1. James Stewart 2. Philip Seymour Hoffman 3. Daniel Day-Lewis 4. Cary Grant 5. Marlon Brando 6. Robert De Niro 7. Jack Nicholson 8. Toshiro Mifune 9. Humphrey Bogart 10. Charlie Chaplin
James Stewart IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, VERTIGO, REAR WINDOW, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, HARVEY, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, THE NAKED SPUR Jimmy Stewart proves his worthiness to be on this list every Christmas....
Philip Seymour Hoffman THE MASTER, CAPOTE, HAPPINESS, MAGNOLIA, DOUBT, CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, A MOST WANTED MAN, STATE AND MAIN If, in one-hundred years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science is the way cinephiles measure the films of yesterday...
Daniel Day-Lewis MY LEFT FOOT, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, GANGS OF NEW YORK, LINCOLN The term “method acting” has become cynical shorthand, a phrase actors use when (not-so) quietly...
Cary Grant NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, NOTORIOUS, BRINGING UP BABY, SUSPICION, HIS GIRL FRIDAY, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE As he famously told Newsweek in 1990, “Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.”...
Marlon Brando ON THE WATERFRONT, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, THE GODFATHER, APOCALYPSE NOW, LAST TANGO IN PARIS Marlon Brando’s approach to acting can best be described as “extremely committed.” While he may have started off as a heartthrob, he was...
Robert De Niro RAGING BULL, TAXI DRIVER, THE KING OF COMEDY, GOODFELLAS, THE GODFATHER PART II, MEAN STREETS, ANALYZE THIS, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK Is it better to flame out or fade away? I’ve heard this question asked specifically about Robert...
Jack Nicholson CHINATOWN, FIVE EASY PIECES, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, THE SHINING, BATMAN, ABOUT SCHMIDT, THE DEPARTED, AS GOOD AS IT GETS For awhile there, it was pretty fashionable to rag on Jack Nicholson for always playing “Jack.”...
Toshiro Mifune SEVEN SAMURAI, RASHOMON, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, YOJIMBO, SAMURAI TRILOGY I’m willing to bet there isn’t an actor on this list quite like Toshiro Mifune. The Japanese actor is the on-screen encapsulation of pure id, a wild ball of...
