imdb.com has many user-posted lists, and one of them is a list of the 25 Best Actors of the 21st Century. The list below excerpts their top 25, which includes late greats Heath Ledger and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Are there any glaring omissions? Is there anyone on the list who shouldn’t be? Anyone need to move up or down? What makes an actor either worthy of your list or unworthy of this list? For your favorites, please describe their best performances. For your least favorites, please explain their shortcomings. If you want to deal only with the top ten or pick and choose, that’s fine too.
1. Daniel Day-Lewis 2. Leonardo DiCaprio 3. Philip Seymour Hoffman 4. Jack Nicholson 5. Morgan Freeman 6. Russell Crowe 7. George Clooney 8. Javier Bardem 9. Brad Pitt 10. Christian Bale 11. Jeff Bridges 12. Sean Penn 13. Joaquin Phoenix 14. Heath Ledger 15. Johnny Depp 16. Denzel Washington 17. Tom Hanks 18. Clint Eastwood 19. Geoffrey Rush 20. Colin Firth 21. Viggo Mortensen 22. Tom Wilkinson 23. Gary Oldman 24. Bill Murray 25. Don Cheadle
Perhaps shorten the list to a top 5 or a top 10 at the most; otherwise, your work would be overwhelmingly long. – J.D. Jankowski8 years ago
Good point. One reason I included the last sentence of the descrption... – Tigey8 years ago
Is there a more up to date listing? Writing an article about a 2014 listing seems quite after the fact. Otherwise, sounds like a fun article. – LondonFog8 years ago
I think the writer did a great job posting this, but I feel like the list should condense down to top 10 because then it would be able to seek the audience attention. Personally, I don't like Bill Murray!! – mmq28 years ago
How is Tom Hanks #17?--the man is a chameleon!! A relatively solid list, but I would definitely delete Russel Crowe and move Viggo Mortensen way up the list. Also, whomever takes on this topic should only take on part of this list or an aspect dealing with this list. – danielle5778 years ago
Agree on all three counts, danielle577. I still hold a private grudge against Leonard Maltin for panning Forrest Gump. And Hanks' performance in Road to Perdition was one of his best (and perhaps Paul Newman's very best). How about the omission of Forrest Whitaker? James McAvoy? Benicio Del Toro? Jude Law? Laurence Fishburne? My Top Ten is now in triple digits. – Tigey8 years ago
For what it's worth, perhaps the best piece of acting I've seen in a Hollywood movie in years is Matthew McConaughey's lunch scene with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street. McConaughey would be on my list. – Tigey8 years ago
More and more these days we see actors who started out young growing up into very troubled people. Lindsey Lohan, Shia LeBeouf, Amanda Bynes, Demi Lovato; they all have their share of craziness and major obstacles they've had to try to overcome. Is this pattern of child actors going bad related to their career starting out early? Is growing up in the film industry influencing the outcome of these actors' mental health and habits?
I feel that you could world your topic a bit more concisely to add to the flow of the wording. For example: "More and more these days we see actors who started out young growing up into very troubled people," -->"It is very common to see child actors grow into troubled adults." It's the same thought, just simplified. I like this topic, as it is discussed, but more so on the gossip platforms, and it would be interesting to hear what people that truly have a love for cinema and television have to say on this topic. I look forward to reading more on this topic! – danielle5778 years ago
Don't forget Tatum O'Neal. I met her. Very unpleasant. Hopefully she's better now. – Tigey8 years ago
The Harry Potter crowd - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint - are a good example of child actors who didn't get ruined by their own fame and success. Meanwhile, one of the most startling and tragic story is Drew Barrymore's. – Tarben8 years ago
It's extremely thoughtful but challenging. It's difficult to dig the topic into deep.There are lots of reasons which devastate child actors' life, while nearly no authorized research or paper explores reasons why their mental health devastate. You might refer to the phenomenon of Tiger Parent. But it only exists within prodigy. It's really hard to examine the core issues which leads them to diminish their career and even their health and habits. – moonyuet8 years ago
I'm fascinated by this topic, and it's the family side, not the acting side, that draws me. Moonyuet's insightful comment made me think of chess prodigy, Bobby Fischer, who, because of his hatred for his mother, became anti-Semitic and likely insane. For Fischer, it seems hatred consumed his sanity; I wonder, for these others, what imbalance(s) messed them up and if and how their parents may have unintentionally fostered their child's problems. – Tigey8 years ago
