Bit of an odd pick, but hear me out: Street Smart made Morgan Freeman a name. Yeah, he’s sixth-billed in a flop; but he got tons of supporting-actor noms for it, and minus that I don’t see how a year-and-change later he’s top-billed in Lean On Me the same year he’s top-billed in Driving Miss Daisy to earn a Best-Actor win.
And from there – okay, granted that they’re not going to make Robin Hood black, they write it so Robin Hood’s black right-hand man gets second-billing, which should tell you that landing Morgan Freeman is now A Very Big Deal, sure as that big-budget movie then Made A Ton Of Money; and, yes, granted, Freeman is then second-billed in Shawshank Redemption, but it’s Freeman rather than Robbins who thereby gets the leading-man nominations for Best Actor at the Oscars and the Golden Globes.
And after that – what, in between his top-billed outings as crime-solver Alex Cross, he’s top-billed in Amistad? And after he’s the go-to guy to play the President, he’s the go-to guy to play God? And then he earns another Best Actor nomination for playing Nelson Mandela, because why the heck not? And all because he was so good as a violent pimp trying to blackmail his way out of a murder charge.