My Top 5 Favorite American Actors

Last week, I posted about my Top 5 Favorite British Actors, which was inspired by The Huntress. This week, I decided to try to pick my favorite 5 American actors.

I will start by saying there are so many great actors, this might not be an easy post! I mean, I know who #1 is but will it be difficult to put the rest in order? Oy. I’m going to try.

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#5. Vincent Price – I grew up in the 60’s and I always looked forward to the weekends when horror movies aired on the television! My sisters and I called them “monster movies” and while some were actually “monster” movies, some were just downright spooky and had the most awesome villains. My most favorite villain is Vincent Price. He was a master of his art. He was the ultimate villain, and there will never be another like him. I loved watching him in films such as, House of Wax, The Raven, The Fly, House of Usher, The Haunted Palace, and so many more.

Photo: Public Domain

#4. James Cagney – I was never much into Humphrey Bogart movies, like everyone else, except for African Queen. I was a Cagney fan, completely! He was not only a great actor, but he could also sing and dance! He was a Vaudeville singer and dancer. He was born in 1899 and was 86 when he passed away. He had an amazing career! One of my favorite movies is Angels With Dirty Faces. Other favorites include Yankee Doodle Dandy, Public Enemy, and White Heat.

Photo: Public Domain

#3. Robert De Niro – One of the greatest actors of all time, in my opinion, with many awards to prove it! De Niro has always been one of my favorites! Films such as The Godfather Part II, Bang The Drum Slowly, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Casino, Heat, Goodfellas, are just a few of his most excellent works! De Niro has also made comedies, which I didn’t think he could pull off but he sure as hell did! Check out Meet The Parents with the two sequels, Analyze That and the sequel Analyze This, just to name a few. The man is fantastic!

 Photo Credit: Jeff Vespa – © WireImage.com

#2. Al Pacino – My daughter always teased me that I liked old men. I had to remind her that Al Pacino wasn’t always old. He was once young and gorgeous, and still not too bad for being close to my dad’s age! He’s an amazing actor and he still gets amazing roles, and a very recent role that he totally rocked was Amazon’s Original series, Hunters. Pacino caught my eye back in the day with Dog Day Afternoon and of course, The Godfather films. Some other fantastic films are ScarFace, Scent of A Woman, and one of my personal favorites, And Justice For All.

Photo Credit: Thomas Schulz 

#1. Johnny Depp – This placement was easy, like I said when I started this post. I absolutely love and adore Johnny, since his days on 21 Jump Street. I love his innate ability to capture the uniqueness of the most eccentric characters! Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of The Caribbean series, The Mad Hatter in Alice In Wonderland, Tonto in The Lone Ranger, and so many more. I have many favorites but I’m pretty sure Benny & Joon comes in at the top, with What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Edward Scissorhands, Blow, Chocolat, The Man Who Cried…and…and…and I could never put them in any order! If you really want to laugh your ass off, check out Cry-Baby. It’s an oldie-but-goody!

Photo Credit: Angela George

Honorable Mention: Samuel L. Jackson – I always say, “There’s nothing better than the perfectly placed swear word.” And that’s why Samuel L. Jackson gets an honorable mention! Ha! Well, that and he IS a great actor! Shaft, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Deep Blue Sea, Jurassic Park, Kiss of Death, to name just a few are worth watching in my opinion. Oh, and don’t forget about Snakes On A Plane!! I can’t help but laugh because it was ridiculous, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Photo Credit: Georges Biard

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In a nutshell, these are just a few of my favorite American actors. You may be wondering if I have any favorite female actors… Um…I don’t know! I never really thought about it before! That will be a good post for next week, after I’ve had some time to think about it!

My Top 5 Favorite British Actors

This post has been inspired by my good friend and fellow blogger, The Huntress! She decided not to focus on anything negative. You know we’ve got enough of that in the world right now! Over on her blog, she shared her list of the 5 British actors she’d like to kidnap and hold for ransom! My list is much different than hers, like day and night. It’s amazing how different people are when it comes to what (or who) they like! It makes life interesting, doesn’t it? Well, ready or not, here’s my list:

#5. Henry Cavill – The handsome devil with buns of steel…oh, wait, that was Superman, and it was MAN of Steel, wasn’t it? Well, he was Superman and did a fine job of it, however, superheroes are not really my thing. Henry has been in many excellent films but one of my favorites was a television series called, “The Tudors.”

Photo Credit: imdb.com

#4. Michael Sheen – Michael first caught my eye in the Underworld trilogy, Rise of the Lycans. As Lucian, he tells the story of why the Vampires and the Lycans are at war. He’s been in many films but I especially like him in “Prodigal Son” as Dr. Martin Whitly. Dr. Whitly is a convicted serial killer and father of Malcolm Bright, who just happens to work with the police as a criminal psychologist. The man is fascinating!

Photo Credit: imdb.com

#3. Gerard Butler – What can I say, I’m a sucker for a Scottish accent! The problem is, Gerard often loses that accent and it’s oh, so disappointing! But the accent aside, he’s a great actor and easy on the eyes as well! I don’t recall the first thing I ever saw him in but I especially like the Olympus Has Fallen/London Has Fallen/ Angel Has Fallen trilogy. Great action movies!

Photo Credit: Steve Granitz – © WireImage.com

#2. Jeremy Irons – Ok, this man’s voice is what draws me to him! The first time I noticed his voice, was probably in The Lion King, as Scar. He is a well-accomplished actor: theater productions, romantic drama, thrillers, television series, etc. I loved him as the villain in Die Hard With A Vengeance and I thoroughly enjoyed his portrayal of Aramis in The Man In The Iron Mask.

Photo Credit: Antonello & Montesi

#1. Kenneth Branagh – This man gets the number one slot because he’s a brilliant actor. He’s been in so many films and series over the years and pulls off roles from Shakespeare’s plays to musicals to romantic comedies to the detective series, Wallander. He’s also an accomplished producer and director! I’m especially fond of his Shakespearean roles.

Photo Credit: Playbill.com

The Huntress added an Honorable Mention, so why not? I actually had a few extra faves and couldn’t decide on just 5 so….here goes:

Honorable Mention – Sam Heughan – I’ve only seen him in the Outlander series, so he gets this spot based purely on lust. Ha! He is absolutely gorgeous and with that accent?! Then they go and put him in a kilt. Holy Crayoli! I know a lot of my friends don’t like shows like this, but it’s an excellent series! (Here an accent, there an accent, everywhere a Scottish accent!)

Photo Credit: scotsman.com

As I looked back at my list, I tried to re-evaluate each actor’s placement. It was so difficult putting them in a particular order but I’ve decided on placement. What do you think?