My 10 Favorite Actors

Quite a while ago I did post on some of my favorite actresses, promising to do one on my favorite actors some time in the near future.

Near is relative, my friend.

Has it been 30 years? No. It has not. That would be distant future. One year? Near future. Therefore, no one has any reason to call me a deceptive rodent (well… at least not on this matter).

So here I finally present to you (in no particular order), a list of My 10 Favorite Actors. By which I of course mean 10 OF My Favorite Actors. Because picking just 10 to be dubbed my absolute favorites is something you must not ask of me.

 

1. Owen Wilson

I must say—Jedidiah is the best part of Night at the Museum. I mean… he’s just…

He’s hilarious.

Notable roles: Jedidiah in Night at the Museum, John in Marley and Me, Lightning McQueen in Cars, Coach Skip in Fantastic Mr. Fox (So… this role is just ONE SCENE. But my sisters and I quote him all the time, so sure, it’s notable)

 

2. Will Smith

HE SAVES THE CAT.

He can be so hilarious, but he also does fantastic with with more emotional roles.

Also, Del Spooner eats pie.

Notable roles: Del Spooner in I, Robot, Oscar in Shark Tale, Steven Hiller in Independence Day, Howard in Collateral Beauty, Hitch in Hitch

 

3. Michael Caine

Yes, sir. My favorite character in the Dark Knight Trilogy is Alfred. Because… because… He’s amazing.

Michael Caine is has such a sophisticated, British presence, but his characters can also be so deep and emotional and AMAZING.

Notable roles: …Every Christopher Nolan movie ever? Cutter in The Prestige, Miles in Inception, Professor Brand in Interstellar, Alfred in The Dark Knight Trilogy

 

4. Danny Kaye

THIS SCENE.

This man is brilliant. There’s really no one to compare him too. He tends to always play the same character, but he’s so great at it that I don’t care.  He makes the most hilarious face expressions and the way he says his lines is just perfect. He’s so dorky and wide eyed and… fantastic.

Not to mention his killer sword fighting skills.

Notable roles: Hubert Hawkins in The Court Jester, Walter Mitty in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and… the only thing I really like about White Christmas

 

5. Leonardo DiCaprio

So when Interstellar was coming out I read this article in the Time magazine about how Christopher Nolan’s movies tended to have really interesting concepts, but not a lot of emotion. The point of the article was that he was aiming to make this movie more emotional, but I just started at the page, which was started to curl at the edges from the heat of my eyes, and wondered, WHO IS CALLING INCEPTION UNEMOTIONAL?! It’s about a dad who is trying to get back to his kids, for crying out loud. Who doesn’t feel like sobbing at the end when he finally gets home?!?! (Because he really DOES get home. It’s NOT a dream. The top was WOBBLING, I tell you!) DiCaprio’s performance as Dom Cobb, a man struggling with serious guilt issues and unable to let go of the past, is really remarkable.

And Catch Me If You Can! DiCaprio does a wonderful job of playing the confident con man, but also the vulnerable, struggling kid who is Frank Abegnale.And it’s wonderful and beautiful and it makes me want to cry.

Notable roles: Dom Cobb in Inception, Frank Abegnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can, and………. Jack Dawson in Titanic I guess? Honestly, I don’t actually like Titanic so…

 

6. Martin Freeman

Martin Freeman is one of those people who will say a line a way I never would have thought to say it, but it sounds so natural and perfect and real. His face is fantastic. His EXPRESSIONS. And he makes these little grunting noises when he’s angry or really emotional or something that somehow add so much and I don’t even know why.

Notable roles: Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, John Watson in Sherlock, Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit

 

7. John Cusack

Such a RANGE.

So firstly, Dimitri is amazing. Secondly, Lane Meyer is just so off-the-wall hilarious and odd. Thirdly, his portrayal of Brian Wilson is so sweet and heartbreaking and vulnerable and I LOVE IT.

Notable roles: Lane Meyer in Better off Dead, Brain Wilson in Love and Mercy, Dimitri in Anastasia

 

8. Benedict Cumberbatch

Like Danny Kaye, he  kind of always plays the same character. Genius, self-obsessed, other people are idiots, kind of guy. But he does it SO WELL, so all is forgiven.            (Note: the thing that makes him like Danny Kaye is not the sort of characters he plays, but the fact that these characters are all very similar)

He seems to radiate intelligence, his voice is simply marvelous, and his acting superb.

Notable roles: Sherlock in Sherlock, Doctor Strange in Doctor Strange, Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, Hamlet in National Theater Live’s Hamlet (not a movie I know. But it’s Hamlet), Khan in Star Trek: Into Darkness

 

9. Colin Firth

“In what context?”

A.k.a., Mr. Darcy. He has been Mr. Darcy to me from a very young age, and he will always be Mr. Darcy and no one else will ever be Mr. Darcy. It’s just the way the world is.

But lo and behold! Not only can he be taciturn, proud,  my-good-opinion-once-lost-is-lost-forever Mr. Darcy, but he can also be scattered, awkward and very sweet Mr. Brown, or scarred and struggling Bertie.

Notable roles: Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest, Bertie in The King’s Speech, Mr. Brown in Nanny McPhee

 

10. Tom Hanks

The thing I love about Tom Hanks is how natural he always feels. I can’t quite explain it. But he just feels like a very real person in everything I’ve seen him in.

And he has SUCH talent and range. He tackles a very intense role in Captain Phillips, and in Catch Me If You Can the dynamic between him and Frank Abegnale is so fantastic.

Notable roles: Mr. White in That Thing You Do, Woody in Toy Story, Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks, Carl Handratty in Catch Me If You Can, Sully in Sully, Captain Phillips in Captain Phillips

 

THE END

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