Tyler's Top 20 Favourite Actors

My 20 Favourite Actors/Actresses of all time.

To start off with...

20. Christopher Reeve



Best Performance: Superman (1978)

This might be cheating since I've only seen four movies starring him, and he played the same character. But his performance as Superman is utter brilliance. So much effort and heart in his portrayal. Best performance of the '70's decade. And I have put him on this list for that one flash of brilliance.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

Meh. I don't think that performance was anything special at all.

Many people I know think the same... but I love it.

I thought he had a sort of Jimmy Stewart good-natured everyman quality that was very appealing. I don't know how it would rank, if at all, on any list of my own but I think he really did capture something special there.

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

Great way to start Tyler, this ranks as one of the best character portrayals in my books as well.. I guess the magic was in his voice, I try imitating sometimes.

19. Arnold Schwarzenegger



Best Performance: True Lies (1994)

I have mentioned elsewhere on this forum, that I am a huge Schwarzenegger fan. I grew up watching Schwarzenegger movies and I still love them today. I enjoy all of his films even his mediocre efforts like Conan The Destroyer or The 6th Day. His wooden style of acting appealed to me, with his great one-liners and attempts at comedy. For me, True Lies remains his best performance, using his wooden qualities to the film's advantage, as he plays it straight alongside a scene-stealing Tom Arnold. His other iconic roles also hold a special place in my heart. My appreciation for him has decreased due to newer films, but he is still one of the distinguishable figures of my youth.

The weird thing though is that he isn't really an actor. I thought his best "performance" was easily in Total Recall. He had no clue who he was supposed to be or what he was doing AND he actually acted like he enjoyed "hetero" sex.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I suspect this list will be quite entertaining after these first two actors.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

His role as The Terminator was perfect for him, because he could just act like himself: mechanical, emotionless and disengaged from the films he acts in.

I like the inclusion of Christopher Reeves. He was a great actor and his performance as Supes/Clark Kent is I think is fair to say iconic. Agreed about the Jimmy Stewert thing.

Arnold is only effective as a T800 model though, so wouldn't call him a great actor.

Arnie is a decent actor. It's just that he isn't consistently good, and his movies are usually lightweight stuff.

"No one opens with a joke. I miss Danny Devito"

18. William H. Macy



Best Performance: Fargo (1996)

An actor who consistently puts in solid performances in each film, William H. is a fine actor, with some very good turns in his filmography. I love his nervy role in Fargo the most, but Boogie Nights, Magnolia, State & Main, The Cooler & Cellular are other films by him I like/love. He's one of the more reliable actors in cinema.

Macy is one of my favorite actors.

macy is a good pick

Very good actor, yet I only like a couple of films he has been in: Boogie Nights and The Cooler.

I thought he was amazing as Edmond but I know a lot of people didn't like it.

My comments so far:

- Of course, if we are talking of range, Reeve should be not near anyone's Top 20 list. However, his portrayal of Superman is the very definition of "iconic"...I don't think there's anyone else who could have done it better imho. And I very much agree with the voice thing pointed out by genesis pig.

Coincidentally enough, I came across this the other day on youtube:

Reeve's nailing of the role was pre-empted by the line, "...When Superman comes on the screen, he has to be....Superman"....and he TRULY was in every sense...

- Schwarzenegger is, generally, not a draw for me personally but, as Tyler said, I absolutely adored his performance in True Lies. Perhaps unwittengly, he showed (in no uncertain terms) that he does have the ability to laugh at himself and bring us, the filmgoers. in on the joke. Definitely his defining role for me.

- William H Macy is almost chameleon-like in his movie portrayals and it would not surprise me to find him in most people's Top 20. As much as I liked Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry Maguire, Macy was in a diffrent league in Fargo and should have taken the l'il golden guy home that night. Happy to shun top billing, he has also shone in other supporting roles including Pleasantville, Happy, Texas, State & Main, Magnolia & Boogie Nights to name but a few.

Looking forward to the rest of this list...