The five greatest actors of all time, according to Steven Spielberg
Topics: Steven Spielberg, Film and TV
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Emma McIntyre/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images / GWR/Star Max/GC Images
Topics: Steven Spielberg, Film and TV
When it comes to film, Spielberg knows a thing or two and has listed the greatest actors ever, according to him.
Steven Spielberg has been in the business for quite a few decades and has built up one hell of a reputation in the film industry.
The director has worked with some of the biggest names in the business have worked with him and some actors can only dream of the opportunity to star in one of his flicks.
With that being said, film fans have always taken an interest in what Spielberg thinks about things within the industry, most notably which actors he likes and dislikes.
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Speaking in an interview, Spielberg voiced his slightly controversial opinion regarding Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Jack Torrance in the Shining and was eventually forced to outline his greatest actors of all time.
Speaking to fellow director Stanley Kubrick he compared Nicholson’s portrayal was over the top, and compared it to Japanese Kabuki theatre - in which actors are heavily stylized and made up with larger-than-life costumes and makeup.
Defending Nicholson's performance, Kubrick asked Spielberg to list his five favorite actors of all time.
And surprisingly, none of the actors Spielberg had collaborated with himself made the list.
He said: “So, I quickly went ‘Spencer Tracey, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Clark Gable’.
“He stopped me and said, ‘Stop, okay, where was James Cagney on that list?’
“And I thought, he’s up there high, and he said, ‘Ah, but he’s not in [your] top five. You don’t consider James Cagney one of the five best actors around, but I do.
“And this is why Jack Nicholson’s performance is a great one'."
So essentially, Kubrick's point was that just because Nicholson's style of acting in The Shining wasn't to Spielberg's taste, it doesn't mean it's a bad movie.
Spencer Tracey is perhaps best known for his roles in the 1961 movie Judgement at Nuremberg and 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, while Henry Fonda was most well known for the 1940 film The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men (1957).
Jimmy Stewart was famed for roles in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Vertigo (1958) and The Philadelphia Story, alongside another Spielberg favourite Cary Grant.
Clark Gable, meanwhile, is well known for the 1939 romance-drama Gone with the Wind.
Kubrick's preferred actor James Cagney, meanwhile, was known for his high energy performances, which bore similarities to Nicholson's turn in The Shining.
He is known for his roles in 1938's Angels with Dirty Faces and 1949's White Heat.