Some individuals are simply born with talent. However, there are a few actors in particular that you might not know who have mastered their craft. Knowing that one actor is better than another is completely subjective, but it can still be fun to rank them and see what comes out on top! We’ve picked 24 great actors who we think deserve recognition for their talent, versatility, and work ethic.
1. Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in 1956. He is an American actor and filmmaker.
In 1988. He has since made several cinematic appearances, including ‘Catch Me if You Can’, ‘Castaway’, ‘The Green Mile, and many more. Hanks is also an accomplished director who won an Academy Award for directing “Philadelphia” in 1993.
2. Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. was born in 1965. He is an American actor whose career has included:
- Critical and popular success in his youth.
- A period of substance abuse and legal difficulties.
- A resurgence of commercial success in middle age.
He starred as the title character in the 1992 film ‘Chaplin’ for which he received an Academy Award nomination.
3. Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson was born in 1948. He is an American actor and film producer. Jackson has appeared in over 100 films. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a boxer in ‘Pulp Fiction’ in 1994, but he lost to Jeremy Irons for ‘Reversal of Fortune. In 2003 he won the “Best Actor” award at the National Movie Awards after receiving nominations from many others.
4. Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford was born in 1942. He is a producer and performer in American movies. He gained worldwide fame for his starring roles as Han Solo in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and the title character of the “Indiana Jones” series. Ford is one of Hollywood’s highest-grossing
5. Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman was born in 1937. He is an American actor. He starred as Perry White in the first three “Batman” films and many more, but he isn’t just a star of movies. He is not simply a movie celebrity, having been in the “Batman” flicks and many more. Additionally, Freeman acted in several science fiction films, such as “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the same performance, and “Gravity” (2013), for which he received a third nomination.q
6. Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones was born in 1946. He is an American actor and filmmaker. He acted in various films in the 1980s and 1990snotable films, including “The Right Stuff”, “No Country for Old Men”, “Lonesome Dove,” and the romantic comedy-drama “Hope Floats”. In 1995, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in “The Fugitive”.
7. Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp was born in 1963. He is an American musician, actor, and producer. He has won the Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and British Academy Film Award for his performances in films such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” (2001), “Donnie Brasco” (1997), “Sleepy Hollow” (1999), “Ed Wood” (1994), “A Nightmare on Elm Street”,
“Cry-Baby”, and “Public Enemies”.
8. Al Pacino
Al Pacino was born in 1940. He is an American actor and filmmaker whose career has included leading roles in numerous feature films, such as “The Godfather” trilogy (1972-1974), “The Godfather Part II” (1974), “The Godfather Part III” (1990) and other films, such as “Donnie Brasco”, “Heat”, and “Scarface”. He has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
9. Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood was born in 1930 and is a famous American actor and director. He began his career with roles in television programs and then starred in over 80 movies during his 50-year career. He is considered one of the best actors in American cinema, and his films “Every Which Way but Loose” (1978) and “In the Line of Fire” (1993) are among his most acclaimed.
10. Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas Keaton was born in 1951 and is an American actor, producer, and director. Some of his most acclaimed films include “Beetlejuice” (1988), “Batman” (1989), “Clean and Sober” (1988), “Jackie Brown” (1997), and the thriller remake “The Taking of Pelham 123” in 2009. He also co-starred in 3 films that earned over $100 million each on their total U.S.
11. Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in 1974, and he is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood right now. His films are just as well received as his onscreen performances and include “The Aviator” (2004), “Inception” (2010), “Gangs of New York” (2002), “Titanic” (1997), and “The Departed” (2006).
12. Will Smith
Willard Carroll Smith Jr. is an actor, producer, and rapper born in 1968. He has found success in the media of music, cinema, and television. He was dubbed the world’s most powerful actor by Newsweek in April 2007. Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and four Grammy Awards.
13. Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson, Jr. was born in 1937. He is a well-known American actor and producer who has worked in over one hundred films. His best-known roles include “The Shining” (1980), “Easy Rider” (1969), and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a psychopathic killer in the film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.
14. James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones was born in 1931. The American actor has performed in numerous films, television shows, and plays. He is well recognized for lending his voice to Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King” and its follow-ups and Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” film series.
As a child acting career, he appeared on Broadway at age 12, playing the role of a slave child opposite Shirley Temple in the short-lived show “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm”.
15. Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt was born in 1963 and is an American actor and producer. He received a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and three Academy Award nominations in acting categories. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine in 2005. As a cowboy hitchhiker, Pitt first became public attention in the road movie “Thelma & Louise” (1991).
16. Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent Buscemi was born in 1957 and is an American actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in more than forty films, including “Reservoir Drifters” (1994), which was a large project for him, “Pulp Fiction” (1994), “Armageddon” (1998), and “Ghost World”, for which he won numerous awards, including the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor Award.
17. Denzel Washington
In 1954, Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. was born. And is an actor and film director. Mount Vernon, New York, is where Washington was born. When his family moved, he was 14 years old and moved to Iowa City, Iowa; he was then nicknamed “Denny” by his new classmates. He has received two Golden Globe awards, a Tony Award, and two Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2001 for his role in the film “Training Day”.
18. John Malkovich
was born in 1953 and is an actor, producer, and director. He is well known as a character actor. His films include “Places in the Heart” (1984), “In the Line of Fire” (1993), “Of Mice and Men” (1992), and “Con Air” (1997).
19. Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise was born in 1955 and is an actor, film director, and musician. He has appeared in such films as “Rudy” (1993), “Forrest Gump” (1994), “Mystic River” (2003), “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997), and “Apollo 13” (1995), for which he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
20. Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquín Rafael Phoenix was born in 1974 and is an American actor and musician. He began working in television and film in the early 1990s, appearing in several television roles as a child actor. He landed his first major role as the title character in “To Die For” (1995). In 1998, he gave a critically acclaimed performance in “Gladiator”.
21. Bill Murray
William James Murray was born in 1950 and is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live as a member of the offbeat comedy troupe, “The Groundlings”, which he co-founded with Gary Kroeger in 1974.
22. Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He came to international attention as a rapper for the groups Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and later for his 1995 hit single “Good Vibrations”. Wahlberg then turned his focus to acting and quickly rose to fame in the late 1990s and 2000s with films such as “Boogie Nights”, “She’s All That”, “The Perfect Storm”, “Be Cool” (2003), and “Rock Star” (2001).
23. Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey was born in 1969 and is an American actor. He first performed on stage in the children’s play “Powder” in 1993. McConaughey’s breakthrough role was as the accused and convicted murderer Ron Woodroof in the film “Dallas Buyers Club” (2013), which earned him the Golden Globe Award and Academy Award for Best Actor.
24. Kurt Russell
Kurt Donald Wahlberg was born in 1954 and is an American actor, screenwriter, and film producer. He is the son of film director and producer John Wahlberg. He is well known for his role as Snake Plissken in “Escape from New York” (1981) and Russell “Buck” Taylor in “The Thing” (1982).