TOP 30 Actors Working Today: 2012

I had in my consideration, besides Oscar recognition, the actor's status in today's industry and cinema history, how he's seen by critics and by audiences, career prospects and "body of work vs quality of work" relation

1. 

Jack Nicholson

Born: April 22, 1937 - Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Easy Rider (1969)

5 Best Performances: Chinatown (1974); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975); Terms of Endearment (1983); As Good as It Gets (1997); The Departed (2006)

Oscar recognition: 12 nominations | 3 wins (Best Leading Actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Best Supporting Actor for Terms of Endearment; Best Leading Actor for As Good as It Gets)

2.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Born: April 29, 1957 - Greenwich, London, England, UK

Breakthrough Performance: A Room With a View (1985)

5 Best Performances: My Left Foot (1989); In the Name of the Father (1993); The Boxer (1997); Gangs of New York (2002); There Will Be Blood (2007)

Oscar recognition: 4 nominations | 2 wins (Best Leading Actor for My Left Foot; Best Leading Actor for There Will Be Blood)

3.

Robert De Niro

Born: August 17, 1943 - New York City, New York, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Mean Streets (1973)

5 Best Performances: The Godfather: Part II (1974); Taxi Driver (1976); Raging Bull (1980); Cape Fear (1991); Meet the Parents (2000)

Oscar recognition: 6 nominations | 2 wins (Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather: Part II; Best Leading Actor for Raging Bull)

4.

Dustin Hoffman

Born: August 8, 1937 - Los Angeles, California, USA

Breakthrough Performance: The Graduate (1967)

5 Best Performances: Midnight Cowboy (1969); Kramer Vs Kramer (1979); Tootsie (1982); Rain Man (1988); Last Chance Harvey (2008)

Oscar recognition: 7 nominations | 2 wins (Best Leading Actor for Kramer Vs Kramer; Best Leading Actor for Rain Man)

5.

Sean Penn

Born: August 17, 1960 - Santa Monica, California, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Bad Boys (1983)

5 Best Performances: Dead Man Walking (1995); Sweet and Lowdown (1999); I Am Sam (2001); Mystic River (2003); Milk (2008)

Oscar recognition: 5 nominations | 2 wins (Best Leading Actor for Mystic River; Best Leading Actor for Milk)

6.

Al Pacino

Born: April 25, 1940 - New York City, New York, USA

Breakthrough Performance: The Godfather (1972)

5 Best Performances: The Godfather (1972); Serpico (1973); The Godfather: Part II (1974); Scarface (1983); Scent of a Woman (1992)

Oscar recognition: 8 nominations | 1 win (Best Leading Actor for Scent of a Woman)

7.

Russell Crowe

Born: April 7, 1964 - Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

Breakthrough Performance: Proof (1991)

5 Best Performances: The Insider (1999); Gladiator (2000); A Beautiful Mind (2001); Cinderella Man (2005); 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Oscar recognition: 3 nominations | 1 win (Best Leading Actor for Gladiator)

8.

Gary Oldman

Born: March 21, 1958 - New Cross, London, England, UK

Breakthrough Performance: Sid and Nancy (1986)

5 Best Performances: Prick Up Your Ears (1987); State of Grace (1990); Léon: The Professional (1994); The Contender (2000); Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Oscar recognition: 1 nomination

9.
Denzel Washington

Born: December 28, 1954 - Mount Vernon, New York, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Cry Freedom (1987)

5 Best Performances: Cry Freedom (1987); Glory (1989); Malcom X (1992); Training Day (2001); American Gangster (2007); 

Oscar recognition: 5 nominations | 2 wins (Best Supporting Actor for Glory; Best Leading Actor for Training Day)

10.
Javier Bardem

Born: March 1, 1969 - Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

Breakthrough Performance: Jamón, jamón (1992)

5 Best Performances: Before Night Falls (2000); Mondays in the Sun (2002); The Sea Inside (2004); No Country for Old Men (2007); Biutiful (2010)

Oscar recognition: 3 nominations | 1 win (Best Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men)

11.
Tom Hanks

Born: July 9, 1956 - Concord, California, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Big (1988)

5 Best Performances: Philadelphia (1993); Forrest Gump (1994); Saving Private Ryan (1998); Cast Away (2000); Road to Perdition (2002) 

Oscar recognition: 5 nominations | 2 wins (Best Leading Actor for Philadelphia; Best Leading Actor for Forrest Gump)

12.
Johnny Depp

Born: June 9, 1963 - Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Edward Scissorhands (1990)

5 Best Performances: Ed Wood (1994); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003); Finding Neverland (2004); Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007); Alice In Wonderland (2010)

Oscar recognition: 3 nominations

13.
Philip Seymour Hoffman

Born: July 23, 1967 - Fairport, New York, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Boogie Nights (1997)

5 Best Performances: Almost Famous (2000); Capote (2005); The Savages (2007); Charlie's Wilson War (2007); Doubt (2008)

Oscar recognition: 3 nominations | 1 win (Best Leading Actor for Capote)

14.

Ryan Gosling

Born: November 12, 1980 - London, Ontario, Canada
Breakthrough Performance: The Believer (2001)
5 Best Performances: Half Nelson (2006); Lars and the Real Girl (2007); Blue Valentine (2010); Drive (2011); Crazy Stupid Love (2011)
Oscar recognition: 1 nomination

15.

Morgan Freeman

Born: June 1, 1937 - Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Street Smart (1987)

5 Best Performances: Driving Miss Daisy (1989); The Shawshank Redemption (1994); Se7en (1995); Million Dollar Baby (2004); Invictus (2009)

Oscar recognition: 5 nominations | 1 win (Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby)

16.

Michael Caine

Born: March 14, 1933 - Rotherhithe, London, England, UK
Breakthrough Performance: The Ipcress File (1965)
5 Best Performances: Alfie (1966); Educating Rita (1983); Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); The Cider House Rules (1999); The Quiet American (2002)
Oscar recognition: 6 nominations | 2 wins (Best Supporting Actor for Hannah and Her Sisters; Best Supporting Actor for The Cider House Rules)

17.
Jeff Bridges

Born: December 4, 1949 - Los Angeles, California, USA
Breakthrough Performance: The Last Picture Show (1971)
5 Best Performances: The Fisher King (1991); The Big Lebowski (1998); The Contender (2000); Crazy Heart (2009); True Grit (2010)
Oscar recognition: 6 nominations | 1 win (Best Leading Actor for Crazy Heart)

18.

Christian Bale

Born: January 30, 1974 - Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK

Breakthrough Performance: Empire of the Sun (1987)

5 Best Performances: American Psycho (2000); The Machinist (2004); The Prestige (2006); Rescue Dawn (2007); The Fighter (2010)

Oscar recognition: 1 nomination | 1 win (Best Supporting Actor for The Fighter)

19.
Geoffrey Rush

Born: July 6, 1951 - Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

Breakthrough Performance: Shine (1996)

5 Best Performances: Shine (1996); Shakespeare in Love (1998); Quills (2000); Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl (2003); The King's Speech (2010)

Oscar recognition: 4 nominations | 1 win (Best Leading Actor for Shine)

20.
Michael Fassbender

Born: April 2, 1977 - Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Breakthrough Performance: Hunger (2008)

5 Best Performances: Hunger (2008); Fish Tank (2009); A Dangerous Method (2011); Shame (2011); Prometheus (2012)

Oscar recognition: 0 nominations

21.
Bill Murray

Born: September 21, 1950 - Wilmette, Illinois, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Ghostbusters (1984)

5 Best Performances: Rushmore (1998); Lost In Translation (2003); Broken Flowers (2005); Get Low (2010); Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Oscar recognition: 1 nomination

22.
Leonardo DiCaprio

Born: November 11, 1974 - Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Breakthrough Performance: What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

5 Best Performances: What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993); The Aviator (2004); The Departed (2006); Revolutionary Road (2008); J. Edgar (2011)

Oscar recognition: 3 nominations

23.
Anthony Hopkins

Born: December 31, 1937 - Margam, Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Breakthrough Performance: The Lion in Winter (1968)

5 Best Performances: Magic (1978); The Silence of the Lambs (1991); Shadowlands (1993); Amistad (1997); Proof (2005)

Oscar recognition: 4 nominations | 1 win (Best Leading Actor for The Silence of the Lambs)

24.
Brad Pitt

Born: December 18, 1963 - Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Thelma & Louise (1991)

5 Best Performances: 12 Monkeys (1995); Babel (2006); Burn After Reading (2008); The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008); The Tree of Life (2011)

Oscar recognition: 3 nominations

25.

George Clooney

Born: May 6, 1961 - Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Breakthrough Performance: One Fine Day (1996)

5 Best Performances: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000); Syriana (2005); Michael Clayton (2007); Up In the Air (2009); The Descendants (2011)

Oscar recognition: 4 nominations | 1 win (Best Supporting Actor for Syriana)

26.
Edward Norton

Born: August 18, 1969 - Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Breakthrough Performance: Primal Fear (1996)

5 Best Performances: Everyone Says I Love You (1996); Primal Fear (1996); American History X (1998); Fight Club (1999); The Painted Veil (2006)

Oscar recognition: 2 nominations

27.
Joaquin Phoenix

Born: October 28, 1974 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Breakthrough Performance: To Die For (1995)

5 Best Performances: Quills (2000); Gladiator (2000); Walk the Line (2005); We Own the Night (2007); Two Lovers (2008)

Oscar recognition: 2 nominations

28.

Mark Ruffalo

Born: November 22, 1967 - Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
Breakthrough Performance: You Can Count On Me (2000)
5 Best Performances: You Can Count On Me (2000); Blindness (2008); What Doesn't Kill You (2008); The Kids Are All Right (2010); The Avengers (2012)
Oscar recognition: 1 nomination

29.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Born: February 17, 1981 - Los Angeles, California, USA

Breakthrough Performance: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

5 Best Performances: Manic (2001); Mysterious Skin (2004); Brick (2005); (500) Days of Summer (2009); 50/50 (2011)

Oscar recognition: 0 nominations

30.

Will Smith

Born: September 25, 1968 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Breakthrough Performance: Men In Black (1997)
5 Best Performances: Men In Black (1997); Ali (2001); Hitch (2005); The Pursuit of Happyness (2006); I Am Legend (2007)
Oscar recognition: 2 nominations