The 32 greatest '90s actors
Jan. 26, 2024As America logged online, these were the greatest actors who blew up the big screen
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It’s not easy to describe the 1990s. Characterized by the meteoric rise of the internet, cable television and 24-hour news, and alternative music, the 1990s also saw an influx of new movie stars whose backgrounds were as diverse as, well, themselves. But who in the 1990s actually deserve recognition as its greatest actors on the silver screen?
As the 1980s gave way to the 1990s, many factors influenced who, and what, appeared in movie theaters everywhere. The rise of the internet and rental video stores made otherwise hard-to-see small budget indies and foreign-language productions a lot easier to access for everyday people.
Blockbusters became inconceivably bigger, with filmmakers deeply invested in the rapid sophistication of computer generated visual effects (VFX) and studios keenly interested in their commercialization prospects; after Star Wars toys flew off the shelves in the 1980s, producers began to see movies as new wells for similar riches.
While studios held greater creative control over writers and directors than they had in years, actors were still the primary currency and the most bankable stars were seemingly always in demand. Here are just 32 of the greatest actors of that time period.
32. Jet Li
Martial arts superstar Jet Li didn’t make his international film debut until Lethal Weapon 4 in 1998, but his stardom was unmatched throughout Asia, particularly China, throughout the 1990s. A former Wushu champion, Jet Li got his stage name through a Philippine PR company who named him “Jet” to evoke a fierce fighter plane taking off. He started making movies in the 1980s, but by the 1990s his stardom was solidified through action epics like The Master, Fist of Legend, High Risk, Black Mask, and the popular Once Upon a Time China series. By the 2000s, Jet Li became the new face of martial arts action internationally, with Hollywood features like Cradle 2 the Grave, Kiss of the Dragon, and Unleashed.
A recipient whose Oscar, Emmy, and Tony trophies for acting make her one of the few actresses to enjoy Triple Crown status, Frances McDormand started her career in the 1980s before achieving recognition in the 1990s. After receiving an Oscar nomination for Mississippi Burning in 1989, McDormand enjoyed the first half of the 1990s in mainstream fare like Darkman, Miller’s Crossing, Hidden Agenda, The Butcher’s Wife, and Short Cuts. In 1996, she teamed up with the Coen Brothers for their crime comedy Fargo, which permanently cemented her status as one of the industry’s best actors. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Fargo, and she won the award again for the movies Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Nomadland.
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Following her cover appearances on British Vogue, Uma Thurman successfully transitioned into acting in the late 1980s. She soon earned widespread recognition for her role as Mia Wallace, a gangster’s wife, in Quentin Tarantino’s seismic 1994 picture Pulp Fiction. The rest of the decade saw Thurman dominate the screen, with movies like A Month by the Lake, Beautiful Girls, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Gattaca, and The Avengers (not the Marvel one). Thurman’s star status kept going in the 2000s, with her lead role in the hit Kill Bill duology.
Hailed as one of Britain’s finest actors, Ralph Fiennes made his film debut in the 1992 movie Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. A year later, his performance as a Nazi war criminal in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List earned him widespread recognition, with a nomination for an Academy Award. He was again celebrated for his performance in the 1996 film The English Patient. His other movies of the 1990s include Quiz Show, Strange Days, Oscar and Lucinda, The Avengers (still not the Marvel one), and The End of the Affair. In the 2000s, Fiennes would enjoy lasting recognition as the evil Voldemort in the blockbuster Harry Potter film series.
After gaining attention in the mid-1980s, Winona Ryder went on to become one of the biggest Hollywood stars the 1990s saw. Her biggest features of the decade include Mermaids, Edward Scissorhands, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Age of Innocence, Little Women, Reality Bites, The Crucible, and Girl, Interrupted. The mid-90s also saw Ryder receive some Oscar recognition, with nominations for The Age of Innocence and Little Women. Following a hiatus in the 2000s, Ryder revitalized her career, eventually leading to a starring role in the Netflix mega-hit Stranger Things.
A celebrated actress and activist, Susan Sarandon has enjoyed a prolific career in Hollywood for over five decades. After starring in the cult classic musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sarandon’s career matured throughout the 1990s, starting with Ridley Scott’s road trip epic Thelma & Luise. The rest of the decade saw Sarandon deliver some of her finest work, with movies like Lorenzo’s Oil, The Client, Dead Man Walking, and Stepmom decorating her with awards. (She won the Oscar for Best Actress, for Dead Man Walking.)
A highly decorated thespian whose movies have grossed billions at the box office, Gary Oldman started his career in the 1970s and made his feature film debut in the 1982 movie Remembrance. After playing Rosencrantz in the 1990 Shakespere spoof Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Oldman became a prominent figure in Hollywood with roles in movies like State of Grace, JFK (where he played Lee Harvey Oswald), Bram Stoker’s Dracula, True Romance, Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, and Air Force One. In the 2000s, he entered the superhero sphere as Gotham City policeman Commissioner Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s game-changing Dark Knight trilogy.
After dancing his way to stardom in Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta enjoyed the 1980s in commercially successful hits. Critically, however, Travolta was in stagnation. It wasn’t until 1994’s Pulp Fiction, in which Travolta played against his popular image in his role as a mob hitman, that Travolta was back in the graces of audiences and critics. Travolta packed the ‘90s with more movies, like Get Shorty, White Man’s Burden, Broken Arrow, Phenomenon, Michael, Face/Off, A Civil Action, Primary Colors, and The General’s Daughter.
Though Morgan Freeman started his career in the 1960s, it wasn’t until 1989 when Freeman’s profile became inescapable. After starring in several hit movies in 1989, like Glory, Driving Miss Daisy, Lean On Me, and Johnny Handsome, Freeman had all the momentum to seize his stardom in the 1990s. Some of his most celebrated work today were released in the 1990s, including Unforgiven, The Shawshank Redemption, Outbreak, Seven, Amistad, and Deep Impact, as well as providing narration to several documentaries including The Long Way Home. He also made his directorial debut in 1993, with his movie Bopha!, though the movie bombed at the box office. Morgan Freeman is remembered today for his distinct, dignified speaking voice and for playing worldly characters who command a lifetime of experience and wisdom.
Matt Damon and childhood best friend Ben Affleck both struggled as actors in the early 1990s. For Damon, he had minor roles in movies like Mystic Pizza, Field of Dreams, and Courage Under Fire. In 1997, however, his career changed forever through a starring role in Gus Van Sant’s drama Good Will Hunting, which he also wrote with Affleck and earned both an Oscar award (for best Screenplay) and Oscar nomination (for Best Actor). Following more parts in hits like Saving Private Ryan, Rounders, Dogma, and Talented Mr. Ripley, Matt Damon’s stardom became permanent, and by the 2000s Matt Damon was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. He must sure like them apples.
Kevin Costner kicked off the 1990s as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, with parts in big studio movies like the Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves (which Costner also directed), Revenge, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, A Perfect World, and the mega-hit sensation The Bodyguard. The big budget sci-fi Waterworld, however, started a minor career downturn for Costner, whose subsequent pictures – like The Postman, Tin Cup, and Message in a Bottle – drew lesser attention and acclaim. After continuing work into the 2000s, Costner would again be on top with his lead role in the hit television series Yellowstone.
Unsatisfied by his teen idol status from the series 21 Jump Street, Johnny Depp became more cautious about the roles he selected throughout the 1990s. His hypervigilance over his reputation led to contrasting results, with a mixture of hits like Edward Scissorhands, the cult classic Cry-Baby, the more polarizing Benny & Joon, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – for which his co-star Leonardo DiCaprio earned more attention. It wasn’t until Depp starred in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, a biographical drama about the cult filmmaker, that Depp said he felt “rejuvenated” as an actor, in a Washington Times interview. While the rest of the ‘90s still had mixed results for Depp, at least in terms of box office, critics adored his work in movies like Donnie Brasco and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He ended the decade co-starring in Tim Burton’s gothic horror The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, another box office hit.
Keanu Reeves nearly did not go by his actual name. At the beginning of his career in the 1980s, agents advised him to pick a different stage name, because “Keanu” sounded too “ethnic.” But thank the heavens that Reeves kept his name, because its distinctness as allowed his whole persona to stand out in Hollywood. After achieving fame in the juvenile Bill & Ted comedies, Reeves began to mature with movies like My Own Private Idaho, the action thriller Point Break, and a lead role in Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. After starring in 1994’s Speed, opposite Sandra Bullock, Reeves became bulletproof even with middling fare like A Walk in the Clouds, Johnny Mnemonic, and Chain Reaction. In 1999, Keanu Reeves became “The One” after The Matrix, and his career has never been the same after that.
Like his best friend for life Matt Damon, Ben Affleck went from Boston to Hollywood and cut his teeth with small uncredited roles in movies like Field of Dreams and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While Affleck slowly started gaining attention through comedies like Mallrats, Glory Daze, and Chasing Amy, he joined Damon on the road to success after they co-wrote and co-starred in Good Will Hunting (winning Oscars in the process). In 1998, Affleck’s career changed forever from his lead role in the sci-fi disaster blockbuster Armageddon. While his career is full of great movies (and some not so great, admittedly), he will always be the bomb in Phantoms, yo.
One of the most beloved screen actresses in modern Hollywood history, Julia Roberts emerged in the 1980s and became a bona fide star in the 1990s. Her career hot streak began with Pretty Woman in 1990, playing a sex worker with a heart of gold who falls in love with an affluent businessman (played by Richard Gere). After more movies like the cult sci-fi thriller Flatliners and the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy, Roberts took a brief hiatus before becoming an even bigger star, through movies like The Pelican Brief (opposite Denzel Washington) and My Best Friend’s Wedding. While many of her movies in the 1990s weren’t universally well-received, her stardom and acting prowess was always without question. In 1999, she starred in two more rom-com hits, Notting Hill and Runaway Bride, that gave her all the star power she’d need to thrive even more in the 2000s.
After making the most complicated restaurant orders (and faking certain bodily functions) in When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan rose to superstardom with more hits like Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless In Seattle, When a Man Loves a Woman, French Kiss, Courage Under Fire, You’ve Got Mail, Anastasia, and City of Angels. There is perhaps no one else who defines 1990s romance like Ryan, whose performances as fiercely independent women who still succumb to the powers of love have won over audiences everywhere for decades.
Though Tom Hanks enjoys some popular recognition as “America’s Dad,” the complete body of Hanks’ work speaks to a most versatile performer who can inhabit both good-natured men and morally ambiguous antiheroes alike. Almost immediately after reaching career heights from the 1988 hit Big, Hanks entered the ‘90s on a career downturn, with middling movies like Turner & Hooch and Radio Flyer. In 1992, his career turned around with A League of Their Own, which put Hanks back on his hot streak with movies like Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and the groundbreaking animated family hit Toy Story. He made his feature directing debut with 1996’s That Thing You Do!, and again won over audiences and critics in his role in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. The last movie Hanks starred in the 1990s was The Green Mile, another significant hit in his already impeccable filmography.
Though Samuel L. Jackson had a surprisingly prolific acting career by the end of the 1980s – including a small part in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas – Jackson struggled in his various substance addictions. After completing rehab, Jackson played the role of an addict in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, his authentic and mesmerizing performance resulting in a lot of attention throughout the industry. (The 1991 Cannes Film Festival even instituted a “Supporting Actor” award just to recognize his work.) After appearing in more movies like Juice, Patriot Games, and Jurassic Park, Jackson’s career was forever decided after his thunderous performance as bombastic hit man Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction. Since Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson has become one of the most prolific actors in cinema history, with over 150 roles across movies that have grossed a combined $27 billion.
Eric Francisco is a freelance entertainment journalist and graduate of Rutgers University. If a movie or TV show has superheroes, spaceships, kung fu, or John Cena, he’s your guy to make sense of it. A former senior writer at Inverse, his byline has also appeared at Vulture, The Daily Beast, Observer, and The Mary Sue. You can find him screaming at Devils hockey games or dodging enemy fire in Call of Duty: Warzone.
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