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The five greatest actors of all time, according to Quentin Tarantino

Home> Celebrity> News

Published 09:18 17 Nov 2025 GMT

The five greatest actors of all time, according to Quentin Tarantino

The director has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

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Featured Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Topics: Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, Celebrity, Hollywood, Film and TV

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

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Quentin Tarantino has hired some huge names to work on his movies over the years, but there's handful of actors he deems to be some of the best.

From Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, to Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio, Tarantino has collaborated with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Samuel L. Jackson is another celebrity Tarantino has worked with, and it was rumored that the Pulp Fiction star was going to feature in the director's tenth and final film.

Jackson has been in six of Tarantino's movies, meaning he could well have been in the running to star in the director's tenth. However, when he was grilled about this in 2023 Jackson remained schtum and simply said: "No comment."

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The final movie of Tarantino's was called The Movie Critic, but much to people's dismay he decided to scrap it altogether. Boo.

Quentin Tarantino has revealed who he believes are some of the best actors (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Quentin Tarantino has revealed who he believes are some of the best actors (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

While Jackson was rumored to be tied the now-defunct film, it's unclear if Tarantino had tried to get those who he believes to be the five best actors of all time.

But who are they, I hear you ask?

In an interview with Charlie Rose upon the release of Jackie Brown back in 1997, Tarantino gushed about Robert Di Niro.

"He deserves his reputation as probably the greatest actor of his generation," Tarantino said of the Goodfellas favorite, adding: "I think he is the best actor in the world. I’ve never seen an actor so completely consume himself in character, in true character work during the work."

He went on to say of Di Niro playing his character of Louis Gara in Jackie Brown: "When Robert is playing Louis... he is working moment to moment. De Niro has that down. He is so in character."

Tarantino said that Robert Di Niro is 'the greatest actor of his generation' (Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty Images)
Tarantino said that Robert Di Niro is 'the greatest actor of his generation' (Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty Images)

There are, of course, other stars that Tarantino respects, having previously told Jim Hoberman about the greatest actors of his lifetime.

He explained: "I'm a big fan of wild behavioural actors. I think Michael Parks [The Hitman] is one of the greatest actors that’s ever been produced in our lifetime! He ruined most of the breaks he got. He's in From Dusk Till Dawn."

When asked about standout stars from his 'generation', Tarantino named Sean Penn, Tim Roth, and Nicolas Cage.

Explaining why, he shared: "Tim because of his versatility and ferociousness. He’s got this chameleon quality. Sean out of sheer sexual-violence charisma.

"And Nick Cage just for fearlessness. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen another actor in the history of film that made a career of being miscast and rising to the occasion."

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