Cs: Actors I Respect (but not Favs)

1. Idris Elba

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...

2. John Cena

Actor | The Suicide Squad

John Felix Anthony Cena was born on April 23, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts to Carol Cena and John Joseph Cena. He is of Italian (father) and French-Canadian and English (mother) descent, and is the grandson of baseball player Tony Lupien. When he was in college, he played football. He then ...

3. Romesh Ranganathan

Actor | Cinderella

Multi award-winning comedian Romesh Ranganathan is best known for fronting such series' as The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, The Ranganation, Rob & Romesh Vs, A League Of Their Own, Asian Provocateur, and as the new presenter of BBC One's Weakest Link. Host of his own BBC Sounds and Radio 2 ...

4. Sean Connery

Actor | The Rock

The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known as the original actor to portray James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him unable to escape it, but he ...

5. Morris Chestnut

Actor | Kick-Ass 2

A tall, handsome, and versatile American actor, Morris Chestnut was born in Cerritos, California, to Shirley (Wynn) and Morris Chestnut, Sr. He first came to be recognized by moviegoers starring as Ricky in Boyz n the Hood (1991), a role where he played a high school running back using his football...

6. Jeff Garlin

Actor | Curb Your Enthusiasm

As a multi-talented comedian who encompasses writing, producing, directing, acting and performing stand-up comedy, Jeff Garlin has honed a successful career that started at Second City in his hometown of Chicago. Influenced by the comedians of his childhood (such as Richard Pryor, Woody Allen, and ...

7. Forest Whitaker

Actor | The Last King of Scotland

Forest Steven Whitaker has packaged a king-size talent into his hulking 6' 2", 220 lb. frame. He won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film The Last King of Scotland (2006), and has also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He is the fourth African-American male to...

8. Tokala Black Elk

Actor | 1883

Tokala Black Elk was born in 1984 in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, USA. He is an actor, known for 1883 (2021), Yellowstone (2018) and Grey's Anatomy (2005).

9. Daniel Dae Kim

Actor | Insurgent

Daniel Dae Kim has made a career of creating multifaceted and stereotype-breaking roles as an actor, director and now, producer. Prior to his seven-season portrayal of Chin Ho Kelly on "Hawaii Five-0," Kim was best known for his role as Jin Soo Kwon on the hit TV series "Lost," for which he shared ...

10. Annabeth Gish

Actress | Mystic Pizza

A versatile actress, Annabeth Gish weathered the transition from child actor to adult, with a variety of dramatic and comedic roles on film and television.

Anne Elizabeth Gish was born on March 13, 1971 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and moved with her family to Cedar Falls, at the age of two. Her ...

11. Danny Glover

Actor | Lethal Weapon

Actor, producer and humanitarian Danny Glover has been a commanding presence on screen, stage and television for more than 35 years.

Glover was born in San Francisco, California, to Carrie (Hunley) and James Glover, postal workers who were also active in civil rights. Glover trained at the Black ...

12. Ansel Elgort

Actor | The Fault in Our Stars

Ansel Elgort is an American actor, known for playing Augustus Waters in the romance The Fault in Our Stars (2014) and the title character in the action thriller Baby Driver (2017). He was born in New York City to photographer Arthur Elgort and opera director Grethe Holby. His father is of ...

13. Alan Rickman

Actor | Die Hard

Alan Rickman was born on a council estate in Acton, West London, to Margaret Doreen Rose (Bartlett), of English and Welsh descent, and Bernard Rickman, of Irish descent, who worked at a factory. Alan Rickman had an older brother (David), a younger brother (Michael), and a younger sister (Sheila). ...

14. Raphael Luce

Actor | Stranger Things

Raphael Luce is a 16 years old Franco-American actor born in Vermont and raised in France for part of his life. He is known for his role as Young Henry Creel / 001 / Vecna, in Stranger Things' season 4. He was also seen on Loki and The First Lady. Raphael's whole family works in the movie industry ...

15. James Earl Jones

Actor | Rogue One

Widely regarded as the one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native USA and internationally, James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. At an early age, he started to take dramatic lessons to calm himself down. It appeared to work as he has since starred ...

16. Frankie Faison

Actor | Coming to America

Frankie Faison was born on June 10, 1949 in Newport News, Virginia, USA. He is an actor, known for Coming to America (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989) and White Chicks (2004). He is married to Samantha Jupiter Faison. He was previously married to Jane Mandel.

17. Ernie Hudson

Actor | Ghostbusters

As a child growing up in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Ernie Hudson wrote short stories, poems and songs, always thinking that his words might one day come to life on stage. After a short stint in the Marine Corps, he moved to Detroit where he became the resident playwright at Concept East, the oldest ...

18. Harrison Ford

Actor | Raiders of the Lost Ark

Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (Nidelman), a radio actress, and Christopher Ford (born John William Ford), an actor turned advertising executive. His father was of Irish and German ancestry, while his maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Minsk, ...

19. Bradley Whitford

Actor | Get Out

Bradley Whitford's credits in film, television and theater include work with some of the most noted writers, directors and playwrights in the arts, and constitute a career worthy of a Juilliard-trained actor -- which he is. But stardom is something else altogether, and it remained elusive, at least...

20. Michael Beach

Actor | Aquaman

Born and raised in Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood, by a single mom with four children, Beach was an athlete who never expected to be an actor. After performing in a few plays at Noble and Greenough School, he auditioned for, got accepted to and later graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School ...

21. Paola Núñez

Actress | Resident Evil

Paola Núñez started acting when she was 12 years old. Seven years later she moved from her tiny town of Tecate, to Mexico City to begin her acting career. There she graduated from the acting school CEFAC.

She immediately began working on day-time television serials, in commercial theater and feature...

22. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Actor | Aquaman

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is an American actor. He portrayed David Kane, the Black Manta in the DC Extended Universe Aquaman films and Bobby Seale in the Netflix historical legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7. For his portrayal of Cal Abar in the HBO limited series Watchmen, he won a Primetime Emmy ...

23. Eric André

Actor | The Eric Andre Show

Eric Samuel André is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, television host and writer. He is best known as the creator, host, and co-writer of the Adult Swim comedy series The Eric Andre Show (2012-present). He also played Mike on the FXX series Man Seeking Woman (2015-2017) and voiced ...

24. Winston Duke

Actor | Black Panther

Winston Duke was born on November 15, 1986 in Trinidad and Tobago. He is an actor and producer, known for Black Panther (2018), Us (2019) and Nine Days (2020).

25. Tenoch Huerta

Actor | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Tenoch Huerta Mejía is a Mexican actor of Aztec and Purépecha origin. He has appeared in a number of movies in Latin America and Spain, starring in both feature films and short films. He is one of the actors featured in Mónica Maristain's book 30 Actors Made in Mexico.

26. Lake Bell

Actress | In a World...

Lake Siegel Bell is an American actress, screenwriter and director. She has starred in various television series, including Boston Legal (2004-2006), Surface (2005-2006), How to Make It in America (2010-2011), Childrens Hospital (2008-2016), and Bless This Mess (2019-2020) and in films including ...

27. Kal Penn

Actor | Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Kal Penn was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, to Asmita, a fragrance evaluator, and Suresh Modi, an engineer. His parents are Gujarati immigrants to America from India. He attended the Freehold Regional High School District's Performing Arts High School where he participated in the ...

28. David Duchovny

Actor | The X Files

David William Duchovny was born on August 7, 1960, in New York City, New York, USA. His father, Amram Ducovny, was a writer and publicist who was from a family of Jewish immigrants (from Ukraine and Poland), and worked for the American Jewish Committee. His mother, Margaret (Miller), was a ...

29. Josh Duhamel

Actor | Transformers

Joshua David Duhamel was born in Minot, North Dakota. His mother, Bonny L., is a retired high school teacher, and the Executive Director of Minot's Downtown Business & Profession Association, and his father, Larry Duhamel, is an advertisement salesman. Josh has three younger sisters: Ashlee, ...

30. Elliott Gould

Actor | MASH

Elliott Gould is an American actor known for his roles in M*A*S*H (1970), his Oscar-nominated performance in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), and more recently, his portrayal of old-time con artist Reuben Tishkoff in Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (...

31. Tim Meadows

Actor | Mean Girls

Tim Meadows was born on February 5, 1961 in Highland Park, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Mean Girls (2004), The Ladies Man (2000) and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007). He was previously married to Michelle Taylor.

32. Blair Underwood

Actor | Deep Impact

A true multi-hyphenate, Blair Underwood is enjoying success in film, television and theatre, as an actor, director and producer. Underwood recently returned to Broadway starring opposite David Alan Grier in the Pulitzer Prize winning drama "A Solider's Play" for director Kenny Leon and the ...

33. Fred Melamed

Actor | A Serious Man

Revered character actor Fred Melamed was born in New York City. His birth-parents were unmarried; an American actress and British psychoanalyst. He was adopted as an infant by Manhattanites Lou and Syma Melamed (nee Krichefsky). His adoptive father was an early television producer, having ...

34. Joaquim de Almeida

Actor | Fast Five

Joaquim de Almeida was born in Lisbon, Portugal. Son of two pharmacists and the sixth of eight kids, Joaquim showed signs at an early age that his future lay not in the family business. At the age of eighteen, after attending the theater course at the Lisbon Conservatory for two years, he left ...

35. Vin Diesel

Actor | Guardians of the Galaxy

Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair in Alameda County, California, along with his fraternal twin brother, Paul Vincent. He was raised by his astrologer/psychologist mother, Delora Sherleen (Sinclair), and adoptive father, Irving H. Vincent, an acting instructor and theatre manager, in an artists' ...

36. Dennis Haysbert

Actor | Far from Heaven

Dennis Haysbert was born on June 2, 1954 in San Mateo, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Far from Heaven (2002), 24 (2001) and Heat (1995). He was previously married to Lynn Griffith and Elena Simms.

37. John Hannah

Actor | Four Weddings and a Funeral

John Hannah is the youngest child of his family, having two older sisters. Before he decided on a career as an actor, John was an apprentice electrician for four years. He gave up his work as an electrician after being accepted to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. After ...

38. Corey Stoll

Actor | Midnight in Paris

Corey Stoll is well known for his portrayal of 'Congressman Russo' in David Fincher's "House of Cards" (Golden Globe nomination) and for his performance in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris", in which he portrayed 'Ernest Hemingway' (Independent Spirit Award nomination.) He has appeared in many ...

39. Keith David

Actor | The Princess and the Frog

Keith David is a classically trained actor, winning 3 Emmys out of 6 nominations as well as being nominated for a Tony award. He starred in the recently concluded TV series "Greenleaf" for Oprah Winfrey's OWN network. Upcoming films include "Horizon Line" with Allison Williams ("Get Out") and "...

40. Chin Han

Actor | The Dark Knight

Named one of Asia's 25 greatest actors of all-time by CNNGo (a division of CNN) alongside stars like Japan's Toshiro Mifune and India's Amitabh Bachchan and nominated for Variety's Asian Star of the Year Award in 2013, Chin Han's 20 year career has spanned many international theater, television and...

41. BD Wong

Actor | Jurassic Park

BD Wong was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He made his Broadway debut in "M. Butterfly." He is the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theater World Award for the same performance. He starred in the ...

42. Adam Scott

Actor | Parks and Recreation

Adam Scott was born in Santa Cruz, California, the son of Anne and Dougald Scott. He has two older siblings, Shannon and David. Scott has said that his brother David "looks like me but is far more cerebral and inherited the intellect of our parents," both of whom are retired teachers. He graduated ...

43. Zlatko Buric

Actor | Triangle of Sadness

Zlatko Buric was born on May 13, 1953 in Osijek, Croatia, Yugoslavia. He is an actor, known for Triangle of Sadness (2022), Pusher (1996) and 2012 (2009).

44. Benedict Wong

Actor | Annihilation

Benedict Wong is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Kublai Khan in Netflix's Marco Polo (2014-2016), Bruce Ng in The Martian (2015), and Wong in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Doctor Strange (2016). Wong was born on 3 July 1971 in Eccles, Greater Manchester, the son of Hong Kong ...

45. J.K. Simmons

Actor | Whiplash

J.K. Simmons is an American actor.

He was born Jonathan Kimble Simmons in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to Patricia (Kimble), an administrator, and Donald William Simmons, a music teacher. He attended the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; University of Montana, Missoula, MT (BA in Music).

He had ...

46. Reginald VelJohnson