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Rank 094Up 4
#9 in Influential Actors
of 18 ranked entries
Tom Hanks
Active since 1980
Hanks won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars in an era when almost nobody does, and spent the decades since converting that goodwill into some of the most quietly demanding everyman performances in American film. Recorded specifics: breakout year 1988, signature role Forrest Gump, oscars 2. Panel highlighted one of only two actors to win consecutive Best Actor Oscars, decades of near-universal audience trust and range that spans slapstick, war drama and animation voice work. The reservation on record is recent films have leaned on his established likability rather than stretching it.
Leading manBox-office draw
Score breakdown
How Tom Hanks earned 85.6
Each criterion is scored independently, then combined using the weights published on Influential Actors.
- Range & versatilityweight 30%
- 87.8
- Critical acclaimweight 25%
- 86.4
- Cultural influenceweight 25%
- 84.3
- Longevity & consistencyweight 20%
- 82.9
On the record
Recorded detail
| Breakout year | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Signature role | Forrest Gump |
| Oscars | 2 |
| Critic score | 9.0 |
Panel verdict
Strengths and reservations
What it gets right
- One of only two actors to win consecutive Best Actor Oscars
- Decades of near-universal audience trust
- Range that spans slapstick, war drama and animation voice work
Where it gives ground
- Recent films have leaned on his established likability rather than stretching it
1 appearance
Where this entry ranks
From the same list
Ranked alongside it
Rank 01Editor’s pickMeryl Streep
Active since 1977
Twenty-one Oscar nominations is not a fluke of longevity — it is a working method. Streep treats accent and posture as load-bearing choices, not decoration, and has done it across six decades without repeating a performance.
97.4/100 Top 49 score3Up 3
Rank 02Editor’s pickDaniel Day-Lewis
Active since 1971
Three Best Actor Oscars from only six nominations is the most efficient hit rate in the category’s history, achieved by a man who works roughly once every four years and prepares as if each role is the only one he will get. He came out of a widely publicised retirement for a 2025 film directed by his own son.
96.6/100 Top 49 score3Up 3
Rank 03Editor’s pickDenzel Washington
Active since 1977
Washington built a career on moral authority even when the character does not deserve it — Training Day’s Alonzo is magnetic specifically because Washington never signals the villainy as a performance within a performance.
93.3/100 Top 49 score1Up 1
Rank 04Cate Blanchett
Active since 1990
Blanchett treats a role like an engineering problem — Lydia Tár’s conducting technique was rehearsed for months before a camera ever rolled. Few actors working today move this convincingly between arthouse cinema and populist blockbuster.
93.2/100 Top 49 score—No change
Rank 05Frances McDormand
Active since 1984
McDormand has three Best Actress Oscars and has spent almost none of the resulting capital on visibility — she works when a script actually earns it and disappears for years at a time by design.
91.8/100 Top 49 score2Up 2
Rank 06Editor’s pickViola Davis
Active since 1996
Eight minutes of screen time in Doubt was enough to earn an Oscar nomination — an object lesson in how little time a genuinely great actor needs. She completed the EGOT in 2023, the hard way, decades into a career built on supporting roles that refused to stay small.
89.8/100 Top 49 score2Down 2
Rank 07Leonardo DiCaprio
Active since 1991
DiCaprio spent two decades as the industry’s most reliable Oscar bridesmaid before The Revenant finally closed the gap, and the running joke obscures how consistently he chooses directors — Scorsese, Tarantino, Nolan — over easier paydays.
87.5/100 Top 49 score3Up 3
Rank 08Joaquin Phoenix
Active since 1986
Phoenix disappears into discomfort rather than charisma, which is why Joker worked as a character study when a more conventional leading man would have made it a stunt. He treats a role’s ugliness as the point rather than something to soften.
85.8/100 Top 49 score1Down 1
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Top 49 rankings are editorial. Scores are produced from the published criteria on each list and are refreshed on the cadence stated there. Figures shown across this section are curated demonstration data.