The 25 Best Male Actors of the Last Decade

ActorTop 3 Performances of the Last Decade
1. Timothee Chalamet1. Call Me By Your Name (2017)
2. Dune: Part One and Two (2021, 2024)
3. Little Women (2019)
2. Adam Driver1. Marriage Story (2019)
2. Paterson (2016)
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
3. Ryan Gosling1. La La Land (2016)
2. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
3. Barbie (2023)
4. Robert Pattinson1. The Lighthouse (2019)
2. Good Time (2017)
3. The Batman (2022)
5. Joaquin Phoenix1. Joker (2019)
2. Beau is Afraid (2023)
3. You Were Never Really Here (2017)
6. Cillian Murphy1. Oppenheimer (2023)
2. Small Things Like These (2024)
3. Dunkirk (2017)
7. Willem Dafoe1. The Lighthouse (2019)
2. The Florida Project (2017)
3. Poor Things (2023)
8. Brad Pitt1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
2. Ad Astra (2019)
3. Babylon (2022)
9. Jesse Plemmons1. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
2. Kinds of Kindness (2024)
3. Civil War (2024)
10. Barry Keoghan1. Saltburn (2023)
2. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
3. Bird (2024)
11. Oscar Isaac1. The Card Counter (2021)
2. Dune (2021)
3. Annihilation (2018)
12. Daniel Kaluuya1. Get Out (2017)
2. Widows (2018)
3. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
13. Bradley Cooper1. Nightmare Alley (2021)
2. Maestro (2023)
3. A Star is Born (2018)
14. Colin Farrell1. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
2. The Batman (2022)
3. After Yang (2021)
15. Leonardo DiCaprio1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
2. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
3. Don’t Look Up (2021)
16. Ralph Fiennes1. Conclave (2024)
2. The Menu (2022)
3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023)
17. Michael B. Jordan1. Sinners (2025)
2. Black Panther (2018)
3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
18. Benedict Cumberbatch1. The Power of the Dog (2021)
2. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023)
3. The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
19. Adrien Brody1. The Brutalist (2024)
2. The French Dispatch (2021)
3. Asteroid City (2023)
20. Austin Butler1. Elvis (2022)
2. Dune: Part Two (2024)
3. The Bikeriders (2023)
21. Gary Oldman1. Mank (2020)
2. Darkest Hour (2017)
3. Oppenheimer (2023)
22. Steven Yeun1. Burning (2018)
2. Minari (2020)
3. Nope (2022)
23. Benicio del Toro1. The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
2. The French Dispatch (2021)
3. Reptile (2023)
24. Andrew Scott1. Ripley (2024)
2. All of Us Strangers (2023)
3. 1917 (2019)
25. Dev Patel1. The Green Knight (2021)
2. Monkey Man (2024)
3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023)

9 thoughts on “The 25 Best Male Actors of the Last Decade”

  1. If this a list that considers the best performances of the last decade, then why isn’t 2015 considered ? Specifically Di Caprio’s performance in The Revenant wich would skyrocket him here

  2. Hear me out…what about home grown stars; Joel Edgerton and Ben Mendlesohn? But if you’re going to feature the Irish Brat Pack, Paul Mescal seems a glaring omission tbh. 🙂

    1. Mescal is a decent candidate, he’s really just one more great performance away from making the list. At the moment I think Aftersun is his strongest. He’s solid in All of Us Strangers and The Lost Daughter but is largely secondary to others, and I don’t think much of Gladiator II at all really. His star is still rising though and I don’t think we’ve seen him peak yet.

      Edgerton’s case rests on The Underground Railroad for me with Master Gardener, Loving, and The Green Knight to back him up. I think he just needs a couple more to fill out his resume but he’s right there on the edge, he could easily slot in for a 20-25 position.

      I might be missing something but I’m not sure Ben Mendelsohn has given a standout performance in the last ten years to rival the others here. He has been consistently decent but his choice of projects has been shaky. Cyrano and Darkest Hour come to mind, but I’m not sure there’s much beyond that.

  3. Mendelsohn is great in The Land of Steady Habits in the lead role and supporting Eliza Scanlen in Babyteeth.

    1. And another great performance in Mississipi Grind in the lead role. Great actor. He is often typecast as the villain in these big films. But his best work comes in these smaller films.

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