35 Actors Names That Every Movie Buff Knows And 15 Only Millennials Know
- by Rosalie Nardi
- – on
- in Movies and TV
Over the years, as we grow older and as our films become more modern, there are constantly new actors being thrown into the mix. We can't deny, however, that there are a large number of actors that always seem to stick around and never get old. Some of them continue to star in new films while others become timeless in classic films that will never grow old. Some of these stars are so well known that even though some younger generation audience members couldn't possibly name a film that they star in, they can still recognize and name the actor.
Test your knowledge of the largest Hollywood actors in this time period. Some, being classic actors that have been in the industry for decades, you will have no problem identifying, but there is also a select group that only real movie buffs or Millennials will actually be able to name. Depending on when each fan was born, and therefor started watching TV and movies, these actors may not be recognizable to everyone. So put your film and actor knowledge to the test and see how many of the fifty listed here you can name.
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This actor, producer, director, screenwriter, and businessman has won two Golden Globes and two Academy Awards. He made his acting debut as a television star but is more known for his large movie roles now. His biggest success came from his role in Ocean's Eleven, which was a remake of a 1960s film of the same name. In 2015, this actor was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, an award shared by people like Walt Disney, Judy Garland, and Frank Sinatra.
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This actress, producer, and philanthropist made her debut in the late 1980s, playing a minor role in a film called Hangmen. From there she played the lead role in a sitcom called Working Girl that only ended up airing for a few months. Her career really took off in the 90s and 2000s with movies like Speed, While You Were Sleeping, Miss Congeniality, and The Proposal, to name a few. She has won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2010 for her film, The Blind Side.
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In 2008, she made her acting debut with the short film East River and subsequently returned to Kenya to star in the television series Shuga. She then pursued a master's degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama. She had her first feature film role as Patsey in Steve McQueen's historical drama 12 Years a Slave, for which she won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She became the first Kenyan and Mexican actress to win an Academy Award.
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This actress, director, and producer made her screen debut in 1970. Her first major film role was as Kay Adams-Corleone in The Godfather, but the films that shaped her early career were those with director and co-star Woody Allen, beginning with Play It Again, Sam in 1972. Her next two films with Allen, Sleeper, and Love and Death, established her as a comic actor. Her fourth film with Woody Allen, Annie Hall, won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.
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This woman has been cited in the media as "the best actress of her generation" and she is the most nominated actor in all of Oscar history. Born in 1949, she made her acting debut in the mid-70s but is known for many of her roles from the start of her career as well as more modern films such as Mamma Mia, Into the Woods, and The Iron Lady. in 2017, she won the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.
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This Australian actress and film producer was born and raised on a farm in Dalby, Queensland. She began her career in the late 2000s playing roles in Australian independent films. However, she had her Hollywood breakthrough performance when co-starring in Martin Scorsese's biographical black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2017, Time magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and Forbes featured her in their 30 Under 30 list.
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Taking advice from Nicholas Cage, this former door-to-door salesman decided to become an actor and had his debut at the age of twenty-one in the low-budget horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street. Just three years later, he shot to stardom in his role as undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the hit TV series 21 Jump street. Later on in his career, after all of his success, he went on to play that same role in the movie remake with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.
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In the late 1980s, this famous actor made his first appearances in television commercials and then had recurring roles in television series such as the soap opera, Santa Barabara, and the sitcom, Growing Pains. His film career started in the 90s with roles in films such as, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and Romeo + Juliet. His role that gave him international fame, however, was the one in James Cameron's Titanic, which became the highest grossing film up until that point.
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This California-born actor, younger brother of another famous actor, had his film breakthrough as a supporting role in the buddy comedy film 21 Jump Street. Since then he has starred in many films such as Fright Night, Now You See Me and its sequel Now You See Me 2, Warm Bodies, Neighbors and its sequel Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Nerve, The Little Hours, and The Disaster Artist, which is his more recent film where he stars alongside his brother.
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This New York native started his career in the 1960s when he was just twenty years old. He played small, sometimes uncredited, roles in films throughout the decade, but his largest success came in the 70s when he starred in The Godfather Part II as young Vito Corleone, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and in Taxi Driver as Travis Bickle. In more recent years, he is known for films such as Silver Linings Playbook, The Intern, Last Vegas, and Grudge Match.
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Being the child of two actors, this actress, author and businesswoman has clearly inherited a lot of that talent. She rose to fame for her role in the 2000 film, Almost Famous, for which she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is best known for her roles in romantic comedies such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, You, Me and Dupree, Fool's Gold, and Bride Wars.
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The oldest of the four brothers, this actor is best known for his role on 30 Rock and his performances on Saturday Night Live. However, he is also known for some films, such as Beetlejuice, The Aviator, and The Departed. He had a small role on Friends as one of Phoebe's boyfriends, Parker in The One in Massapequa, which is actually close to where he grew up. He has three younger brothers who also became actors as well as two sisters.
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Playing the lead role in the Mission Impossible series and Top Gun, this actor is best known in the action genre. However, he also played a lot of non-action roles, including the title character in Jerry McGuire, Dustin Hoffman's co-star in Rain Man, and his role as Stacee Jaxx in the 2012 film, Rock of Ages. He has lost a bit of his credibility as he is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology and credits it with helping him overcome dyslexia.
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This actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian is known for his comedic roles in films such as Accepted, Grandma's Boy, Superbad, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek, 21 Jump Street, This Is the End, 22 Jump Street, and War Dogs, as well as his performances in Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street, for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. As a screenwriter, he contributed to 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Sausage Party and Why Him?
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Being cited as Hollywood's highest-paid actress, this actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian made her debut in a film alongside her father when she was only seven years old. Her career really kicked off, however, when she was in her twenties, with her first leading role in a major film being in 1995 in the film Hackers. Her role as Lara Croft established her as a leading Hollywood actress but is also known for films such as Girl, Interrupted, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
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The daughter of two actors, this actress gained her fame through the portrayal of the role of Rachel Green on the hit sitcom Friends. Her box office hits include Bruce Almighty, The Break-Up, Marley & Me, Just Go with It, Horrible Bosses, and We're the Millers. Each of these films has grossed over US$200 million in worldwide receipts. Some of her other films include The Good Girl, Friends With Money, and Cake. In 2008, she co-founded the production company Echo Films.
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As a public figure, he has been cited as one of the most influential and powerful people in Hollywood. He has also been cited as the world's most attractive man by various media outlets, and his personal life is the subject of wide publicity. He has won many awards as both an actor and a humanitarian, as well as with his own production company called Plan B Entertainment, known for movies such as The Departed, 12 Years a Slave, and The Big Short.
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The death of this Chicago-born actor in 2014 was the largest story of sad news all over the media. He was a loved actor and comedian and was always able to make his audience smile. Known for his leading roles in Popeye, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, and Jumanji, just to name a few, this actor won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in Mrs. Doubtfire, as well as the Acadamy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting.
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She appeared in Forbes Celebrity 100 in 2013 and the Time 100 in 2017 and has been cited in the media as one of the most talented actresses of her generation, and the highest-paid actress in the world. She made her film debut in Superbad, and received positive media attention for her role in Zombieland. The 2010 teen comedy Easy A was her first starring role, earning her nominations for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
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This American actress and producer became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman in 1990. The film grossed $464 million worldwide. She has won three Golden Globe Awards (out of eight nominations) and has been nominated for four Academy Awards for her film acting, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Erin Brockovich in the year 2000. Her most successful films include Steel Magnolias, My Best Friend's Wedding, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, Ocean's Eleven, Valentine's Day, and Eat Pray Love.
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This actor and film producer achieved prominence in the early 1990s with films such as Goodfellas, Jungle Fever, Patriot Games, Amos & Andrew, True Romance, and Jurassic Park. He is also known for his collaborations with director Quentin Tarantino including films such as Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight. This actor has kept busy throughout his career, having roles in over 100 films, including his role as Nick Furry in many Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
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Having been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and two Academy Awards, and won four Grammy Awards, this actor, producer, comedian, rapper, and songwriter made his acting debut in the 1990s NBC television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After that, he went on to star in films. As of 2014, 17 of the 21 films in which he has had leading roles have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million each, five taking in over $500 million each in global box office receipts.
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This southern actress, producer, and entrepreneur is the recipient of several awards, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and raised in Tennessee, she began her career as a teenager, making her professional screen debut in the 1991 film, The Man in the Moon, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award. Her breakthrough role was as Elle Woods in the 2001 film, Legally Blonde.
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This actor, director, and film producer gained worldwide fame for his starring roles as Han Solo in the Star Wars film series and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Five of his movies are within the 30 top grossing movies of all time at the US box office and another major role of his is his role as Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction, Blade Runner, as well as its sequel Blade Runner 2049.
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This actor-filmmaker is known for his numerous comedic and dramatic roles. His films have grossed more than $4.5 billion at the NA box offices and more than $9.0 billion worldwide, making him the fourth highest-grossing actor in North America. He has won multiple awards for best actor in multiple movies and has even received the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Some of his big roles include Big, Philadelphia, and Forrest Gump.
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This actor-filmmaker has had a career spanning over five decades. He received his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for the 1973 film, Serpico. He was also nominated for The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, and ...And Justice for All. He won the award in 1993 for his performance as the blind Lieutenant Colonel Slade in the 1992 film, Scent of a Woman. In addition to his work in film, he also had an extensive career on stage and is a two-time Tony Award winner.
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This new and coming actress has been described as a budding star of her time. Critics say she's going to be a big hit and her boyfriend, Canadian actor Brett Dier (known as Michael on Jane the Virgin), thinks so too! She is known for her supporting roles in The Edge of Seventeen and Split but has also appeared in a few television series, including Ravenswood, with her fiancée Brett. The show aired in 2013 and they started dating 22014, how cute!
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Regarded for his cultural influence on 20th-century film, this actor's Academy Award-winning performances include that of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, and Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather. He was an activist for many causes, notably the civil rights movement and various Aboriginal movements. He initially gained acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire, a role that he originated on Broadway.
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This actor, director, and producer has received much critical acclaim for his film work since the 1980s, including his portrayals of real-life figures such as South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in Cry Freedom, Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X in Malcolm X, boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in The Hurricane, football coach Herman Boone in Remember the Titans, poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson in The Great Debaters, and drug kingpin Frank Lucas in the film American Gangster.
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As a film actor, this Manhattan-born actor, singer, and DJ has played Tommy Ross in the horror film Carrie, Caleb Prior in The Divergent Series franchise, Augustus Waters in the romantic teen drama The Fault in Our Stars, and the title character in Edgar Wright's action thriller Baby Driver, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, as well as an Empire Award nomination for Best Male Newcomer.
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This English actress is particularly known for her work in period dramas and tragedies and is often drawn to portraying anxious, troubled women. She started off her fame and career in British film and television but became a US success as well after starring in Titanic. Her fame grew with her roles in movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland, Little Children, Revolutionary Road, and The Reader. At the age of forty-two, her career already spans three decades.
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This actress, comedian, author, and television host is one of the few entertainers to have won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award, and is also the second black woman to win an Academy Award for acting. Her breakthrough role was in The Color Purple, for which she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Five years later, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Ghost.
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This actor is mostly known for his television roles. He played love interest Jess Mariano in Gilmore Girls from 2002 to 2006 and in the NBC series Heroes, he played Peter Petrelli from 2006 to 2010. He currently stars in the NBC series This Is Us as Jack Pearson. Besides his most notable roles in television, he has also appeared in films such as Rocky Balboa, as Rocky's son, and in Adam Sandler's Grown Ups 2 and That's My Boy.
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In 2002, this actress won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball, making her the only black woman to have ever won that award. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood during the 2000s and has been involved in the production of several of the films in which she performed. She started her career as a model and entered several contests, finishing as the 1st runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986.
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As a teenager, she was cast in the television series Get Real from 1999 to 2000 and made her breakthrough as the protagonist in her debut film, the Disney comedy The Princess Diaries in 2001. She made a transition to adult roles with the 2005 dramas Havoc and Brokeback Mountain. The 2006 comedy film The Devil Wears Prada, in which she played an assistant to a fashion magazine editor, was her biggest commercial success to that point. She advocates gender equality as a UN Women goodwill ambassador.
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This actor, film producer, and screenwriter is ranked among Forbes magazine's most bankable stars and is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He came to prominence in 1997 when he wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting alongside Ben Affleck, which won them the Academy and Golden Globe awards for Best Screenplay and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. In addition to acting in films, he has performed voice-over work in both animated and documentary films.
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This Australian actress and producer is the recipient of multiple awards, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a SAG Award, and the Silver Bear for Best Actress. She began her acting career in the early 1980s in Australia, but in 1990, she made her Hollywood debut in the racing film Days of Thunder, opposite Tom Cruise. She went on to star in Far and Away, Batman Forever, To Die For, and Eyes Wide Shut.
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This actress and author is one of two black actresses to have received three Academy Award nominations and is the only black actress to receive two consecutive nominations. She made her film debut in the 1996 drama A Time to Kill. Following a decade of brief roles in film and television, her breakthrough came in 2011, when she played a maid in The Help, for which she won several awards, including the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
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This actor and filmmaker began his career as a child, starring in the PBS educational series The Voyage of the Mimi. He later appeared in the independent coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused and various Kevin Smith films, including Chasing Amy and Dogma. After winning a Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay, he established himself as a leading man in studio films, including the disaster drama Armageddon, the romantic comedy Forces of Nature, the war drama Pearl Harbor, and the thriller The Sum of All Fears.
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This woman is a fabulous actress with the longest television career of a female entertainer. Regarded as a pioneer of television, she was one of the first women to have control both in front of and behind the camera and is recognized as the first woman to produce a sitcom, which contributed to her receiving the honorary title of Mayor of Hollywood in 1955. At ninety-six years of age, her career spans eight decades, over thirty films, and over one hundred television shows.
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Known for her praised leading performance in the romantic comedy film 13 Going on 30, this actress has appeared in supporting as well as lead film roles. To name a few, she has appeared in the superhero films Daredevil and Elektra, the comedy-drama Juno, and the fantasy comedy The Invention of Lying. In the 2010s, she appeared in the romantic comedy Valentine's Day, the biographical drama Dallas Buyers Club, and the comedy film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
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This twenty-year-old actress and singer from Florida began her career appearing as a child model. She played minor roles in a couple of television series before she gained prominence for her role as CeCe Jones on the Disney Channel series Shake It Up. She also appeared as Hilary in Blended, Madison in The DUFF, Amanda in Perfect High, Holly in You Get Me, Allison in The Babysitter and Paige on the Freeform series, Famous in Love. Her first appearance in a film was when she was only five years old.
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This actor began his career in the early 2000s, but his fame really picked up in the late 2000s for his role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical franchise. During that time, he also played a lead role in the remake of the musical Hairspray and the comedy film 17 Again. Since then, he appeared in the films New Year's Eve, The Lucky One, The Paperboy, Neighbors, Dirty Grandpa, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Baywatch, and The Greatest Showman.
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This actor had made his film debut in 2005 with his role in a film called Coach Carter. His breakthrough role, however, was in 2006 in a dance film called Step Up where he played a young rebel who was forced to do community service hours at a school where he ended up auditioning for a dancing role in a show. The film is also known for the romance between him and the lead female dancer at the school.
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He began his acting career in short films, before appearing in the television drama series Homeland. He made his feature film debut in Men, Women & Children and appeared in the science fiction film Interstellar. He gained wider recognition in 2017 with his supporting roles in Lady Bird and Hostiles. He is also known for his lead role in the film Call Me by Your Name, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Actor.
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Being best known for his role in The Hangover series of films, this actor, comedian, and writer has starred in many films, such as Due Date, The Campaign, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Masterminds and The Lego Batman Movie. He currently hosts the Emmy Award-winning talk show on the Funny or Die website, and executive produces, writes and stars in the dark comedy series Baskets on FX. We think there are still a lot of great things to come from this man.
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This Israeli actress made her debut as a young actress in Léon: The Professional when she was only thirteen years old. She gained international recognition for starring as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and received critical acclaim for playing a precocious teenager in the drama Anywhere but Here. She played Evey Hammond in V for Vendetta, and a troubled ballerina in the psychological horror film Black Swan (2010), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
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Most known for playing Zero Moustafa in The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014 and Flash Thompson in Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, this American actor made his film debut in 2004 playing very small roles until his breakthrough in 2014. In 2017, he also played a bit of a larger role in Table 19, which told the story of the table of rejects at a wedding. He played a young guy desperate to get with the lady but lacking the skill to do so.
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This Irish actress played her breakthrough role with the part of a precocious teenager in the 2007 film, Atonement, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She followed this with the roles of a murdered girl seeking closure in The Lovely Bones, a teenage assassin in Hanna, a vampire in Byzantium, and a chef in The Grand Budapest Hotel. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in Brooklyn and Lady Bird.
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This actor, an alumnus of the Tisch School of the Arts, made his feature film debut in Rabbit Hole, which he followed with supporting roles in Footloose and Project X. His breakthrough was with his roles as Sutter Keely in The Spectacular Now and Andrew Neiman in Whiplash. He has since starred in the film Divergent, Fantastic Four as Mister Fantastic, the war comedy War Dogs, opposite Jonah Hill, and portrayed boxer Vinny Paz in the biopic Bleed for This.