IMDb - 20 : The Top 20 Actors of the Last 20 Years

The Da Vinci Code
“ He won back-to-back Oscars first for Philadelphia, then Forrest Gump. He was the voice of Woody in the Toy Story trilogy, saved Private Ryan and starved himself for Cast Away. He's now become the likable, avuncular face of Hollywood but he still manages to get out great roles such as he did in Charlie Wilson's War ”

Gladiator
“ A force of nature the charismatic Crowe seems to dislike what he does but he does it so extremely well it's hard to begrudge him for it. Nominated for three Academy Awards (he won for Gladiator) he's the go-to guy when a film needs a commanding presence but he's also played nuanced schlubs such as in The Insider and Body of Lies. ”

American Gangster
“ Washington has five total Oscar nominations. His first win was for his magnificent performance in Glory and his second Oscar was for Training Day (The Hurricane, Malcolm X and Cry Freedom round out the list). He's recently played an apocalyptic drifter and drug kingpin Frank Lucas and shows no sign of slowing down. ”

Edward Scissorhands
“ He's played the reprobate, the odd, the drunkard and the murderer and somehow you like him all the same. Throughout there is always a hint of tenderness and fragility in all of his characters, from Captain Jack Sparrow to John Dillinger to the Mad Hatter.

Mystic River
“ Whether it's a scummy lawyer in Carlito's Way or a mentally retarded man in I Am Sam, a grieving father in Mystic River or a real-life gay trail-blazing politician in Milk Penn is always "all-in" in his roles. ”

Top Gun
“ A Few Good Men, Mission: Impossible, Jerry Maguire,
Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia. Love him, hate him, or just feel vaguely unnerved by him, he's more than earned his place here."

Independence Day
“ "Mr. 4th of July" has dominated that holiday since Independence Day in 1996. He followed up the next year with Men in Black. Will Smith in a sci-fi movie may be the only sure thing left in Hollywood but he's also a fine actor shining in Six Degrees of SeparationAli, and The Pursuit of Happyness ”

Ocean's Eleven
“ Unlike the actors above him Clooney had no breakout roles prior to 1990; he was a long-suffering TV actor. His role on "ER" however led to From Dusk Til Dawn and it snowballed from there. He's been nominated for three acting Oscars and won for Syriana and has come to personify a kind of old-fashioned Hollywood glamor even while using that celebrity for charitable causes."

Titanic
“ DiCaprio became the heart-throb of a generation with Titanic but had already been nominated for an Oscar four years earlier for his outstanding performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape . He's been in four Scorsese films (Gangs of New York , The Aviator , The Departed , and Shutter Island ) and has a smash hit with Inception . ”

Se7en
“ He was a thief first, stealing scenes as J.D. the drifter who makes Geena Davis whine like a puppy in Thelma & Louise, then absconding with the entirety of A River Runs Through It. Next up: Se7en, Twelve Monkeys, Fight Club, The Mexican, Ocean's 11 and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (a favorite here), and Inglorious Basterds. Much, much, more than just a pretty face. ”

There Will Be Blood
“ He's not been in a lot of film over the last 20 years but they've almost all uniformly been great, filling roles tinged with uncoiling ferocity. His best have been in My Left Foot, Last of the Mohicans, The Age of Innocence, In the Name of the Father, Gangs of New York, and There Will Be Blood ”

American Beauty
“ From the officious manager of a real estate office (Glengarry Glen Ross) to a stammering, terrified cripple (The Usual Suspects) to a suburbanite adrift in banality (American Beauty) Kevin Spacey has grounded all of his films to reality with biting and knowing performances. ”

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
“ He'd been paying his dues for years when he became a movie star overnight with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. For about ten years his massive hits (The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Liar, Liar, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Bruce Almighty) outweighed the occasional misses (The Cable Guy, The Majestic). We're waiting for his return (notice we didn't say "comeback"). ”

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
“ The Shakespearean actor has two franchises under his belt. He's both Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings series (his second Oscar nomination was for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) and he's Magneto in X-Men. He also lent his voice to a warrior polar bear and you can't get much cooler than that. Before the roles in the major studio films he was brilliant in Gods and Monsters and Richard III. ”

The Shawshank Redemption
“ Often playing the moral center of the films he's in, heck he's even played God twice, Freeman brings a kind of paternal authority to the proceedings. Witness: Se7en, The Shawshank Redemption, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby ”

Adaptation.
“ Maybe it's his scattershot approach to picking material that's really made him successful. With so many roles some will be great films such as Adaptation, Leaving Las Vegas, and Matchstick Men. And some will be deliciously campy, such as about the other half of his credits."

The Dark Knight
“ He was a kid in 1992, playing a strike-rallying newspaper carrier in Newsies and he had a fervent fan-base who watched his every role for the next 13 years. His work included the perfect psychopath in American Psycho and a shocking, emaciated role in The Machinist. And then the rest of world really got introduced to him with Batman Begins. He's the only one on this list to not have an Academy Award nomination. ”

Iron Man
“ Downey's recent phoenix-like career resurrection as Ironman and beyond was one of the happier things to happen in the last 20 years. His abilities were easily discerned early in lofty fare such as Chaplin (for which he was nominated for Best Actor). His qualities always shone through, regardless if he was in comedies such as Soapdish or films no one went to see, like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. ”

The Dark Knight
“ Nominated for two Oscars--Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight--he won for his role as the Joker in Knight. He was just as good in Monster's Ball as the distraught son of an execution guard. ”

The Big Lebowski
“ The Dude. Rightfully received his Academy Award for Crazy Heart(he's been nominated a total of five times) but could have gotten one for The Fisher King or Fearless (though neither were one of the five noms). We salute you, His Dude-ness. ”