Oscillating between steely strength and icy fragility, there’s an ever-present undercurrent of power and precision to all of Kidman’s performances.

Iconic line: “One day I’ll fly away / Leave all this to yesterday” ( Moulin Rouge) Notable roles: Satine ( Moulin Rouge), Alice Harford ( Eyes Wide Shut), Grace Stewart ( The Others), Virginia Woolf ( The Hours), Millicent Clyde ( Paddington), Rae Ingram ( Dead Calm), Anna ( Birth), Queen Atlanna ( Aquaman), Celeste Wright ( Big Little Lies) And the winners, in no particular order, are… Denzel Washington While you’ll find those goodies exclusively in the pages of Empire magazine – or, available to read when you sign up to the Empire members site here – we can now reveal the full 50 Greatest Actors list below, as voted for by you. We spend a day at Nicolas Cage’s Las Vegas home for our cover story, get an acting masterclass from Tilda Swinton, have Ridley Scott waxing lyrical on the power of Joaquin Phoenix, Ang Lee paying tribute to Heath Ledger, Gina Prince-Bythewood hailing the talents of Viola Davis and much, more more. Your votes were counted, totted up, and in the magazine – on sale Thursday 22 December, and available to order online here – we take a deep dive into the resulting list, speaking to the stars themselves, gathering tributes from the directors that worked with them, and much more. And on top of that, you have to have that thing that can’t really be learned, or taught – a charisma, a command of the camera, an energy that enlivens even the most stellar script, and makes audiences flock to the multiplex in their droves.įor Empire’s February 2023 issue, we asked readers to vote for the best actors of all time – the silver-screen stars that always deliver, that have changed the game, and whose distinctive talents can never be replicated. Plus, you have to be able to take that technical mastery and apply it across multiple genres, from quiet character dramas to epic action-packed blockbusters.

For one, you have to be able to act – to really inhabit a character’s deepest emotions, to step into their skin so that the words on the page come across as lived and felt.

Ever since there have been movies, there have been movie stars – and becoming one of the world’s greatest actors involves being able to be many things at once.

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