25 Best Leading Men With Minds

[Absene_Myth]

Let’s make a list of 25 male actors who have it all: appeal and intelligence.

1. Humphrey Bogart

[Robert163]

2. Mark Ruffalo

[Absene_Myth]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo

[Robert163]

my problem with this question is what constitutes a leading man?
are Sam Rockwell and Edward Norton leading men?
what about Ryan Gosling, he is not stupid or dim witted but is he considered an intelligent actor?

[Robert163]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte

[Robert163]

What about someone like Ed Harris? Handsome and Intelligent but only a small number of romantic movies?

[Absene_Myth]

my problem with this question is what constitutes a leading man?
are Sam Rockwell and Edward Norton leading men?
what about Ryan Gosling, he is not stupid or dim witted but is he considered an intelligent actor?

You make the call. They don’t have to be an intelligent actor–you just got to feel they’re attractive and alert or bright or special. They don’t have to be in many romantic roles or movies. They just need to be an actor and be a bit well known.

[Robert163]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges

[blue_infinity]

William Hurt.

[Absene_Myth]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)

[Robert163]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)
7. Ethan Hawke

[Absene_Myth]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)
7. Ethan Hawke
8. Al Pacino

[RobDog]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)
7. Ethan Hawke
8. Al Pacino
9. Dolph Lundgren

OK, not known for his delicate and nuanced performances, but a degree in chemical engineering isn’t too shabby is it?

[Sefton]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)
7. Ethan Hawke
8. Al Pacino
9. Dolph Lundgren
10. Robert Downey, Jr.

(And it’s Leslie Howard, not Lesley)

[don_t_ask]

Ryan Gosling is the only one I have seen quoted in a blog about self improvement for his Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck theory.

He explained: A Bugs character, like the carrot-chomping rabbit, would be calm, flippant, insouciant, something of a wise guy and cool amid chaos. A Daffy character, like the often discombobulated duck, would be hyper, exasperated and usually the butt of some cruel scheme or joke.

That may be where he picked up his affinity for cartoon philosophy. But Gosling merely shrugs vaguely when asked about the source of his Bugs-Daffy theory and insists that it’s really valid.

“For instance, my mother was having a hard time at her job and she didn’t know what to do,” he said. “And I didn’t know what to tell her. So I just bought her the Warner Bros. cartoons boxed set and I said, ‘if you’re ever in a situation at work and you don’t know what to do, just be Bugs. Never be Daffy.’ And she got promoted.”

[Prof.Pepperwinkle]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)
7. Ethan Hawke
8. Al Pacino
9. Dolph Lundgren
10. Robert Downey, Jr.
11. Michael Caine

[RobDog]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)
7. Ethan Hawke
8. Al Pacino
9. Dolph Lundgren
10. Robert Downey, Jr.
11. Michael Caine
12. David Niven

Actor, officer, gentleman.

[astorian]

1. Humphrey Bogart
2. Mark Ruffalo
3. Nick Nolte
4. Jeff Bridges
5. William Hurt
6. Lesley Howard (in The Petrified Forest)
7. Ethan Hawke
8. Al Pacino
9. Dolph Lundgren
10. Robert Downey, Jr.
11. Michael Caine
12. David Niven
13. I’m actually the first to name Cary Grant???

[Drunky_Smurf]

What happens when the list gets to 25? Does the thread explode?

[eulalia]

Colin Firth