Who do you consider to be the best actor?

[Woodsey]

Tom Cruise just plays Tom Cruise. Even as Vincent in Collateral - a great film and a great role - he's just nasty Tom Cruise.

 

[Commerford]

I'm surprised at the lack of Kevin Spacey in this thread. Is it just me who thinks he's a great actor?

 

[Terminate421]

Robert Downey Jr., Iron man is just the frosting to that brilliant method of acting he has. He can never be uninteresting at all

Morgan Freeman is solid gold

It's hard to really hate Tom Hanks

Liam Neeson is a badass

Ron Perlman is a white version of Morgan freeman (still a good thing)

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Gary Oldman. He is a chameleon. From playing both old and young Dracula, to Jean-Baptise Emanuel Zorg, Sirius Black, Commissioner Gordon, and Lee Harvey Oswald, he never looks the same in any role he's ever played.

Not to mention Mason Verger from Hannibal... the man truly was unrecognisable in that, as well as brilliant.

OT: I would say the above poster's choice is a good one but I'm going to have to go with my all time favourite actor:

Behold, Ralph Fiennes!

Spoiler

The man is an absolute genius at portraying broken, despotic and downright terrible people. See Spider, Schindler's List, Red Dragon, In Bruges, The English Patient, Harry Potter etc for examples.

Words cannot describe my man love.

 

[afroebob]

I'm surprised nobody has said Leonardo Decaprio yet. In my opinion he is the best actor around.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Vincent D'Onofrio: The "human chamelion" he is in my view one of the best character actors. He gets a role and immerses himself in it entirely, from playing serial killers, to cops, to aliens and lonely cab drivers he does it well.

Not that big a fan of it, but probably the best thing that ever happened to the L&O franchise... -_-

Robert De Niro is pretty much the greatest actor of all time. Especially his work with Scorsese. Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, King of Comedy are all Oscar worthy. His work in Godfather 2 was superb and he was great in so much stuff from the 70's and early 90's. Now he just works and does lots of crap films which is a damn shame.

Surprised it took this long for that guy to get mentioned... but he's done a couple of very... 'un-DeNiro'-ish films, if you get what I mean. My favourite deNiro film is something that isn't dreadfully popular, but it's a damned moving film: Awakenings.

Behold, Ralph Fiennes!

You missed M! =P

...For which generation and in what kind of role, and do they still have to be active in that medium? Because, let's be honest, as much as I like Michael Caine's acting, he wouldn't hold a candle to Julie Andrews in a musical role in her prime, and both would be moot points if we were exclusively referring to the rising generation of stars.

I'm inclined to agree... because different genres have different standout actors/actresses.

However, if I was to name a single actor, it'd be Alec Guinness... now there's a career:

Lawrence of Arabia - the King of Iraq
Star Wars - do I really have to say?!
Kind Hearts & Coronets - as eight members of the d'Artoyne family (including one very frumpy woman)
Cromwell - Charles I
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - George Smiley

As British actors go, of the older generation he's definitely one of the most diverse. Quite how he managed to portray Hitler, though, I haven't the faintest idea... -_-

 

[Nouw]

I quite like Sam Rockwell from Moon and if the praise for Seven Psychopaths is to be believed, he's just as good in that.

I'm surprised at the lack of Kevin Spacey in this thread. Is it just me who thinks he's a great actor?

He's a pretty damn good actor yes. Ironically, I first witnessed his 'acting' in Moon where he plays a computer. L.A. Confidential and Se7en are better examples . I have yet to watch The Usual Suspects.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

Sir Christopher Lee

He is just an awesome actor. I wonder who will agree with me?

I will. Holds the record for bothlongest performing actor and actor who has starred in the most films if I remember right. He was also part of the group James Bond was based off, and may very well have saved the world from total nazification.

 

[Rooster893]

Tom Hanks, Ed Norton, Andrew Garfield, Nicolas Cage, Will Smith, John Turturro and my personal favorite, Barry Pepper.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Behold, Ralph Fiennes!

You missed M! =P

Although I was over the moon to see him land that particular role, I didn't really consider the character of Mallory to really be one of his stand out roles. Probably not his fault; Craig and Dench overshadow everyone in that movie! I'm looking forward to what happens in future Bond movies though.

 

[Yojoo]

There are actors I enjoy more, but the best actor around has to be Daniel Day-Lewis. The man BECOMES the roles he plays in a way that nobody else can, and his range is enormous.

I'm actually a Tom Cruise fan, but the man doesn't have much range. He's always got to be the run-and-gun type, with a hint of crazy. He pulls it off well, but I don't see him on anywhere near the level of the best.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale are two actors who I think deserve a lot more recognition than they get. Bale got his Oscar a couple years ago, but not many people saw the performance that earned it and he was overshadowed by Tom Hardy and Heath Ledger in the last two Batman movies. But both Bale and DiCaprio have been spitting out nothing but gold the past few years, and both are fantastic in my book.

 

[Aarowbeatsdragon]

Bryan Cranston all the way for me!

 

[FunKing]

I will admit i do like me some Gary Oldman, Tom Hanks, etc.. (i'm not gonna repeat all the ones mentioned so far)...I have to say though, Brian Cranston is a highly under-rated actor and one of my favorites (just wish he was used more often for stuff)

 

[Breaker deGodot]

I think I have to say Orson Welles, it seems a tired response but I feel it will never cease to be the correct one. I can think of no actor that matches the raw power of his presence and depth of character on screen.

Spoiler: Scene from The Third Man; spoilers

OH MY GOD I FUCKING LOVE THAT MOVIE AEOGINAERPOAehjeyn[E9JY34ojt90ahuj 'payjh

*ahem*

I would agree, but I think that Robert De Niro and Daniel Day Lewis knock him down from the top spot. Besides, I think Welles is a better director than an actor anyway.

 

[NestorES]

I am surprised that Nicholas Cage has not had a mention yet...

 

[Yojoo]

I am surprised that Nicholas Cage has not had a mention yet...

Not sure if you're being serious or not. Nic Cage is basically a poor man's Tom Cruise, all he does is run around and have freakouts.

 

[gphjr14]

Leonardo DiCaprio is pretty good Departed Blood Diamond recently Django Unchained
Brad Pitt Matt Damon are also pretty good
Samuel L Jackson has come a long way since Goodfellas and Coming to America.

I am surprised that Nicholas Cage has not had a mention yet...

This thread is about the best actors, could be why...

 

[Latenz1134]

I am torn between Benedict Cumberbatch and Sir Patrick Stewart. However, considering I've watched both seasons of Sherlock again recently, I'll choose Cumberbatch for the time being.

 

[RaikuFA]

Willem Dafoe cause of this(warning, sort of NSFW):


In all seriousness, Tom Hanks, never dissapointed in a thing he does.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

There's a lot of very good actors out there (Dustin Hoffman, Ian McKellan, Sam Rockwell, Gary Oldman, etc) and some very entertaining "movie stars" who substitute charisma for talent (Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, etc), but I think Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty much a cut above the herd when it comes to standout acting. The guy doesn't play parts, he just becomes completely different, completely convincing people.