Who are/will be the great actors of our era? (ekmanning5)
 

The comments above resonated with me as my wife & often talk about this exact point. We love to watch exemplary acting and pose the same question as to whom will be thought of in the same regard as Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, et al. The greats, the legends, the never to be seen again! So many times it would appear that Hollywood has forgotten how to make a film that has a compelling story as well as the acting to support it.

So, who will take their place? I'll start this off with some that I think are well on there way & perhaps even there now along with the film that got me to notice them originally in this regard. Add yours in the same way. Who do you think we'll see referred to in the same light as the icons from back in the day?

Here are my candidates in no particular order -

Edward Norton (Primal Fear)
John Cusack (Grifters)
Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai)
Jim Carrey (Truman Show)
Tim Robbins (The Player)
Russell Crowe (LA Confidential)
Guy Pearce (LA Confidential)
Djimon Hounsou (Amistad)
Tobey Maguire (Ciderhouse Rules)
Paul Giamatti (Sideways)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Gangs of New York)
Jason Statham (Snatch)

Reese Witherspoon (Election)
Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind)
Nicole Kidman (To Die For)
Kim Basinger (LA Confidential)

I would add Christian Bale and John Malkovich.

Wow! My name in the title line of a thread. There'll be no living with me now. :banana:
I may not be qualified to answer this as I haven't been to a movie in quite some time and the movies we tend to view at home are older...but. Actors and actresses that I tend to feel fall into this catagory, the ones who are not afraid to take a much lesser part in a movie, the ones with real staying power, are these;
Gene Hackman
Ed Harris
Harvey Keitel
Robert DiNero
Judi Dench
Steve Martin
Robert Duval
kind of a quick, very incomplete list. But I don't think I've ever seen any of these in a bad role.

Tom Hanks
Gene Hackman
Sean Connery
Julia Roberts
Meg Ryan
John Trivolta

Yeah, I think Christian Bale is excellent, Ed Norton as well....actually, I am pleasantly surprised at how good DiCaprio is..I liked him in Blood Diamonds.

Russell Crowe is definitely a flexible and intense actor as well..I think the actor that did Hidalgo has good potential.

Problem is that styles and topics are so varied nowadays....it seems that the previous generations had a more narrow scope. Its harder to choose good work and directors who think cineamatically in the classical sense, instead of the wow-me Hollywood style.

Both Sean Penn and Tim Robbins' performances in Mystic River were incredible.

There is great stuff out there. You just have to look beyond the fluff.

Come on guys, add the movie that first got your attention to your choices.

Well, like I've said, the 5 or 6 in my response have in my estimation never made a bad flick. Especially Hackman and Duval.

hackman has been in some so so movies,where his presence was just for box office, not acting talent...

like the one where he is the aircraft carrier commander and his pilot gets shot over Bosnia...

Ed Norton - American History X
Leonardo DiCaprio - What's Eating Gilbert Grape

I don't know how Ed can get any better than he was in X but Leo just keeps getting better and better. Recently you had The Aviator, Gangs of New York, The Departed, and Blood Diamond. He's turned into an amazing actor with what appears to be unlimited skill. I suspect he will be named as one of the all-time greats before his career is over. Not to say Ed has peaked but his performance was so strong in X.

Lots of good names so far but what about Johnny Depp?

Lots of good names so far but what about Johnny Depp?[/QUOTE]

Like him or not, he probably is America's greatest living actor.

cubdog

Never responded to this forum 'til now, but I'll second Johnny Depp:

Dead Man
Ed Wood
Edward Scissorhands
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
Finding Neverland

There are more.

Thought he was pretty good in Blow...

Greatest actors of our era?

Gotta include Bill Clinton. That guy could turn on the emotion in the blink of an eye!

Denzel Washington

I was curious where they stood out first to you. Which films were those? Each has a wide & deep body of work.

Gene Hackman first in The French Connection
Steve McQueen in Bullit
Ed Norton in The Fight Club
DiCaprio, for me in Blood Diamonds
John Cusak in Grosse Pointe
Chris Mortensen in Hidalgo
Van Helsing for....whats his name...

I forgot Marky Mark, Mark Wahlberg - The Basketball Diaries. The Jim Carroll story...

Not sure if Mark will be remembered as one of the greats but he's one of my current favorites of the younger actors. He was terrific in The Departed as well. :thmbsp:

Dirk Diggler rocked.

..................in Rock Star

Watch the behind-the-scenes on "The Jacket" -- you will develop a new appreciation for Keira Knightley. There's a specific moment I remember where she was talking about talking with an American accent, she tells what you have to do, and then she just effortlessly slides into an American accent to demonstrate it -- and you realize you just watched her do a whole movie like that -- and then slips right back into her British accent.

He may have been the best part of the show for me; I loved his smart ass, "bad" cop role. That scene where he and Sheen "interview" DeCaprio early on is priceless!!

I already have a pretty good appreciation of her already. :D

Great Actors
 

Morgan Freeman -best of the best
Gene Hackman- always convincing especially playing a bad ass
Robert Duval- plays cowboys better than the Duke
Denzel Washington- gets better all the time: see Training Day!!
Tom Hanks- the Jimmy Stewart of today
Johnny Depp

Not so great, but always fun to watch:
Bruce Willis
Will Smith
John Cusak (maybe he should be up on top)
George Clooney

there are truly great ones out there but the movie biz has changed a lot,and not all for the better.so much more time and effort is devoted to technical wizardry that good stories and fine actors get lost in the shuffle.a 30 second phrase will have so many jump cuts and camera angles that the performers are just along for the ride.watching chiseled ab guys playing joe schlump roles kind of belies credibility,as does some starlet with a six hundred dolar hairdo playing a waitress........but as long as devoted fans buy their reading material at supermarket check stands i dont see any change happening soon

No one does a Masshole, the way Wahlberg does. Anytime you want to envision a textbook, 'burbs of Boston townie, think Wahlberg. 'tis a thing of beauty!

The first Hackman film that made me sit up and take notice was "The Conversation". This may be a case of a great film influencing the work of the actors, but I kind of think Hackman had a lot to do with the film being as good as it was.
With Duval, although his work in "The Godfather" films is outstanding, he really shines for me in "The Apostle". Come to think of it, "Apocalypse Now" wasn't too shabby either.
That's the thing about these two guys, sure they made a few dogs, if you make enough movies you're bound to. But I could go on and on with pictures large and small in which they quietly did the job.

Tommy Lee Jones
and a second for both Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington.
Harrison Ford
Robert "Gus" Duval

Watching the AFI tribute to Al Pacino right now.

Now there's a set of shoes that would be tough to fill.........

Speaking of Gene Hackman, have any of you ever seen "I Never Sang For My Father"? It also starred Melvin Douglas, and it was one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. Well, I may be influenced by the fact that my relationship with my father wasn't the best either, so it really touched me. I've never heard much about it, and that's really a shame.

Like him or not, he probably is America's greatest living actor.

cubdog[/QUOTE]

First one that came to my mind.....

Did you know Hackman was a heavy drinker and just flat out smashed during the filming of French Connection? Story goes he'd snap out of it for a few minutes, do his scene, then drop out of it again. It's interesting to watch knowing that. You'd never guess.

Not quite sure what that says about his acting ability, except maybe that it's imbedded in him.

Anyway, he rates high on my list.

First one that came to my mind.....[/QUOTE]

I agree. I was waiting for his name to pop up.

I didn't even recognize him. I had seen Three Kings and Big Hit, where he pretty much played the same way, so to see him completely evolve like that was amazing. Leo was astoundingly good, too (I didn't see Titanic until recently, so I didn't hate him like a lot of people did -- my last memory of him was Romeo + Juliet, for which he was perfectly cast). Again, to see him play such a completely different part was what impressed me the most.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman-Almost Famous,Capote
Paul Giamatti-American Splendor,Sideways,Cinderella Man
Aaron Eckhardt-In The Company of Men,Your Friends and Neighbors
Rachael McAdams-The Notebook,Mean Girls
Ryan Gosling-Half Nelson,Fracture
Toni Colette-Muriels Wedding,Little Miss Sunshine
Samuel L Jackson-A Time To Kill

Just a few off the top of my head.
Jimmy

If you want to narrow down the list to those actors without movie star good looks,but fine actors:
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Paul Giamatti
John Goodman
Kathy Bates
Danny Trejo(Once Upon A Time In Mexico)
Bob Hoskins

If it wasnt for the Independent film movement,most of these actors wouldnt have gotten the chance.
Jimmy

Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago
Sean Penn - Mystic River

Gary Oldman is one of my fav's.

Don't forget Morgan Freeman.

Kermit- The first Muppet Movie