The recent release of Elvis has already made impressive headway amongst fans and critics as Austin Butler's portrayal of the music icon has already generated much buzz for a potential Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 2022 (per Vanity Fair).
While Butler is more of an up-and-coming star there are many legacy actors with incredible careers in Hollywood listed by Ranker whose skill, stellar performances, and long lists of awards and credentials over the years have made them some of the best actors of all time.
Note: Ranker lists are fan-voted, live, and continue to accrue votes, so some rankings may have changed after this publishing.
Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman is considered by many to be one of the best British actors of all time. With important roles in critically and financially successful movie franchises such as Harry Potter and The Dark Knight Trilogy, it's very easy to see why he's considered such.
His portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour won Oldman three major awards for best actor and his consistency and never failing to miss a beat has made fans herald him as one of the best actors of all time.
Denzel Washington
Having won an Academy Award for Best Actor in different decades, Denzel Washington has long since cemented himself as one of the best actors of all time. What makes Washington such a great actor and big Hollywood name is that he can play stoic action heroes such as seen in The Equalizer while portraying deep emotions that allow audiences to fall in love with his characters.
This extra layer of warmth that Washington brings to his performances is what sets him apart from other actors and why he is beloved by many moviegoers.
Morgan Freeman
Fans have seen Morgan Freeman in a wide array of films ranging from action epics such as The Dark Knight or emotional dramas like The Shawshank Redemption over his career that spans 58 years (and counting). The grandeur of his voice has become iconic in today's pop culture, and Freeman has won countless awards including an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award.
Freeman always adds emotional depth to his performances but fans especially love the subtle ways he uses humor in his performances, making him one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood.
Leonardo DiCaprio
To claim that Leonardo DiCaprio can do it all would be an understatement. Fans have seen DiCaprio portray a serious action hero in Inception, play a money-hungry stockbroker in The Wolf of Wall Street, and (most notably) play a charmer all audiences can fall in love with in Titanic.
With an Academy Award and four Academy nominations for Best Actor, Leonardo DiCaprio has proved to be a fan-favorite actor who never fails to bring people to the movies which puts him up there with the other established legacy actors on this list.
Anthony Hopkins
Although Anthony Hopkins is most noted for his roles in the '90s hits The Silence of the Lambs and The Remains of the Day, he has shown his lasting Hollywood prominence with his Academy Award-winning performance for his role in The Father making him the oldest person to ever receive the award.
Hopkins seemingly always has a perfect portrayal of endearing characters but never backs down from adding gravitas to his performances. Also famous for his charming British accent, Anthony Hopkins will always be one of the all-time greats in acting.
Daniel Day-Lewis
As he has won three Oscars in three different decades, Daniel Day-Lewis' acting talent is something that can't be denied. He is known for immersing himself in his characters and staying in character throughout the entire production process of his films.
Daniel Day-Lewis always finds a way to capture the subtle nuances of his characters through intense character study, most notably in his Oscar-winning film Lincoln which immersed audiences thanks to his accurate and convincing portrayal of Abraham Lincoln. In adding a flare to his performances that heightens the emotional investment from the audience, Daniel Day-Lewis is almost always spot on.
Marlon Brando
With his film debut coming all the way back in 1950 Marlon Brando was the true definition of an acting pioneer. Even for his role in the 1950 film The Men, Brando showed that he puts everything into his performances as he spent over a month in a hospital paraplegic ward to prepare for the role.
His Oscar-winning performance in The Godfather is known as one of if not the best acting performance of all time as he perfectly portrays a terrifyingly menacing character who also is a deeply compassionate father that instantly made him one of the all-time greats.
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson will forever be in the hearts of superhero movie fans for his iconic role as Joker in Tim Burton's Batman and has many other iconic moments such as his line delivery of "Here's Johnny" in The Shining. The three-time Academy Award-winning actor is also the most Academy Award-nominated male actor of all time.
As he always finds a way to realistically portray such out-of-the-box characters using choice facial expressions and body language has influenced the performance of many other actors in movies today.
Al Pacino
Often considered to be one of the best and most influential actors in the 20th century, Al Pacino is one of the few individuals to receive the Triple Crown of Acting as he has won one Oscar, two Tonys, and two Emmys throughout his career that spans well over 50 years.
He is most popular for starring in the '70s and 80's classics The Godfather and Scarface but has shown that he hasn't lost his acting chops with his performance in The Irishmen (2019) as he displayed yet again that he can be a cunning and theatric villain.
Robert De Niro
Taking the traditional idea of method acting and cranking it up to 11, Robert De Niro is argued to be the best actor of all time because of the lengths he goes to in order to have a deeper understanding of his characters. From working as an actual cab driver for his role in Taxi Driver and even paying to have his teeth grounded down for his role in Cape Fear Robert De Niro always puts everything into his performances.
His ability to portray multiple types of personae combined with his drive to push himself to deliver the best performance possible makes Robert De Niro deserving of the top spot amongst all of the other great actors.