Decade Defining Actors of the 2010s?

For film:

Jennifer Lawrence would have to be up there even though the latter half of the decade was much different than the first half of the decade for her.

Emma Stone came on really strong in the second half of the decade; although even before that she had some big successes. Along with Stone, I think you have to include Ryan Gosling as well.

Also as far as "it" girls, Margot Robbie is another actress that did extremely well this decade.

Nicole Kidman has always been respected, but I feel like it reached another level in the '10s. Before I would say that she was sometimes underrated at least in terms of industry awards, but with SAG and the Emmys and her two Oscar nominations this decade, I feel that she is getting the recognition that she deserves.

I think you definitely have to include RDJ because of him being the elder spokesperson for the Marvel movies.

Maybe Willem Dafoe because of his career resurgence both in big budget films and also in smaller films. I thought about including Matthew McConaughey because of the McConaissance, but that felt like a very brief time so I don't know if it's enough to be decade defining.

Also I think Bradley Cooper has to be included which is not what I would have expected at all from his career when he was on Alias.

Of course, Leo and Brad's continued success was a big part of this decade too.

The Rock and Kevin Hart for their consistency at the box office.

For television:

There's so many great television series with characters that became iconic that I'm sure I'll miss some.

Certainly Bryan Cranston would have to be there for Breaking Bad.

Elisabeth Moss; although, she's also racking up a string of raved performances in film too.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep.

A lot of GOT characters, but I guess I would single out Peter Dinklage because of all the Emmy wins.

Joaquin is up there with maybe the single best run of films of any western actor this decade, all culminating with the ostensible big splash of Joker that’ll earn him all sorts retrospective accolades from general audiences (the guy you know is always good in good things, even if you didn’t go out of your way to watch said good things.)

This thread’s prompt reminds me that I wanted to start something on the decade’s breakout stars but then didn’t because I didn’t know that it would go beyond a weird sort of cataloging.

Willem Dafoe - Arguably the best American actor of the post-70s, "80s generation" - has back to Oscar nominations, a contender this year too which would be 3 in a row.

He's added Van Gogh and Pasolini to his list of astonishing biographies which is already close to peerless.

To be honest there isn't really one to me. Maybe Jennifer Lawrence with her fantastic first half of the decade, but her second half wasn't that great.

Sh/t that is tough to decide...I guess when you're doing the damn thing in both film and stage in a decade you kind of have to go with the 10's as his best decade so far, even considering two of his three greatest film performances imo (Malcolm X and He Got Game) happened in the 90's, and then of course his success in the 00's, finally winning Best Actor at the Oscars and his run of films in that decade. I'd have to go with the 10's for him and that's weird to say considering his great 90's run. It just shows Denzel doesn't have a prime.

Hmmmmm........I dunno. I can't believe I'm calling Christain Bale "underrated" but he is:

(Tied for it) most Oscar nominated male actor of the decade, for wildly diverse turns - a guy who may get nominated this year (and deserve it) and if he does that would be FIVE nominations in one decade - tying GOATs Brando (50s) and Pacino (70s).

.........and he had an ace turn in Out Of The Furnace and Hostiles and a big decade defining hit film too in The Dark Knight Rises.

Shouldn't we consider him ya think?

Leonardo DiCaprio hands down. Finally won his coveted Oscar and aside from J. Edgar he has been the last completely reliable movie star at the box office, and that money is primarily made from his name on the marquee alongside the relative high quality of each project he's been attached to this decade. His name means quality to the masses and audiences still adore him. He could currently star in almost any Hollywood project and carry it to at least $300 million worldwide, and no single other person on the planet can do that these days.

Performance-wise, DiCaprio is obviously not on the same level as some others in the field, but I'd argue that he has evolved brilliantly this decade by leaning into his natural comedic talents, and he has seemed far more relaxed and compelling in the 10s than the 00s. It's been refreshing.