Actors & Actresses Rankdown 2.0 (Winner Posted)

[Alex95]

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges is really known for a lot of those gritty roles, at least in the movies I've seen him in. It's not really what I'm drawn to when I'm watching movies and tv, but I respect his talent. Some recent roles from him include Bad Times at the El Royale, Hell or High Water, True Grit, and Crazy Heart. Not that these characters are all the same at all, but their ~vibes~ are similar, at least to me. I'd say Jeff Bridges is probably best known for playing The Dude in The Big Lebowski or Kevin Flynn in the Tron movies. I've never actually seen any Tron movies, and as I revealed in the mini-rankdown, I'm actually not all that crazy about The Big Lebowski. He recently made his return to television in The Old Man on Hulu which I haven't seen but I've heard good things about. But once again, it seems like he's playing that gritty kind of character he gets to play a lot. Jeff Bridges is not one of my favorite actors, but he's still talented and I've got nothing against him.

 

Save Colin Firth

[FrogLenzen]

Maggie Gyllenhaal

 

Maggie has had an interesting career. She played the sister of her brother Jake's character in Donnie Darko. She probably blipped on my radar first with Dark Knight when she replaced Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Batman's girlfriend or whatever. I hated Batman Begins so I was fine with the replacement I guess. Her role in Secretary was a big deal and got her a ton of award recognition and put her on the map. She got her Golden Globe for the BBC TV show The Honourable Woman and a ton of accolades for The Lost Daughter this year.

 

Save Marisa Tomei

[FrogLenzen]

Christopher Walken

 

Christopher must be one of the MOST parodied and impersonated actors of all time. He is such a distinct actor with iconic mannerism and speech patterns. He has had a massive career spanning decades. He got an Oscar for The Deer Hunter back in 1979 and was nominated again in 2003 for Catch Me If You Can. He also has a BAFTA and a SAG award, and has been nominated for Tonys and Emmys and Golden Globes. He has been in dramas, comedies, action, etc. I guess the question is... despite the huge career and various mediums and every genre, does he have range or is he always just stereotypically Christopher Walken? Personally I think he does have range but I'm still fine letting him go at this point. 

 

Save Joe Pesci

[Alex95]

[.Rei]

Jason Sudeikis

 

Jason Sudeikis's face kinds of annoy me, which is funny cause I don't think he has done anything bad that I know of. He just happens to have one of those faces. He is mostly known as a comedic actor, gaining his early recognition as part of SNL. I think his biggest role as of now would be the lead on Ted Lasso for which he got the Emmy, Golden Globe and a bunch of other awards as Best Comedy Actor. I haven't watched the show but it has great reviews, so I might check it out on the future. Some of his films that I have watched are Horrible Bosses, We're the Millers and Booksmart. Somehow I thought that I have watched more films from him. In 2021, he appeared on the Time 100 annual list as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, which is cool I guess. Oh wait, didn't he have this whole thing with Olivia Wilde where he saved her papers onstage in public, that's very messy and a dickmove tbh but Olivia Wilde also seems to be sort of problematic so who knows what the whole story is.

 

Saving Woody Harrelson

[#jeah]

Ben Kingsley

 

 

I know he's a legend and was one of the greats back in the day, but does anyone here stan him? I'd be a little surprised if so but I'm sorry if there are any fans. To me he's just the guy who won an Oscar by playing Gandhi. He also did a great job in Schindler's list and has had a pretty massive career but nowadays he isn't super relevant to me. Ben Kingsley is a British actor who spent the majority of the beginning of his career in the theatre world with the Royal Shakespeare Company. After his Oscar for Gandhi, Ben has appeared in such features as Shutter Island, Hugo, The Dictator, Ender's Game, and more. He is in the Marvel Universe (like 90% of these actors) as Trevor Slattery. He's fine, is very talented and a force in the acting world but I just don't have an attachment to him so out he goes.

 

Save: Carrie Fisher

[*Chris]

 

I'm not someone who is a super fan of comedian so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that I am cutting Zach Galifianakis from this rankdown.  An actor that is most known for his roles in comedies like The Hangover which was his first big role, and in movies like Dinner for Schmucks, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Due Date, The Campaign, Baskets, and in many Comedy Central specials.  He also did voice role like Puss in Boots, The Lego Batman Movie, Missing Link and Bob's Burgers Movie. He's apparently the host of a Funny or Die talk show - if you enjoys comedies, I am sure you would enjoy that.  Anyway, he's great at what he does but I've never been blown away & he's not really my cup of tea - apologies to any fans! 

SAVING: JUDE LAW

[*Chris]

 

The list of actress in this rankdown is becoming thiner by the minute, and it's getting more difficult to cut any of them especially considering that I like many of them to a degree.  Unfortunately, Sarah Snook falls into the category of actresses that I am not familiar with nor am I attached to, hence why she's my choice to cut - I actually been putting it off for a while, as I know many people like her on Succession. As mentioned, she appears on Succession which is the role that catapulted her into mainstream ; Her portrayal of Shiv Roy earned her plenty of praises and accolades such as Golden Globe, SAG, and even nominations at the Emmys.  She also been in other films such as The Dressmaker, Steve Jobs, The Glass Castle, and Pieces of a Woman - I've seen a few of those but she wasn't the highlight of any of them.  I am sure that she's incredibly talented, but as mentioned, I am simply not attached to & I find that her filmography is somewhat limited so I think this is a great spot for her. 

 

SAVING: AUDRA MCDONALD

[#jeah]

Mary Steenburgen

 

 

Omg the actresses side is turning into a bloodbath. I need to start getting more strategic with my saves. Mary Steenburgen is an American actress who always randomly ends up on my TV screen and I'm never mad when she is. She's been in the business since 1978, that's insane. Mary got her start in the Western comedy film Goin' South and it was all uphill from there. She has won a Golden Globe for her role in the 1980 movie Melvin and Howard. I've seen her in all sorts of things, from Orange is the New Black to The Help to Nightmare Alley (such an amazing movie, I need to rewatch it) to Elf to Step Brothers and beyond. I think my personal favorite performance that I've seen her in is as Avery Jessup's mom in 30 Rock who ends up sleeping with Jack Donaghy (Avery's husband(. ESCANDALO! She plays the part so well. Alas, I think this is a fair spot for her all things considered. NOOO I just realized she's married to Ted Danson, I love her even more and am almost wishing I didn't cut her!

 

Saving: Uma Thurman

[Qorey]

51 minutes ago, #jeah said:

Saving: Uma Thurman

 

[.Rei]

Jesse Plemons

 

According to my Letterboxd account I have seen 5 out of 44 films from Jesse Plemons, those being Game Night, The Post, Bridge of Spies, The Master and Other People. Out of those five films Bridge of Spies and Other People are my favourites and I think he did fine in Other People, but it was most about the story than the acting in my opinion, also Molly Shannon will always steal the spotlight. Letterboxd always says that his highest rated films are Olive Kitteridge, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Master, The Irishman, the Black Mirror episode: USS Calister and The Power of Dog. I've only watched The Master from that group and I think I made my opinions known that I didn't care for the film and I find it extremely overrated. As for the rest, I have yet to watch them so I cannot say if Jesse's performances were memorable or not. I do believe that I first laid eyes on Jesse when he appeared on Breaking Bad and I found him pretty good in it. I still think that I need to watch more from him in order to like him more. Having said that, he has gotten acclaim in various of his roles, even getting a Critic Choice for Best Supporting Actor on Fargo as well as an Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Black Mirror and an Oscar Nomination for Best Supporting Actor for The Power of the Dog. He is clearly very talented and will probably do great stuff in the future but for now, this is where he leaves this rankdown. Oh he's married to Kirsten Dunst and they have two kids. Cute.

 

Saving Sam Rockwell

[.Rei]

Melanie Lynskey

 

I must admit that I had no idea who she was but looking at her name but then I saw her face and I knew that she was Rose on Two and a half men, a show that I hated after watching just a handful of episodes but that was so popular that I kinda know who everybody there was. Then looking at her Wikipedia page, it looks that she has had an extensive career being around since 1994.  According to my Letterboxd, I've only watch three of her films out of the 59 she has done: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, They Came Together and Don't Look Up. Her role as Aunt Helen in The Perks is the one I remember the most, due to the plot twist at the end of the movie. She has also done a lot of TV and her biggest roles included Rose on Two and a Half Men, Michelle on Togetherness, Molly on Castle Rock and Shauna on Yellowjackets, for which she has received two Critics Choice Awards, one as Best Actress in a Horror Series and the other as Best Actress in a Drama Series. She is married to actor Jason Ritter and together they have a kid.

 

Saving Sebastian Stan

[Alex95]

Glenn Close

Lol poor Glenn. However, this was still iconic for me. Glenn Close is known for having the most Oscar nominations without a win, having been nominated 8 times. She should've won for Dangerous Liaisons, but somethings are not meant to be. It looked like she was going to win for The Wife, but the movie was boring as hell and the superior performance and film won. Then they tried making her happen again the next year for Hillbilly Elegy but lol it was Hillbilly Elegy thank God she did not win for that. I didn't cut her to be shady about her many Oscar losses though. I like her, but I'm just not crazy about her. She got her start in the 80's and was in plenty of iconic films such as The World According to Garp, The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction, and Dangerous Liaisons. I know her well as Cruella de Vil in the live action 101 Dalmations movies. She was also the star of an FX show called Damages. I love a few of her early works, though she hasn't been in much recently that has interested me. I still like her though! I figured she'd be saved by now, but it just never happened.

 

Save Allison Janney

[Alex95]

Ted Danson

I almost cut him yesterday hoping to get his wife Mary Steenburgen ahead of him but alas some things are not meant to be . I kept putting off cutting him because far be it for me, noted tv stan, to cut a tv king! But the time has come. Ted Danson is best known for being on Cheers for like a million years as Sam Malone. He was in 270 episodes of that show. That's insane! Good for him though, king of having a steady job! He was pretty much consistently always working on tv. After Cheers he went onto Becker a few years later. Then he was in his drama bag doing Damages (whoops sorry Damages cast) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I know him well as Michael on The Good Place, a really fun show. Unlike Cheers, The Good Place did not last 270 episodes and ended while it was still good. Not that Cheers was bad...or maybe it was. I've seen episodes here and there. I wouldn't say I love it, but it's good. On the film side of things he's known for Three Men and a Baby. But he's not really a film guy, he's loyal to television. He's on Curb Your Enthusiasm as "himself" and it's always fun whenever he pops up!

 

Save Pedro Pascal

[*Chris]

 

Tracey Ullman is an actress that I know but if you were to ask me to name one of her roles, I am unsure I would be able to name any at the top of my head except maybe one or two.  Known for her comedic timing, she appeared in a comedy series with her name - The Tracey Ullman, which lasted for more than 3 years and earned her an Emmy Awards. She went on to have her specials including Tracey Takes On... and Tracey Ullman's State of the Union; She earned more Emmys for Tracey Takes On NY and Tracey Takes On...  She appeared on various television shows such as Ally McBeal & Mrs. America which is what I know her for, and she was impressive in it. She apparently been in some movies but nothing major ; I do know that she's friends with Meryl Streep and therefore has been in a few movies with Meryl. Overall, she's a good actress but her filmography is very much limited to TV & I don't think she really measures up to the other individual in this rankdown.

SAVING: MICHELLE WILLIAMS

[#jeah]

John Malkovich

 

 

I know the name of course and I know he's a huge actor, but I guess I'm just not familiar enough with John Malkovich so I have no problem cutting him here. John Malkovich has appeared in dozens of films throughout his career and has an Emmy Award to prove his TV work as well. Movies that he's been in include Empire of the Sun, Dangerous Liaisons, Being John Malkovich (I need to watch this, it sounds hilarious), Burn After Reading, Juno, Warm Bodies, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Bird Box, Mulholland Falls, and more. His Emmy was for his work in Death of a Salesman. He's been nominated for two Oscars and three Golden Globes as well. Seems that he does a wide variety of work from dramatic to comedy roles and I've definitely seen his work, but just not a huge fan either way. Adios!

 

Save: Evan Peters

 

 

[#jeah]

Fiona Shaw

 

 

Continuing the tough actress cuts with Fiona Shaw, beloved Irish actress whose work hasn't overlapped enough with my interests to keep her around. Of course I know her as Mrs. Dursley in the Harry Potter movies, but she doesn't have a big enough role to warrant as a top fave from that performance. She's been in Killing Eve, I haven't seen that but from what I know about it, that show is all about Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer. She was in a season of True Blood, and omg wait she was in the second season of Fleabag! I remember her now and enjoyed her. She was the therapist type person. So she does a lot of TV work but has a pretty impressive resume across both film and television. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of options and I think objectively now is a good spot for her to leave. Right? I think? Oh well it's happening.

 

Saving: Octavia Spencer

[*Chris]

 

In the category of actor that I know the name but I am not familiar with their work, I present to you : Gene Hackman!  At 92 years old, he has experienced a career that spanned more than 60 years which earned many awards & recognition across the globe.   Having appeared in more than 100 films, he is best known for his role in The French Connection which earned him the title of Best Actor at the Oscars. He went to also appear in Unforgiven in 1992 which earned him another Oscar, as well as Bonnie & Clyde, I Never Sang for My Fther, Mississippi Burning, The Poseidon Adventure, The Conversation, French Connection Ii, Superman, No Way Out, The Firm, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Antz, and Runaway Jury - I've heard of some of them, I've seen some of them, but no one of those are my top favourites. Anyway, there's no denying that he's a legend but at this point of the rankdown, this is a more than generous spot for him - I am surprised at how long he was able to sneak under the radar. 

 

SAVING: SANDRA OH

[.Rei]

Greta Gerwig

 

I wouldn't be cutting Greta now had this been about her talents as a director and writer which are pretty great. So far she has directed the incredible Lady Bird and the very good Little Women, however we have to talk about her roles as actress and I must admit that I haven't watched any of the films she has been on. Yep, Letterbox says 0 out of 34 films, yikes. The highest rated films on that website are 20th Century Women, Frances Ha, Isle of Dogs and The Meyerowitz Stories, all films that I've been wanting to see for some time but haven't yet. A fun fact that I'm reading now is that Greta was supposed to be the lead in the unaired pilot of How I Met Your Dad back in 2014, the pilot was years later rewritten and adapted in the now How I Met Your Father series. Interesting. Her stints on TV are not numerous having just appeared on 2 episodes of The Mindy Project, another unaired pilot called The Corrections, in one episode of Portlandia and a TV movie called A NY Thing. She also lend her voice for 21 episodes of the animated series China, IL. I think Greta's current fame relies more on her chops as a director so I'm pretty comfortable cutting her right now. I am excited to see how the whole Barbie films ends up being and she is also gonna direct the live action Snow White, let's hope it doesn't suck like most of the other Disney live action films.

 

Saving Adam Driver

[.Rei]

Anika Noni Rose

 

Anika is another another actress whose filmography I'm not super familiar with, having only watched two of her films Dreamgirls and Ralph Breaks The Internet and the few episodes she appeared on The Good Wife. Besides that I cannot really tell much about her. My friend Wiki tells me that she is best known from voicing Tiana on The Princess and The Frog which is iconic tbh. She has had many recurring roles in numerous shows across the years like The Good Wife, Private Practice, Bates Motel, Power and Them among others. She recently appeared on the main cast on the series Maid and Let The Right One In. She is also very successful on Broadway winning two Tonys, the first for her role in Caroline, or Change and the second for A Raisin in The Sun. I can see that she's very successful and has been quite busy all these years, I just happen to not have watched most of her stuff.

 

Saving Chadwick Boseman

[*Chris]

 

At this point, there's more actors than actresses available to cut and many of them are actors that I am not familiar with, or they have a very small filmography which is the case for Colman Domingo.  An actor, he got his start on Broadway - even as a musical fan, I'm not familiar with his role in The Scottsboro Boys.  He is best known for his role as Ali on Euphoria - now, I know who he is, but I didn't know the name of the actor playing the role ; He won the award for Outstanding Guest Actor in the series. He appeared in Fear the Walking Dead which is a show that I don't watch, and had supporting roles in films such as Lincoln, Selma, If Beale Street Could Talk, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and Zola - I've seen a few of those but again, not the first people that come to mind when I think of those films. Anyway, he's definitely talented and should be more known, but unfortunately, his potential is not enough for me to save him.

SAVING: JODIE COMER

[Alex95]

Keanu Reeves

I feel like Keanu Reeves is best known as an action star. Considering the fact that Jackie Chan, arguably the greatest action star in the world, got cut ages ago I'm not sure we need Keanu Reeves in the next round. Of course I do enjoy Keanu Reeves. I love the John Wick movies that I've seen and The Matrix is obviously iconic (even if I'm not a big fan). He also led action films such as Point Break and Speed. I came to know him through some of his comedy roles in his younger days such as Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Parenthood. He did have his big dramatic breakthrough in My Own Private Idaho with the late River Phoenix, but I think movie's all Phoenix and Reeves is kinda just there. He had a fun cameo as himself in Always Be My Maybe recently! But for the most part he's just doing sequels of his iconic films like Matrix, Bill & Ted, and John Wick. Matthew Perry may wish he was dead but I'm glad he's not!

 

Save Dev Patel

[Alex95]

Mahershala Ali

Joining Hilary Swank and Renee Zellweger in my cuts of "random actors who randomly have two Oscar wins but no one really thinks of them in that way". Chrisoph Waltz is thanking his lucky stars he already got saved . I do love Mahershala Ali but I really don't think of him as some living legend or anything just yet. Honestly, I prefer his tv work to his film work so far! While True Detective S3 did not live up to S1, it was a step up from S2 and part of that was thanks to Ali's brilliant work. He was also fantastic in the second season of Ramy, both performances of his earned him Emmy nominations. He's also known for House of Cards and Luke Cage. He was fine, albeit forgettable, in House of Cards. I only saw the first two episodes of Luke Cage so I'm not sure how he did there, but if I remember correctly he played the villain and I was enjoying him. The film side of things is where I'm a little more meh on him. Of course he won Oscars for his performances in Moonlight and Green Book. While he is great in Moonlight, he probably wouldn't even crack my top five performances of that movie alone. I wish Trevante Rhodes or André Holland got the Oscar buzz instead. Hell, Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome would've made stronger choices as well in my opinion! Then with Green Book he did the best he can with a trash script and trash movie. Delivering a great performance there just proves he has the acting chops. But the win still sucked cause the movie sucked. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is probably my favorite film performance from him if I'm being honest. Ali is obviously a great actor with a fantastic career ahead of him. Just hasn't had that fantastic career yet in my eyes.

 

Save Uzo Aduba

[FrogLenzen]

Leslie Mann

 

The remaining available actresses on the front page is basically just a who's who of icons and legends. Leslie has been happily married to Judd Apatow since 1997 and they deserve recognition for being a Hollywood power couple who is actually long term. Leslie has had the opportunity to showcase her comedic skills in some of Judd's films, but also has had separate success like Larry the Cable Guy, Big Daddy, and Blockers. She is a very fun actress to watch. Often plays the straight man in comedies, which is an important role but not as memorable as the outrageous wacky characters. 

 

Save Elizabeth Olsen

[FrogLenzen]

Carrie-Anne Moss

 

Matrix and Memento? Queen. Queen of Queens. Apparently she was also in Chocolat. Did I ever watch that? Hmmmm maybe I didn't. She doesn't have any of the major awards but she has an Empire Award, Independent Spirit Award, Vancouver Film Critics Award, and Genie Award. She is another actress who has been roped into the Marvel universe, this time in the Jessica Jones show and some related spin-offs. She is currently doing work in a show called Wisting, which is described as a "Scandinavian noir Police procedural Thriller" and appears to have a less formulaic approach than your typical American crime show. 

 

Save Julianne Moore