Top 10 Male Actors of the 21st Century
This is a list of the actors that caught our imagination since the start of 2001.
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles in Splash, Big, Turner & Hooch, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, You've Got Mail, The Green Mile, the Toy Story Franchise, Cast Away, The Da Vinci Code, Captain Phillips,... read more One of the best actors of all time. Absolutely my favorite, no matter what role he plays.
He's just great. Everyone knows he's the best. That's why he's number one!
One of my favorites. Robert Duvall is the next in line. I love them both.
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Forbes magazine... read more Go Christian! I loved his movies. My favorite Batman series is The Dark Knight Rises, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight. Terminator Salvation all the way! Oscar, here he comes.
He is a very talented, hard-working, dedicated, and honest actor.
Very good actor. I think he should have continued as Batman.
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for his work in biopics and period films, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. As of 2019, his films have grossed... read more Wait a minute. Why is Hanks first on this list? Sure, he was in a couple of movies, and the Toy Story series went on until 2019, but DiCaprio is obviously much better. Inception, for example. Hanks has never had a better acting performance than that, much less in the 2000s. Catch Me If You Can starred both actors, but DiCaprio clearly had the better performance. Look at The Revenant, Django Unchained, The Departed, and even more recently, DiCaprio had a great performance in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received three Golden Globe awards, a Tony Award, and two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for the historical war drama film Glory and Best Actor for his role as a corrupt cop in the crime thriller Training Day. Dependable performance always. Believable in all of his roles. Training Day took him to a new level. Super badass. But he's able to carry the good guy role too.
Not one bad movie. He is as versatile as an actor can get.
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch is an English actor and film producer who has performed in film, television, theatre and radio. I am voting for Benedict because he certainly took off during this century.
- Sherlock Holmes
- Smaug
- The Imitation Game
- Doctor Strange
- etc.
Don't forget he is also in Star Trek Into Darkness and the new Grinch.
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, filmmaker, musician, and author. Renowned for his "big" acting style, Oldman is one of the most celebrated thespians of his generation, with a diverse career encompassing theatre, film, and television. He has received a Golden Globe award and an Academy Award:... read more
Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has included critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, and a resurgence of commercial success in middle age. I love how easily he can go from comedy to drama from one scene to another. He just has that perfect timing to do both genres. Very few actors can do that.
This list makes no sense. Robert should be number one!
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV is an American actor and producer. He has received various accolades for his work, including three Golden Globe Awards and three nominations for Academy Awards. He is one of the highest-paid actors in the world.
David Tennant is a Scottish actor known for his roles as the Tenth Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who, Alec Hardy in Broadchurch, Giacomo Casanova in the TV serial Casanova, Kilgrave in Jessica Jones, and Barty Crouch, Jr. in the Harry Potter movie series. Great actor! He has been chosen for many films, series, and episodes. Now that's saying something. He was the Doctor for 4 years, featured in Doctor Who, Broadchurch, and The Escape Artist!
Oh God, this guy... just ugh. Talented and my favorite Doctor.
One of Glasgow's greatest, he is.
Edward Thomas Hardy, CBE, is an English actor and film producer.Originally a model, Hardy made his film debut in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001). He gained wider recognition for his roles in films such as Bronson (2008), Inception (2010), and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).
Hardy rose... read more
Amazing all-rounder. An understated master of gangster roles like Robert De Niro, but in an English way. The Take was a fine show from a then-unknown talent. Simply brilliant. Total man crush! Simply brilliant again and again! Peaky Blinders showed his quality acting alongside a stellar cast. The best Brit about at the moment! Mixed it with DiCaprio and others but always returns to his roots in Britain and his own written work. Voodoo superb! Can't say any more but thanks, Tom, for the brilliant TV.
He is one of the most talented actors of this generation! He is such a versatile actor. Every movie he has been in has been worth watching just to see him act.
The first film of his that I watched was Stuart: A Life Backwards, and since then I have watched all of his films and will continue to watch any film that he is in.
The Newcomers
Aaron Paul Sturtevant, known as Aaron Paul, is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series Breaking Bad, for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the... read more Again, how is Don Cheadle above this legend?
Edward John David "Eddie" Redmayne is an English actor of stage and screen. His first role was in the 2006 movie The Good Shepherd, but it was only until 2011, when he became famous for his role as Colin Clark in the movie My Week with Marilyn. He won Best Actor for his role as Stephen Hawking in the... read more Why is he not already here? He's won an Academy Award!
Martin John Christopher Freeman is an English actor, who became known for portraying Tim Canterbury in the original UK version of sitcom mockumentary The Office, Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama Sherlock, Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy, and Lester Nygaard in the dark... read more
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. Craig trained at the National Youth Theatre and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991, before beginning his career on stage. Daniel Craig is an amazing actor. Aside from the James Bond series, his acting in Defiance and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was excellent. Although I did not like Dream House and Cowboys vs. Aliens, he was good in them.
Well now, you can't beat those eyes.
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor, producer, and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor... read more Johnny Depp has starred in many brilliant movies, including Rango, Edward Scissorhands, and the most famous of all, the Pirates of the Caribbean series and the latest comedy, Dark Shadows.
It was a hard decision, but I have to say Johnny. He can play any character perfectly. Great as Jack Sparrow.
I have seen nobody act as realistically as he does in the Pirates series.
Seth Aaron Rogen is a Canadian actor, filmmaker and comedian. He began his career performing stand-up comedy during his teenage years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a supporting role in the series Freaks and Geeks. He has... read more
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American actor and film producer. He achieved prominence and critical acclaim in the early 1990s with films such as Jungle Fever, Patriot Games, Amos & Andrew, True Romance, Jurassic Park and his collaborations with director Quentin Tarantino including Pulp Fiction, Jackie... read more
Willard Carroll "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. He is best known for his acting career overall. He has been in many popular movies, These include, but are not limited to, the Men in Black franchise, The Pursuit of Happyness,... read more Nobody can beat these: The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds. Best actor there is!
I don't think there is a bad movie with Will Smith in it.
Christopher Robert Evans is an American actor. Evans is best known for his superhero roles as the Marvel Comics characters Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Human Torch in Fantastic Four.
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (February 21st 1946 - Janurary 14th 2016) was an English actor and director known for playing a variety of roles on stage and screen, most notably Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series and Hans Gruber in Die Hard. He passed away of pancreatic cancer in 2016
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian actor and director. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger left for the United States in 1998 to develop his film career. Extremely versatile. Gave everything he had to his roles. His performance as the Joker is among the greatest of any actor on this list or any other.
Too bad his death was a little too soon. His role as the Joker is the best performance ever. Thank you and RIP, Heath Ledger.
His performance as the Joker compared to Jack Nicholson... no comparison! Such a tragic end to such a talented actor.