Written by Rich Swerbinsky

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I'm a huge movie buff, and I always knew I would mix some Hollywood and coverage of the film industry into this site. With the Cavs done, Browns waiting, and Indians sucking ... I had a chance to update some lists I've been keeping on various websites for several years. My 100 favorite current actors, 100 favorite current actresses, and the 20 sexiest starlets in Hollywood.

First, the disclaimers.

These are lists of current actors and actresses.  While I am trying to get around to circling back and seeing many of the great films from the early to mid 1900's ... to this point in life I have seen very few films pre-1970.  Every time I do this, I get a host of emails from people furious at the omissions of people like Clark Gable and Katherine Hepburn.  These are my favorite current performers.

The last time I updated these lists was a couple years ago, and theres some major changes.  I've made it a point to see as many of the great films of the last 35 years, and better acquaint myself with several actors and actresses that I knew little about, or had seen very little of the last time I updated these.

I'll be honest in saying that it's always harder for me to compile the actress list, as I tend to overrate actresses that are attractive.  For example, it's much easier for me to stomach a poor movie like King Kong due to the presence of the gorgeous Naomi Watts (pictured above) alone.  While pure acting ability is the number one component used in compiling both lists, I will say that appearance plays more of a factor in the actress list.

Lastly, I plan on adding writeups, pictures, and favorite performances (at least for the top 25) to these lists, and rerunning them as a more thorough front page piece at some point this summer.  Through that process, I will likely do some further tweaking as I see more films and debate with readers.

These always do tend to inspire a bit of debate, and that can be done by dropping me a line, or also in the Swerbs Blurbs movies message forum.

Swerb's 100 Favorite Current Actresses

1. Naomi Watts
2. Kate Winslet
3. Renee Zellweger
4. Natalie Portman
5. Liv Tyler
6. Hillary Swank
7. Nicole Kidman
8. Halle Berry
9. Holly Hunter
10. Charlize Theron

11. Scarlett Johansson
12. Meryl Streep
13. Jennifer Connelly
14. Annette Bening
15. Reese Witherspoon
16. Kathy Bates
17. Edie Falco
18. Diane Lane
19. Kate Blanchett
20. Sandra Bullock

21. Jessica Lange
22. Penelope Cruz
23. Geena Davis
24. Kate Beckingsale
25. Meg Ryan
26. Jodie Foster
27. Laura Linney
28. Diane Keaton
29. Mena Suvari
30. Jeanne Tripplehorn

31. Michelle Pfeifer
32. Angelina Jolie
33. Ashley Judd
34. Sandrah Oh
35. Frances McDormand
36. Ellyn Burstyn
37. Uma Thurman
38. Julianne Moore
39. Chloe Sevigny
40. Marcia Gay Harden

41. Sharon Stone
42. Lorraine Bracco
43. Pam Grier
44. Cynthia Nixon
45. Christina Ricci
46. Keira Knightley
47. Rachel McAdams
48. Maria Bello
49. Kirsten Dunst
50. Neve Campbell

51. Sigourney Weaver
52. Teri Hatcher
53. Jennifer Garner
54. Virginia Madsen
55. Lucy Liu
56. Minnie Driver
57. Amanda Peet
58. Gwenneth Paltrow
59. Gina Gershon
60. Cameron Diaz

61. Kate Hudson
62. Bridget Fonda
63. Michelle Monaghan
64. Catherine Zeta-Jones
65. Jennifer Aniston
66. Julia Roberts
67. Salma Hayek
68. Marisa Tomei
69. Eva Longoria
70. Robin Wright-Penn

71. Joan Cusack
72. Jessica Alba
73. Jessica Biel
74. Kim Delaney
75. Rosario Dawson
76. Eva Mendes
77. Sarah Jessica Parker
78. Susan Sarandon
79. Helen Hunt
80. Juliette Lewis

81. Melanie Griffith
82. Demi Moore
83. Kim Basinger
84. Glenn Close
85. Juliette Binoche
86. Liz Hurley
87. Monica Belluci
88. Kim Cattral
89. Andie McDowell

90. Drew Barrymore
91. Felicity Huffman
92. Goldie Hawn
93. Winona Ryder
94. Brittany Murphy
95. Sally Field
96. Katie Holmes
97. Heather Locklear
98. Elisa Cuthbert
99. Sarah Michelle Gellar
100. Kristin Davis

Swerb's 100 Favorite Current Actors

1. Sean Penn
2. Robert DeNiro
3. Kevin Spacey
4. Jack Nicholson
5. Al Pacino
6. Tom Hanks
7. Anthony Hopkins
8. Denzel Washington
9. Samuel L. Jackson
10. Leonardo DiCaprio

11. Clive Owen
12. Bill Murray
13. Johnny Depp
14. Phillip Seymour Hoffman
15. Ben Kingsley
16. John Cusack
17. Steve Buscemi
18. Viggo Mortensen
19. Edward Norton
20. Benicio Del Toro

21. Harvey Keitel
22. Brad Pitt
23. Andy Garcia
24. Mel Gibson
25. Joe Pesci
26. Keifer Sutherland
27. Gene Hackman
28. Christopher Walken
29. Forrest Whitaker
30. Jude Law

31. Chris Cooper
32. Russell Crowe
33. Ian McShane
34. Bill Paxton
35. Billy Bob Thornton
36. Paul Giamatti
37. Clint Eastwood
38. Kevin Pollak
39. Daniel Day Lewis
40. Don Cheadle

41. Will Ferrell
42. Jim Carrey
43. Vince Vaughn
44. Ray Liotta
45. Willem Dafoe
46. Matthew McConaghey
47. Edward Burns
48. Harrison Ford
49. James Spader
50. Kurt Russell

51. Tom Sizemore
52. Mark Wahlberg
53. Dustin Hoffman
54. Tommy Lee Jones
55. Morgan Freeman
56. Ewan McGregor
57. Liam Neeson
58. Kevin Bacon
59. Colin Farrell
60. Robin Williams


61. George Clooney
62. Ian McDermid
63. Michael Douglas
64. Billy Crystal
65. Robert Duvall
66. William H Macy
67. Ethan Hawke
68. Nicholas Cage
69. Barry Pepper
70. Ralph Fiennes

71. Dennis Quaid
72. Matt Damon
73. Gary Oldman
74. Val Kilmer
75. Tom Cruise
76. Robert Redford
77. Ben Stiller
78. Kevin Costner
79. Heath Ledger
80. Adrien Brody

81. Bruce Willis
82. Richard Dreyfuss
83. Michael Keaton
84. Jake Gyllenhaal
85. Cuba Gooding Jr
86. Jon Voight
87. Josh Hartnett
88. Tobey MacGuire
89. John Travolta
90. Hugh Jackman

91. Randy Quaid
92. Sam Waterson
93. Hayden Christensen
94. Jim Caziezel
95. Thomas Haden Church
96. Adam Goldberg
97. Dennis Farina
98. Ted Danson
99. Ben Affleck
100. Keanu Reeves

Swerb's 20 Sexiest Women In Hollywood

1. Eva Longoria
2. Naomi Watts
3. Scarlett Johannsen
4. Ashley Judd
5. Jennifer Connelly
6. Jessica Alba
7. Angelina Jolie
8. Halle Berry
9. Kate Winslet
10. Diane Lane
11. Natalie Portman
12. Jessica Biel
13. Jessica Simpson
14. Amanda Peet
15. Eva Mendes
16. Nicole Kidman
17. Kate Beckingsale
18. Michelle Monaghan
19. Maria Menounous
20. Shania Twain