Top 10 Actors of 2010
This list was inspired by my bb fairchilds' awesome lists of her favorite guys and girls of the year. Sorry I don't have her amazing graphics skills though! Originally I was going to do a Top Performances picspam, but then I realized a lot of my top performances are from my favorite actors. I'll probably do either an accompanying Top Actresses picspam or Top Films.
My criteria for inclusion on this list is that everyone had to have at least one major project this year, whether in film or TV or whatever (but yeah, these are all from film. this is me we're talking about. lol). The list is in alphabetical order by last name.
Honorable Mentions
Aaron Eckhart | Ryan Gosling | Jon Hamm | Mark Ruffalo | Jesse Eisenberg | Harry Potter Cast | Javier Bardem | Aaron Johnson | Jake Gyllenhaal
Christian Bale
Age: 36
Films in 2010: The Fighter
Notable News: Wisely kept a rather low profile this year, but is currently the frontrunner for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
Upcoming: The Dark Knight Rises, the long awaited third installment of Batman.
Our History: He is probably my oldest celebrity crush. I'm not ashamed to admit that I started liking him after I watched Newsies in 6th grade choir. He might not come off as the most personable celebrity, but his work is usually fantastic and that's what's important. I admire that he does not seem to care about playing the Hollywood game and is not interested in being a celebrity, as well as how much dedication he brings to each role. He's one of the few actors that I'd stick by through thick and thin. I'm glad he is finally getting some recognition this year (and all he had to do was lose a lot of weight yet again...).
Jeff Bridges
Age: 61
Films in 2010: Tron Legacy, True Grit
Notable News: Won an Oscar in March for Crazy Heart, his first win out of 5 nominations (his first nomination came when he was only 22 years old for The Last Picture Show).
Upcoming: TBA
Our History: The Big Lebowski may be his most famous role, but the performance that really made me a big fan was The Contender. After watching that movie, I just wanted him to be our real President. Everything he's done has just made me love him even more from Seabiscuit to Crazy Heart to all his older films (in which he's kind of a stud). And I loved his performance in this year's True Grit in which he takes on the role of Rooster Cogburn, originated by John Wayne. Interestingly enough, John Wayne was known as 'The Duke' while Bridges is referred to as 'The Dude'. I guess it was meant to be.
Matt Damon
Age: 40
Films in 2010: Green Zone, True Grit.
Notable News: Received his 2nd Oscar nomination earlier this year for Invictus. New baby girl with wife Luciana.
Upcoming: The Adjustment Bureau with Emily Blunt. Contagion with a bunch of big stars.
Our History: I've been a fan since his fantastic work in the late 90s - Good Will Hunting, Courage Under Fire, Rounders, The Talented Mr. Ripley. He followed that up with a lot of terrific work in the 2000's like the Bourne trilogy, which is what made him more than just a casual fan. He continues to be one of the most accomplished actors in Hollywood and almost always chooses interesting and diverse roles.
Michael Fassbender
Age: 33
Films in 2010: Fish Tank, Centurion, Jonah Hex
Notable News: Cast as Magneto in Matthew Vaughn's X-Men prequel.
Upcoming: Jane Eyre, X-Men First Class, A Dangerous Method directed by David Cronenberg and co-starring Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen.
Our History: I only discovered him last year after Inglourious Basterds, but then I watched his performance in Hunger and was really impressed by him. Then, Fish Tank just cemented him as one of the most interesting up-and-coming actors today. I'm looking forward to what he does with David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method especially. He seems to have taken great advantage of his recent rise in Hollywood and chosen terrific directors and roles.
Colin Firth
Age: 50
Films in 2010: The King's Speech
Notable News: Received his first Oscar nomination earlier this year for A Single Man. Has basically been steamrolling the competition for Best Actor this season.
Upcoming: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Our History: His turns as charming romantic heroes in Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Love Actually are obviously swoon-worthy, but I also loved his comedic role in Shakespeare in Love. His performance last year in A Single Man was incredible and he's following it up with another great role in The King's Speech.
James Franco
Age: 32
Films in 2010: 127 Hours, Howl
Notable News: Will be hosting the Academy Awards with Anne Hathaway.
Upcoming: Your Highness, a medieval comedy co-starring Natalie Portman and Danny McBride. Rise of the Apes, a Planet of the Apes prequel.
Our History: I was not entirely on the Franco bandwagon until his hilarious against type performance in Pineapple Express. He was always appealing to me, but I thought his Hollywood roles were a little too generic, although I greatly admired his performance as James Dean in the TV movie. But after 2008 with both Pineapple Express and Milk, he proved that he could tackle diverse roles. This year, his performance in 127 Hours is easily one of the best of the 2010 and will earn him his first Oscar nomination. It's also incredibly impressive that he does all of this while continuing to study in school and getting degrees in Filmmaking and Writing.
Andrew Garfield
Age: 27
Films in 2010: Never Let Me Go, The Social Network
Notable News: Cast as Peter Parker in the Spiderman Reboot.
Upcoming: Spiderman Reboot
Our History: I enjoyed him quite a bit in last year's The Imaginarium Doctor Parnassus, but it was really his two notable roles in 2010 that interested me. He is very impressive in both Never Let Me Go and The Social Network, and really shows that he is one of the most talented young actors around today. While I don't really think Spiderman needs a reboot, I'm curious to see what Andrew will bring to the role. He is also the youngest actor on this list cause I'm too loyal to my older guys, lol.
The Cast of Inception
Age: Leonardo Dicaprio, 36. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 29. Tom Hardy, 33. Cillian Murphy, 34. Ken Watanabe, 51.
Films in 2010: Uh.. Inception.
Notable News: They were awesome? I know this is cheating but whatever, I consider them one entity.
Upcoming: Leo has the J. Edgar Hoover biopic and like a million upcoming projects that probably will never happen. Cillian Murphy has the sci-fi film Now with Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has Looper, Live With It and Premium Rush. Tom Hardy is going to be in The Dark Knight Rises and will also be in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with the aforementioned Colin Firth.
Ewan McGregor
Age: 39
Films in 2010: The Ghost Writer, I Love You Philip Morris
Notable News: Not much really.
Upcoming: Beginners with Melanie Laurent and Christopher Plummer. Haywire directed by Steven Sodebergh.
Our History: Moulin Rouge! is what got me hooked, but in the mid-2000's we had a bit of a falling out because he kept making crappy films. But this year, he definitely redeemed himself with two memorable performances. One in the political thriller The Ghost Writer and the other in the comedy I Love You, Philip Morris.
Jeremy Renner
Age: 39
Films in 2010: The Town
Notable News: Starred in the Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker and received his first Oscar nomination.
Upcoming: Mission Impossible 4, The Avengers.
Our History: I vaguely remembered him in films like 28 Weeks Later, North Country and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford but I was really floored by his performance in The Hurt Locker. I was again impressed this year with him in The Town (even though I've started to resent that film for getting all these nominations it doesn't deserve). I'm really happy that he seems to have a great career ahead of him cause he seems like an awesome guy.
Interesting Facts About My List (at least to me)
+ Average age of the men listed = 38.
+ Average number of Oscar nominations as of now = 0.93
+ 7 originate from the UK (Bale, Garfield, Firth, Murphy, Hardy, Fassbender, McGregor).
+ 3 have appeared on notable TV shows (Leo on Growing Pains, JGL on 3rd Rock, Franco on Freaks and Geeks).
+ The actors who played the lead roles in the 2nd and 3rd highest grossing films of all time are represented (Bale with The Dark Knight and Leo with Titanic). Sorry, none for you Sam Worthington.
+ 4 have appeared in at least one Best Picture winner (Damon in The Departed, Renner in The Hurt Locker, Leo in Titanic and The Departed, and Firth in Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient).
+ 3 guys on this list are among the youngest Oscar nominees of all time- Jeff Bridges is the 10th youngest Best Supporting Actor nominee at the age of 22 (he is also the 7th oldest winner at 61), Leonardo Dicaprio is the 7th youngest Best Supporting Actor nominee at the age of 19 and Matt Damon is the 10th youngest Best Actor nominee at the age of 27 (but will soon be replaced by Jesse Eisenberg).
+ 3 guys on this list were well-known child actors (Bale, DiCaprio, JGL). Jeff Bridges appeared in a film as an infant but did not return to cinema until he was 20.
+ 10 have starred or will star in major franchises (Bale in Batman, Bridges in Iron Man, Damon in Bourne, Garfield will be in the Spiderman reboot, Franco was in the original Spiderman, McGregor was in Angels and Demons, Watanabe was in Batman, Hardy will be in the third Batman, Fassbender will be in X-Men, Renner will be in The Avengers and MI:4).