Although 21st century cinema has seen great talent, the best of the best actors have been included in this list.
The hard task of choosing the very best actors to archive in this list was taken upon by The Independent.
Since categories like the best, and the great, can be subjective according to different aesthetic appeals, so the outlet describes its criteria explicitly as, “this list must only take into account films, not TV series or stage performances. It should only take into account films released post-2000.”
The list goes as follows;
Top 60 Actors of 21st Century
60. Tom Cruise
59. Amy Adams
58. Stephen Graham
57. Hugh Grant
56. Catherine Keener
55. Matthew McConaughey
54. Sally Hawkins
53. Ralph Fiennes
52. Lesley Manville
51. Andy Serkis
50. Olivia Colman
49. Sandra Huller
48. Tom Hanks
47. Lea Seydoux
46. Lupita Nyong’o
45. Kate Winslet
44. Robert Downey Jr
43. Andrew Garfield
42. Tom Hardy
41. Irrfan Khan
40. Javier Bardem
39. Viola Davis
38. Viggo Mortensen
37. Jason Schwartzman
36. Adele Haenel
35. Robert Pattinson
34. Michael Stuhlbarg
33. Mark Ruffalo
32. Frances McDormand
31. Ryan Gosling
30. Rachel McAdams
29. Mahershala Ali
28. Saoirse Ronan
27. Paul Giamatti
26. Joaquin Phoenix
25. Carey Mulligan
24. Jesse Plemons
23. Penelope Cruz
22. Adam Driver
21. Tony Leung
20. Tilda Swinton
19. Kirsten Dunst
18. Michelle Williams
17. Leonardo DiCaprio
16. Kristen Stewart
15. Jennifer Lawrence
14. Christian Bale
13. Isabelle Huppert
12. Natalie Portman
11. Willem Dafoe
10. Florence Pugh
9. Colin Farrell
8. Cate Blanchett
7. Song Kang Ho
6. Daniel Kaluuya
5. Nicole Kidman
4. Denzel Washington
3. Daniel Day-Lewis
2. Emma Stone
1. Philip Seymour Hoffman
