# Best Male Actor Of Our Time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380 "2012-07-25T21:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/82 "2012-08-05T18:06:02Z")
Those still laughing about my hitherto-ignorance of Natalie Portman will be delighted to hear that I’d never hear of either of the two front-runners! :smack: Googling, I see that I have seen _Gangs of New York_ and the Sirius Black movies. … And am surprised at the choices. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/83 "2012-08-05T19:06:18Z")
Best? Silly question. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/84 "2012-08-05T19:25:47Z")
I am no big fan of Tom Cruise but I think he is one of the best actors I have seen. Anthony Hopkins is another one. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/85 "2012-08-05T22:33:28Z")
[Amitabh Bachchan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amitabh_Bachchan). ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/86 "2012-08-05T23:09:18Z")
The ones I voted for are: -Gary Oldman -John Turturro -Benicio Del Toro Had I the option, my number one choice was actually **Javier Bardem**. No Country was just the tip of the iceberg. He’s terrific in almost everything with my personal favorites being Before Night Falls and The Sea Inside (he was robbed for that one). It’s also the main reason I’m excited for the new James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/87 "2012-08-05T23:51:18Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > I picked all of them. Because I could. 🙂 That explains 1 of Nick Cage’s votes. The other 3 must have been jokes. I voted for Ed Norton, but I can’t argue against Gary Oldman. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/88 "2012-08-06T17:13:51Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > [Amitabh Bachchan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amitabh_Bachchan). [Ameeeeeetaaaaaabh!!!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWEx5gACui8) ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/89 "2012-08-06T19:07:01Z")
I presumed I should only vote for one so, I have to vote for Gary Oldman though I almost voted for Edward Norton a few others too. But really, I’m not sure there’s a better film actor alive than Gary Oldman because there’s very few actors that have the same effect that he does. Plenty of times I’ve seen a movie and not even realized that he was the actor playing the part, or mentioned that he was playing a part to someone else and they are surprised to know it’s him. There are plenty of other actors that can play believable parts, but even for them, all but their very best performances there’s still those moments where I realize it’s the actor playing the character. Virtually every part that Gary Oldman does is at that level. That may also be part of why he doesn’t get the billing he deserves. If people can’t really recall all the movies he’s been in because he’s so thoroughly disappeared into the parts, his name isn’t going to do much, it’s based on draw not talent. Hopefully, though, now that he’s gotten good recognition as Gordon in the Dark Knight Trilogy, he’ll get the higher billing his talent really deserves. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/90 "2012-08-06T20:19:38Z")
After DeNiro peaked and started slumming… Sean Penn. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/91 "2012-08-07T01:50:57Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Other: Robert Duvall My pick, as well! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/92 "2012-08-07T02:37:44Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > I’m a huge fan of Jason Isaacs. There’s nothing this man can’t do. His range is enormous and his performances are always layered with nuance. > [@bldysabba](#): > > [Amitabh Bachchan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amitabh_Bachchan). > [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I’d nominate Christopher Waltz, who has been purely brilliant in the few things I’ve seen him in. I’ve never even heard of any of these guys. What might they have been in that I might have seen? ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/93 "2012-08-07T03:56:18Z")
Alec Guinness should be on here and at least a half-dozen or more shouldn’t IMO. Also, define “our time” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/94 "2012-08-07T04:02:45Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > Alec Guinness should be on here and at least a half-dozen or more shouldn’t IMO. > > Also, define “our time” So what you’re really saying is that you didn’t read the OP, or any of the rest of the thread where this specific actor was already brought up. > [@drewtwo99](#): > > Remember, this is only OF OUR TIME, not OF ALL TIME. So your classic favorites need not apply here. (They have to be living at the time of this post and done something in the last 20 years). And, as I also said in the OP, this list was created by looking up lists of best/favorite actors. I included everyone I could reasonably find that met the criteria, and was in no way a reflection of my own personal biases. For example, I had no idea who Gary Oldman was when I made the thread, and he’s obviously the best actor of our time according to this poll! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/95 "2012-08-07T16:50:21Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Why not? And by the same token, why would you call someone else the best actor, if they’re not also your favorite actors? Al Pacino is my favorite actor. That’s because I love the one character he shoehorns into every single role he gets. Guys like Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anthony Hopkins, Kevin Spacey or Phillip Seymour Hoffman all pull off a breadth of characters, add nuance and depth to their roles, and improve the actors around them. A movie with any one of them will almost certainly be better than one with Pacino, even if it doesn’t satisfy my desire to have someone get angry, exuberant and emotional about anything and everything. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/96 "2012-08-07T16:54:23Z")
Gary Oldman. There is no other. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/97 "2012-08-07T17:03:41Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > Are you sure you’re not just a Batman fanboy? Because Morgain Freeman and Caine aren’t that good. I would think that liking either of these two actors would rule out watching the Batman movies. They are, by far, the worst performances by either of them, in a large part because they were horribly miscast. But Freeman’s early work in Unforgiven, Shawshank and Glory was just fantastic. And Caine in anything where he’s not inexplicably shoehorned into being an upper-crust member of the gentry. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/98 "2012-08-07T17:22:25Z")
I voted for DDL and only DDL, I just think he is that much better than everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/99 "2012-08-07T18:19:39Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > “…There, you see now, how all your so-called power counts for absolutely nothing now, how your entire empire can come crashing down because of one… little… **smack’s Oldman’s back** …cherry.” > > I loved that movie ever since I realized it’s a comedy. “You’re a monster, Zorg.” “I know.” That movie is flat-out hysterical. I love it deeply. Oh and Daniel Day-Lewis all the way. I was stunned when reading the thread how so many people agree with me. Rewatch _My Left Foot_. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/100 "2012-08-07T18:22:18Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > ETA: Robert Williams is supposed to be Robin Williams. Doh. I updated the poll choices. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380/101 "2012-08-07T18:24:56Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I updated the poll choices. Thank you Ellen! But I don’t have a lot of hope that he’s going to pull away with the vote count even though his name is correct now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-male-actor-of-our-time/629380.md?page=6)