Selecting an assortment of the best actors of all time is foolish, perhaps more so than trying to be objective while tackling any other “all-time” related ranking. Still, it was worth a shot. What you get below includes actors and actresses, with some attempt to highlight a few stars who’ve operated outside Hollywood for most of their careers, but the attempt probably wasn’t strong enough.
Uh… sorry. As for selecting actors/actresses, it came down to how legendary they are, and so that did favor actors who were either active for a long while a long time ago, or who are active now and have been for decades. Quality of performances, consistency, and quantity of roles (big bodies of work help) were all looked at in determining the best actors of all time. Hopefully, you don’t hate it all too much.
25
Joe Pesci
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
You only have to look at the gangster movies Joe Pesci has been in to realize how great he is, since he’s a big reason why the likes of Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman work so well. Beyond those, though, he is admittedly well known for Home Alone and its first sequel, and he is great there, playing another criminal, sure, but it’s tonally a very different kind of thing to the other movies he’s specialized in being in.
Even with his gangster films, though, he’s a different sort of gangster in The Irishman compared to his earlier roles, still being intimidating and having a certain presence, but just in a different way. Other highlights of his filmography include JFK, Raging Bull, and My Cousin Vinny. It’s a filmography that might be a bit more about quality than quantity, admittedly, but still, what quality you’ve got here.
24
Samuel L. Jackson
Image via © Miramax/courtesy Everett Collection
Of all the actors who’ve become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe machine, in the sense of having multiple appearances and all, Samuel L. Jackson might well be the best, but part of that comes down to his role as Nick Fury being just one part of a massive filmography. Even without the MCU, he’d still be one of the most recognizable actors of all time, showing up in so many films.
Early on, he had small roles, like in Goodfellas and Jurassic Park, but then came Pulp Fiction, and that was deservedly a breakout kind of role for Jackson. He’s since been great in a bunch of other Quentin Tarantino movies, had a memorable role in the Star Wars prequels, shone in Unbreakable, and was also in the best of the Die Hard sequels. He’s also one of those rare actors who, it honestly seems like, pretty much nobody dislikes.
23
Cate Blanchett
Image via Focus Features
Cate Blanchett has been in a lot, including blockbusters, as a role in The Lord of the Rings shows, but it’s a handful of slightly smaller films that best showcase her acting abilities. There are two Oscars for two of them, including for The Aviator, where Blanchett won for playing an actress who herself is famous for winning four Oscars in real life… but more on her in a little while.
The other win was for Blue Jasmine, where she’s great, and it’s almost a little surprising that Blanchett didn’t also win for 2022’s Tár. It’s hard to fault many Cate Blanchett performances, because she’s either in good movies or she’s in movies that aren’t very good, but nonetheless still see her giving good performances, which is all you can really ask from a relatively prolific actor, in all honesty.
22
Tom Cruise
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