50 Favorite Actors of All Time

It’s been 10 years since The Gibson Review was created. In celebration of that you’ll see a series of posts counting down my absolute all-time favorites.

Back in August The Movie Lovers podcast counted down our 6 favorite actors of all time. It was a gargantuan task that proved difficult, but also quite rewarding. There’s something really satisfying about discovering who and what your absolute favorites are and having that crystalized.

But it wasn’t enough.

I had spent hours going through lists of 100 Best Actors on the web, previous favorite movie lists I made to see who popped up frequently, brainstorming every actor I’ve grown up with or recently admired - all to boil this list down. Almost 100 names were listed. With those names I listed my favorite movies each starred in to come up with some sort of ranking system based on quantity of favorites. To that end, I did not include cameos or brief parts as representations of their work.

The following list is the result. Often it adheres to that ranking system; sometimes it breaks from that in favor of a gut feeling. The list below is a list that includes action stars, theater-trained thespians, comedic actors, one foreign film star, and actors of every era - including a silent film star, which won’t surprise those who have been reading the blog for a while.

Because the list is so long, brevity is key here. So, I give no special context or remarks for any of them. I think, if you’re curious about them the listed works will speak for themselves. You also have IMDb at your fingertips and you can listen to Episode 88 of The Movie Lovers to hear some thoughts on the Top 6, as well as my wife’s picks. But if you haven’t already, check out the works listed. It may add to your understanding of that actor’s inclusion on my list.

50. Antonio Banderas

Favorite Movies: Philadelphia, Interview with a Vampire, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro

49. Joe Pesci

Favorite Movies: Lethal Weapon 2 & 3, Goodfellas, Home Alone, With Honors

48. Ben Affleck

Favorite Movies: Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love, The Town, Argo

47. Liam Neeson

Favorite Movies: Love Actually, Batman Begins, The LEGO Movie

46. Michael J. Fox

Favorite Movies: Back to the Future trilogy, Teen Wolf, Secret of My Success, Doc Hollywood, The American President

45. Jeremy Renner

Favorite Movies: The Hurt Locker, The Town, Arrival, Wind River, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, the Marvel Cinematic Universe

44. Jack Black

Favorite Movies: High Fidelity, School of Rock, King Kong, Kung Fu Panda 1 & 2, Tropic Thunder

43. John Cusack

Favorite Movies: Say Anything…, Grosse Point Blank, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Identity, Love & Mercy

42. Henry Fonda

Favorite Movies: The Grapes of Wrath, 12 Angry Men, On Golden Pond

41. Matt Damon

Favorite Movies: Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, True Grit, The Martian

40. Robert Redford

Favorite Movies: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, Three Days of the Condor, Brubaker, Sneakers

39. Sam Rockwell

Favorite Movies: Galaxy Quest, Moon, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, JoJo Rabbit

38. Keanu Reeves

Favorite Movies: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Speed, The Matrix, John Wick

37. Kurt Russell

Favorite Movies: The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Tombstone, Furious 7

36. Brad Pitt

Favorite Movies: Interview with a Vampire, Seven, Inglorious Basterds, Moneyball, Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood

35. Richard Dreyfuss

Favorite Movies: Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Stand By Me, Mr. Holland’s Opus

34. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Favorite Movies: Terminator, Predator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Terminator: Dark Fate

33. Takashi Shimura

Favorite Movies: Rashomon, Ikiru, Godzilla, Seven Samurai, Kagemusha

32. Kevin Bacon

Favorite Movies: Footloose, Tremors, Apollo 13, X-Men: First Class

31. Bill Paxton

Favorite Movies: Weird Science, Near Dark, Aliens, Tombstone, True Lies, Apollo 13

30. Paul Giamatti

Favorite Movies: Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, Sideways, Love & Mercy

29. George Clooney

Favorite Movies: From Dusk Till Dawn, Up in the Air, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Descendants, Gravity

28. Kevin Costner

Favorite Movies: The Untouchables, Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Man of Steel

27. Mark Ruffalo

Favorite Movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 13 Going on 30, The Brothers Bloom, Spotlight, the Marvel Cinematic Universe

26. Spencer Tracy

Favorite Movies: Boy’s Town, Adam’s Rib, Father of the Bride, Desk Set, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

25. Dustin Hoffman

Favorite Movies: The Graduate, All the President’s Men, Tootsie, Rain Man, Dick Tracy, Hook

24. John Lithgow

Favorite Movies: Blow Out, Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Footloose, Harry and the Hendersons, Shrek, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

23. Robert De Niro

Favorite Movies: The Untouchables, Awakenings, Goodfellas, Casino, Cop Land, Meet the Parents

22. Ryan Gosling

Favorite Movies: The Notebook, Crazy Stupid Love, The Big Short, The Nice Guys, La La Land, Blade Runner 2049

21. Leonardo DiCaprio

Favorite Movies: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Romeo + Juliet, Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, Inception, Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood

20. Sean Connery

Favorite Movies: Goldfinger, Highlander, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October, The Rock, Playing by Heart

19. Christopher Lloyd

Favorite Movies: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Clue, Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit

18. Robert Downey, Jr.

Favorite Movies: Chaplin, Soapdish, Good Night and Good Luck, Tropic Thunder, the Marvel Cinematic Universe

17. Gary Oldman

Favorite Movies: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Leon, The Fifth Element, The Dark Knight trilogy, Kung Fu Panda 2, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

16. Marlon Brando

Favorite Movies: On the Waterfront, The Godfather, Superman, Apocalypse Now

15. Morgan Freeman

Favorite Movies: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Shawshank Redemption, Seven, The Dark Knight trilogy, The LEGO Movie

14. Jeff Daniels

Favorite Movies: Purple Rose of Cairo, Arachnophobia, Gettysburg, Speed, Pleasantville, Looper, The Martian

13. Robin Williams

Favorite Movies: Moscow on the Hudson, Good Morning Vietnam, Awakenings, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Will Hunting

12. Michael Keaton

Favorite Movies: Beetlejuice, Batman, My Life, Toy Story 3, Birdman, Spotlight, Spider-Man: Homecoming

11. Dan Aykroyd

Favorite Movies: The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, Dragnet, The Great Outdoors, My Girl, Sneakers, Chaplin, Grosse Point Blank

10. Alan Rickman

Favorite Movies: Die Hard, Quigley Down Under, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Galaxy Quest, Love Actually, Harry Potter series

9. Harrison Ford

Favorite Movies: Star Wars series, Indiana Jones trilogy, Blade Runner series, The Fugitive

8. Samuel L. Jackson

Favorite Movies: Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Unbreakable, The Incredibles, Django Unchained, the Marvel Cinematic Universe

7. Bruce Willis

Favorite Movies: Die Hard trilogy, Look Who’s Talking, Pulp Fiction, The Fifth Element, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Sin City, Moonrise Kingdom, Looper

6. James Stewart

Favorite Movies: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, Harvey, Rear Window, Vertigo

5. Bill Murray

Favorite Movies: Caddyshack, Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, Groundhog Day, Ed Wood, Lost in Translation, Zombieland, Moonrise Kingdom

4. Tom Cruise

Favorite Movies: Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, Interview with a Vampire, Mission: Impossible series, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia, Minority Report, Tropic Thunder, Edge of Tomorrow

3. Charlie Chaplin

Favorite Movies: The Kid, The Circus, City Lights, Modern Times, Limelight

2. Tom Hanks

Favorite Movies: Dragnet, Big, A League of Their Own, Philadelphia, Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, Toy Story trilogy, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me if You Can

1. Cary Grant

Favorite Movies: Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic & Old Lace, His Girl Friday

I hope you enjoyed reading this list as much as I enjoyed crafting it. But I know it isn’t nearly as fun as watching their films.

Who are your favorite actors of all time? I encourage you to craft your own list - maybe after exploring those featured here, if you haven’t already. Feel free to share it at the email link on the bottom of the page.

And be sure to check out all other similar content in the Film Faves section and other podcast episodes related to our favorites of all time.