Favourite characters in film/TV.
by ashturner-79373 | created - 06 May 2019 | updated - 2 weeks ago | PublicCharacters from the movies and TV I've seen that stand out, or speak, to me. The performances behind them are often a big part of the appeal too, sometimes moreso than the characters themselves.
Listed according to either a) the main actor who played them or b) the particular actor whose portrayal I like most. The films, TV shows, etc. listed are those that portray the character best, so any examples missing aren't worth mentioning (imo).
1. David Neilson
Actor | Coronation Street
David Neilson was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire on 13th March 1949 and attended Garendon Secondary Modern School, leaving when he was 15 years old. He was 20 when he decided to try for drama school, auditioned successfully and did a 3-year drama course at the Central School of Speech and ...
ROY CROPPER in
- Coronation Street (1960- TV series)
2. Peter O'Toole
Actor | Lawrence of Arabia
A leading man of prodigious talents, Peter O'Toole was born and raised in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, the son of Constance Jane Eliot (Ferguson), a Scottish nurse, and Patrick Joseph O'Toole, an Irish metal plater, football player and racecourse bookmaker. Upon leaving school, he decided to become a...
T. E. LAWRENCE in
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
3. Sophie Aldred
Actress | Doctor Who
Sophie Aldred was born in Greenwich, London, and brought up in nearby Blackheath. After leaving school, she attended Manchester University, where she took a degree in drama. From university she sang in working men's clubs to obtain her Equity Card, then worked in a children's theatre, appearing in ...
ACE in
- Doctor Who (1963-1989 TV series)
- Doctor Who (1999- audio series)
- Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time (2001-2002 internet miniseries)
- Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (2022 TV episode)
NOTE: also worth mentioning the character's appearances in Virgin Books' "New Adventures" (1991-1997) book series.
4. Sylvester McCoy
Actor | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Sylvester McCoy was born Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith on 20 August 1943, the only child of Molly Sheridan and Percy James Kent-Smith, a couple living in Dunoon, Scotland. His mother was Irish. Percy James Kent-Smith was killed in the Second World War a couple of months before his son was born, ...
THE DOCTOR in
- Doctor Who (1963-1989 TV series)
- Doctor Who (1996 TV film)
- Doctor Who (1999- audio series)
- Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time (2001-2002 internet miniseries)
NOTE: also worth mentioning the character's appearances in Virgin Books' "New Adventures" (1991-1997) book series.
5. Caroline John
Actress | Love Actually
Caroline John was a classically trained actress who did some significant and prestigious stage work, but she is best remembered for one television role which she played for less than a year (and only four serials) - that of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw in Doctor Who (1963). Of the many satellites that have ...
LIZ SHAW in
- Doctor Who (1963-1989 TV series)
- P.R.O.B.E. 1-4 (1994/1995/1996/1996)
6. Elisabeth Sladen
Actress | Doctor Who
Elisabeth Sladen was born in Liverpool, England. She attended drama school for two years before joining the local repertory theatre in her home town of Liverpool. She met actor Brian Miller during her first production there and they were later married after meeting again in Manchester, three years ...
SARAH JANE SMITH in
- Doctor Who (1963-1989 TV series)
- K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend (1981 TV pilot)
- Downtime (1995)
- Doctor Who: School Reunion / The Stolen Earth / Journey's End (2006/2008/2008 TV episodes)
- The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007-2011 TV series)
7. Julie Andrews
Actress | The Sound of Music
Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on October 1, 1935, in England. Her mother, Barbara Ward (Morris), and stepfather, both vaudeville performers, discovered her freakish but undeniably lovely four-octave singing voice and immediately got her a singing career. She performed in music halls throughout her...
MARY POPPINS in
- Mary Poppins (1964)
- Mary Poppins Returns (2018) [played by EMILY BLUNT]
8. Duane Jones
Actor | Night of the Living Dead
Cult figure who will forever be remembered as Ben, the resourceful, yet ill-fated hero of George A. Romero's low-budget zombie film Night of the Living Dead (1968). Jones was a former English professor who directed at the Maguire Theater at the Old Westbury campus of New York State University, and ...
BEN in
- Night of the Living Dead (1968)
9. Dennis Weaver
Actor | Touch of Evil
Dennis Weaver first became familiar to television audiences as Matt Dillon's assistant Chester Goode in Gunsmoke (1955). After playing the part for nine years, he moved on to star in his own series, Kentucky Jones (1964). However, the show failed to find mass appeal and was cancelled after just one...
DAVID MANN in
- Duel (1971 TV film)
10. Gene Wilder
Actor | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
When he was 11, he wanted to be a comedian like Sid Caesar. Then, when he was 15 and saw Lee J. Cobb in 'Death of a Salesman,' he decided he would be a comedy actor and found that Mel Brooks was a great influence on his screen writing. He combined both talents with directing in The World's Greatest...
WILLY WONKA in
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
11. Paul A. Partain
Actor | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Paul Alan Partain was born on November 22, 1946 in Austin, Texas. Paul first started acting in his junior high school days, he was a member of the drama club and acted on a regular basis in school plays. Partain served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam war. After finishing his tour of ...
FRANKLIN in
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
12. James Earl Jones
Actor | Rogue One
Widely regarded as the one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native USA and internationally, James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. At an early age, he started to take dramatic lessons to calm himself down. It appeared to work as he has since starred ...
DARTH VADER in
- Star Wars: Episodes IV-VI (1977/1980/1983)
- Rogue One (2016)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022 TV miniseries)
NOTE: the character's physical performances were given by DAVID PROWSE in "Episodes IV-VI", SPENCER WILDING in "Rogue One", and HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN in "Obi-Wan Kenobi", as well as stunt performers.
13. Mark Hamill
Actor | Star Wars
Mark Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy - Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) - a role he reprised in Star Wars: Episode VII - ...
LUKE SKYWALKER in
- Star Wars: Episodes IV-VI & VIII (1977/1980/1983/2017)
- The Mandalorian: The Rescue (2020 TV episode)
- The Book of Boba Fett: From the Desert Comes a Stranger (2022 TV episode)
14. John Amplas
Actor | Creepshow
Capable and likable baby-faced actor John Amplas was born on June 23, 1949 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Amplas was outstanding as a troubled and disturbed teenager who thinks he's a vampire in George Romero's fantastic horror winner "Martin." John has appeared in several other pictures for Romero: ...
MARTIN in
- Martin (1977)
15. Sigourney Weaver
Actress | Alien Resurrection
Sigourney Weaver has created a host of memorable characters, both dramatic and comic, ranging from Ripley in Alien to Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist to Gwen/Tawny in Galaxy Quest and most recently, 14-year-old Kiri in Avatar: The Way of Water. With a career spanning over 50 years, Weaver has ...
ELLEN RIPLEY in
- Alien 1-4 (1979/1986/1992/1997)
16. Robert Kerman
Actor | Cannibal Holocaust
Robert Charles Kerman was born on December 16, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York City. His father was a pickle maker and his mother did bookkeeping for the family business. He grew up in a in a middle-class Italian-Jewish neighborhood of Bensonhurst, sharing a two-family row house with his aunt and ...
HAROLD MONROE in
- Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
17. Frank Oz
Actor | The Muppet Show
Frank Richard Oznowicz was born in Hereford, England to puppeteers Frances and Isidore Oznowicz. His family moved to Montana in 1951, eventually settling in Oakland, California. As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice puppeteer at Children's Fairyland amusement park. He is one of the primary ...
YODA in
- Star Wars: Episodes I-III, V & VIII (1980/1999/2002/2005/2017)
- Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005 TV series) [voiced by TOM KANE]
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2020 TV series) [voiced by TOM KANE]
- Star Wars: Rebels: Path of the Jedi (2014 TV episode)
18. Ian McDiarmid
Actor | Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Ian McDiarmid was born on August 11, 1944 in Carnoustie, Tayside, Scotland. He studied for a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, but eventually found that his calling was in theatre. He went to the Royal Academy in Glasgow, where he received the prestigious gold...
DARTH SIDIOUS in
- Star Wars: Episodes I-III, VI & IX (1983/1999/2002/2005/2019)
- Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005 TV series) [voiced by NICK JAMESON]
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2020 TV series) [voiced by IAN ABERCROMBIE and TIM CURRY]
19. Christopher Gable
Actor | The Boy Friend
Christopher Gable was born on March 13, 1940 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for The Boy Friend (1971), Doctor Who (1963) and The Devil's Crown (1978). He was married to Carole Needham. He died on October 23, 1998 in Near Halifax, Yorkshire, England, UK.
SHARAZ JEK in
- Doctor Who: The Caves of Androzani (1984 TV episodes)
20. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Actor | Terminator 2: Judgment Day
With an almost unpronounceable surname and a thick Austrian accent, who would have ever believed that a brash, quick talking bodybuilder from a small European village would become one of Hollywood's biggest stars, marry into the prestigious Kennedy family, amass a fortune via shrewd investments and...
T-800 in
- Terminator 1-3, 5 & 6 (1984/1991/2003/2015/2019)
21. James Van Der Beek
Actor | Dawson's Creek
James David Van Der Beek was born on March 8, 1977 in Cheshire, Connecticut, as the oldest of three children of Melinda (Weber), a gymnastics studio owner and Broadway dancer, and Jim Van Der Beek, a cell phone company executive. He has a brother named Jared who was born in 1979, and a sister named...
PAZU in
- Castle in the Sky (1986)
NOTE: voiced by MAYUMI TANAKA in the original Japanese version.
22. Jeff Goldblum
Actor | Jurassic Park
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum was born October 22, 1952 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of four children of Shirley (Temeles), a radio broadcaster who also ran an appliances firm, and Harold L. Goldblum, a doctor. His father was of Russian Jewish descent and his mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry.
...
SETH BRUNDLE in
- The Fly (1986)
23. Peter Weller
Actor | RoboCop
Peter Frederick Weller was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to Dorothy Jean (Davidson) and Frederick Bradford Weller, a federal judge and career helicopter pilot for the United States Army. He traveled extensively as his father literally flew around the world. Before he was out of his teens, he ...
ALEX MURPHY in
- RoboCop 1 & 2 (1987/1990)
24. George C. Scott
Actor | Patton
George C. Scott was an immensely talented actor, a star of the big screen, stage and television. He was born on October 18, 1927 in Wise, Virginia, to Helena Agnes (Slemp) and George Dewey Scott. At the age of eight, his mother died, and his father, an executive at Buick, raised him. In 1945, he ...
BILL KINDERMAN in
- The Exorcist III (1990)
25. Gabriel Byrne
Actor | The Usual Suspects
Byrne was the eldest of six children born to a family in Dublin, Ireland. His father was a cooper and his mother a hospital worker. He was raised Catholic and educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. He spent five years of his childhood in a seminary training to be a Catholic priest. He later said...
TOM REAGAN in
- Miller's Crossing (1990)
26. Robin Williams
Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford ...
GENIE in
- Aladdin (1992)
27. Liam Neeson
Actor | Kinsey
Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an ...
OSKAR SCHINDLER in
- Schindler's List (1993)
28. Kurt Russell
Actor | Escape from New York
Kurt Vogel Russell was born on March 17, 1951 in Springfield, Massachusetts and raised in Thousand Oaks, California to Louise Julia Russell (née Crone), a dancer & Bing Russell, an actor. He is of English, German, Scottish and Irish descent. His first roles were as a child on television series, ...
WYATT EARP in
- Tombstone (1993)
29. Jeremy Irons
Actor | Dead Ringers
British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...
SCAR in
- The Lion King (1994)
30. Brad Pitt
Actor | Fight Club
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt was born on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri to Jane Etta Pitt (née Hillhouse), a school counselor & William Alvin "Bill" Pitt, a truck company manager. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student ...
DAVID MILLS in
- Se7en (1995)
31. Al Pacino
Actor | Serpico
Alfredo James "Al" 'Pacino established himself as a film actor during one of cinema's most vibrant decades, the 1970s, and has become an enduring and iconic figure in the world of American movies.
He was born April 25, 1940 in Manhattan, New York City, to Italian-American parents, Rose (nee Gerardi)...
VINCENT HANNA in
- Heat (1995)
32. David Arquette
Actor | Scream 3
The youngest of five, David Arquette was born in Winchester, Virginia and is part of the illustrious Arquette family, whose work has spread over several generations. His parents, Lewis Arquette, an actor, and Brenda Denaut (née Nowak), an acting teacher and therapist, had 4 other children: Rosanna ...
DEWEY in
- Scream 1-4 (1996/1997/2000/2011)
33. Harold Perrineau
Actor | Romeo + Juliet
Harold Perrineau is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Dawson on the television series Lost (2004-2008; 2010), Augustus Hill in the television series Oz (1997-2003), Link in The Matrix franchise (2003), and Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996). He has also starred in ...
MERCUTIO in
- Romeo + Juliet (1996)
34. Pam Grier
Actress | Jackie Brown
Pam Grier was born in Winston-Salem, NC, one of four children of Gwendolyn Sylvia (Samuels), a nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier Jr., an Air Force mechanic. Pam has been a major African-American star from the early 1970s. Her career started in 1971, when Roger Corman of New World Pictures launched ...
JACKIE BROWN in
- Jackie Brown (1997)
35. Jon Voight
Actor | Midnight Cowboy
Jon Voight is an American actor of German and Slovak descent. He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role as paraplegic Vietnam War veteran Luke Martin in the war film "Coming Home" (1978). He has also been nominated for the same award other two times. He was first ...
PAUL SERONE in
- Anaconda (1997)
36. David Hayter
Actor | X-Men
David Hayter was born on February 6, 1969 in Santa Monica, California, USA as David Bryan Hayter. He is known for writing the screenplays to X-Men (2000), X-Men 2 (2003), and Watchmen (2009). He is best known as the voice of Solid Snake in the English versions of the Metal Gear Solid franchise.
SOLID SNAKE in
- Metal Gear Solid 1, 2 & 4 (1998/2001/2008 video games)
NOTE: voiced by AKIO ŌTSUKA in the original Japanese versions.
37. Jim Carrey
Actor | Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Jim Carrey, Canadian-born and a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and producer famous for his rubbery body movements and flexible facial expressions. The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color (1990) but leading roles in Ace Ventura: ...
TRUMAN BURBANK in
- The Truman Show (1998)
38. Linda Bassett
Actress | East Is East
Linda Bassett was born in the Kentish village of Pluckley - location for the television series The Darling Buds of May (1991). She was brought up in Pimlico, South London, by her typist mother and police officer father. She became interested in acting as a child when she was frequently taken to see...
ELLA KHAN in
- East is East & West is West (1999/2010)
39. Michael Clarke Duncan
Actor | The Green Mile
Michael Clarke Duncan was born on December 10, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois. Raised on Chicago's South Side by his single mother, Jean, a house cleaner, Duncan grew up resisting drugs and alcohol, instead concentrating on school. He wanted to play football in high school, but his mother wouldn't let ...
JOHN COFFEY in
- The Green Mile (1999)
40. Jonell Elliott
Actress | Welcome to the Punch
Jonell Elliott is known for Welcome to the Punch (2013), Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (2003) and Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (1999).
LARA CROFT in
- Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation / Chronicles / The Angel of Darkness (1999/2000/2003 video games)
41. Ian McKellen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery ...
ERIK LEHNSHERR in
- X-Men 1-3 & The Wolverine (2000/2003/2006/2013)
- X-Men: First Class / Days of Future Past / Apocalypse / Dark Phoenix (2011/2014/2016/2019) [played by MICHAEL FASSBENDER]
42. Ian McKellen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery ...
GANDALF in
- The Lord of the Rings (2001/2002/2003)
43. Angelina Jolie
Actress | Maleficent
Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress who rose to fame after her role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), playing the title role in the "Lara Croft" blockbuster movies, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014). Off-screen, Jolie has become ...
LARA CROFT in
- Lara Croft Tomb Raider & The Cradle of Life (2001/2003)
44. Mel Gibson
Actor | Braveheart
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...
GRAHAM HESS in
- Signs (2002)
45. J.K. Simmons
Actor | Whiplash
J.K. Simmons is an American actor.
He was born Jonathan Kimble Simmons in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to Patricia (Kimble), an administrator, and Donald William Simmons, a music teacher. He attended the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; University of Montana, Missoula, MT (BA in Music).
He had ...
J. JONAH JAMESON in
- Spider-Man 1-3 (2002/2004/2007)
46. Uma Thurman
Actress | Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Uma Karuna Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, into a highly unorthodox and internationally-minded family. She is the daughter of Nena Thurman (née Birgitte Caroline von Schlebrügge), a fashion model and socialite who now runs a mountain retreat, and of Robert Thurman (Robert Alexander ...
THE BRIDE in
- Kill Bill (2003/2004)
47. Tommy Lee Jones
Actor | The Fugitive
Tommy Lee Jones was born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Lucille Marie (Scott), a police officer and beauty shop owner, and Clyde C. Jones, who worked on oil fields. Tommy himself worked in underwater construction and on an oil rig. He attended St. Mark's School of Texas, a prestigious prep school ...
L. T. BONHAM in
- The Hunted (2003)
48. Billy Crystal
Actor | Forget Paris
Billy Crystal was born on March 14, 1948 in Manhattan, New York, and was raised on Long Island. He is the youngest of three sons born to Helen (Gabler) and Jack Crystal. His father was a well-known concert promoter who co-founded Commodore Records and his mother was a homemaker. His family were ...
CALCIFER in
- Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
NOTE: voiced by TATSUYA GASHŪIN in the original Japanese version.
49. Irma P. Hall
Actress | The Ladykillers
Irma P. Hall was born on June 3, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Ladykillers (2004), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) and Collateral (2004).
MARVA MUNSON in
- The Ladykillers (2004)
50. Chia-Hui Liu
Actor | Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Chia-Hui Liu was born on August 22, 1951 in Guangdong, China. He is an actor and director, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978). He was previously married to Ma Fei-feng.
PAI MEI in
- Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
51. Zach Tyler Eisen
Actor | The Ant Bully
Zach Tyler Eisen is an American former voice actor from Connecticut who is widely known for voicing Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender and its video game tie-ins. He also voiced Pablo the Penguin from The Backyardigans and Lucas Nickle from The Ant Bully franchise. He also worked on Little Bill.
AANG in
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008 TV series)
52. Christopher Eccleston
Actor | Thor: The Dark World
Christopher Eccleston trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in Let Him Have It (1991). However, it was a regular role in the television series Cracker (1993) that made him a recognizable figure in the United Kingdom. He appeared in the ...
THE DOCTOR in
- Doctor Who (2005- TV series)
53. Catherine Tate
Actress | The Catherine Tate Show
Catherine Tate is an English actress and comedian, primarily known for the role of Donna Noble in the "Doctor Who" franchise.
Tate was born as "Catherine Ford" during 1969, in Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury is a district of the London Borough of Camden, known as the home of several of London's museums, ...
DONNA NOBLE in
- Doctor Who (2005- TV series)
54. Wentworth Miller
Actor | Prison Break
Wentworth Miller is a compelling and critically acclaimed actor whose credits span both television and feature film.
Wentworth Earl Miller III was born June 2, 1972 in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, to American parents, Joy Marie (Palm), a special education teacher, and Wentworth Earl Miller...
MICHAEL SCOFIELD in
- Prison Break (2005-2017 TV series)
55. Robert Knepper
Actor | Prison Break
Robert Knepper, the son of a veterinarian, was born in Fremont, Ohio, and was raised in Maumee (near Toledo). When he was growing up, his mother worked in the props department for the community theater, and because of her involvement, he became interested in acting. Robert began his career in ...
THEODORE BAGWELL in
- Prison Break (2005-2017 TV series)
56. Viggo Mortensen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Since his screen debut as a young Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness (1985), Viggo Mortensen's career has been marked by a steady string of well-rounded performances.
Mortensen was born in New York City, to Grace Gamble (Atkinson) and Viggo Peter Mortensen, Sr. His father was Danish, his mother ...
TOM STALL in
- A History of Violence (2005)
57. Burn Gorman
Actor | Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Burn Gorman was born on September 1, 1974 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018). He has been married to Sarah Beard since July 2004. They have three children.
OWEN HARPER in
- Torchwood (2006-2011 TV series)
58. John Simm
Actor | Human Traffic
John Simm was born on 10 July 1970 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, and grew up in Nelson, Lancashire. He attended Edge End High School, Nelson, Lancashire, followed by Blackpool Drama College at 16 and the Drama Centre, London, at 19. He lives with his wife, actress Kate Magowan, and their children Ryan ...
THE MASTER in
- Doctor Who: The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords / The End of Time (2007/2007/2009/2010 TV episodes)
59. Simon Pegg
Actor | The World's End
English actor, writer, and comedian Simon Pegg was born Simon John Beckingham in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, to Gillian Rosemary (Smith), a civil servant, and John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician. His parents divorced when he was seven. He later took his stepfather's surname "Pegg." He was ...
NICHOLAS ANGEL in
- Hot Fuzz (2007)
60. Kurt Russell
Actor | Escape from New York
Kurt Vogel Russell was born on March 17, 1951 in Springfield, Massachusetts and raised in Thousand Oaks, California to Louise Julia Russell (née Crone), a dancer & Bing Russell, an actor. He is of English, German, Scottish and Irish descent. His first roles were as a child on television series, ...
STUNTMAN MIKE in
- Death Proof (2007)
61. Ashley Eckstein
Actress | Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Ashley was born in Louisville, Kentucky but was raised in Orlando, Florida. Often playing the antagonist, Ashley played Muffy, the popular nemesis on That's So Raven. Besides acting, Ashley loves to design and make clothes. Ashley's parents are Tony and Sharon Drane. She also has three siblings, ...
AHSOKA TANO in
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2020 TV series)
- Star Wars: Rebels (2014-2018 TV series)
- The Mandalorian: The Jedi (2020 TV episode) [played by ROSARIO DAWSON]
- The Book of Boba Fett: From the Desert Comes a Stranger (2021 TV episode) [played by ROSARIO DAWSON]
- Ahsoka (2023 TV miniseries) [played by ROSARIO DAWSON]
62. Heath Ledger
Actor | Brokeback Mountain
When hunky, twenty-year-old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of little depth. He spent several years trying desperately to sway this image, but this was a double-edged sword. His work comprised ...
JOKER in
- The Dark Knight (2008)
63. Jonathan Banks
Actor | Mudbound
Versatile veteran character actor Jonathan Banks was born in Washington, D.C. in 1947. While growing up he always had an interest in acting and stage work, so decided to pursue a career in entertainment. To this day he is a very accomplished stage actor. While acting in film, he usually plays ...
MIKE EHRMANTRAUT in
- Breaking Bad (2008-2013 TV series)
64. Bryan Cranston
Actor | Breaking Bad
Bryan Lee Cranston was born on March 7, 1956 in Hollywood, California, to Audrey Peggy Sell, a radio actress, and Joe Cranston, an actor and former amateur boxer. His maternal grandparents were German, and his father was of Irish, German, and Austrian-Jewish ancestry. He was raised in the Canoga ...
WALTER WHITE in
- Breaking Bad (2008-2013 TV series)
65. James McAvoy
Actor | Filth
McAvoy was born on 21 April 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland, to James, a bus driver, and Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a nurse. He was raised on a housing estate in Drumchapel, Glasgow by his maternal grandparents (James, a butcher, and Mary), after his parents divorced when James was 11. He went to St ...
WESLEY GIBSON in
- Wanted (2008)
66. Jeremy Renner
Actor | The Hurt Locker
Jeremy Lee Renner was born in Modesto, California, the son of Valerie (Tague) and Lee Renner, who managed a bowling alley. After a tumultuous yet happy childhood with his four younger siblings, Renner graduated from Beyer High School and attended Modesto Junior College. He explored several areas of...
WILLIAM JAMES in
- The Hurt Locker (2008)
67. Christoph Waltz
Actor | Django Unchained
Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He is known for his work with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, receiving acclaim for portraying SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). For each performance, he won...
HANS LANDA in
- Inglourious Basterds (2009)
68. Ryan Reynolds
Actor | Deadpool 2
Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born on October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the youngest of four children. His father, James Chester Reynolds, was a food wholesaler, and his mother, Tamara Lee "Tammy" (Stewart), worked as a retail-store saleswoman. He has Irish and Scottish ancestry. ...
MIKE CONNELL in
- Adventureland (2009)
69. Nicolas Cage
Actor | Face/Off
Nicolas Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, California, the son of comparative literature professor August Coppola (whose brother is director Francis Ford Coppola) and dancer/choreographer Joy Vogelsang. He is of Italian (father) and Polish and German (mother) descent. Cage changed his...
BALTHAZAR in
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
70. Jesse Eisenberg
Actor | The Social Network
Curly haired and with a fast-talking voice, Jesse Eisenberg is a movie actor, known for his Academy Award nominated role as Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film The Social Network. He has also starred in the films The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland, The Education of Charlie Banks, 30 Minutes or ...
MARK ZUCKERBERG in
- The Social Network (2010)
71. Ashley Bell
Actress | The Last Exorcism
Ashley Bell made her feature film debut in Lionsgate and Strike Entertainment's thriller, The Last Exorcism (2010). Her performance garnered her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and an MTV Movie Award nomination, while the film grossed nearly $70 million, worldwide...
NELL SWEETZER in
- The Last Exorcism: Parts I & II (2010/2013)
72. Michael Cera
Actor | Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Canadian actor Michael Cera was born in Brampton, Ontario, to parents who worked for Xerox. His mother, Linda, who is from Quebec, has English, Irish, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry, and his father, Luigi Cera, is Italian (from Sicily). Michael is the middle child between two sisters. He was educated...
SCOTT PILGRIM in
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
73. William Fichtner
Actor | Crash
A small-town guy with a big heart, William Fichtner has been captivating the hearts of Western New Yorkers for decades. Bill was born in 1956 on Long Island, New York, to Patricia A. (Steitz) and William E. Fichtner. He is of German, Irish, and English descent.
Fichtner was raised in Cheektowaga, ...
THE ACCOUNTANT in
- Drive Angry (2011)
74. Owen Teale
Actor | Robin Hood
While in his teens, Owen Teale occasionally worked at Porthcawl Little Theatre. In September 1980 he was accepted by the Guildford School of Acting and by Christmas of 1983 had obtained his Equity card. His first proper work was as a dancer in the musical "Cabaret" in Plymouth, Devon. Subsequently ...
ALLISER THORNE in
- Game of Thrones (2011-2019 TV series)
75. Gwendoline Christie
Actress | Game of Thrones
London-based Gwendoline Christie is one of the most exciting and unique British actresses working today, having caught the industry's attention with her Emmy and Critics' Choice nominated role in the global hit HBO series "Game of Thrones." During her time on the show, she was also nominated ...
BRIENNE in
- Game of Thrones (2011-2019 TV series)
76. Andy Serkis
Actor | War for the Planet of the Apes
English film actor, director and author Andy Serkis is known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for such computer-generated characters as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), ...
CAESAR in
- Rise of, Dawn of & War for the Planet of the Apes (2011/2014/2017)
77. Michelle Fairley
Actress | Game of Thrones
Michelle was born in July 1965, the second child of publican Brian and nurse Theresa Fairley. As a teenager she attended the Ulster Youth Theatre before moving to Belfast , where she was a member of Fringe Benefit, a repertory company where she acted alongside Conleth Hill, with whom she would ...
CATELYN STARK in
- Game of Thrones (2011-2019 TV series)
78. Ryan Gosling
Actor | Blue Valentine
Born Ryan Thomas Gosling on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario, Canada, he is the son of Donna (Wilson), a secretary, and Thomas Ray Gosling, a traveling salesman. Ryan was the second of their two children, with an older sister, Mandi. His ancestry is French-Canadian, as well as English, ...
DRIVER in
- Drive (2011)
79. Neil Maskell
Actor | Hijack
Neil Maskell was born in 1976. From the age of eleven he attended the Anna Scher acting school in Islington in his native London and later studied at the Miskin Theatre at the North West Kent College,subsequently returning there as a director. He began acting as a teenager,making his television ...
JAY in
- Kill List (2011)
80. Liam Neeson
Actor | Kinsey
Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an ...
JOHN OTTWAY in
- The Grey (2011)
81. Kit Harington
Actor | Game of Thrones
Kit Harington was born Christopher Catesby Harington in Acton, London, to Deborah Jane (Catesby), a former playwright, and David Richard Harington, a businessman. His mother named him after 16th-century British playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe, whose first name was shortened to Kit, a name ...
JON SNOW in
- Game of Thrones (2011-2019 TV series)
82. Rooney Mara
Actress | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Actress and philanthropist Rooney Mara was born on April 17, 1985 in Bedford, New York. She made her screen debut in the slasher film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005), went on to have a supporting role in the independent coming-of-age drama Tanner Hall (2009), and has since starred in the horror ...
LISBETH SALANDER in
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
83. Tom Hiddleston
Actor | The Avengers
Thomas William Hiddleston was born in Westminster, London, to English-born Diana Patricia (Servaes) and Scottish-born James Norman Hiddleston. His mother is a former stage manager, and his father, a scientist, was the managing director of a pharmaceutical company. He started off at the preparatory ...
LOKI in
- Thor 1-3 (2011/2013/2017)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Loki (2021- TV series)
84. James D'Arcy
Actor | Cloud Atlas
James D'Arcy was born Simon Richard D'Arcy in London, England, to Caroline (O'Connor) and Richard D'Arcy. He was raised by his mother, a nurse. He trained at LAMDA and graduated in July 1995. During his three-year course, he gained acting experience by appearing in the plays "Heracles", "As You ...
SAM in
- Screwed (2011)
85. Peter Dinklage
Actor | Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage is an American actor. Since his breakout role in The Station Agent (2003), he has appeared in numerous films and theatre plays. Since 2011, Dinklage has portrayed Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011) . For this he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a...
TYRION LANNISTER in
- Game of Thrones (2011-2019 TV series)
86. Dane DeHaan
Actor | Chronicle
Dane DeHaan recently wrapped production on Amazon Studio's international cocaine drama Zero Zero Zero, in which he stars.
On the silver screen DeHaan was last seen as Billy the Kid in The Kid opposite Ethan Hawke and Chris Pratt. He played the title character in Luc Besson's Valerian and The City of...
ANDREW DETMER in
- Chronicle (2012)
87. Sam Rockwell
Actor | Moon
Sam Rockwell was born on November 5, 1968, in San Mateo, California, the only child of two actors, Pete Rockwell and Penny Hess. The family moved to New York when he was two years old, living first in the Bronx and later in Manhattan. When Sam was five years old, his parents separated, at which ...
BILLY BICKLE in
- Seven Psychopaths (2012)
88. Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor | Inception
Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting cast member of the sitcom Growing Pains (1985) and low budget horror movies, such as Critters 3 (1991), to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s,...
CALVIN CANDIE in
- Django Unchained (2012)
89. Woody Harrelson
Actor | True Detective
Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961 in Midland, Texas, to Diane Lou (Oswald) and Charles Harrelson. He grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, where his mother was from. After receiving degrees in theater arts and English from Hanover College, he...
HAYMITCH ABERNATHY in
- The Hunger Games, Catching Fire & Mockingjay (2012/2013/2014/2015)
90. Jessica Chastain
Actress | Zero Dark Thirty
Jessica Michelle Chastain was born in Sacramento, California, and was raised in a middle-class household in a Northern California suburb. Her mother, Jerri Chastain, is a vegan chef whose family is originally from Kansas, and her stepfather is a fireman. She discovered dance at the age of nine and ...
MAYA in
- Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
91. David Tennant
Actor | Doctor Who
Widely considered as one of the greatest stage and screen actors of his generation both in his native Scotland and internationally, David Tennant was born David John McDonald in West Lothian, Scotland, to Essdale Helen (McLeod) and Sandy McDonald, who was a Presbyterian minister. He is of Scottish ...
ALEC HARDY in
- Broadchurch (2013-2017 TV series)
92. Olivia Colman
Actress | The Favourite
Olivia Colman was born on January 30, 1974 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for The Favourite (2018), Tyrannosaur (2011) and The Lost Daughter (2021). She has been married to Ed Sinclair since August 2001. They have three children.
ELLIE MILLER in
- Broadchurch (2013-2017 TV series)
93. Asa Butterfield
Actor | Hugo
Asa Butterfield was born in Islington, London, England, to Jacqueline Farr and Sam Butterfield. He began acting at the age of 8, after a talent spotting casting director saw him at his local after school drama club, The Young Actors Theatre in Islington. Following on from a couple of small roles in...
ENDER WIGGIN in
- Ender's Game (2013)
94. Simon Pegg
Actor | The World's End
English actor, writer, and comedian Simon Pegg was born Simon John Beckingham in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, to Gillian Rosemary (Smith), a civil servant, and John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician. His parents divorced when he was seven. He later took his stepfather's surname "Pegg." He was ...
GARY KING in
- The World's End (2013)
95. Charlotte Rampling
Actress | 45 Years
Tessa Charlotte Rampling was born 5 February 1946 in Sturmer, England, to Isabel Anne (Gurteen), a painter, and Godfrey Lionel Rampling, an Olympic gold medalist, army officer, and colonel, who became a NATO commander. She was educated at Jeanne d'Arc Académie pour Jeunes Filles in Versailles, ...
JOCELYN KNIGHT in
- Broadchurch (2013-2017 TV series)
96. Sean Pertwee
Actor | Dog Soldiers
Sean Pertwee was born into a famous British theatrical family. He is the son of Jon Pertwee, who was mainly a comedy actor and was known for his starring roles in Doctor Who (1963), Worzel Gummidge (1979), the radio comedy series "The Navy Lark" and appearances in several "Carry On" films. His ...
ALFRED PENNYWORTH in
- Gotham (2014-2019 TV series)
97. Sarah Lancashire
Actress | Happy Valley
Sarah Lancashire was born on October 10, 1964 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Happy Valley (2014), Yesterday (2019) and Clocking Off (2000). She has been married to Peter Salmon since August 22, 2001. They have one child. She was previously married to ...
CATHERINE CAWOOD in
- Happy Valley (2014-2023 TV series)
98. Jake Gyllenhaal
Actor | Nightcrawler
Jake Gyllenhaal was born on December 19, 1980 in Los Angeles, California as Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, the son of producer/screenwriter Naomi Foner and director Stephen Gyllenhaal, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish (mother) and Swedish, English, and ...
LOUIS BLOOM in
- Nightcrawler (2014)
99. Angelina Jolie
Actress | Maleficent
Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress who rose to fame after her role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), playing the title role in the "Lara Croft" blockbuster movies, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014). Off-screen, Jolie has become ...
MALEFICENT in
- Maleficent & Mistress of Evil (2014/2019)
100. Michael Keaton
Actor | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Quirky, inventive and handsome American actor Michael Keaton first achieved major fame with his door-busting performance as fast-talking ideas man Bill Blazejowski, alongside a nerdish morgue attendant (Henry Winkler), in Night Shift (1982). He played further comedic roles in Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny...
RIGGAN THOMSON in
- Birdman (2014)
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