Who are the BEST (not favorite) actors and actresses

[Collier11]

Actors

Matt Damon
Sean Penn
Jeff Bridges
Tom Hanks
Dustin Hoffman
Jack Nicholson
Terence Howard
Will Smith
Denzel Washington



Actresses

Meryl Streep
Judi Dench
Julia Roberts
Helen Mirren
Kate Winslet
Charlize Theron


Agree, disagree, who am I missing?

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Winslet and Streep are 2 standard deviations above everyone else.


Among the males, I would add Johnny Depp. Some may not care for his flicks, but he is one talented actor.

[Leroy Lizard]

Will Smith? Julia Roberts? They suck. Jack Nicholson is overrated as an actor.

What's happened to actors? I remember when we had Vincent Price and Eli Wallach. Real actors.

[Collier11]

Have to disagree, Julia Roberts is a great one(although here lately she hasnt done much worth a crap)

Nicholson, come on man...Will Smith is amazing

[Curly Bill]

Male: Gene Hackman, Tommy Lee Jones

Female: I don't know, I only like the hawt ones!

[ouwasp]

Anthony Hopkins

[Leroy Lizard]

John Lithgow. Joe Pesci. Sean Penn (hate him, but he can act)

I look for actors with great range. I think you could place those two above into any character and they would shine.

On the other hand, actors like Morgan Freeman are overrated. Most of their accolades come about playing parts that are actually quite easy to pull off. As they say, anyone can die or cry in a movie.

[Collier11]

I forgot about Kevin Spacey, he is great as well.

And im with ya LL, cant stand Penn but he is a damn good actor

[ouwasp]

wife sez to add Amy Adams......offered that Meg Ryan has gone down in quality. Gave a big thumbs up to Streep

[soonerboy_odanorth]

Keep in mind... all opinion:

Actors

Matt Damon (Nope. Like his screen persona, not a great actor.)
Sean Penn (Yup.)
Jeff Bridges (Meh. Overrated. He basically plays a used-up hippy in every role.)
Tom Hanks (Yup.)
Dustin Hoffman (Yup. Though missing recently.)
Jack Nicholson (Yup. Though missing recently.)
Terence Howard (No. And WTF, no Cuba Gooding or Wayne Brady? Better Eddie Murphy than all of them.)
Will Smith (Hell no. See Matt Damon.)
Denzel Washington (Yup.)

Missing a whole heapin' pile:

Gene Hackman
Johnny Depp
Kevin Spacey
George Clooney (Use his comedy turns as evidence, he has serious chops.)
William H. Macy
Steve Buscemi
Robert Duval
Al Pacino
Morgan Freeman
James Woods
Daniel Day Lewis
Leonardo Dicaprio
Steve Martin (have to have respect for the comedic to dramatic crossover actor, or just the brilliant comedic acting)
Robin Williams (ditto)
Peter O'Toole (dude is still alive)
Christopher Plummer (him too)
Harvey Keitel
Tim Roth
Jon Malcovich
Russel Crowe
Ben Kingsley
John Cusack
Forest Whitaker

Oh, and Chuck Norris.

And I left out a few of my favorites that I think basically play the same personality every time out, but are pretty good... Liam Neeson, Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Marc Wahlberg, etc.


Actresses

Meryl Streep (Yup)
Judi Dench (Yup)
Julia Roberts (Yup)
Helen Mirren (Yup)
Kate Winslet (Yup, begrudgingly)
Charlize Theron (Yup)

And...

Penelope Cruz
Frances McDermott
Hillary Swank
Kathy Bates
Diane Keaton
Holly Hunter

I'm not as good with the gals because I keep thinking "Megan Fox". :D

But if I think of more I'll add.

[Collier11]

Al Pacino and Kathy bates, cant believe I forgot them

[OhU1]

As mentioned above by odanorth Daniel Day Lewis and Leonardo Dicaprio for sure. I would add Edward Norton too. I think Brad Pitt is underrated too.

[delhalew]

Thank you for remebering Liam Neison and Edward Norton.

[soonerboy_odanorth]

Agreed on Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt. Lots of great performances from both.

Jodie Foster?

[NormanPride]

Bill ****ing Murray.

[ouleaf]

Jude Law is pretty versatile.

[JLEW1818]

Ed Norton

[soonerinabilene]

i would add ed norton, leo dicaprio, especially over the last 5-6 years, and steve carrell. he is amazing on the office, and was fantastic in dan in real life. probably the best comedic actor over the last few years.

[olevetonahill]

While I may or may not like some of the ones mentioned
I must say theres 2 that stand out Cant believe Jimmy wasnt brot up .
Jimmy Stewart and Brad Pitt( I had never seen a Brad Pitt show till the other night , I was impressed.

Now as to the Wimmens , Im like Curly , If they :hot: Ima liking em :cool:

[Collier11]

probably cus Jimmy Stewart is no longer an actor :D

And hell yes NP, Bill ******* Murray

[olevetonahill]

probably cus Jimmy Stewart is no longer an actor :D

And hell yes NP, Bill ******* Murray

Now you runnin Dumas ya dint say CURRENTLY ACTIVE :P
You simply said BEST :cool:

[nmsoonergirl]

Kathy Bates for sure. Probably Robert Duvall for the men (I still think his performance in The Apostle is the best acting I've ever seen). I think Robert Downy Jr is pretty good, too.

I always feel like Julia Roberts is playing the exact same character, complete with the exact same mannerisms.

[Sooner04]

Julia Roberts is great at playing one part: Julia Roberts.

The best right now are Robert Downey, Jr., Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey for the men with Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep leading for the ladies.

[Scott D]

Tom Cruise is a great actor, he has people believing he's not gay. ;)

[Collier11]

Val Kilmer, wahhhhhhh?

[Scott D]

Kilmer is actually a pretty good actor.


Julia Roberts is the worst thing to happen to movies since people discovered how Mr. Ed "talked". I still think they do the same thing with her.

[soonerinkaty]

Sandra Bullock?

Woody Harrelson

[soonerinkaty]

have you seen Kilmer nowadays? Dude let himselft GO.

[Collier11]

was Bullock ever really that good til The Blind Side?

[Scott D]

was Bullock ever really that good til The Blind Side?

either she was really good and just had bad advisors, or she learned how to be good.

[Scott D]

Julia Roberts is great at playing one part: Julia Roberts.

The best right now are Robert Downey, Jr., Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey for the men with Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep leading for the ladies.

in this vein...04 brings up a good point. In every movie..Seth Rogan is playing Seth Rogan. Others who come to mind who just play themselves over and over, Chris Tucker, Megan Fox, & Jim Carrey.

[royalfan5]

was Bullock ever really that good til The Blind Side?

Did you not see Speed 1 and 2?

[Collier11]

she didnt exactly blow anyone away with those characters

[soonerinabilene]

she was great in demolition man. and by great i mean f*cking hot.

[Crucifax Autumn]

You guys left out one of Kilmer's best roles: Gay Perry in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. He was also damn good in The Salton Sea.

Did anyone mention Phillip Seymore Hoffman yet? He's consistently awesome in everything.

The comment about Bridges is WAY off...the dude just won an oscar for playing a drunk redneck for f*ck's sake and he'll soon be seen as Flynn again. He's pretty diverse, despite being best known for the hippy roles.

Almost every actress pretty much sucks sadly. Too many are one-dimensional or just dumb. Yeah, there's Streep of course, but Hollywood goes for the big tit blondes too much and ends up with more models than people like Holly Hunter or Kathy Bates. And too many of the females get forgotten when they get older too, which is when the male actors are thriving. You may see Frances Sternhagen pop up as the old lady in every Stephen King movie ever, but she's got real chops and doesn't get enough roles to show it.

Another thing to consider when making a list like this is which actors are good when the director sucks? Anyone can shine when Tarrantino, the Coens, Coppala, Scorsese, or Chris Nolan are guiding them along, but which people shine when the director is a worthless turd? Spacey, Norton, and a few others come to mind, but there are so many actors that just really shine when they've got a great director and so many others that sound like a 3rd grader reading an encyclopedia when the director is a hack.

[Crucifax Autumn]

Did you not see Speed 1 and 2?

I did, and she pretty much sucked honestly. I'd call her performances...ALL of them...competent. She's not good, but she's not the worst by a long shot. Same thing with Collier's darling Julia Roberts. That giant mouthed chick can't act her way out of a sack unless she's got a top rate director.


We need a most inconsistent actor thread so I can rant for 10 paragraphs about the entire careers of Nicholas Cage, Samuel Jackson, etc.

[Leroy Lizard]

Tom Cruise is a good actor. Hate his movies, though. (Except Risky Business)

Over the years we have had such greats as Eli Wallach, Vincent Price, Yul Brynner, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Laurence Olivier, but can any of them touch this?

http://danielleandaj.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/david-caruso.jpg

[Crucifax Autumn]

Cruise is OK on those occasions where he chooses to act. I think he's done that 3 or 4 times in his career.

[Crucifax Autumn]

And Caruso is the male version of a diva.

[Crucifax Autumn]

KKBB is way too overlooked. The entire cast does a great job in that one. You should definitely check out Salton Sea, even if only for Kilmer and the over the top great performance of Vincent D'Onoffrio.

I missed the Hoffman mention. Synechdoche New York was brilliant on his part as far as the lesser known ones.

[Crucifax Autumn]

I really liked BTDKYD a lot. He was fantastic. I'll have to finally get around to watching The Savages soon.

And SNY was destined to be different with Charlie Kauffman writing and also directing for the first time. That guy can write some really different movies and for me he's batting 1000 so far.

[Crucifax Autumn]

That was the first time I ever saw him actually act.

[royalfan5]

I'm surprised that people argued my Speed 1 and 2 point as if I was serious.

[Scott D]

That was the first time I ever saw him actually act.

liar, every time you saw him in public with Nicole Kidman acting like she wasn't merely a beard, he was acting! :D

[Leroy Lizard]

Cruise has his skills. But I think most of today's actors are limited in their scope. A few rise above the herd.

Lithgow? If you want a madman, he can do it. If you want a comedian, he can do it. There just aren't many roles he can't play.

Pesci? If you want a cold-blooded killer, he can do it. If you need a comedian, he can do it.

Eli Wallach. I can't imagine any role he couldn't play in his prime.

Sean Penn? The same. I would throw in Robert DeNiro in there as well. Jackie Gleason too (when he was alive).

Those are true actors. Sandra Bullock? Give me a break.

[Collier11]

Matt Damon cant really do comedy but the guy can do any dramatic or action role, Tom Hanks could do any role alive.

[MojoRisen]

Deniro
Morgan Freeman
Clint Eastwood
Al Pacino
Marlon Brando

[Leroy Lizard]

Morgan Freeman is vastly overrated. I have no problem with the others (especially Hanks), although I'm not sure how versatile Marlon Brando or Clint Eastwood were.

Action roles are probably the easiest acting jobs to pull off. Dying, crying, expressing anger, telling Whitey that you are not going to be pushed around (in other words, 90% of Morgan Freeman's roles)... pffft.

[PrideTrombone]

Oh Leroy....
http://theenvelope.latimes.com/media/photo/2007-09/32511087.jpg

[pilobolus]

John Wayne
Gary Cooper
Henry Fonda

[MR2-Sooner86]

Samuel L. Jackson
http://www.3click.tv/mp4//Chappelles%20Show/season2/metadata/62767.jpg

[Wishboned]

Deniro used to be great.

But lately he's just been Deniro playing Deniro.

Same with Al Pacino.