brilliant actors

1. Eduardo Noriega

Eduardo Noriega Gómez was born in Santander, Cantabria, Spain. The youngest of 7 siblings, he had shown a very big talent for artistic activities since he was a child. He began taking piano lessons and got into the Santander Music Conservatory, where he studied for five years. His music professors ...

2. Colin Farrell

Actor | The Lobster

Colin Farrell is one of Ireland's biggest stars in Hollywood and abroad. His film presence has been filled with memorable roles that range from an inwardly tortured hit man, to an adventurous explorer, a determined-but-failing writer, and the greatest military leader in history.

Farrell was born on ...

3. Jeremy Irons

Actor | Dead Ringers

British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up ...

4. Brad Pitt

Actor | Fight Club

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt was born on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri to Jane Etta Pitt (née Hillhouse), a school counselor & William Alvin "Bill" Pitt, a truck company manager. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student ...

5. Ryan Gosling

Actor | Blue Valentine

Born Ryan Thomas Gosling on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario, Canada, he is the son of Donna (Wilson), a secretary, and Thomas Ray Gosling, a traveling salesman. Ryan was the second of their two children, with an older sister, Mandi. His ancestry is French-Canadian, as well as English, ...

6. Dominic West

Actor | The Wire

Dominic West was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England as Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West. He is an actor and producer, known for The Wire (2002), Chicago (2002), 300 (2006), The Affair (2014) and The Forgotten (2004). He has been married to Catherine Fitzgerald since June 26, 2010. They have ...

7. Antonio Banderas

Actor | The Mask of Zorro

Antonio Banderas, one of Spain's most famous faces, was a soccer player until breaking his foot at the age of fourteen; he is now an international movie star known for playing Zorro in the eponymous movie series.

He was born José Antonio Domínguez Banderas on August 10, 1960, in Málaga, Andalusia, ...

8. Daniel Day-Lewis

Actor | There Will Be Blood

Born in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate of the U.K., and his second wife, actress Jill Balcon. His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon, an important figure in the history of British cinema and head of the famous Ealing ...

9. Alain Delon

Actor | Le samouraï

Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon was born in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, to Édith (Arnold) and Fabien Delon. His father was of French and Corsican Italian descent, and his mother was of French and German ancestry. His parents divorced early on, and Delon had a stormy childhood, being ...

10. Daniel Brühl

Actor | Rush

Daniel Brühl was born in Barcelona, Spain. His father was German TV director Hanno Brühl (1937-2010), who was born in São Paulo, Brazil. His Spanish mother was a teacher. He also has a brother and a sister, Oliver and Miriam. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Cologne, Germany, where he ...

11. Aaron Eckhart

Actor | The Dark Knight

Aaron Edward Eckhart is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age, when his father relocated the family. Several years later, he began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his high school senior ...

12. Cary Grant

Actor | North by Northwest

Once told by an interviewer, "Everybody would like to be Cary Grant", Grant is said to have replied, "So would I."

Cary Grant was born Archibald Alec Leach on January 18, 1904 in Horfield, Bristol, England, to Elsie Maria (Kingdon) and Elias James Leach, who worked in a factory. His early years in ...

13. Benicio Del Toro

Actor | Sicario

Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-1990s as one of the most watchable and charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest Mexican policeman in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).

...

14. Bryan Cranston

Actor | Breaking Bad

Bryan Lee Cranston was born on March 7, 1956 in Hollywood, California, to Audrey Peggy Sell, a radio actress, and Joe Cranston, an actor and former amateur boxer. His maternal grandparents were German, and his father was of Irish, German, and Austrian-Jewish ancestry. He was raised in the Canoga ...

15. Gael García Bernal

Actor | Mozart in the Jungle

Gael García Bernal was born in Guadalajara to Patricia Bernal, an actress/model & José Ángel García, an actor/director. His stepfather's cinematographer Sergio Yazbek. He began his acting career as a child, working w/ his parents in a variety of plays. At 14, he starred in a soap opera called El ...

16. Robert Redford

Actor | The Natural

Born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, to Charles Robert Redford, an accountant for Standard Oil, and Martha Redford, Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was a scrappy kid who stole hubcaps in high school and lost his college baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado because of ...

17. Idris Elba

Actor | Beasts of No Nation

An only child, Idrissa Akuna Elba was born and raised in London, England. His father, Winston, is from Sierra Leone and worked at Ford Dagenham; his mother, Eve, is from Ghana and had a clerical duty. Idris attended school in Canning Town, where he first became involved in acting, before he dropped...

18. Jamie Dornan

Actor | The Fall

Jamie Dornan was born on May 1, 1982 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Fall (2013), A Private War (2018) and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021). He has been married to Amelia Warner since April 27, 2013. They have three children.

19. Dan Stevens

Actor | Downton Abbey

Dan Stevens was born at Croydon in Surrey on 10th October 1982. His parents are teachers. He was educated at Tonbridge School and trained in acting at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. He studied English Literature at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Whilst he was a Cambridge undergraduate, ...

20. Álvaro Morte

Actor | La casa de papel

Álvaro Morte was born on February 23, 1975 in Algeciras, Cádiz, Spain. He is an actor and producer, known for Money Heist (2017), Mirage (2018) and The Wheel of Time (2021).

21. Alexander Skarsgård

Actor | The Legend of Tarzan

Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden and is the eldest son of famed actor Stellan Skarsgård. Among his siblings are actors Gustaf Skarsgård, Bill Skarsgård, and Valter Skarsgård. For most of his formative years, his father was an acclaimed actor in Europe but had not yet ...

22. Misel Maticevic

Actor | Im Angesicht des Verbrechens

Misel Maticevic was born on July 28, 1970 in West-Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for In the Face of Crime (2010), Exile (2020) and The Vow (2007).

23. David Tennant

Actor | Doctor Who

Widely considered as one of the greatest stage and screen actors of his generation both in his native Scotland and internationally, David Tennant was born David John McDonald in West Lothian, Scotland, to Essdale Helen (McLeod) and Sandy McDonald, who was a Presbyterian minister. He is of Scottish ...

24. Mikael Birkkjær

Actor | Borgen

Mikael Birkkjær was born on September 14, 1958 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an actor, known for Borgen (2010), Forbrydelsen (2007) and Aftermath (2004).

Mikael Birkkjær is one of the most charismatic and popular men of the Danish TV-and theater stage. He has that spark that makes women love him and...

25. Mehmet Kurtulus

Actor | Big Game

Mehmet Kurtulus was born on April 27, 1972 in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for Big Game (2014), In July (2000) and Tatort (1970).

26. Chris Hemsworth

Actor | Snow White and the Huntsman

Christopher "Chris" Hemsworth was born on August 11, 1983 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to Leonie Hemsworth (née van Os), an English teacher & Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor. His brothers are actors, Liam Hemsworth & Luke Hemsworth; he is of Dutch (from his immigrant maternal ...

27. Volker Bruch

Actor | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

Volker Bruch was born on March 9, 1980 in Munich, Germany. He is an actor, known for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), The Reader (2008) and Babylon Berlin (2017).

28. Misel Maticevic

Actor | Im Angesicht des Verbrechens

Misel Maticevic was born on July 28, 1970 in West-Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for In the Face of Crime (2010), Exile (2020) and The Vow (2007).

29. Sebastian Koch

Actor | Das Leben der Anderen

Sebastian Koch is one of the most internationally sought-after German actors of his generation. After stage engagements in Berlin, Bochum and Darmstadt, the Karlsruhe native was twice awarded the "Grimme Prize" in 2002 for the title role in Peter Keglevic's "Der Tanz mit dem Teufel - Die Entführung...

30. William Hurt

Actor | A History of Violence

William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., to Claire Isabel (McGill) and Alfred McChord Hurt, who worked at the State Department. He was trained at Tufts University and The Juilliard School and has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including the most recent nomination for his ...

31. Mads Mikkelsen

Actor | Hannibal

Mads Mikkelsen's great successes parallel those achieved by the Danish film industry since the mid-1990s. He was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Bente Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a banker.

Starting out as a low-life pusher/junkie in the 1996 success Pusher (1996), he slowly grew ...

32. Viggo Mortensen

Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Since his screen debut as a young Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness (1985), Viggo Mortensen's career has been marked by a steady string of well-rounded performances.

Mortensen was born in New York City, to Grace Gamble (Atkinson) and Viggo Peter Mortensen, Sr. His father was Danish, his mother ...

33. John Cusack

Actor | Grosse Pointe Blank

John Cusack is, like most of his characters, an unconventional hero. Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, he has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out--all the while avoiding the media spotlight. John was born in Evanston, Illinois, to an Irish-American ...

34. Lars Mikkelsen

Actor | Headhunter

Lars was born in Gladsaxe near Copenhagen, Denmark as the first child of Bente Christiansen, an occupational health nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a bank clerk. Lars grew up in Copenhagen, where about one and a half years after him brother Mads was born, who's also an actor now. At first the family ...

35. Ioan Gruffudd

Actor | Fantastic Four

Ioan Gruffudd was born on October 6, 1973 in Cardiff, Wales, UK to educators Gillian (James) and Peter Gruffudd. He has a brother, Alun, who is two years younger and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger. He got his start at age 13 in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm (1974). He attended the ...

36. Tom Bateman

Actor | Murder on the Orient Express

Tom was born in 1989, to two teachers, one of fourteen children and has a twin brother. Brought up in Jericho in Oxford he attended Cherwell School before joining the National Youth Theatre and enrolling at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he was awarded the Leverhulme ...

37. Mehdi Nebbou

Actor | Body of Lies

Mehdi Nebbou was born in Bayonne, France, to a German nurse and an Algerian self made man.

While Nebbou was studying filmmaking at the Berlin Film School in the early 2000s, the young director Filippos Tsitos asked him for help in finding non-professional actors for his first film My Sweet Home (...

38. Grégory Fitoussi

Actor | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Grégory Fitoussi was born on August 13, 1976 in Paris, France. He is an actor, known for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Hostile (2017) and World War Z (2013).

39. Mathieu Kassovitz

Actor | Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

Mathieu Kassovitz was born on August 3, 1967 in Paris, France. He is an actor and director, known for Amélie (2001), La haine (1995) and The Fifth Element (1997).

40. James McAvoy

Actor | Filth

McAvoy was born on 21 April 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland, to James, a bus driver, and Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a nurse. He was raised on a housing estate in Drumchapel, Glasgow by his maternal grandparents (James, a butcher, and Mary), after his parents divorced when James was 11. He went to St ...

41. Maciej Musial

Actor | Krew z krwi

Maciej Musial was born on February 11, 1995 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He is an actor and producer, known for The Witcher (2019), 1983 (2018), and Rodzinka.pl (2011), as well as his voice-over work. He was included on Forbes' 30 Under 30 Europe list in the Entertainment category in 2019. In ...

42. Rupert Friend

Actor | Hitman: Agent 47

Rupert William Anthony Friend is a British actor, screenwriter, director, and lyricist. He first gained recognition for his roles in The Libertine (2004) and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He portrayed George Wickham in Pride & Prejudice (2005)...

43. Moritz Bleibtreu

Actor | Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Moritz Bleibtreu is a German actor born on August 13, 1971 in Munich growing up in Hamburg. He first appears in children's television series Neues aus Uhlenbusch (1977) at the age of six. His breakthrough was the role called "Abdul" in the movie Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997). He also became ...

44. Søren Malling

Actor | Kapringen

Søren Malling was born in Denmark in 1964 and went to Odense Theatre School from 1988 - 1992.

Malling has appeared in many Danish TV successes such as Unit 1 (2000), The Killing (2007), Borgen (2010-2013). His credits include films as A Royal Affair (2012), A Hijacking (2012), A War (2015), Men & ...

45. Ricardo Darín

Actor | Nueve reinas

Ricardo Darín was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 16, 1957. He works since he was a little boy, and has obtained with the years a remarkable evolution from soap opera gallant and tv comedies to an excellent leading figure of the most importants Argentinian movies. At the age of 10 he ...

46. Javier Cámara

Actor | Hable con ella

Born in La Rioja (Spain) in 1967. Soon he moved to Madrid to graduate in Dramatic Arts. He use to work as an usher at the Fígaro Theatre in Madrid. His stage debut was in "El caballero de Olmedo" by Félix Lope de Vega back in 1991. After his great success in the TV-sitcom 7 vidas (1999), he worked ...

47. Fahri Yardim

Producer | Curveball

Fahri Yardim was born in Hamburg, Germany, the son of an academic family of Turkish extraction. Performing on stage in school productions he developed his love of acting. He trained at the Hamburger Bühnenstudio der darstellenden Künste (Hamburg Stage Studio of the Performing Arts) and appeared in ...

48. Christian Hillborg

Actor | The Playlist

Christian Hillborg was born on March 16, 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden. He is an actor, known for The Playlist (2022), Fleabag (2016) and The Last Kingdom (2015).

49. Ingvar Sigurdsson

Actor | Everest

Ingvar Sigurdsson was born on November 22, 1963 in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is an actor and producer, known for Everest (2015), The Northman (2022) and A White, White Day (2019).

50. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson

Actor | Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Ólafur Darri was born on the 3rd of March in Connecticut, USA in 1973. Growing up in Iceland from the age of 4 he went to The Icelandic Drama School. Olafur Darri has been fortunate enough to work full time as an actor from his graduation with the help of a lot of good people. He is one of the ...

51. Ronald Zehrfeld

Actor | Barbara

Ronald Zehrfeld was born on January 15, 1977 in East Berlin, East Germany. He is an actor, known for Barbara (2012), The People Vs. Fritz Bauer (2015) and In the Face of Crime (2010).

52. Gabriel Byrne

Actor | The Usual Suspects

Byrne was the eldest of six children born to a family in Dublin, Ireland. His father was a cooper and his mother a hospital worker. He was raised Catholic and educated by the Irish Christian Brothers. He spent five years of his childhood in a seminary training to be a Catholic priest. He later said...

53. Nicolas Duvauchelle

Actor | Polisse

Touted as a rebel, Duvauchelle seem to be one of the most promising young actors in France and Europe. While studying to become a pharmacy employee, he was discovered in a boxing club in Paris. After some auditions, he starred in Le petit voleur (1999), and many other films such as Snowboarder (...

54. Salim Kechiouche

Actor | La vie d'Adèle

Actor Salim Kechiouche was born in Lyon, France to Algerian parents. At first a kickboxing champion in France (1998), his film carreer started when actor/director Gaël Morel discovered Salim and so he made his first appearance in the movie À Toute Vitesse. From then on he appeared in more films, ...

55. Daniel Auteuil

Actor | Caché

Daniel Auteuil was born on January 24, 1950 in Algiers, Alger, France [now Algeria]. He is an actor and director, known for Caché (2005), Jean de Florette (1986) and The Well-Digger's Daughter (2011). He has been married to Aude Ambroggi since July 22, 2006. They have one child. He was ...

56. Chris Tucker

Actor | Rush Hour 2

At one point in time, Chris Tucker was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.

Tucker was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Mary Louise (Bryant) and Norris Tucker, who owned a janitorial service. After graduating from high school, Tucker made a change to move to Hollywood from Georgia to pursue a career in ...

57. Shaun Evans

Actor | Cashback

Shaun Evans was born on March 6, 1980 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Cashback (2006), Endeavour (2012) and Being Julia (2004).

58. Julian Sands

Actor | A Room with a View

Tall, gaunt, and particularly effective in horror and drama films, British actor Julian Sands was born in Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, to Brenda and William Sands. He came to the attention of NBC when the network cast him in the TV miniseries The Sun Also Rises (1984) and then with Anthony Hopkins...

59. John Thaw

Actor | Inspector Morse

He was the working class boy from Manchester whose intensity and natural honesty made him British television's most bankable actor. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His first starring role on TV was as Sgt John Mann in Redcap (1964). His first great success, though, was as Detective...

60. Ethan Peck

Actor | In Time

Ethan Gregory Peck is an American actor. He is the grandson of actor Gregory Peck and Greta Kukkonen, Peck's first wife. In 2019, he played a young Spock in Star Trek: Discovery, a role he has reprised for the television series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Peck had many television appearances as a...

61. Felix Kramer

Actor | Dogs of Berlin

Felix Kramer was born on March 23, 1973 in East Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for Dogs of Berlin (2018), Dark (2017) and Freies Land (2019).

62. Thomas Hwan

Actor | Bedrag

Thomas Hwan was born on May 4, 1982. He is an actor, known for Bedrag (2016), Forbrydelsen (2007) and Meter i sekundet (2023).

63. Esben Smed

Actor | Bedrag

Esben Smed was born on July 13, 1984 in Odder, Denmark. He is an actor, known for Bedrag (2016), Held for Ransom (2019) and A Fortunate Man (2018).

64. Sven Nordin

Actor | Børning

This Norwegian actor is an employee of Oslo Nye Teater (Oslo's New Theatre) since 1981. On stage he has starred in everything from Shakespeare to modern drama like Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie, and musicals like Guys and Dolls.

Got his big breakthrough as a Norwegian resistance fighter in...

65. Pål Sverre Hagen

Actor | Kraftidioten

Pål Sverre Hagen is one of Scandinavia's most prominent and versatile actors. His work include more than fifty film and television titles in addition to his substantial stage work. He is perhaps best known for his roles in Oscar nominated Kon-Tiki, Troubled Water, In Order of Disappearance and ...

66. Kevin McCarthy

Actor | Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Handsome, chisel-jawed character actor Kevin McCarthy appeared in nearly 100 movies in a career that spanned seven decades. He also had some starring roles, most notably the horror cult classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). He played the disillusioned son Biff Loman in the 1951 screen ...

67. Mehmet Günsür

Actor | Ask Tesadüfleri Sever

Gunsur was born in 1975 as the second child of a family of Tatar descent (a Turkic ethnic subgroup). His mother, Sibel, was a lecturer and his father, Teoman, was an industrial engineer who graduated from the Middle East Technical University and worked in a nuber of different sectors. His older ...

68. Timuçin Esen

Actor | Müslüm

Timuçin Esen (born 14 August 1973) is a Turkish actor.

Timuçin Esen was born on 14 August 1973 in Adana to lawyer parents. After studying at TED Ankara College, he went to study theatre at Ankara University state conservatory and ultimately graduated from Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts. He then...

69. David Dencik

Actor | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

David Dencik was born on October 31, 1974 in Sweden. He is an actor and producer, known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), No Time to Die (2021) and The Homesman (2014).

70. Nikolaj Lie Kaas

Actor | Kvinden i buret

"There are those who miss being in-depth with the world," explains Nikolaj Lie Kaas in an interview with Politiken on April 29th, 2001, "but for me superficiality means a lot - that's where I get my drive." This is an interesting comment from an actor, whose acting always strikes a deeply personal ...

71. Ben Whishaw

Actor | Skyfall

Proclaimed by many critics as one of the best young actors of his generation, Benjamin John Whishaw was born in Clifton, Bedfordshire, to Linda (Hope), who works in cosmetics, and Jose Whishaw, who works in information technology. He has a twin brother, James. He is of French, German, Russian (...

72. Toshirô Mifune

Actor | Yôjinbô

Toshiro Mifune achieved more worldwide fame than any other Japanese actor of his century. He was born in Tsingtao, China, to Japanese parents and grew up in Dalian. He did not set foot in Japan until he was 21. His father was an importer and a commercial photographer, and young Toshiro worked in ...

73. Hiroyuki Sanada

Actor | Tasogare Seibei

Hiroyuki Sanada was born on October 12, 1960 in Tokyo. He made his film debut when he was 5 in Rokyoku komori-uta (1965) (Shin'ichi Chiba played the lead role.) His father died when he was 11. He joined Japan Action Club, organized & run by Sonny Chiba, when he was 12. He 1st became famous as an ...

74. Joaquin Phoenix

Actor | Walk the Line

Joaquin Phoenix was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Arlyn (Dunetz) and John Bottom, and is the middle child in a brood of five. His parents, from the continental United States, were then serving as Children of God missionaries. His mother is from a Jewish family from New ...

75. Jens Albinus

Actor | Idioterne

Jens Albinus was born on January 3, 1965 in Bogense, Denmark. He is an actor and director, known for The Idiots (1998), Antichrist (2009) and Dancer in the Dark (2000).

76. Jakob Cedergren

Actor | Den skyldige

Jakob Cedergren was born on January 10, 1973 in Lund, Sweden. He is an actor, known for The Guilty (2018), Submarino (2010) and Terribly Happy (2008).

77. Tom Hollander

Actor | Pride & Prejudice

Tom Hollander was born the second child of educated parents, both teachers. He grew up in Oxford, (UK).

Hollander credits the happy atmosphere of the Dragon School with his childhood introduction to acting. There, encouraged by an influential teacher named Andrew Roberts, he won the title role in "...

78. Nicolai Cleve Broch

Actor | Beforeigners

Nicolai Cleve Broch was born on November 14, 1975 in Oslo, Norway. He is an actor and writer, known for Beforeigners (2019), Frikjent (2015) and Betrayed (2020). He has been married to Heidi Gjermundsen since December 2004. They have two children.