Just for Fun: A Few of My Favorite Actors

Yeah, yeah, he's gorgeous. But he's also funny as hell. I love watching him most in comedies, when I can drool and laugh at the same time. My favorite Cary Grant films: Holiday, The Awful Truth, The Philadelphia Story, The Bishop's Wife

One of the finest, most versatile screen actors who ever lived. So clean and economical; not a wasted gesture to be found. My favorite Spencer Tracy films: Adam's Rib, Father of the Bride

I love this man's voice! It's the main reason I watch his films, though he's a competent actor as well. Such an unfettered, unaffected sound, with a beautiful sotto voce (examples: the last verse of "Surrey with a Fringe on Top" and the reprise of "If I Loved You"). Favorite Gordon Macrae films: Oklahoma!, West Point Story, Carousel

No, I have never seen Silence of the Lambs, nor will I ever. Not my kind of film. But you certainly don't need to see it in order to appreciate this actor fully. He gave, in my humble opinion, one of the finest performances on film, as a repressed butler -- subtle, incredibly nuanced, devastating. My favorite Anthony Hopkins films: Remains of the Day, Shadowlands, and 84, Charing Cross Road

Yeah, yeah, he's gorgeous. But he's also a fine actor. And he's gorgeous. My favorite Colin Firth films (feature films, not mini-series): The King's Speech, Bridget Jones' Diary, Love, Actually, Summer in Genoa

Of course, we now know him best from Downton Abbey, but I loved him from his very first big film, Notting Hill, when he was adorably pudgy and pathetic. I have since seen him in such a wide variety of things, I'm convinced he can do anything and everything at all, from Shakespeare to light romantic comedy to the darkest of psychological dramas. He's brilliant. My favorite Hugh Bonneville films: French Film, Notting Hill, Miss Austen Regrets

Again, the sheer versatility of this man astounds me. I certainly haven't seen everything he's done, but I've seen enough to know that he, like Bonneville, can do anything. My favorite Kevin Kline films: A Fish Called Wanda, The Emperor's Club, The Big Chill, Dave, French Kiss

For me, the mark of a comic genius is that he can not only make you laugh, but can also break your heart -- sometimes even simultaneously. One of the most gifted actors of our time, David Hyde Pierce is entirely capable of both titillating your funny bone and breaking your heart. How often have we seen him straddle the fine line between comedy and pathos as the iconic Niles Crane on Frasier? He is endowed with an impeccable sense of timing, precise diction and delivery, and a body that is an ideal instrument for physical comedy. Equally at home on the stage, he has done everything from the classics to musical theater, in which he displays a very pleasing baritone. As a supporting actor in films, he more than holds his own. And he demonstrated at last his strength as a charismatic leading man in the dark comedy/psychological thriller The Perfect Host. He is truly one of the most skilled actors working today.