In the original movie version, Fame, the audience was told: “There are 50,000 people walking around calling themselves actors and maybe 500 are making a living at it. Most of those do commercials to pay the rent. The rest wait tables, clean other people's apartments, living on welfare and hope.”
Of those who do make it, (and not just make a living), they may score lead roles in movies, but not all of them go on to become iconic. Very few are able to even attain one iconic role. It's an even rarer feat when someone gets to play more than one character that takes on a life of its own.
Michael Keaton
He's been Batman, Beetlejuice, and Birdman. Acclaimed actor Michael Keaton has hidden his forever young, boyishly handsome face behind the mask of two superheros and one poltergeist.
Because of this actor's range, he was whimsical yet menacing as the undead, his nuanced performance as Bruce Wayne's alter ego changed the modern superhero game, and his deeply sad but darkly funny take on a faded film star struggling to put on a Broadway show has been hailed as brilliant--naturally, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. In addition, Keaton will forever be known as Mr. Mom (a part as a stay-at-home dad that was ahead of its time).
John Travolta
There were a number of iconic roles on John Travolta's CV of impressive parts. He'll be forever liked with the disco dancing, white suit wearing Tony Manero from the (one of the best soundtracks ever) film Saturday Night Fever.
Although many have played the role of Danny Zuko on stage and screen, the only version of the character from Grease that anyone remembers is Travolta's. After a hiatus from Hollywood, his comeback role as ultra-cool hitman Vincent Vega in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction sent his star rising again.
Julia Roberts
She's one of the most beautiful movie stars in the world with a long list of varied and interesting roles, yet her most iconic were both down on their luck women who had a lot to say. As Vivian in Pretty Woman, Roberts was the proverbial sex worker with a heart of gold who proved it's nurture, not nature that determines who a person can be. Who will ever forget, the prettiest of pretty women in her white dotted brown dress and many shopping bags reminding the snotty saleswomen that it was a "big mistake, huge" in fact, not to wait on her?
Roberts, went on to win an Oscar for her titular role in Erin Brockovich. She played the real life woman, who fought against the energy corporation PG&E because of its culpability in the Hinkley groundwater contamination, with memorable confidence.
Queen Latifah
She has a successful music career, but her talent proved too big for only one profession so Queen Latifah added producer and influencer to her CV. For a long time, as an actor, she was a lady in waiting, playing the part of the sidekick or supporting actress. But there were greater things ahead.
She is now synonymous with major roles on both TV and on the big screen. They include The Wizard of Oz in The Wiz Live, Bessie Smith in the biopic of the blues singer Bessie, and Hattie McDaniel in the miniseries Hollywood.
Reese Witherspoon
Listed as #92 on Forbe's The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, Reese Witherspoon is a producer leading her own company called Hello Sunshine, and also operates a book club, two podcasts, and has deals with Audible, DirecTV, and Apple. She also owns the website, Draper James.
If that weren't enough, as an actress, her name is synonymous with the very pink Elle Woods from the Legally Blonde franchise and won an Oscar for her leading role as June Carter the wife of Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line. That's all not including the fact that she has also has multiple iconic roles on television.
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone has had a split personality in Hollywood known as the titular characters in both Rocky and Rambo.
His script for the rags to riches story of a working class boxer was rejected repeatedly because Stallone insisted upon starring in it as well. Finally, someone was smart enough to see the screenwriter in the lead role. The movie became a runaway hit, as well as a successful franchise. Following in his sports movie's footsteps is his action movie franchise, where Stallone aka John Rambo is a one-man army.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
The one-time bodybuilder and former Governor of California, like Stallone, has two aliases: Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator.
As the cyborg assassin, Arnold Schwarzenegger was sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill a woman, whose son would one day save mankind from extinction. His line: "I'll be back," is now part of pop culture vernacular. His previous role as a young muscular warrior seeking vengeance for the death of his parents at the hands of the leader of a snake cult earned Schwarzenegger worldwide fame.
Kristen Stewart
The openly gay actress is outspoken in her personal life and a chameleon in her professional one. Kristen Stewart could have easily had a breezy career as the pretty leading lady in the rom-coms of her choice, but instead, she chose to challenge herself by disappearing into roles.
She first shined as vampire Bella Swan--the part that put her on the map--in Twilight. She has also delivered great performances in many other roles but her part as Joan Jett in The Runaways remains spectacular.
Harrison Ford
Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Rick Deckard. Who else could have played these roles but Harrison Ford, the actor who can do no wrong?
Whether you choose to interchange the star with the futuristic detective in Blade Runner, the space cowboy in Star Wars, or the whip-cracking archeologist, there's no denying that as long as Ford is on screen, the performance will be memorable.
Chadwick Boseman
In 2013, the late Chadwick Boseman (1976-2020) gave his breakthrough performance as Jackie Robinson in 42. Next, he portrayed music legend James Brown in Get on Up, then the titular role of the Supreme Court Justice in Marshall.
But it was his portrayal as Marvel superhero Black Panther that turned him into an award-winning star and role model. The Howard University graduate has received posthumous acclaim for his performances in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods.