John Hurt is right up there, so is Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks is anti-gun, but he can act. Clint Eastwood is I would say one of the greatest actors ever, as well as a director. I watched Every Which Way But Loose the other night and nearly fell out of my chair laughing. As far as an actor of my generation (80's and 90's) Mel Gibson is there, and I mean right there at the top. While most people think only of Lethal Weapon and Braveheart but the movie that we watched in high school that just blew me away was when he was Hamlet. I am not even a Shakespeare fan but when he did that movie, well I can tell you there should have been some awards handed out. I would round out the list with Gary Oldman, Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Oldman for about anything he does, Bale's ability to pick up nearly any accent simply by listening to it and Russell Crowe's ability to switch from tough guys to everyday people. He went from Gladiator to A Beautiful Mind with ease. That's a gift.