Items19The creator’s order
  1. 1Gene HackmanGene HackmanBorn 30 Jan 1930Gene Hackman worked for years in television and on stage before an Oscar-nominated supporting turn as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), followed by a second supporting nomination for I Never Sang for My Father. The French Connection (1971) made him a leading man and won him Best Actor, and…0i
  2. 2Morgan FreemanMorgan FreemanBorn 1 Jun 1937Morgan Freeman spent two decades on stage and in children's television, including The Electric Company, before his menacing supporting role in Street Smart (1987) earned an Oscar nomination at fifty. Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Glory and The Shawshank Redemption (1994) followed, and the authority of…0i
  3. 3Kathy BatesKathy BatesBorn 28 Jun 1948Kathy Bates was a respected stage actor, Tony-nominated for 'night, Mother (1983), who kept losing screen versions of her own stage roles to bigger names and took small film parts for years. Rob Reiner cast her as Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990), which won her the Oscar for Best Actress, and leading…0i
  4. 4Philip Seymour HoffmanPhilip Seymour HoffmanBorn 23 Jul 1967Philip Seymour Hoffman spent the 1990s stealing scenes in supporting roles, from Scent of a Woman to Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Almost Famous. Smaller leads such as Owning Mahowny built towards Capote (2005), which won him Best Actor, and he went on to carry The Savages, The Master and A Most…0i
  5. 5Bill NighyBill NighyBorn 12 Dec 1949Bill Nighy worked for three decades on stage, radio and television before his scene-stealing ageing rock star in Love Actually (2003) won a BAFTA and made him a familiar face. Leads followed in The Girl in the Café (2005) and Sometimes Always Never (2018), and Living (2022), as a dying civil…0i
  6. 6Paul GiamattiPaul GiamattiBorn 6 Jun 1967Paul Giamatti was a dependable supporting player in Private Parts, The Truman Show and Man on the Moon before American Splendor (2003) and Sideways (2004) gave him leads built around his rumpled, articulate gloom. He won an Emmy as the title character in John Adams, and The Holdovers (2023) earned…0i
  7. 7Steve CarellSteve CarellSteve Carell spent years as a correspondent on The Daily Show and stole scenes in Bruce Almighty (2003) and Anchorman (2004). In 2005 he co-wrote and starred in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and took the lead in the American version of The Office, and later dramatic leads in Foxcatcher, which earned an…0i
  8. 8Seth RogenSeth RogenBorn 15 Apr 1982Seth Rogen started as a teenage supporting player in Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, worked as a writer on Da Ali G Show and played a sidekick in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Apatow then built Knocked Up (2007) around him, the same year his and Evan Goldberg's long-gestating script Superbad was…0i
  9. 9Bryan CranstonBryan CranstonBorn 7 Mar 1956Bryan Cranston worked for two decades in guest spots, commercials and supporting television, best known as the dentist Tim Whatley in Seinfeld and as the father Hal in Malcolm in the Middle. Vince Gilligan, who had worked with him on The X-Files, cast him as Walter White in Breaking Bad (2008),…0i
  10. 10Melissa McCarthyMelissa McCarthyBorn 26 Aug 1970Melissa McCarthy played the chef Sookie in Gilmore Girls for seven seasons and spent years in improv with the Groundlings before leading the sitcom Mike & Molly (2010). Her supporting role in Bridesmaids (2011) earned an Oscar nomination and led to The Heat and Spy, and the dramatic lead in Can You…0i