Best Male Lead Movie Performances of 2019
by tlmovies | created - 29 Apr 2019 | updated - 26 Dec 2019 | Public1. Adam Sandler
Actor | The Waterboy
Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took ...
Uncut Gems
2. Adam Driver
Actor | Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Adam Douglas Driver was born in San Diego, California. His mother, Nancy (Needham) Wright, is a paralegal from Mishawaka, Indiana, and his father, Joe Douglas Driver, who has deep roots in the American South, is from Little Rock, Arkansas. His stepfather is a Baptist minister. His ancestry includes...
Marriage Story
3. Joaquin Phoenix
Actor | Walk the Line
Joaquin Phoenix was born Joaquin Rafael Bottom in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Arlyn (Dunetz) and John Bottom, and is the middle child in a brood of five. His parents, from the continental United States, were then serving as Children of God missionaries. His mother is from a Jewish family from New ...
Joker
4. Leonardo DiCaprio
Actor | Inception
Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting cast member of the sitcom Growing Pains (1985) and low budget horror movies, such as Critters 3 (1991), to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s,...
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
5. Robert De Niro
Actor | Cape Fear
One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained ...
The Irishman
6. Eddie Murphy
Actor | The Nutty Professor
Edward Regan Murphy was born April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Lillian Lynch (born: Lillian Laney), a telephone operator, and Charles Edward Murphy, a transit police officer who was also an amateur comedian and actor. After his father died, his mother married Vernon Lynch, a foreman at a ...
Dolemite is My Name
7. Taron Egerton
Actor | Kingsman: The Secret Service
Taron Egerton is a British actor and singer, known for his roles in the British television series The Smoke, the 2014 action comedy film Kingsman: The Secret Service, and the film Rocketman (2019). He has also played Edward Brittain in the 2014 drama film Testament of Youth, appeared in the 2015 ...
Rocketman
8. Paul Walter Hauser
Actor | I, Tonya
Paul Walter Hauser is an American actor and comedian. He played supporting roles in the films Cruella, I, Tonya, Late Night, BlacKkKlansman, and Da 5 Bloods. In 2019, Hauser had his breakout performance as the title character in the film Richard Jewell, leading the National Board of Review to award...
Richard Jewell
9. Zac Efron
Actor | High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Zachary David Alexander Efron was born October 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California, to Starla Baskett, a secretary, and David Efron, an electrical engineer. He has a younger brother, Dylan. The surname "Efron", which is Hebrew and a Biblical place name, comes from Zac's Polish Jewish paternal ...
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil & Vile
10. Matthew Rhys
Actor | A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Matthew Rhys Evans is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Kevin Walker in Brothers & Sisters (2006-2011) and Philip Jennings in The Americans (2013-2018), for which he received two Golden Globe Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award. In film, he appeared as Dylan Thomas in the film The ...
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
11. Robert Pattinson
Actor | Twilight
Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson was born May 13, 1986 in London, England, to Richard Pattinson, a car dealer importing vintage cars, and Clare Pattinson (née Charlton), who worked as a booker at a model agency. He grew up in Barnes, southwest London with two older sisters. Robert discovered his ...
The Lighthouse
12. Daniel Kaluuya
Actor | Get Out
Daniel Kaluuya is a British actor and writer. He is best known for Get Out (2017), Black Panther (2018) and for portraying Fred Hampton in Judas & The Black Messiah (2021).
He had a supporting role in Sicario (2015).
He also starred in the Black Mirror episode "Fifteen Million Merits".
For his work in...
Queen & Slim
13. Alex Wolff
Actor | Hereditary
Alex Wolff, an award-winning actor, musician, singer, and composer, was born on November 1, 1997 in New York, New York. He is the son of actress Polly Draper and jazz pianist Michael Wolff. His elder brother is actor and musician Nat Wolff.
He is most known for his work on The Naked Brothers Band (...
The Cat & The Moon
14. Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Actor | Luce
Kelvin Harrison Jr. was born on July 23, 1994 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Luce (2019), Monsters and Men (2018) and It Comes at Night (2017).
Waves
15. Christian Bale
Actor | The Dark Knight
Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January 30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Bale. His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries ...
Ford v. Ferrari
16. Jamie Bell
Actor | Billy Elliot
Described by top film critic Mark Kermode as an "unbelievably versatile" actor, Jamie Bell was born in 1986 in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England, UK, to Eileen (Matfin) and John Bell, a toolmaker. He comes from a family of dancers including his grandmother, mother, aunt, and ...
Skin
17. Noah Jupe
Actor | Honey Boy
Noah Jupe is a British actor. He is known for his roles in the television series The Night Manager (2016); the dark comedy film Suburbicon (2017); the drama film Wonder (2017); the horror film A Quiet Place (2018) and its sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2021); the sports drama film Ford v Ferrari (...
Honey Boy
18. Matthias Schoenaerts
Actor | De rouille et d'os
Matthias Schoenaerts was born on December 8, 1977 in Antwerp, Belgium. His mother, Dominique Wiche, was a costume designer, translator, and French teacher, and his father was actor Julien Schoenaerts. He made his film debut at the age of 13 alongside his father in the Belgian film Daens (1992), ...
The Mustang
19. Aaron Paul
Actor | Breaking Bad
Aaron Paul was born Aaron Paul Sturtevant in Emmett, Idaho, to Darla (Haynes) and Robert Sturtevant, a retired Baptist minister. While growing up, Paul took part in church programs, and performed in plays.
He attended Centennial High School in Boise, Idaho. It was there, in eighth grade, that Aaron ...
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
20. Robert Pattinson
Actor | Twilight
Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson was born May 13, 1986 in London, England, to Richard Pattinson, a car dealer importing vintage cars, and Clare Pattinson (née Charlton), who worked as a booker at a model agency. He grew up in Barnes, southwest London with two older sisters. Robert discovered his ...
High Life
21. Aldis Hodge
Actor | Black Adam
Aldis Hodge is a SAG Award-winning actor, who has built a dynamic career as a versatile performer shining in roles in both film and television. Hodge is perhaps best known for his role as Noah in the WGN hit series Underground (2016), starring alongside Jurnee Smollett and Christopher Meloni. ...
Brian Banks
22. Matt Damon
Actor | Good Will Hunting
Matthew Paige Damon was born on October 8, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Kent Damon, a stockbroker, realtor and tax preparer, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an early childhood education professor at Lesley University. Matt has an older brother, Kyle, a sculptor. His father was of English and ...
Ford v. Ferrari
23. Shia LaBeouf
Actor | Honey Boy
Shia LaBeouf's natural talent and raw energy have secured his place as one of Hollywood's leading men.
Most recently, LaBeouf starred alongside Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn in Kornel Mundruczo's Oscar® nominated Pieces of a Woman. In the critically acclaimed film, a grieving couple (Kirby/LaBeouf...
The Peanut Butter Falcon
24. Ian McKellen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery ...
25. Edward Norton
Actor | Fight Club
American actor, filmmaker and activist Edward Harrison Norton was born on August 18, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Columbia, Maryland.
His mother, Lydia Robinson "Robin" (Rouse), was a foundation executive and teacher of English, and a daughter of famed real estate developer ...
Motherless Brooklyn
26. Benedict Cumberbatch
Actor | The Imitation Game
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch was born and raised in London, England. His parents, Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton (born Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch), are both actors. He is a grandson of submarine commander Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, and a great-grandson of diplomat Henry Arnold ...
The Current War
27. Roman Griffin Davis
Actor | Jojo Rabbit
At eleven years old, Roman Griffin Davis was cast in his first professional acting role as the lead in Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit (2019). For which, among other awards, Roman received a Golden Globe Nomination and The Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Performer.
Since, Roman starred with Keira ...
Jojo Rabbit
28. Kevin Hart
Actor | Ride Along
Kevin Darnell Hart is an African-American comedian and actor who is known for his roles in the Jumanji sequels including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Undeclared (2001), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Think Like a Man (2012), Ride Along (2014), The Secret Life of ...
The Upside
29. Viveik Kalra
Actor | Blinded by the Light
Viveik Kalra is known for Blinded by the Light (2019), Voyagers (2021) and Lift (2024).
Blinded by the Light
30. Song Kang-ho
Actor | Salinui chueok
Song Kang-ho never professionally trained as an actor, beginning his career in social theater groups after graduating from Kimhae High School. Later, he joined Kee Kuk-seo's influential theater company with its emphasis on instinctive acting and improvisation, which proved to be Song's training ...
Parasite
31. James McAvoy
Actor | Filth
McAvoy was born on 21 April 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland, to James, a bus driver, and Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a nurse. He was raised on a housing estate in Drumchapel, Glasgow by his maternal grandparents (James, a butcher, and Mary), after his parents divorced when James was 11. He went to St ...
It: Chapter 2
32. David Dastmalchian
Actor | Oppenheimer
David Dastmalchian is originally from Kansas. He moved to Chicago, IL, to study acting at The Theatre School, DePaul University. After college, David worked as a professional fisherman in Alaska, a circus performer, movie theatre usher and playwright. He is an ensemble member of Shattered Globe ...
All Creatures Here Below
33. Brad Pitt
Actor | Fight Club
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt was born on December 18, 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma and raised in Springfield, Missouri to Jane Etta Pitt (née Hillhouse), a school counselor & William Alvin "Bill" Pitt, a truck company manager. At Kickapoo High School, Pitt was involved in sports, debating, student ...
Ad Astra
34. Jesse Eisenberg
Actor | The Social Network
Curly haired and with a fast-talking voice, Jesse Eisenberg is a movie actor, known for his Academy Award nominated role as Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film The Social Network. He has also starred in the films The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland, The Education of Charlie Banks, 30 Minutes or ...
The Art of Self-Defense
35. Ashton Sanders
Actor | Moonlight
Ashton Sanders was born on October 24, 1995 in Carson, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Moonlight (2016), The Retrieval (2013) and Captive State (2019).
Native Son
36. Jimmie Fails
Actor | The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Jimmie Fails was born on November 10, 1994 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019), Pieces of a Woman (2020) and Borderline.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
37. Mark Ruffalo
Actor | Spotlight
Award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo was born on November 22, 1967, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, of humble means to father Frank Lawrence Ruffalo, a construction painter and Marie Rose (Hebert), a stylist and hairdresser; his father's ancestry is Italian and his mother is of half French-Canadian and half ...
Dark Waters
38. Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Actor | Luce
Kelvin Harrison Jr. was born on July 23, 1994 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Luce (2019), Monsters and Men (2018) and It Comes at Night (2017).
Luce
39. Andrew Garfield
Actor | Hacksaw Ridge
Andrew Russell Garfield was born in Los Angeles, California, to a British mother, Lynn, and American father, Richard Garfield. When he was three, he moved to Surrey, U.K., with his parents and older brother. He is of English and Polish Jewish heritage. Andrew was raised in a middle class family, ...
Under the Silver Lake
40. Nicholas Hoult
Actor | About a Boy
Nicholas Hoult was born on December 7, 1989 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England, UK as Nicholas Caradoc Hoult. His parents are Glenis Hoult, a piano teacher and Roger Hoult, a pilot. He has three siblings, two sisters and one brother. His great-aunt was one of the most popular actresses of her time, ...
Tolkien
41. Oleg Ivenko
Actor | The White Crow
Oleg Ivenko was born on August 14, 1996 in Harkov, Ukraine. He is an actor, known for The White Crow (2018), Korsar (2024) and Joika (2023).
The White Crow
42. Ray Romano
Actor | Everybody Loves Raymond
Ray Romano grew up in Forest Hills, Queens. He performed in the NYC comedy club circuit before landing a guest spot on The Letterman Show. It was here that he propelled his TV show Everybody Loves Raymond.
He was also the voice of the Mammoth in the extremely successful Ice Age Series Movies.
He is ...
Paddleton
43. Mads Mikkelsen
Actor | Hannibal
Mads Mikkelsen's great successes parallel those achieved by the Danish film industry since the mid-1990s. He was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Bente Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a banker.
Starting out as a low-life pusher/junkie in the 1996 success Pusher (1996), he slowly grew ...
Arctic
44. Jake Gyllenhaal
Actor | Nightcrawler
Jake Gyllenhaal was born on December 19, 1980 in Los Angeles, California as Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, the son of producer/screenwriter Naomi Foner and director Stephen Gyllenhaal, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish (mother) and Swedish, English, and ...
Velvet Buzzsaw
45. Douglas Booth
Actor | Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Douglas John Booth is an English actor. Booth was born in London, England, the son of Vivien (De Cala), an artist, and Simon Booth, who works in shipping for Citigroup. He has appeared on English television as (Christopher and His Kind (2011), Great Expectations (2011)), starred in the film Romeo &...
The Dirt
46. Aaron Paul
Actor | Breaking Bad
Aaron Paul was born Aaron Paul Sturtevant in Emmett, Idaho, to Darla (Haynes) and Robert Sturtevant, a retired Baptist minister. While growing up, Paul took part in church programs, and performed in plays.
He attended Centennial High School in Boise, Idaho. It was there, in eighth grade, that Aaron ...
the Parts You Lose
47. Michael Roark
Actor | Bennett's War
Michael Roark was born and raised in Schaumburg, Illinois. He has Irish, Sicilian and German ancestry. He was involved in athletics growing up and began acting in the college of theater at Illinois State University. Roark attended law school and became a licensed attorney while continuing his ...
Bennett's War
48. Kenneth Branagh
Actor | Henry V
Kenneth Charles Branagh was born on December 10, 1960, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to parents William Branagh, a plumber and carpenter, and Frances (Harper), both born in 1930. He has two siblings, William Branagh, Jr. (born 1955) and Joyce Branagh (born 1970). When he was nine, his family ...
All is True
49. J.K. Simmons
Actor | Whiplash
J.K. Simmons is an American actor.
He was born Jonathan Kimble Simmons in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to Patricia (Kimble), an administrator, and Donald William Simmons, a music teacher. He attended the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; University of Montana, Missoula, MT (BA in Music).
He had ...
I'm Not Here
50. Sam Elliott
Actor | A Star Is Born
Tall, thin, wiry Sam Elliott is the classic picture of the American cowboy. Elliott began his acting career on the stage and his film debut was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Although his future wife, Katharine Ross co-starred in the film, the two did not meet until they filmed The ...
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Than the Big Foot
51. Sam Rockwell
Actor | Moon
Sam Rockwell was born on November 5, 1968, in San Mateo, California, the only child of two actors, Pete Rockwell and Penny Hess. The family moved to New York when he was two years old, living first in the Bronx and later in Manhattan. When Sam was five years old, his parents separated, at which ...
The Best of Enemies
52. Bryshere Y. Gray
Actor | Empire
Bryshere Y. Gray is known for Empire (2015), The New Edition Story (2017) and Canal Street (2018).
Canal Street
53. Cole Sprouse
Actor | Riverdale
Cole Mitchell Sprouse was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy to American parents, Melanie (Wright) and Matthew Sprouse, and was raised with his older identical twin Dylan Sprouse in Long Beach, in their parents' native California. Cole began his acting career alongside Dylan at the tender age of six ...
Five Feet Apart
54. Nat Wolff
Actor | Paper Towns
Nat Wolff is an American actor, musician, and singer-songwriter. He was born in Los Angeles, to jazz pianist Michael Wolff and actress/writer Polly Draper. He is the older brother of actor/musician Alex Wolff, and grew up in New York City.
Nat is known for his work starring in the television series ...
The Kill Team
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