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106.8k voters

The Best (Male) Actors Working Today

Updated December 1, 2020 1.5m votes 106.8k voters 1.2m views264 items

List RulesWorking male actors who have starred in major films or TV series in the last ~5 years

The best actors working today include Hollywood legends, Academy Award winners and many of the top up and coming actors in the world right now. These talented and beautiful men grace the big and small screen with brilliant performances in our favorite movies and TV shows and do it really, really well. There's no question that many of these top current actors, if they aren't already, will long be remembered among the best actors of all time.

For many of these best male actors, being part of Hollywood's elite is nothing new as they've been starring in our favorite titles for many years. The likes of George Clooney, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Christopher Walken, among other popular actors, have been around for decades and lost little of that spark that made them favorites.

Moving into a slightly younger crowd, many of these best current actors are quickly becoming legendary as they continue to see success. Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, and Johnny Depp are not just all hot, but among the best Hollywood has to offer today. But there's another generation of young actors looking for their turn in the spotlight too with up and comers like Aaron Paul, Michael Fassbender, Chris Hemsworth and Henry Cavill all on track to be the next big thing.

How do you compare the newcomers and the veterans to the greatest actors of all time? However you rank them, do so below on this list of the best actors working today!

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Tom Hanks
Age: 64
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
The Post (2017)
Sully (2016)
Bridge of Spies (2015)

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Christian Bale
Age: 46
Ford v. Ferrari (2019)
Vice (2018)
Backseat (2018)
The Big Short (2015)
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

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3
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Samuel L. Jackson
Age: 71
Shaft (2019)
Glass (2019)
The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Chi-Raq (2015)
Big Game (2015)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Kite (2014)
Avengers / Marvel movies (2019, 2018, 2015, 2014)

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Tom Hardy
Age: 43
Fonzo (2019)
Venom (2018)
Taboo (2017-)
Dunkirk (2017)
Peaky Blinders (2014-)
London Road (2016)
The Revenant (2015)
Legend (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Chilf 33 (2015)
The Drop (2014)
Locke (2014)

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Benedict Cumberbatch
Age: 44
Ironbark (2019)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
The Grinch (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
The Current War (2017)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Black Mass (2015)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
The Imitation Game (2014)

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Hugh Jackman
Age: 51
The Front Runner (2018)
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Logan (2017)
Eddie the Eagle (2016)
Pan (2015)
Chappie (2015)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

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Robert Downey Jr.
Age: 55
All-Star Weekend (2019)
The Nice Guys (2016)
Chef (2014)
The Judge (2014)
Avengers / Marvel movies (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015)

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Anthony Hopkins
Age: 82
The Pope (2019)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Westworld (2016)

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Matthew McConaughey
Age: 50
The Beach Bum (2019)
White Boy Rick (2018)
The Dark Tower (2017)
Gold (2017)
The Sea of Trees (2016)
Free State of Jones (2016)
Interstellar (2014)

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Joaquin Phoenix
Age: 45
Joker (2019)
The Sisters Brothers (2018)
Mary Magdalene (2018)
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018)
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
Irrational Man (2015)
Inherent Vice (2014)

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Jake Gyllenhaal
Age: 39
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
The Sisters Brothers (2018)
Wildlife (2018)
Stronger (2017)
Okja (2017)
Life (2017)
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
Demolition (2015)
Everest (2015)
Southpaw (2015)
Accidental Love (2015)
Nightcrawler (2014)

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Bradley Cooper
Age: 45
A Star Is Born (2018)
The Mule (2018)
War Dogs (2016)
Joy (2015)
Aloha (2015)
Serena (2015)
American Sniper (2015)

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Brad Pitt
Age: 56
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Ad Astra (2019)
War Machine (2017)
Allied (2016)
The Big Short (2015)
By the Sea (2015)
Fury (2014)

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Johnny Depp
Age: 57
City of Lies (2018)
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016)
Black Mass (2015)
Mortdecai (2015)
Into the Woods (2014)
Tusk (2014)
Transcendence (2014)

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Ryan Reynolds
Age: 43
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Woody Harrelson
Age: 59
The Highwayman (2019)
Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
LBJ (2017)
The Glass Castle (2017)
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Wilson (2017)
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
The Duel (2016)
Now You See Me 2 (2016)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (2014-15)

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Morgan Freeman
Age: 83
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018)
Going In Style (2017)
Now You See Me 2 (2016)
London Has Fallen (2016)
Lucy (2014)
Transcendence (2014)
The Lego Movie (2014)

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Ian McKellen
Age: 81
Cats (2019)
The Good Liar (2019)
All Is True (2018)
Vicious (2013-16)
Mr. Holmes (2015)
Hobbit movies (2014, 2013, 2012)
Marvel movies (2014, 2013)

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Chris Hemsworth
Age: 37
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James McAvoy
Age: 41
It: Chapter Two (2019)
Dark Phoenix (2019)
Glass (2019)
Submergence (2017)
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Split (2016)
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2014)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

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Paul Rudd
Age: 51
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Gary Oldman
Age: 62
The Woman in the Window (2019)
The Laundromat (2019)
Darkest Hour (2017)
The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
The Space Between Us (2017)
Criminal (2016)
Man Down (2016)
Child 44 (2015)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
RoboCop (2014)

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Tom Hiddleston
Age: 39
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Ryan Gosling
Age: 39
First Man (2018)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Song to Song (2017)
La La Land (2016)
The Nice Guys (2016)
The Big Short (2015)
Lost River (2014)

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Tommy Lee Jones
Age: 74
Ad Astra (2019)
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)
Jason Bourne (2016)

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