Favourite Actors and Actresses
by fathersonholygore | created - 14 May 2014 | updated - 14 May 2014 | Public25 of my favourite actors & actresses
1. Peter Mullan
Actor | The Magdalene Sisters
He was interested in directing films at the age of 19 and he made several shorts. As he wasn't admitted to the National Film School, he decided to dedicate himself to acting, and made his debut in the theatre in 1988 before moving to cinema and television. Fame came with the parts he played in such...
People use the word 'underrated' a little too much these days, however, Peter Mullan truly is underrated. Though he has been in a fair share of well-recognized films and the like, I think many people still sleep on this absolute top notch actor. He is among the greats.
My favourites of his: Session 9, Top of the Lake, Tyrannosaur.
2. Vincent Price
Actor | The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Actor, raconteur, art collector and connoisseur of haute cuisine are just some of the attributes associated with Vincent Price. He was born Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. in St. Louis, Missouri, to Marguerite Cobb "Daisy" (Wilcox) and Vincent Leonard Price, who was President of the National Candy ...
One of the all-time greats. His horror films, some here and there which weren't exactly top notch, were all worth seeing because he raised them up with his acting abilities. Some might say he was hammy, I say he was the prince of darkness.
My favourites: House of Wax, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Last Man on Earth.
3. Kim Bodnia
Actor | Pusher
Kim Bodnia is a Danish actor, who was born in Copenhagen in 1965.
Kim Bodnia is educated as an actor at the Copenhagen Theatre school (1988-1991). After an amazing theatre career as an actor and creator of new Danish theatre in Copenhagen, he had his breakthrough in Nightwatch (1994) for which he ...
A great Danish actor who I first noticed because of Nicolas Winding Refn. He has great range as an actor, and at times I see some of the great actors from the 60s & 70s when watching him, which shows again a range of influence. Worth watching in anything.
My favourites: Pusher, Bleeder, Nattevagten (Nightwatch [1994]).
4. George C. Scott
Actor | Patton
George C. Scott was an immensely talented actor, a star of the big screen, stage and television. He was born on October 18, 1927 in Wise, Virginia, to Helena Agnes (Slemp) and George Dewey Scott. At the age of eight, his mother died, and his father, an executive at Buick, raised him. In 1945, he ...
A class act of a fella, and one hell of an actor. I could watch GCS reading the newspaper and I'm sure he'd make it entertaining.
My favourites: Dr. Strangelove, The Hospital, The Changeling, The Exorcist III, Hardcore.
5. Gary Oldman
Actor | The Dark Knight
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), ...
Before he was Jim Gordon, I loved Gary because he just didn't care- he did anything a director was willing to catch on camera, anything to make a performance go from average to fascinating. Some say he isn't as great as he's made out to be, but Oldman consistently brings great characters to life, and also he's one English actor in particular who can do a very convincing American accent (though there are plenty of Brits in particular who don great ones, I just think he is one of the best of them all).
My favourites: Sid and Nancy, Immortal Beloved, State of Grace, Dracula, Murder in the First, Hannibal, BackWoods.
6. Sam Neill
Actor | Jurassic Park
Sam Neill was born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to army parents, an English-born mother, Priscilla Beatrice (Ingham), and a New Zealand-born father, Dermot Neill. His family moved to the South Island of New Zealand in 1954. He went to boarding schools and then attended the universities ...
There is a presence Neill brings to his roles, exactly what it is I'm not positive, but ever since Jurassic Park I've always found him endearing.
My favourites: Possession, In the Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon, The Final Conflict.
7. Faye Dunaway
Actress | Bonnie and Clyde
An icy, elegant blonde with a knack for playing complex and strong-willed female leads, enormously popular actress Faye Dunaway starred in several films which defined what many would come to call Hollywood's "second Golden Age." During her tenure at the top of the box office, she was a more than ...
I think not only is Faye a great actress, she is also still a very beautiful woman. There is an energy and ferocity to her acting. Her characters are very real.
My favourites: The Chamber, Network, Eyes of Laura Mars, Albino Alligator.
8. Don McKellar
Actor | Last Night
Don McKellar was born on August 17, 1963 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and director, known for Last Night (1998), Blindness (2008) and The Red Violin (1998). He was previously married to Tracy Wright.
Only fitting I should put McKellar in here, seeing as he is a fellow Canadian boy. I find him compelling as a director, but his acting is just as quality. He is a strange man, who often gives his characters a quirky feeling; not sure why I find him strange, I just do. However, strange is sometimes a good thing, and when it comes to McKellar, it's one of those things.
My favourites: Blindness, Last Night, eXistenZ, Exotica.
9. Isabelle Huppert
Actress | Elle
Isabelle Huppert was born March 16, 1953, in Paris, France, but spent her childhood in Ville d'Avray. Encouraged by her mother Annick Huppert (who was a teacher of English), she followed the Conservatory of Versailles and won an acting prize for her work in Alfred de Musset's "Un caprice". She then...
Her acting is tremendous; there are times Huppert gives me chills. She is as talented as she is beautiful. Many fine films, many great performances.
My favourites: The Piano Teacher, Time of the Wolf.
10. 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 is neither my favourite actor nor the best actor of all-time, but DD-L is one of the greatest ever, no doubt about it. He is certainly high on my list though, even if he isn't number one. His dedication to the craft of acting is admirable, and I don't think him crazy for one minute; he is one of the only true actors out there who is actually earning a paycheck the size they are giving out in Hollywood (and don't kid yourselves- he has been in great films outside of Hollywood, but nowadays he is very much a player in that arena).
My favourites: The Boxer, In the Name of the Father, The Crucible, There Will Be Blood.
11. Jeremy Irons
Actor | Dead Ringers
British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...
Voice of an angel, acts circles around most other actors, and can play many different parts. From one minute to the next I find Jeremy Irons a chameleon, much like Oldman, and he makes a lot of his characters breathe with real life.
My favourites: Dead Ringers, Lolita, The Lion King.
12. Philip Seymour Hoffman
Actor | The Master
Film and stage actor and theater director Philip Seymour Hoffman was born in the Rochester, New York, suburb of Fairport to Marilyn (Loucks), a lawyer and judge, and Gordon Stowell Hoffman, a Xerox employee, and was mostly of German, Irish, English and Dutch ancestry. After becoming involved in ...
Eventually will be considered, at least after some people let go of the fact he died from drugs, one of the great legends of his time. His acting was impeccable, riddled with idiosyncrasies, his characters unforgettable, and his intensity was real, vivid, right there in front of us.
My favourites: Happiness, The Master, Synecdoche New York, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Boogie Nights, 25th Hour, Punch-Drunk Love, Red Dragon, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Magnolia, Hard Eight.
13. Humphrey Bogart
Actor | Casablanca
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was born in New York City, New York, to Maud Humphrey, a famed magazine illustrator and suffragette, and Belmont DeForest Bogart, a moderately wealthy surgeon (who was secretly addicted to opium). Bogart was educated at Trinity School, NYC, and was sent to Phillips Academy ...
To my mind I always thought Bogart to be the odd man out- he played rough and tumble/down and out characters often, he wasn't particularly attractive (maybe women might say he is handsome but certainly not a heartthrob), he had his own way of doing things. Whatever he was, wherever it came from, I'm glad for it because Bogart is certainly one of the top in the game.
My favourites: Treasure of the Sierra Madre, In A Lonely Place, Key Largo, The Big Sleep.
14. Guy Pearce
Actor | Memento
Guy Edward Pearce was born October 5, 1967 in Cambridgeshire, England, UK to Margaret Anne and Stuart Graham Pearce. His father was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to English and Scottish parents, while Guy's mother is English. Pearce and his family initially traveled to Australia for two years, ...
The one thing I can say about Guy Pearce is he falls into his roles, as far as I'm concerned. Every time I see him, of course I know it's him, but once his character comes alive onscreen, soon enough all I see is who he's become.
My favourites: The Proposition, Memento, Ravenous, Till Human Voices Wake Us, In Her Skin, Animal Kingdom.
15. Gael García Bernal
Actor | Mozart in the Jungle
Gael García Bernal was born in Guadalajara to Patricia Bernal, an actress/model & José Ángel García, an actor/director. His stepfather's cinematographer Sergio Yazbek. He began his acting career as a child, working w/ his parents in a variety of plays. At 14, he starred in a soap opera called El ...
A treat to watch. Another actor who brings characters to life with eccentricity.
My favourites: Bad Education, Amores Perros, Blindness, The King, Y tu mama tambien.
16. Song Kang-ho
Actor | Salinui chueok
Song Kang-ho never professionally trained as an actor, beginning his career in social theater groups after graduating from Kimhae High School. Later, he joined Kee Kuk-seo's influential theater company with its emphasis on instinctive acting and improvisation, which proved to be Song's training ...
This fella amazes me consistently. Nothing more to say. Watch his films.
My favourites: Memories of Murder, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Thirst, Joint Security Area, The Quiet Family.
17. Liv Ullmann
Actress | Viskningar och rop
Liv Ullmann's father was a Norwegian engineer who used to work abroad, so as a child she lived in Tokyo, Canada, New York and Oslo. In the mid-1950s she made her stage debut and in 1957 made her film debut. She really became successful, however, when she began to work for Swedish director Ingmar ...
Amazing, beautiful, talented woman. I love great actresses, but Liv Ullmann in particular has always managed to draw me in with her abilities.
My favourites: Hour of the Wolf, Persona.
18. Helena Bonham Carter
Actress | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Helena Bonham Carter is an actress of great versatility, one of the UK's finest and most successful.
Bonham Carter was born May 26, 1966 in Golders Green, London, England, the youngest of three children of Elena (née Propper de Callejón), a psychotherapist, and Raymond Bonham Carter, a merchant ...
Quirky, full of life. Her characters are insane, terrifying, manic, all sorts of other things. She is well worth the price of admission.
My favourites: Fight Club, Howards End, Frankenstein, Till Human Voices Wake Us, Harry Potter.
19. 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...
No *beep* description needed except: he is the man.
My favourites: Se7en, American Beauty, K-Pax, House of Cards, Glengarry Glen Ross, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Big Kahuna, The Shipping News, The Life of David Gale, Shrink.
20. 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 ...
He is the real deal. No matter what anyone says. This man is dedicated to his craft, he is consistent in his abilities, and continues to impress me film after film, after film, after film.
My favourites: The Machinist, The Prestige, Velvet Goldmine, A Midsummer Night's Dream, American Pyscho, Harsh Times, Out of the Furnace, Public Enemies.
21. Jennifer Connelly
Actress | A Beautiful Mind
Jennifer Connelly was born in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to Ilene (Schuman), a dealer of antiques, and Gerard Connelly, a clothing manufacturer. Her father had Irish and Norwegian ancestry, and her mother was from a Jewish immigrant family. Jennifer grew up in Brooklyn Heights, just across ...
A beautiful and excellent actress. She is compelling, and can play many types of characters, from the down and out, to the high class, to any woman in between.
My favourites: House of Sand and Fog, Requiem for a Dream, A Beautiful Mind, Creation, Little Children, Labyrinth.
22. Vincent Cassel
Actor | Black Swan
Blue-eyed Vincent Cassel was born in Paris to a leading actor father, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and a journalist mother, Sabine Litique. Often labeled as a tough guy because of his roles, eclectic choices and talent have made of him a star of European cinema. First in La haine (1995), the young actor, ...
Enigmatic and full of vibrant life. His characters are always a treat.
My favourites: Sheitan, Irreversible, Joan of Arc, The Reckoning, Mesrine Part I & Part II, A Dangerous Method.
23. John Hurt
Actor | Nineteen Eighty-Four
One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend ...
Incredibly talented, in so many films. It's hard to choose a favourite performance, there are countless. Able to fall into his roles completely.
My favourites: The Proposition, 10 Rillington Place, Midnight Express, Alien, The Elephant Man, Dead Man, The Skeleton Key.
24. Vincent D'Onofrio
Actor | Men in Black
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio was born on June 30, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York, to Phyllis, a restaurant manager and server, and Gene D'Onofrio, a theatre production assistant and interior designer. He is of Italian descent and has two older sisters. He studied at the Actors Studio and the American ...
A lot of amazing films have become amazing because of D'Onofrio. He is a rare talent. Not all his films are perfect, but he certainly brings his A-game every time the camera is on him.
My favourites: Full Metal Jacket, Chained, The Salton Sea, The Cell, Staten Island.
25. Bob Hoskins
Actor | The Long Good Friday
Bob Hoskins was described by the director John Mackenzie as "an actor from the British tradition but with an almost American approach, an instinctive approach to acting and knowing how to work with the camera". He was born on October 26, 1942, in Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk, where his mother was ...
A fascinating actor who has played some very memorable characters, for me personally. Ever since I first remember seeing him, I'd always enjoyed his characters, and the way he acts in general.
My favourites: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Long Good Friday, Hook, Nixon, Unleashed.
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