Sean Penn’s fifty-three. Does that count as the same generation?
Wow, I would’ve put Sean Penn closer to 60, for some reason. I would put Penn and Day-Lewis in the group older - both because of their accumulated years in the limelight as well as their age. But Day-Lewis is arguably the tops in that group.
My ‘guys’ are:
Josh Brolin
Matt Damon
Jeff Bridges
Robert Downey Jr.
Frankly, I think the only film I saw Philip in was “The Talented Mr. Ripley”
Sam Rockwell
Mark Ruffalo
Giovanni Rabissi (idk the spelling)
James Franco
… wait, they are all a bit younger than PSH
Is Gary Oldman too old? He’s 55…
Older group:
Daniel Day-Lewis (56)
Tom Hanks (57)
Middle group:
Brad Pitt (50)
Johnny Depp (50)
Younger group:
Leonardo Dicaprio (39)
Christian Bale (40)
I think he was superb but two things that seem completely irrelevant when talking about actors.
Firstly…gender and age are irrelevant. You are convincing and captivating in the role you play or you are not.
Secondly “character actor” should not be used to put someone on a lesser level. If you are bringing anything to the table then you’d better be able to inhabit a character. Otherwise you are just playing yourself and if anything, that puts you on a lesser level.
Anyhow, be that as it may, JpnDude’s list is as good as any but I’d include Judy Dench and Helen Mirren in the top group along with Gary Oldman and Cate Blanchett in the middle group.
I am incredibly jealous. I bet that was an amazing performance.
This is what I was going to say.
If it turns out he’s not really dead, then yeah, he may be best of his generation.
This is actually ‘Hollywood big budget movie actor’, right?
cos that does tend to exclude about 99.9% of the profession.
My top actors have been PSH, Paul Giamatti, and Sam Rockwell. Edward Norton is up there too.
Of course some of that is my taste; Christian Bale and Joaquin Phoenix probably belong there too but I personally like them less.
Well, yes, “greatest actor of his generation” usually refers to someone who has been in enough productions to be widely known and well received. At least we’re (mostly) going with actors and not movie stars. I’d put Leonardo DiCaprio in the latter category but that’s just me. Johnny Depp is somewhere in between.
Don Cheadle’s in his 40s, aces all sorts of supporting roles, has great comic timing but can carry a drama whenever you need a leading man who shows a lot of emotion, and nobody is better as the calm-voiced-but-cold-eyed guy playing it low-key sinister.
It was. I came away with a totally different understanding of Willy, although I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that first I’d read/seen the play in high school.
I don’t see it being used that way. Yes, the actors are either good or not, but character roles and leading roles are different kinds of parts. Different things are demanded of the performers, and when people talk about Hoffman being unafraid to play characters who were strange or un-heroic or where he simply didn’t look good, that’s what they’re talking about. I think that’s the point here.
I think i have to say Christian Bale and Leo DiCaprio at the top of the list.
Honorable mention to: Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hugh Jackman, Denzel Washington, Joaqin Phoenix.
I was also going to say Joseph Gordon Levitt but looks like he only turns 33 this month. And i really do like Edward Norton but it seems like he hasn’t been in much lately (at least i haven’t seen him much). I also thought Matthew McConaughey was truly incredible in Dallas Buyers club, if he can keep up performances like that, he should be on the list too.
Between 40-60:
Denzel Washington
Christoph Waltz
Michael Fassbender
John C. Reilly
Don Cheadle
Javier Bardem
Sam Rockwell
Ralph Fiennes
Ken Watanabe
Demian Bichir
David Oyelowo
If Ralph Fiennes counts, he’d get my vote. He played:
- Harry in In Bruges
- Voldemort in Harry Potter
- The killer in Red Dragon
- That Nazi villain in Schindler’s List
Those are just his villain roles and each is wildly different.
Make sure to check out “Mud”, he was great in that as well. But I think he has a long way to go - he’s still playing a lot of himself out there.
Personally, I don’t think “Playing yourself” is some great slam. Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts (at one time) are no less great actresses because they come across as effortlessly natural.
Anthony Hopkins has pretty much only had a couple of gears his entire career, but he’s still awesome.
Matthew McConaughey is OUTSTANDING in the new HBO series True Detective.I was was really surprised when I saw it. He’s really upped his game in recent years