Greatest Film Performances (US/UK)

[Dubrow555]

Criteria: these film performances are ranked based on initial and lasting acclaim, popular and cultural recognition, plus influence. In order to qualify for this list the performance has to come from a predominately English-language film produced or co-produced by American or British production companies.

1. Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront (1954)
2. Robert De Niro - Raging Bull (1980)
3. Marlon Brando - The Godfather (1972)
4. Laurence Olivier - Hamlet (1948)
5. Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice (1982)
6. Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood (2007)
7. Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove (1964)
8. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard (1950)
9. Orson Welles - Citizen Kane (1941)
10. Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver (1976)
11. Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
12. Al Pacino - The Godfather Part II (1974)
13. James Stewart - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
14. Bette Davis - All About Eve (1950)
15. Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
16. Charlie Chaplin - City Lights (1931)
17. Alec Guinness - The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
18. Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind (1939)
19. Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
20. Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
21. Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump (1994)
22. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight (2008)
23. Anthony Hopkins - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
24. Daniel Day-Lewis - My Left Foot (1989)
25. Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story (1940)
26. Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
27. James Dean - Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
28. Denzel Washington - Malcolm X (1992)
29. Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man (1988)
30. Ben Kingsley - Gandhi (1982)
31. George C. Scott - Patton (1970)
32. Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
33. Gene Hackman - The French Connection (1971)
34. Charlie Chaplin - The Great Dictator (1940)
35. Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca (1942)
36. Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen (1951)
37. Diane Keaton - Annie Hall (1977)
38. Shirley MacLaine - The Apartment (1960)
39. Kevin Spacey - American Beauty (1999)
40. Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight (1944)
41. Henry Fonda - The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
42. Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity (1944)
43. Henry Fonda - 12 Angry Men (1957)
44. Judy Garland - A Star Is Born (1954)
45. James Stewart - It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
46. Jack Lemmon - Some Like It Hot (1959)
47. Peter O'Toole - The Lion in Winter (1968)
48. Katharine Hepburn - The Lion In Winter (1968)
49. Charlie Chaplin - The Modern Times (1936)
50. Clark Gable - Gone with the Wind (1939)
51. Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment (1983)
52. Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
53. Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
54. Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday (1953)
55. F. Murray Abraham - Amadeus (1984)
56. Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves (1996)
57. Laurence Olivier - Henry V (1944)
58. Paul Scofield - A Man for All Seasons (1966)
59. Richard Burton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
60. Dustin Hoffman - Midnight Cowboy (1969)
61. Jack Nicholson - Chinatown (1974)
62. Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote (2005)
63. Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine (2013)
64. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln (2012)
65. Anthony Quinn - Zorba the Greek (1964)
66. Paul Newman - Cool Hand Luke (1967)
67. Natalie Portman - Black Swan (2010)
68. Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
69. Charlize Theron - Monster (2003)
70. Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds (2009)
71. Tom Hanks - Cast Away (2000)
72. James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
73. Paul Newman - The Hustler (1961)
74. Cary Grant - North by Northwest (1959)
75. Ingrid Bergman - Casablanca (1942)
76. Humphrey Bogart - The Maltese Falcon (1941)
77. Rod Steiger - In the Heat of the Night (1967)
78. Sidney Poitier - In the Heat of the Night (1967)
79. Ellen Burstyn - Alice Don't Live Here Anymore (1974)
80. Gena Rowland - A Woman Under Influence (1974)
81. Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York (2002)
82. Al Pacino - Serpico (1973)
83. Jane Fonda - Klute (1971)
84. Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind (2001)
85. Anthony Hopkins - The Father (2020)
86. James Cagney - The Public Enemy (1931)
87. Daniel Day-Lewis - In the Name of the Father (1993)
88. Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
89. Peter Finch - Network (1976)
90. Al Pacino - The Godfather (1972)
91. Marlon Brando - Last Tango in Paris (1972)
92. Glenda Jackson - Women in Love (1969)
93. Jon Voight - Midnight Cowboy (1969)
94. Sidney Poitier - Lilies of the Field (1963)
95. Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
96. Kenneth Branagh - Henry V (1989)
97. Dustin Hoffman - Tootsie (1982)
98. Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men (2007)
99. Frances McDormand - Fargo (1996)
100. Holly Hunter - The Piano (1993)
101. Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
102. Cary Grant - Bringing Up Baby (1938)
103. Bette Davis - Jezebel (1938)
104. Geoffrey Rush - Shine (1996)
105. Greta Garbo - Camille (1936)
106. Bette Davis - Of Human Bondage (1934)
107. Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory (1933)
108. Tom Hanks - Philadelphia (1993)
109. Meryl Streep - The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
110. Dennis Hopper - Blue Velvet (1986)
111. Gary Cooper - High Noon (1952)
112. Malcolm McDowell - A Clockwork Orange (1971)
113. Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
114. Johnny Depp - Ed Wood (1994)
115. Peter Sellers - Being There (1979)
116. Hilary Swank - Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
117. Sissy Spacek - The Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
118. John Hurt - The Elephant Man (1980)
119. Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream (2000)
120. Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich (2000)
121. Adrien Brody - The Pianist (2002)
122. Robert De Niro - The Deer Hunter (1978)
123. Jack Nicholson - The Last Detail (1973)
124. Jeremy Irons - Reversal of Fortune (1990)
125. Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
126. Ian McKellen - Gods and Monsters (1998)
127. Kathy Bates - Misery (1990)
128. Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction (1994)
129. Gene Hackman - Unforgiven (1992)
130. Edward Norton - American History X (1998)
131. Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth (1998)
132. Denzel Washington - Training Day (2001)
133. Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda (1948)
134. Paul Newman - Hud (1963)
135. Anthony Perkins - Psycho (1960)
136. Clark Gable - It Happened One Night (1934)
137. Jack Lemmon - The Apartment (1960)
138. Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
139. Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland (2006)
140. Helen Mirren - The Queen (2006)
141. Jack Nicholson - The Shining (1980)
142. Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond (1981)
143. Ray Milland - The Lost Weekend (1945)
144. Gary Cooper - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
145. Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond (1981)
146. James Cagney - White Heat (1949)
147. Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night (1934)
148. Fredric March - The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
149. Greta Garbo - Anna Christie (1930)
150. Norma Shearer - The Divorcee (1930)
151. Joe Pesci - Goodfellas (1990)
152. Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
153. Jeff Bridges - The Big Lebowski (1998)
154. Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
155. Olivia De Havilland - The Heiress (1949)
156. Leonardo Dicaprio - The Aviator (2004)
157. Robert De Niro - The King of Comedy (1982)
158. William Holden - Stalag 17 (1953)
159. Jamie Foxx - Ray (2004)
160. Willem Dafoe - Platoon (1986)
161. Robert De Niro - The Godfather Part II (1974)
162. Michael Douglas - Wall Street (1987)
163. James Stewart - Vertigo (1958)
164. Christopher Walken - The Deer Hunter (1978)
165. Burt Lancaster - The Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
166. Al Pacino - Scarface (1983)
167. Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl (1968)
168. Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
169. Jack Nicholson - As Good As It Gets (1997)
170. Meryl Streep - Silkwood (1983)
171. Laurence Olivier - Richard III (1955)
172. Cate Blanchett - Tar (2022)
173. Burt Lancaster - Elmer Gantry (1960)
174. Alec Guinness - Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
175. Anjelica Huston - The Grifters (1990)
176. Jon Voight - Coming Home (1978)
177. Joaquin Phoenix - Joker (2019)
178. Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
179. Henry Fonda - Once Upon A Time In the West (1968)
180. James Cagney - Angels With Dirty Faces (1938)
181. Susan Hayward - I Want To Live! (1958)
182. Brad Pitt - Fight Club (1999)
183. Dustin Hoffman - The Graduate (1967)
184. Joan Fontaine - Suspicion (1941)
185. Benicio Del Toro - Traffic (2000)
186. Robert Downey Jr. - Chaplin (1992)
187. Simone Signoret - Room at the Top (1959)
188. Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady (2011)
189. Leonardo Dicaprio - The Revenant (2015)
190. Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker (1962)
191. Burt Lancaster - Atlantic City (1980)
192. Emma Thompson - Howards End (1992)
193. Robin Williams - Good Will Hunting (1997)
194. Anne Bancroft - The Graduate (1966)
195. Brie Larson - Room (2015)
196. Jane Fonda - Coming Home (1978)
197. Robert Mitchum - Night of the Hunter (1955)
198. Cate Blanchett - Carol (2015)
199. Kirk Douglas - Spartacus (1960)
200. Barbara Stanwyck - The Lady Eve (1941)
201. Robert Duvall - Tender Mercies (1983)
202. Laurence Olivier - Wuthering Heights (1939)
203. Michael Caine - Alfie (1966)
204. J.K. Simmons - Whiplash (2014)
205. Robert De Niro - Mean Streets (1973)
206. Paul Muni - I Am a Fugitive from the Chain Gang (1932)
207. Gene Hackman - The Conversation (1974)
208. Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
209. Katharine Hepburn - Adam's Rib (1949)
210. John Wayne - The Searchers (1956)
211. Gene Kelly - Singin' in the Rain (1952)
212. Sylvester Stallone - Rocky (1976)
213. Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce (1945)
214. Russell Crowe - The Insider (1999)
215. Maggie Smith - The Prime Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
216. Julie Christie - Darling (1965)
217. Bette Davis - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
218. Sally Field - Norma Rae (1979)
219. Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain (2005)
220. Russell Crowe - Gladiator (2000)
221. Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby (2004)
222. Greta Garbo - Ninotchka (1939)
223. Emil Jannings - The Last Command (1928)
224. Lee Marvin - Cat Ballou (1965)
225. Frances McDormand - Nomadland (2020)
226. Albert Finney - Under the Volcano (1984)
227. Sally Field - Places in the Heart (1984)
228. Robert De Niro - Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
229. Robert De Niro - Goodfellas (1990)
230. Robert Duvall - Apocalypse Now (1979)
231. Al Pacino - Scent of a Woman (1992)
232. Marlon Brando - Viva Zapata! (1952)
233. Anthony Quinn - Viva Zapata! (1952)
234. Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen (1951)
235. Joseph Cotten - Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
236. Jennifer Jones - The Song Of Bernadette (1943)
237. Faye Dunaway - Network (1976)
238. Jodie Foster - The Accused (1988)
239. Michael Keaton - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
240. Tom Hanks - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
241. Katharine Hepburn - Long Day's Journey into Night (1962)
242. Spencer Tracy - Boys Town (1938)
243. Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo (1955)
244. Robert Mitchum - Out of the Past (1947)
245. Robert Mitchum - Cape Fear (1962)
246. William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
247. Gary Oldman - Sid & Nancy (1986)
248. Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler (2008)
249. Sean Penn - Milk (2008)
250. Jack Lemmon - Save the Tiger (1973)
251. Sissy Spacek - Carrie (1976)
252. Naomi Watts - Mulholland Dr. (2001)
253. Glenn Close - Fatal Attraction (1987)
254. Dustin Hoffman - Lenny (1974)
255. Al Pacino - ...And Justice for All (1979)
256. William Holden - Sunset Boulevard (1950)
257. Bette Davis - Dangerous (1935)
258. James Stewart - The Philadelphia Story (1940)
259. Christian Bale - American Psycho (2000)
260. Robert Duvall - The Apostle (1997)
261. Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
262. Gary Oldman - Darkest Hour (2017)
263. Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
264. Charles Laughton - Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
265. Kate Winslet - The Reader (2008)
266. Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music (1965)
267. Audrey Hepburn - My Fair Lady (1964)
268. Nicolas Cage - Adaptation. (2002)
269. Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt (2002)
270. Geraldine Page - The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
271. Adam Driver - Marriage Story (2019)
272. Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything (2014)
273. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master (2012)
274. Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking (1995)
275. Susan Sarandon - Dead Man Walking (1995)
276. Joan Crawford - Sudden Fear (1952)
277. Ian McKellen - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
278. Jane Fonda - They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
279. Robert Duvall - The Great Santini (1979)
280. Olivia Colman - The Favourite (2018)
281. Julie Christie - Away from Her (2006)
282. Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
283. Kristen Stewart - Spencer (2021)
284. Brendan Fraser - The Whale (2022)
285. Paul Lukas - Watch on the Rhine (1943)
286. Peter O'Toole - Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
287. Christian Bale - The Fighter (2010)
288. Colin Firth - The King's Speech (2010)
289. Christian Bale - Vice (2018)
290. Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea (2016)
291. Katharine Hepburn - Holiday (1938)
292. Cary Grant - Arsenic And Old Lace (1944)
293. Jessica Lange - Blue Sky (1994)
294. Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)
295. Clint Eastwood - The Unforgiven (1992)
296. Edward G. Robinson - Little Caesar (1931)
297. Laurence Olivier - Sleuth (1972)
298. Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
299. Sidney Poitier - The Defiant Ones (1958)
300. Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music (1965)

[Tim]

Went through Man's yearly lists updates to look for some previously ineligible 'foreign' performances:

Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent (2025) #4
Stellan Skarsgård - Sentimental Value (2025) #7
Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value (2025) #10
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value (2025) #13
Lee Byung-hun - No Other Choice (2025) #14
Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value (2025) #20

Fernanda Torres - I’m Still Here (2024) #3
Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez (2024) #13

Sandra Huller - Anatomy of a Fall (2023) #4
Koji Yakusho - Perfect Days (2023) #8
Franz Rogowski - Passages (2023) #12

Tang Wei - Decision to Leave (2022) #12
Park Hae-Il - Decision to Leave (2022) #15

Penelope Cruz - Parallel Mothers (2021) #3
Renate Reinsve - Worst Person in the World (2021) #7
Hiditoshi Nishijima - Drive My Car (2021) #10
Vincent Lindon - Titane (2021) #16
Agathe Rousselle - Titane (2021) #16

Mads Mikkelsen - Another Round (2020) #6

Antonio Banderas - Pain and Glory (2019) #2
Song Kang-Ho - Parasite (2019) #5
Bartosz Bielenia - Corpus Christi (2019) #15
Adele Haenel - Portrait of a Lady On Fire (2019) #16
Noemie Merlant - Portrait of a Lady On Fire (2019) #18

Yalitza Aparicio - Roma (2018) #3
Steven Yeun - Burning (2018) #11
Marina de Tavira - Roma (2018) #18
Sakura Ando - Shoplifters (2018) #19

Juliette Binoche - Let the Sunshine In (2017) #16

Isabelle Huppert - Elle (2016) #2
Sandra Huller - Toni Erdmann (2016) #9
Peter Simonischek - Toni Erdmann (2016) #13
Shahab Hosseini - The Salesman (2016) #14

Kristen Stewart - Clouds of Sils Maria (2015) #15

Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night (2014) #5
Anne Dorval - Mommy (2014) #17
Antoine Olivier Pilon - Mommy (2014) #18

Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013) #4
Toni Servillo - The Great Beauty (2013) #9
Lea Seydoux - Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013) #12
Agata Kulesza - Ida (2013) #19
Tilda Swinton - Snowpiercer (2013) #20

Emmanuelle Riva - Amour (2012) #4
Mads Mikkelsen - The Hunt (2012) #5
Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour (2012) #6
Javier Bardem - Skyfall (2012) #11
Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone (2012) #12
Denis Lavant - Holy Motors (2012) #13
Sridevi - English Vinglish (2012) #18

Leila Hatami - A Separation (2011) #11
Peyman Moaadi - A Separation (2011) #15
Omar Sy - The Intouchables (2011) #20

Javier Bardem - Biutiful (2010) #4
Juliette Binoche - Certified Copy (2010) #5
Yoon Jeong-Hee - Poetry (2010) #8

Tahar Rahim - A Prophet (2009) #5
Kim Hye-Ja - Mother (2009) #10
Niels Arestrup - A Prophet (2009) #15
Ricardo Darin - The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) #17

Yolande Moreau - Seraphine (2008) #6
Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long (2008) #10

Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose (2007) #3
Anamaria Marinca - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) #7
Mathieu Amalric - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) #8
Jeon-Do Yeon - Secret Sunshine (2007) #10
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai - Lust, Caution (2007) #18
Vlad Ivanov - 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) #19

Penelope Cruz - Volver (2006) #1
Ulrich Muhe - The Lives of Others (2006) #4
Song Kang-Ho - The Host (2006) #18

Daniel Auteuil - Cache (2005) #11
Romain Duris - The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) #15
Luminita Gheorghiu - The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) #16
Juliette Binoche - Cache (2005) #19

Bruno Ganz - Downfall (2004) #1
Javier Bardem - The Sea Inside (2004) #5
Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace (2004) #9
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai - 2046 (2004) #10
Gael Garcia Bernal - The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) #16
Yuya Yagira - Nobody Knows (2004) #19

Choi Min-Sik - Oldboy (2003) #3
Song Kang-Ho - Memories of Murder (2003) #14

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai - Infernal Affairs (2002) #13
Javier Camara - Talk To Her (2002) #19
Olivier Gourmet - The Son (2002) #20

Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher (2001) #2
Audrey Tautou - Amelie (2001) #6
Benoit Magimel - The Piano Teacher (2001) #11
Nicole Kidman - The Others (2001) #13
Maribel Verdu - Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) #16
Gael Garcia Bernal - Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) #17

Maggie Cheung - In the Mood for Love (2000) #1
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai - In the Mood for Love (2000) #3
Michelle Yeoh - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) #12
Gael Garcia Bernal - Amores Perros (2000) #17
Zhang Ziyi - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) #19
Chow Yun-Fat - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) #20

Cecilia Roth - All About My Mother (1999) #10
Emilie Dequenne - Rosetta (1999) #16

Fernanda Montenegro - Central Station (1998) #3
Ulrich Thomsen - The Celebration (1998) #17
Catherine Deneuve - Place Vendôme (1998) #18

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai - Happy Together (1997) #16
Leslie Cheung - Happy Together (1997) #18
Homayoun Ershadi - Taste of Cherry (1997) #19
Madhuri Dixit - Dil to Pagal Hai (1997) #20

Daniel Auteuil - The Eighth Day (1996) #17

Isabelle Huppert - La Ceremonie (1995) #11
Vincent Cassel - La Haine (1995) #14
Harvey Keitel - Ulysses’ Gaze (1995) #16
Annie Girardot - Les Misérables (1995) #19

Faye Wong - Chungking Express (1994) #9
Jean Reno - Leon: The Professional (1994) #12
Jean-Louis Trintignant - Three Colours: Red (1994) #13
Ge You - To Live (1994) #14
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai - Chungking Express (1994) #15
Massimo Troisi - Il Postino (1994) #17
Gong Li - To Live (1994) #18
Irene Jacob - Three Colours: Red (1994) #19

Juliette Binoche - Three Colours: Blue (1993) #1
Gong Li - Farewell, My Concubine (1993) #10

Gong Li - The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) #10
Brigitte Lin - Swordsman II (1992) #16

Irene Jacob - The Double Life of Veronique (1991) #3
Gong Li - Raise the Red Lantern (1991) #8
Michel Piccoli - La Belle Noiseuse (1991) #9
Maggie Cheung - Center Stage (1991) #12
Chang Chen - A Brighter Summer Day (1991) #15

Gerard Depardieu - Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) #3
Leslie Cheung - Days of Being Wild (1990) #15
Philippe Noiret - Life, and Nothing But (1990) #16

Chen Sung-Young - A City of Sadness (1989) #19

Philippe Noiret - Cinema Paradiso (1988) #2
Carmen Maura - Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) #9
Isabelle Adjani - Camille Claudel (1988) #10
Isabelle Huppert - The Story of Women (1988) #13
Stefania Sandrelli - Mignon Has Come To Stay (1988) #19

Max von Sydow - Pelle the Conqueror (1987) #3
Marcello Mastroianni - Dark Eyes (1987) #4
Bruno Ganz - Wings of Desire (1987) #18

Daniel Auteuil - Jean de Florette (1986) #3
Gérard Depardieu - Jean de Florette (1986) #5
Erland Josephson - The Sacrifice (1986) #6
Yves Montand - Jean de Florette (1986) #11
Chow Yun-Fat - A Better Tomorrow (1986) #17

Sandrine Bonnaire - Vagabond (1985) #2
Aleksei Kravchenko - Come and See (1985) #7
Tatsuya Nakadai - Ran (1985) #10
Norma Aleandro - The Official Story (1985) #13
Jackie Chan - Police Story (1985) #14
Gerard Depardieu - Police (1985) #16
Ken Ogata - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) #17
Mieko Harada - Ran (1985) #20

Harry Dean Stanton - Paris, Texas (1984) #5
Nastassja Kinski - Paris, Texas (1984) #13
Claudia Cardinale - Claretta (1984) #14
Alain Delon - Notre Histoire (1984) #18

Gerard Depardieu - Danton (1983) #12
Jackie Chan - Project A (1983) #18

Klaus Kinski - Fitzcarraldo (1982) #7
Jan Malmsjo - Fanny and Alexander (1982) #13
Claudia Cardinale - Fitzcarraldo (1982) #20

Isabelle Adjani - Possession (1981) #1
Michel Piccoli - Strange Affair (1981) #14

Catherine Deneuve - The Last Metro (1980) #5
Gerard Depardieu - The Last Metro (1980) #8
Tatsuya Nakadai - Kagemusha (1980) #9
Marilia Pera - Pixote (1980) #15
Michel Piccoli - A Leap in the Dark (1980) #16
Anouk Aimee - A Leap in the Dark (1980) #17

Klaus Kinski - Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) #12
Alexander Kaidanovsky - Stalker (1979) #18
Anatoly Solonitsyn - Stalker (1979) #19

Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata (1978) #3
Liv Ullmann - Autumn Sonata (1978) #6
Hanna Schygulla - The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978) #7
Isabelle Huppert - Violette Noziere (1978) #16
Jackie Chan - Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978) #18

Marcello Mastroianni - A Special Day (1977) #8
John Gielgud - Providence (1977) #9
Sophia Loren - A Special Day (1977) #11
Isabelle Huppert - The Lacemaker (1977) #18
Fernando Rey - Elisa, vida mia (1977) #19
Bruno S. - Stroszek (1977) #20

Liv Ullmann - Face to Face (1976) #3
Gerard Depardieu - The Lost Woman (1976) #17
Ana Torrent - Cria Cuervos (1976) #18

Isabelle Adjani - The Story of Adele H. (1975) #4
Delphine Seyrig - Jeanne Dielman (1975) #5
Amitabh Bachchan - Deewaar (1975) #8
Giancarlo Giannini - Seven Beauties (1975) #12
Marie-Christine Barrault - Cousin, Cousine (1975) #15
Jack Nicholson - The Passenger (1975) #16
Amitabh Bachchan - Sholay (1975) #18
Maxim Munzuk - Dersu Uzala (1975) #19
Margarita Terekhova - Mirror (1975) #20

Liv Ullmann - Scenes from a Marriage (1974) #3
Vittorio Gassman - Scent of a Woman (1974) #10
Brigitte Mira - Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) #13
Erland Josephson - Scenes from a Marriage (1974) #14
El Hedi Ben Salem - Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) #16
Charles Boyer - Stavisky (1974) #20

Valentina Cortese - Day for Night (1973) #11
Bruce Lee - Enter the Dragon (1973) #12
Jean-Pierre Leaud - The Mother and the Whore (1973) #18
Fernando Fernan Gomez - Spirit of the Beehive (1973) #19
Louis de Funes - The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob (1973) #20

Klaus Kinski - Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972) #2
Stephane Audran - The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) #6
Liv Ullmann - Cries and Whispers (1972) #7
Meena Kumari - Pakeeza (1972) #10
Ingrid Thulin - Cries and Whispers (1972) #18
Margit Carstensten - The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972) #19
Bruce Lee - Fist of Fury (1972) #20

Liv Ullmann - The Emigrants (1971) #7
Jean Gabin - Le Chat (1971) #10
Dirk Bogarde - Death in Venice (1971) #11
Amitabh Bachchan - Anand (1971) #19
Simone Signoret - Le Chat (1971) #20

Jean-Louis Trintignant - The Conformist (1970) #6
Fernando Rey - Tristana (1970) #7
Catherine Deneuve - Tristana #15
Stefania Sandrelli - The Conformist #16
Alain Delon - Le Cercle Rouge (1970) #17

Jean-Louis Trintignant - Z (1969) #11
Jean-Louis Trintignant - My Night At Maud’s (1969) #13
Liv Ullmann - The Passion of Anna (1969) #18

Monica Vitti - The Girl with the Pistol (1968) #10
Liv Ullmann - Shame (1968) #11
Jean-Louis Trintignant - The Man Who Lies (1968) #16
Claudia Cardinale - Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) #17
Max Von Sydow - Shame (1968) #19

Catherine Deneuve - Belle de Jour (1967) #1
Alain Delon - Le Samourai (1967) #6
Jacques Tati - Playtime (1967) #13
Michel Piccoli - Belle de Jour (1967) #14

Bibi Andersson - Persona (1966) #2
Liv Ullmann - Persona (1966) #5
Per Oscarsson - Hunger (1966) #9
Anatoly Solonitsyn - Andrei Rublev (1966) #10
Jean-Pierre Léaud - Masculin Feminin (1966) #18
Louis de Funes - La Grande Vadrouille (1966) #19
Franco Nero - Django (1966) #20

Toshiro Mifune - Red Beard (1965) #4
Ida Kaminska - The Shop On Main Street (1965) #6
Jean-Paul Belmondo - Pierrot Le Fou (1965) #7
Jeanne Moreau - Vive Maria! (1965) #8
Simone Signoret - Ship of Fools (1965) #10
Anna Karina - Pierrot Le Fou (1965) #15
Catherine Deneuve - Repulsion (1965) #16
Oskar Werner - Ship of Fools (1965) #17
Brigitte Bardot - Viva Maria! (1965) #20

Catherine Deneuve - The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) #3
Sophia Loren - Marriage, Italian Style (1964) #7
Kyoko Kishida - Woman in the Dunes (1964) #10
Monica Vitti - Red Desert (1964) #14
Marcello Mastroianni - Marriage, Italian Style (1964) #16
Innokenty Smoktunovsky - Hamlet (1964) #17
Jean-Paul Belmondo - That Man from Rio (1964) #20

Marcello Mastroianni - 8½ (1963) #3
Marcello Mastroianni - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) #5
Gunnar Bjornstrand - Winter Light (1963) #8
Brigitte Bardot - Contempt (1963) #9
Toshiro Mifune - High and Low (1963) #14
Burt Lancaster - The Leopard (1963) #15
Sophia Loren - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) #16
Claudia Cardinale - The Leopard (1963) #20

Jeanne Moreau - Jules and Jim (1962) #3
Tatsuya Nakadai - Harakiri (1962) #5
Anna Karina - Vivre Sa Vie (1962) #10
Vittorio Gassman - Il Sorpasso (1962) #16
Anna Magnani - Mamma Roma (1962) #17
Corinne Merchand - Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) #18
Toshiro Mifune - Sanjuro (1962) #19

Toshiro Mifune - Yojimbo (1961) #2
Marcello Mastroianni - Divorce Italian Style (1961) #4
Harriet Andersson - Through a Glass Darkly (1961) #8
Anna Karina - A Woman is a Woman (1961) #9
Franco Citti - Accattone (1961) #13
Jean-Paul Belmondo - Leon Morin, Priest (1961) #14
Anouk Aimee - Lola (1961) #15
Daniela Rocca - Divorce, Italian Style (1961) #16

Marcello Mastroianni - La Dolce Vita (1960) #1
Sophia Loren - Two Women (1960) #2
Jean-Paul Belmondo - Breathless (1960) #5
Monica Vitti - L’avventura (1960) #7
Alain Delon - Purple Noon (1960) #11
Jean Seberg - Breathless (1960) #12
Hideko Takamine - When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) #13
Max Von Sydow - The Virgin Spring (1960) #14
Madhubala - Mughal-E-Azam (1960) #15
Charles Aznavour - Shoot the Piano Player (1960) #18
Annie Girardot - Rocco and His Brothers (1960) #19
Alain Delon - Rocco and His Brothers (1960) #20

Jean-Pierre Léaud - The 400 Blows (1959) #3
Emmanuelle Riva - Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) #9
Vladimir Ivashov - Ballad of a Soldier (1959) #10
Tatsuya Nakadai - The Human Condition Part I: No Greater Love (1959) #12
Faten Hamama - The Nightingale's Prayer (1959) #16
Jeanne Moreau - The Lovers (1959) #20

Jeanne Moreau - Elevator to the Gallows (1958) #8
Jacques Tati - Mon Oncle (1958) #10
Zbigniew Cybulski - Ashes and Diamonds (1958) #11
Toshiro Mifune - The Hidden Fortress (1958) #17
Vittorio Gassman - Big Deal On Madonna Street (1958) #18
Misa Uehara - The Hidden Fortress (1958) #20

Giulietta Masina - Nights of Cabiria (1957) #1
Max von Sydow - The Seventh Seal (1957) #5
Toshiro Mifune - Throne of Blood (1957) #7
Victor Sjostrom - Wild Strawberries (1957) #9
Tatyana Samoylova - The Cranes Are Flying (1957) #10
Nargis - Mother India (1957) #14
Anna Magnani - Wild Is the Wind (1957) #16
Bibi Andersson - The Seventh Seal (1957) #20
François Périer - Gervaise (1956) #6
Karuna Banerjee - Aparajito (1956) #10
Bourvil - La Traverse de Paris (1956) #17
Maria Schell - Gervaise (1956) #18

Subir Banerjee - Pather Panchali (1955) #11
Gunnar Bjorstrand - Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) #12
Eva Dahlbeck - Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) #13
Jean Servais - Rififi (1955) #18
Karuna Banerjee - Pather Panchali (1955) #19

Toshiro Mifune - Seven Samurai (1954) #2
Giulietta Masina - La Strada (1954) #4
Takashi Shimura - Seven Samurai (1954) #5
Jean Gabin - Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1954) #6
George Sanders - Journey to Italy (1954) #14
Seiji Miyaguchi - Seven Samurai (1954) #15
Ingrid Bergman - Journey to Italy (1954) #16
Kinuyo Tanaka - Sansho the Bailiff (1954) #19
Anthony Quinn - La Strada (1954) #20

Setsuko Hara - Tokyo Story (1953) #3
Masayuki Mori - Ugetsu (1953) #6
Machiko Kyo - Ugetsu (1953) #8
Jacques Tati - Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953) #9
Chishu Ryu - Tokyo Story (1953) #10
Yves Montand - The Wages of Fear (1953) #12
Danielle Darrieux - Madame De (1953) #13
Alberto Sordi - I Vitelloni (1953) #17

Takashi Shimura - Ikiru (1952) #1
Simone Signoret - Casque D’or (1952) #8
Ingrid Bergman - Europa ‘51 (1952) #9
Carlo Battisti - Umberto D (1952) #14
Kinuyo Tanaka - The Life of Oharu (1952) #16
Meena Kumari - Baiju Bawra (1952) #17
Brigitte Fossey - Forbidden Games (1952) #20

Claude Laydu - Diary of a Country Priest (1951) #4
Raj Kapoor - Awaara (1951) #7
Toto - Cops and Robbers (1951) #11
Francesco Golisano - Miracle in Milan (1951) #13
Setsuko Hara - Early Summer (1951) #16

Toshiro Mifune - Rashomon (1950) #3
Machiko Kyo - Rashomon (1950) #9
Jean Marais - Orpheus (1950) #18

Setsuko Hara - Late Spring (1949) #3
Chishu Ryu - Late Spring (1949) #5
Vittorio Gassman - Bitter Rice (1949) #10
Takashi Shimura - Stray Dog (1949) #18

Lamberto Maggiorani - Bicycle Thieves (1948) #3
Takashi Shimura - Drunken Angel (1948) #13
Anna Magnani - L’amore (1948) #14

Michele Morgan - Pastoral Symphony (1946) #9
Jean Marais - Beauty and the Beast (1946) #12
Franco Interlenghi - Shoeshine (1946) #20

Anna Magnani - Rome, Open City (1945) #3
Arletty - Children of Paradise (1945) #9
Jean-Louis Barrault - Children of Paradise (1945) #10
Aldo Fabrizi - Rome, Open CIty (1945) #11

Nikolai Cherkasov - Ivan the Terrible Part I (1944) #7

Lisbeth Moving - Day of Wrath (1943) #18

Alida Valli - Old-Fashioned World (1941) #12

Jean Renoir - The Rules of the Game (1939) #14

Arletty - Hotel Du Nord (1938) #12
Michel Simon - Port of Shadows (1938) #16
Jean Gabin - La Bete Humaine (1938) #17
Michele Morgan - Port of Shadows (1938) #18
Jean Gabin - Port of Shadows (1938) #20

Jean Gabin - Pepe Le Moko (1937) #1
Jean Gabin - The Grand Illusion (1937) #2

Michel Simon - L’atalante (1934) #8
Jean Gabin - Maria Chapdelaine (1934) #10

Rudolf Klein-Rogge - The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) #10

Michel Simon - Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932) #13

Peter Lorre - M (1931) #1
Michel Simon - La Chienne (1931) #14

Marlene Dietrich - The Blue Angel (1930) #1
Emil Jannings - The Blue Angel (1930) #4

Louise Brooks - Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) #4
Louise Brooks - Pandora's Box (1929) #6

Renee Jeanne Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) #1

[Tim]

A top 25 update. New additions/promotions in bold.

1. Renée Jeanne Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
2. Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront (1954)
3. Robert De Niro - Raging Bull (1980)
4. Marlon Brando - The Godfather (1972)
5. Laurence Olivier - Hamlet (1948)
6. Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice (1982)
7. Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood (2007)
8. Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove (1964)
9. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard (1950)
10. Orson Welles - Citizen Kane (1941)
11. Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver (1976)
12. Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
13. Al Pacino - The Godfather Part II (1974)
14. Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind (1939)
15. James Stewart - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
16. Bette Davis - All About Eve (1950)
17. Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
18. Peter Lorre - M (1931)
19. Charlie Chaplin - City Lights (1931)
20. Giulietta Masina - Nights of Cabiria (1957)
21. Alec Guinness - The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
22. Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
23. Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
24. Catherine Deneuve - Belle de Jour (1967)
25. Katharine Hepburn - The Lion In Winter (1968)

[Dubrow555]

Not a huge fan of the #1 choice tbh, I don't understand how it beats the 4-5 ahead of it. The rest of the solid is very solid.

[ManPerson]

It's the most acclaimed performance of all time, for sure. I could see it below OtW for method acting influence, I guess, but I don't see it any lower than that.