheart, Mad Max, Ransom, Payback, The Patriot, Maverick etc... He is so dynamic on screen, it's hard not to root for him, in spite of all the hate that broods inside of him.
11. Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor | Inception
Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting cast member of the sitcom Growing Pains (1985) and low budget horror movies, such as Critters 3 (1991), to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s,...
Hard to believe Leo has been in the movie business for over 20 years! he first got my attention in This Boys Life, where he blew my mind with his performance. Although, at times his performances can fall a bit flat, but it's mostly in terrible movies, so I can forgive him. He can tap into such deep, dark emotions it's hard to know when he is acting or completely losing it! It's what makes him so great to watch.
12. Al Pacino
Actor | Serpico
Alfredo James "Al" 'Pacino established himself as a film actor during one of cinema's most vibrant decades, the 1970s, and has become an enduring and iconic figure in the world of American movies.
He was born April 25, 1940 in Manhattan, New York City, to Italian-American parents, Rose (nee Gerardi)...
It took me a while to take a shine to Al Pacino. That is probably because I hadn't seen much/any of his back catalogue. But after seeing Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Scarface, Godfather, and Scent of a Woman, I caved. He's good, but there's just something stopping him being great in my eyes. Something I am sure keeps him up at night...
13. Harrison Ford
Actor | Raiders of the Lost Ark
Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (Nidelman), a radio actress, and Christopher Ford (born John William Ford), an actor turned advertising executive. His father was of Irish and German ancestry, while his maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Minsk, ...
Indiana Jones AND Han Solo? Not to mention Jack Ryan, Rick Deckard, and President of the United States! Yeah Ford has really filled some major roles. Outside of these roles he has still shined, for so many years. And no, I don't blame him for the Crystal Skull!
14. Johnny Depp
Actor | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II was born on June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Betty Sue Palmer (née Wells), a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. He was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 15, and fronted a series of music-garage bands, including one ...
Ah Johnny Depp, you've done so much great stuff, but you've also done some right crap. For that reason I don't quite admire you as much as I should. Because when you commit, it's awe-inspiring! But when you don't, it's low, so very low.
15. Morgan Freeman
Actor | Se7en
With an authoritative voice and calm demeanor, this ever popular American actor has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern US cinema. Morgan was born on June 1, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, to Mayme Edna (Revere), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber. The young Freeman...
When I think of great actors, I think of Freeman. But when I really look into it, there's not as much there as I thought. It's just that when he has been great he has been so very great, it makes you forget about the other pay checks he cashed. For that greatness you have to go all the way back to Seven, and Shawshank Redemption. That was 20 or so years ago, or 40+ movies ago!
16. Kevin Spacey
Actor | L.A. Confidential
Kevin Spacey Fowler, better known by his stage name Kevin Spacey, is an American actor of screen and stage, film director, producer, screenwriter and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s before obtaining supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in...
Kevin Spacey is an icon, a man so cool and so gifted as an actor he is hard to fault. Yet, much like Morgan Freeman, it's been sometime since we've seen him excel at what was apparently his peak.
17. Will Smith
Producer | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Willard Carroll "Will" Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has enjoyed success in television, film, and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". Smith has been nominated for five Golden ...
Will Smith has become such a versatile actor over the years. His start in The Fresh Prince showed us glimpses of his range in a show that should never have had us weeping uncontrollably. He fills the action movie star role perfectly with his screen presence, but is equally adept at making us laugh, and making us empathize. He brings so much to every character he portrays and has continued to be a role model in his 20+ ploughing his trade.
18. Samuel L. Jackson
Actor | Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson is an American producer and highly prolific actor, having appeared in over 100 films, including Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Unbreakable (2000), Shaft (2000), Formula 51 (2001), Black Snake Moan (2006), Snakes on a Plane (2006), and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005), ...
Samuel L. Jackson seems like a guys who is not afraid to take a role, for better or worse. He is a powerhouse of an actor that chews up the screen, a scene stealer. But I cannot think of a movie where he has touched me on an emotional level.
19. Robin Williams
Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford ...
Robin Williams is my dark horse here. When you think of Robin Williams you think of a zany, off the wall comedian who makes silly movies, even though you know better. He is that too, mind. He is a very funny, unpredictable comedic talent. But he has been nominated for an oscar, not once, but FOUR times! FOUR! He even won for his role in Good Will Hunting! The man has the power to make you laugh, cry, feel, think, and even creep you out!
20. Gary Oldman
Actor | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Gary Oldman is a talented English movie star and character actor, renowned for his expressive acting style. One of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film and television, he is known for his roles as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), ...
Gary Oldman was an automatic selection for my favourite actors list, but when it came time to putting the list together I found myself struggling to find that many moments where he warranted inclusion. "Leon, Fifth Element, JFK, True Romance, and Dracula you idiot!" My inner voice screamed! Oh yeah, thanks!
21. Tom Cruise
Actor | Top Gun
In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. ...
Tom Cruise? Hey, let me explain. There are many out there that have it in for Tom, I mean I know why, but I don't understand that being enough to dislike his work. The man has done everything but straight up comedy. He has a laundry list of amazing work that not many can come close to. Some say he's always Tom Cruise in every movie he does, I say that is incredible short sighted and have you seen him in anything besides Jerry Maguire, and Top gun?
22. George Clooney
Actor | The Ides of March
George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and television host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry. Clooney ...
Perhaps the most likable man in Hollywood! Yet some folks don't really like him, yet cannot tell me why. He's so strong on screen, know for playing charming, strong, yet flawed characters. More recently impressed in The Descendants, where he showed such vulnerability, sadness, and anger. He went up a few notched in my book.
23. Matt Damon
Actor | Good Will Hunting
Matthew Paige Damon was born on October 8, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Kent Damon, a stockbroker, realtor and tax preparer, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an early childhood education professor at Lesley University. Matt has an older brother, Kyle, a sculptor. His father was of English and ...
"Matt Daaamon" Even with Team America's oddly accurate caricature of him, there is no denying his ability. His best role may have come and gone in Good Will Hunting, but he has been steadily building up a fascinating body of work, including action, comedy, drama, thriller, sci-fi, western, family, and voice over work. He's not afraid to laugh at himself either, which is vital in the harsh world of celebrity.
24. Brendan Gleeson
Actor | The Guard
Brendan Gleeson was born in Dublin, Ireland, to Pat and Frank Gleeson. From a very young age, he loved to learn, especially reading classical text in and outside the classroom. He took great attention to Irish play writers such as Samuel Beckett, which eventually led to him performing in his high ...
Brendan Gleeson has become such an accomplished Irish actor, some forget he is even Irish! Well he is!! He has excelled in so many roles over the years, and is never afraid to go back to his roots and play a straight up Irishman!
25. Ralph Fiennes
Actor | The Constant Gardener
Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, England, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer. He is the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus ...
26. John Candy
Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.
Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...
27. Steve Martin
Writer | Roxanne
Steve Martin was born on August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas, USA as Stephen Glenn Martin to Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1913-2002) and Glenn Vernon Martin (1914-1997), a real estate salesman and aspiring actor. He was raised in Inglewood and Garden Grove in California. In 1960, he got a job at the Magic ...
28. Simon Pegg
Actor | Shaun of the Dead
English actor, writer, and comedian Simon Pegg was born Simon John Beckingham in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, to Gillian Rosemary (Smith), a civil servant, and John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician. His parents divorced when he was seven. He later took his stepfather's surname "Pegg." He was ...
29. Hugh Jackman
Actor | Les Misérables
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer and producer. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film ...
Hugh Jackman hasn't done a great deal of movies that I have loved. But he has done just enough to make me sit up and take notice. In fact looking through his CV, I question my choice because I see Wolverine, Van Helsing, Kate and Leopold, Real Steel, and The Fountain. But I recognize the fact that while these were bad movies, he still wasn't that bad. So with The Prestige, X-Men 1 & 2, and Les Miserables, he creeps in.
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