Among the most fan-favorite decades in the history of film would have to be the 1990s. Much of its popularity can be attributed to the work of American filmmakers, from Goodfellas (1990) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) to Groundhog Day (1993) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Those all featured famous performers, and even star-studded casts. Many prolific actors from Hollywood history delivered their finest work throughout this decade, and their efforts hold up wonderfully today. You should recognize most of the names on the list, while one or two could appear more unfamiliar. All that said, these are the twenty greatest American actors of the 1990s, ranked.
20 Tommy Lee Jones
Perhaps the greatest supporting actor of the 1990s was Tommy Lee Jones, who got off to a terrific start in that regard thanks to JFK (1991). He plays Clay Shaw, who stood trial for conspiring to murder the titular president. His efforts stole the show, as they did a couple of years thereafter in The Fugitive (1993). Starring Harrison Ford, the two shared a phenomenal chemistry as Ford's character goes on the run from Tommy Lee's. And for his work, the man of the hour walked away with a golden statuette at the 66th Academy Awards.
In the following years, he made a couple of other supporting appearances in well-known titles like The Client (1994) and Batman Forever (1995). The former further showcased his prowess as a high-quality actor, while Batman Forever made great waves at the box office and bolstered his overall name value. Then, there's Men in Black (1997). That's one of the funniest film from the 1990s, and it holds up wonderfully today. By far, Tommy Lee was at his best in this decade.
19 Ice Cube
Upon seeing the name Ice Cube, one of two films likely materialized in your head: either Boyz n the Hood (1991) by John Singleton, or Friday (1995) by F. Gary Gray. The former remains one of his greatest films to this day, as Boyz n the Hood boasts a 96% approval rating on critical consensus website Rotten Tomatoes, and it's even been preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Film Registry. But it also marked Ice Cube's on-screen debut. Meanwhile, Friday goes down among the funniest films of the decade, and it holds up wonderfully today.
There's one film that often gets thrown by the wayside: Three Kings (1999), written and directed by David O. Russell. A high-quality war comedy, it stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg alongside the actor at hand in one of the more underrated stints from everyone involved. Ice Cube of course appeared in numerous other features throughout the nineties. But Boyz n the Hood, Friday, and Three Kings are the cream of the crop.
18 Angela Bassett
After appearing amid the star-studded cast of Boyz n the Hood (1991) by John Singleton, American actress Angela Bassett made a name for herself as one of the hottest up-and-coming actresses in the industry. Over the next two years alone, she would appear in some of the highest-rated films of the decade. She collaborated twice with John Sayles: once in City of Hope (1991), and again in Passion Fish (1992). Both received widespread praise from critics and audiences alike despite holding less appreciable name value today.
Receiving further acclaim, Bassett appeared alongside Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992) by Spike Lee. She portrayed Betty Shabazz, with the role also garnering her popularity as a promising performer. Then, she shocked everyone with her portrayal of Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It (1993). That's her greatest work, even if she came up short for Best Actress at the Oscars. When looking at other films like Strange Days (1996) and Contact (1997), her status as an all-time great of the nineties is clearly closed to debate.
17 Joe Pesci
One of the best performances of the decade was put on by Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990). His efforts as Tommy DeVito garnered widespread acclaim, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Even today, it's commonly discussed as one of the most committed performances to ever grace the silver screen, and it will forever be the role associated with Pesci. His efforts were elicited by the great Martin Scorsese, with whom Pesci frequently collaborates. Goodfellas marked their second work after Raging Bull (1980) in the prior decade, while Casino (1995) saw them reunite a few years hereafter.
Though he doesn't perform to the same extent, Pesci once again shares a tremendous chemistry with Robert De Niro. And overall, Casino remains among the finest films from everyone involved. But those are just the critical darlings of Pesci's from the '90s. In terms of commercial value, you can look no further than Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He shines alongside Daniel Stern, with the wet bandits leaving the water running for production as a whole. Home Alone definitely bolsters Pesci's case.
16 Tim Allen
There are many roles in this regard that are commonly associated with Tim Allen. The '90s were by far his biggest decade, not just because the entirety of Home Improvement aired throughout these years. Even with regard to cinema, Allen was at his peak: just look at his voice work in Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), for instance. Buzz Lightyear is among the most famous animated characters to ever grace the silver screen, and that can be attributed to the vocal efforts of Allen.
But there's also The Santa Clause (1995) and, perhaps his most underrated film, Galaxy Quest (1999). The former is still played throughout households today come Christmastime, while Galaxy Quest should be known among the funniest films from the 1990s. And as an overall product, it's among the best from Allen's filmography. On any given day, those four films could land Allen even higher on the list.
15 Frances McDormand
There's one role in the 1990s most commonly associated with Frances McDormand, and with good reason. But off the bat, it's worth noting a number of more underrated films made by talented directors: Darkman (1990) by Sam Raimi, Hidden Agenda (1990) by Ken Loach, Primal Fear (1996) by Gregory Hoblit, and Lone Star (1996) by John Sayles. That's quite the variety of genre, and each film holds up wonderfully today despite a respective paucity of popularity. But the most famous McDormand performance of the decade remains the most revered of her entire career.
She's worked on numerous occasions with Joel and Ethan Coen, her husband and brother-in-law (respectively). Fargo (1996) is the trio's best film, as it received widespread acclaim upon release and still holds up wonderfully today. McDormand famously won the Academy Award for Best Actress thanks to her work as Marge Gunderson, and it remains her most essential role all these years later. That will forever be the case.
14 Jim Carrey
Off the bat, it's worth noting the monumental efforts of Jim Carrey in just one of these ten years: 1994. Often regarded among the finest years in cinema history, it saw three releases that featured Carrey in the starring (or co-starring) role: The Mask (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). Those are three of the most famous films of the 1990s, let alone of Carrey's career. And further efforts in Batman Forever (1995), The Cable Guy (1996), and Liar Liar (1997) rendered him one of the greatest comedy actors of his generation.
But there's also The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999), which showcased Carrey's aptitude as an affecting actor. The Truman Show is easily among the best roles of Carrey's career, and it garnered him widespread acclaim while his prior performances in the nineties mostly bolstered his status as a household name. But combined, they all render Jim Carrey one of the most important actors of the decade.
13 Johnny Depp
From well-known moneymakers and critical darlings to independent and monochromatic films, Johnny Depp had a diverse streak in the 1990s. He collaborated with Tim Burton on three occasions, and he never recycled personalities: Edward Scissorhands (1990), Ed Wood (1994), and Sleepy Hollow (1999) all feature vastly disparate versions of Depp as the lead. And while those may be the first films you thought of upon seeing his name on the list, Depp appeared in several other (often better, frankly) projects throughout the decade at hand.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Donnie Brasco (1997) received widespread acclaim for everyone involved, while Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) is considered today as a cult classic. That helps his name value. But there's also a little-known acid western called Dead Man (1995) — perhaps the most underrated movie of Depp's career, and easily of the decade. Depp had quite the variety in the nineties, and it may represent his zenith.
12 Brad Pitt
Throughout the decade, Brad Pitt rose to fame throughout these ten years unlike few of his contemporaries. Thelma and Louise (1991) put him on the map with a charismatic supporting effort, while both A River Runs Through It (1992) and True Romance (1993) continued his success in the critical department. And although they aren't the best films you'll read about today, Interview With a Vampire (1994) and Legends of the Fall (1994) only bolstered his name value even further.
He also collaborated twice with David Fincher: once with Se7en (1995), followed more prominently by Fight Club (1999). Not that the latter is better, necessarily. But Pitt's efforts were more renowned, and with good reason. And none of this was to even mention 12 Monkeys (1995). That may be the greatest performance of his entire career, and it helps astronomically in landing Pitt on the list.
11 Leonardo DiCaprio
In his second ever feature film appearance, Leonardo DiCaprio shared the screen with Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin in This Boy's Life (1993). He portrayed real-life figure Tobias Wolfe, garnering great acclaim along the way. But that reverence was nothing compared to the reception of What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and his work as a mentally disabled youth put him at the center of Hollywood's map.
A couple of years later, he starred in two massively underrated features: The Basketball Diaries (1995), a sports film, and The Quick and the Dead (1995), a western. The latter was written and directed by Sam Raimi, and it features quite the star-studded cast on top of DiCaprio: names like Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and Russell Crowe are all in prominent roles. And when considering the box office success of Romeo + Juliet (1996) along with the record-breaking Titanic (1997), this list would be incomplete without DiCaprio's inclusion.
10 Matt Damon
Early in the decade, Matt Damon co-starred alongside Brendan Fraser in an underrated sports stint called School Ties (1992). He then appeared in Glory Daze (1995) and Courage Under Fire (1996). But of course, Damon truly made a name for himself by writing Good Will Hunting (1997), in which he also starred as the titular character. It holds up perfectly today — in fact, Good Will Hunting remains the greatest, most poignant film of his career.
But frankly, the acclaim of that film has somewhat overshadowed Damon's subsequent nineties films. He either starred or provided supporting roles in Rounders (1998), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Dogma (1999), and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). If any of those films failed to receive acclaim upon release, they're held in high regard today, considered cult classics by audiences around the world. Damon's starring role in The Rainmaker (1997) renders him an undeniable pick.
9 Susan Sarandon
Before the decade at hand, Susan Sarandon received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress thanks to her efforts in Atlantic City (1980). That was the first Oscar nod of her career. But in the 1990s, Sarandon picked up a whopping four nominations in total for the aforementioned award, and on one occasion, she even came out on top. Thelma and Louise (1991) is the most famous today, and it marked her first nod of the bunch. In the following year, she picked up another for Lorenzo's Oil (1992). Though not as well-remembered, Australian director George Miller saw the product into wonderful fruition, and it holds up well today.
Her third nomination came by way of The Client (1994) with the fourth and final being for Dead Man Walking (1995). The latter marks the most recent nomination of her career, but also the only win. And along with The Client, they go down among the finest films of her career. But there's also White Palace (1990), Little Women (1994), and Stepmom (1998) to top things off. That's quite the output, and Sarandon had the quality to match.
8 Tom Cruise
Though a rather divisive figure today, Tom Cruise was put on Hollywood's map in the 1980s with Risky Business (1983), Top Gun (1986), and Rain Man (1988). An impressive array of high-quality titles. But in the nineties, he solidified himself as a legitimate talent thanks to A Few Good Men (1992), The Firm (1993), and Jerry Maguire (1996). He was overshadowed in a couple of those by performers like Jack Nicholson and Cuba Gooding Jr. But with Mission: Impossible (1996), he definitely took the spotlight.
At the turn of the century, Cruise worked with two of the greatest filmmakers of their respective generations: Stanley Kubrick, with whom he worked on Eyes Wide Shut (1999), and Paul Thomas Anderson. With the latter director, Cruise appeared in Magnolia (1999) — that's still his greatest performance, and it bolsters his spot on the list. Love him or hate him, he was among the greatest leading men of the decade.
7 Kevin Spacey
Nearly halfway through the decade, Kevin Spacey shocked critics and audiences alike with his efforts as Verbal Kent (also known as Keyser Söze) in The Usual Suspects (1995). The role garnered him widespread acclaim, and although there was stiff competition that year, he ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. And in those same twelve months, he provided more supporting work in Se7en (1995). Though it doesn't feature a better Spacey performance, Fincher's crime-thriller bolsters his by the quality itself.
A couple of years thereafter, Spacy provided yet another supporting effort in L.A. Confidential (1997). He appeared alongside fellow famous performers like Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Bassinger, and Danny DeVito. Quite the star-studded cast, with Bassinger delivering the best performance of the bunch. But just after that neo-noir stint, Spacey shocked the world once again with his leading efforts in American Beauty (1999). His character may have been creepy, but at the end of the day, Spacey won two golden statuettes throughout the decade at hand. There's no denying his placement on the list.
6 Denzel Washington
At the turn of the decade, Denzel Washington worked with the first time with director Spike Lee. The movie was Mo' Better Blues (1990), and it remains among the most overlooked entries of their respective filmographies. But a couple of years later, the pair reunited with Malcolm X (1992), and they garnered widespread acclaim across the board of viewership. He continued garnering popularity and reverence thanks to Philadelphia (1993), while many of his other nineties features remain somewhat overlooked today.
Take Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), for example. A neo-noir mystery thriller, it features Washington as Easy Rawlins, a World War II veteran who takes up a job as a private detective. It holds up wonderfully today, even if its among the decade's most overlooked projects. In that same year, Washington co-starred with Gene Hackman in Crimson Tide (1995), then with Jodie Foster in the following year thanks to Courage Under Fire. And with The Hurricane (1999), Washington ended the decade in perfect fashion. He was one of its bests.
5 Samuel L. Jackson
With more than forty appearances in just ten years, Samuel L. Jackson deserves a spot on this list just on volume alone. But considering he reached critical acclaim on multiple occasions — Pulp Fiction (1994), most prominently, along with Jackie Brown (1997) and Eve's Bayou (1997) — in tandem with commercial success, Jackson is without a doubt top-five material.
His role as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction garnered widespread reverence, including a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. But with regard to blockbusters: look no further than Jurassic Park (1993), Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995), and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). Those are three of the biggest films of the decade, and they all feature Jackson in iconic roles. And none of that accounts for appearances in Goodfellas, True Romance (1993), Hard Eight (1996), or Deep Blue Sea (1999). This man's output was just legendary.
4 Jodie Foster
As a whole, the most famous role from the career of Jodie Foster is without a doubt Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). This entry could be comprised with an analysis of Clarice alone. But in that same year, she starred in Little Man Tate (1991) while also appearing in Shadows and Fog (1991). The former marked her directorial debut, while Shadows and Fog saw direction under Woody Allen. Quite the illustrious year. But one film from Foster's streak in the nineties that often gets thrown by the modern wayside is Nell (1994).
Though far from the best film of her career, her titular efforts therein resulted in one of her all-time best performances. She received another nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards — and sure, she came up short to Jessica Lange in Blue Sky (1994). But when accounting for a historic year in 1991 and a brilliant performance in Nell along with other films like Maverick (1994) by Richard Donner and Contact (1997) by Robert Zemeckis, there's no denying this top-ten spot for Foster.
3 Robert De Niro
Even when analyzing the career of Robert De Niro as a whole, several of the most important films thereof were directed by Martin Scorsese. They're arguably the most famous modern filmmaking team in Hollywood, with the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) marking their tenth film with one another. Throughout the nineties, they collaborated thrice: Goodfellas, Cape Fear (1991), and Casino. A couple of those have already been touched on thanks to Joe Pesci. But as for Cape Fear: the actor at hand steals the show as antagonist Max Cady.
But that's just scratching the surface of De Niro's nineties output. There's also Awakenings, Heat (1995), Jackie Brown (1997), Ronin (1998), and Analyze This (1999), with all of those running the gamut of genre and garnering just as much name value for De Niro as they did critical acclaim. He even made his directorial debut with A Bronx Tale (1993), in which he also starred. Although the seventies were arguably peak De Niro, this decade gave a valiant effort.
2 Robin Williams
Among the best acting efforts of the 1990s goes to Robin Williams as Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. Though penned by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the final product saw direction under Gus Van Sant. It remains the best film from everyone involved, and much of that can be attributed to the emotional work of Williams. And although he's commonly viewed as a comedy actor, there are a few other dramas worth noting: take Awakenings (1990) by Penny Marshall and The Fisher King (1991) by Terry Gilliam.
Both of those hold up wonderfully today, and upon release, they garnered great acclaim for the actor at hand. But then, there are his comedies. His most famous from the decade would be Aladdin (1992) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). His work remains a highlight of both the films. And although Jumanji (1995), Flubber (1997), and Patch Adams (1998) all pale in qualitative comparison, there's no denying the legacy Williams had already established.
1 Tom Hanks
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Just take a look at this list of Tom Hanks films: A League of Their Own (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), That Thing You Do! (1996), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and The Green Mile (1999). That's a mind-blowing amount of critical darlings. And frankly, none of those include the best nor the most famous performances that apply herein. In fact, the efforts soon to be mentioned are the absolute greatest ever delivered byHanks, and they rendered him a household name.
Take Philadelphia (1993), for which he won Best Actor at the Academy Awards, followed immediately by Forrest Gump (1994). In the latter, he's in the titular role, arguably the most famous live-action movie character from the decade. The project still holds massive name value today, with a message and tandem delivery that resonated all throughout the world. And none of that even touches on his seminal voice work as Sheriff Woody in both Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Without a doubt, Tom Hanks deserves this number one spot.
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