My take on the top 10:
10. Meryl Streep - Agreed. Whatever her politics, Streep is probably the greatest living actress out there (I know the list is about most popular, but still good to see her here.)
9. Brad Pitt - Bleah. One of the most overrated actors of the past 20 years, IMHO.
8. Eastwood - A-Yup. One of the top 10 directors, too, IMHO.
7. John Wayne - awesome! I love the fact that the Duke is still a top 10 fave. IMHO, Wayne was a better actor than he gets credit for (at least outside of his fan base). His performance in The Searchers, for example was about as good as it gets.
6. Johnny Depp - IMHO, Depp is coming awfully close to jumping the shark. I really enjoy his early work - What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Donnie Brasco, Ed Wood, etc. Since the Pirates films, though, he’s becoming increasingly hit and miss as an actor.
5. Sandra Bullock - I guess she’s America’s sweetheart or something now. Eh. I think she’s a very average actress, though she is quite the star right now.
4. Julia Roberts - I remain mystified at JR’s success. I think her brother Eric is a much more interesting and compelling actor.
3. Jennifer Lawrence - Who?
2. Denzel Washington - Good actor. Don’t know if I’d call him great (again, I realize talent and popularity aren’t always the same thing).
1. Tom Hanks - Loved his early comedy, loved his work on Band of Brothers, loved that he bankrolled My Big Fat Greek Wedding, can’t stand to watch him anymore as an actor.
Streep is exceptional, but I don’t believe she’s the greatest.
Brad Pitt holds 2nd to George cLooney’s MOST Overrated Actor in Hollywood. The only films Pitt brought any cred to are Fight Club, Snatch, and Oceans. His “accent” in Seven Years in Tibet was painful to hear/watch, as well his “Irish” in The Devils Own.
Johnny Depp deserves the recognition. He’s an credibly versatile and gifted actor. One of the few in Hollywood today.
Jennifer Lawrence may not deserve to be on the list, but she has talent.
And, while I’m here, my picks for some of the most overlooked/underrated actors and actresses of all time:
5. James Remar (best known as the hot-headed Ajax from The Warriors, Dutch Schultz in The Cotton Club, and Dexter’s dad from Dexter)
4. Gena Rowlands
3. Aaron Eckhart
Runner up: Harry Dean Stanton - best character actor alive. Not one bad performance in 50 some years of acting.
And the most underrated American actor of all time: John Cazale. Not only is he largely overlooked as one of the greats, he turned in probably the most underrated performance of all time: Fredo in Godfather 2. IMHO, Cazale’s Fredo is the best acted, most complex, most nuanced part in the entire film. He only made five films before bone cancer claimed him, but he was never anything less than superb.
This top ten was made by a bunch of Gen X’ers and Millenials who don’t even remember the 1990s...
I hate when these popularity contests of children are placed into the News as if it was some historical fact. That’s why we see crap headlines like “Bill Clinton, voted America’s second best president”, etc.
I would have loved to be the poll taker here. Imagine if I asked even one of them, Who is Jean Harlow/Betty Davis/Robert Mitchum/Dana Andrews/Van Johnson, you’d only get a deer in the headlights stare and a “Who?”
The very next step would be to close my polling book and say “You are too stupid to vote in this survey. Thanks for trying.”