The Best (Male) Actors Working Today

Updated December 1, 2020 1.6m votes 104.6k 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
Birthplace: Concord, California, United States of America
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
The Post (2017)
Sully (2016)
Bridge of Spies (2015)

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Christian Bale
Age: 41
Birthplace: Haverfordwest, United Kingdom
Ford v. Ferrari (2019)
Vice (2018)
Backseat (2018)
The Big Short (2015)
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

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Tom Hardy
Age: 43
Birthplace: Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom
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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Matthew McConaughey
Age: 50
Birthplace: Uvalde, Texas, United States of America
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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Hugh Jackman
Age: 47
Birthplace: Sydney, Australia
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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Benedict Cumberbatch
Age: 39
Birthplace: Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom
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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Jake Gyllenhaal
Age: 39
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States of America
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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Joaquin Phoenix
Age: 41
Birthplace: Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
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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Anthony Hopkins
Age: 82
Birthplace: Margam, United Kingdom
The Pope (2019)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Westworld (2016)

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Samuel L. Jackson
Age: 71
Birthplace: Washington, D.C., United States of America
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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Robert Downey Jr.
Age: 55
Birthplace: Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America
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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Bradley Cooper
Age: 45
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
A Star Is Born (2018)
The Mule (2018)
War Dogs (2016)
Joy (2015)
Aloha (2015)
Serena (2015)
American Sniper (2015)

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Ryan Reynolds
Age: 43
Birthplace: Vancouver, Canada
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Woody Harrelson
Age: 54
Birthplace: Midland, Texas, United States of America
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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Brad Pitt
Age: 56
Birthplace: USA, Shawnee, Oklahoma
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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Ian McKellen
Age: 81
Birthplace: Burnley, United Kingdom
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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Morgan Freeman
Age: 83
Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
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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Johnny Depp
Age: 57
Birthplace: Owensboro, Kentucky, United States of America
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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Chris Hemsworth
Age: 37
Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia
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James McAvoy
Age: 41
Birthplace: Port Glasgow, United Kingdom
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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Ryan Gosling
Age: 39
Birthplace: London, Canada
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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Idris Elba
Age: 48
Birthplace: London Borough of Hackney, London, United Kingdom
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Paul Rudd
Age: 51
Birthplace: Passaic, New Jersey, United States of America
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Chris Pratt
Age: 41
Birthplace: Virginia, Minnesota, United States of America
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Willem Dafoe
Age: 60
Birthplace: USA, Grand Chute, Wisconsin, Appleton
The Lighthouse (2019)
Motherless Brooklyn (2019)
Aquaman (2018)
At Eternity's Gate (2018)
Opus Zero (2017)
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
What Happened to Monday (2017)
The Florida Project (2017)
The Greay Walt (2016)
A Family Man (2016)
Dog Eat Dog (2016)
My Hindu Friend (2015)
John Wick (2014)
Pasolini (2014)
The Fault in Our Stars (2014)
Bad Country (2014)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
A Most Wanted Man (2014)

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