Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 2022
Cited against a new National Research Group survey ranking Johnny Depp the No. 9 movie star in America: he was ejected from this franchise and is widely considered unemployable in Hollywood.
The Big Picture · Discussion
The Movie Star Rankings: 35 Over 35, Revisited
May 12, 2023/ 119 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda rebuild the 35-over-35 movie-star ranking from scratch, arguing over Ryan Gosling's soul, Ben Affleck's ebb, and whether Vin Diesel deserves Guardians of the Galaxy credit, before landing on Tom Cruise over Denzel Washington and Leonardo DiCaprio.
150 films across 3 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The state of movie stardomthe NRG survey, the ground rules, and the honorary icons
Black Adam 2022
The Rock came in at No. 2 on the same survey off the back of this, which they call a significant failure.
Red Notice 2021
The Rock's other recent credit, which "every human who's seen it can agree stinks," and which never played in theaters.
Wonka 2023
Passing dig at how much of Timothée Chalamet's fame is TikTok/Instagram gossip about Kylie Jenner rather than movie stardom.
Book Club: The Next Chapter 2023
Opens the same weekend as this taping, headlined by several of the show's honorary "icon status" actors like De Niro and Keaton.
The Flash 2023
Cited as proof Michael Keaton, newly revealed to be 71, is still landing major studio roles.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 2023
Raised to question whether Harrison Ford, an icon-status honoree, can still open something outside this franchise.
The toughest cutsten stars dropped from the last list, a run of quicker cuts, and two international picks
Ghosted 2023
Chris Evans's cut: "You fucked up, bro."
Eileen 2023
Anne Hathaway's Sundance premiere, cited as her likely way back onto a future list.
Roald Dahl's The Witches 2020
Part of the rough stretch behind Hathaway's cut, alongside a WeCrashed TV run.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 2022
Lupita Nyong'o's most recent credit; otherwise she "hasn't really done a whole lot."
The 355 2022
The Nyong'o bomb cited as part of her quiet stretch.
The Woman in the Window 2021
One of five straight Amy Adams credits read aloud as "the worst slump in some time."
Hillbilly Elegy 2020
Another entry in the Amy Adams slump list.
Zack Snyder's Justice League 2021
Another entry in the Amy Adams slump list.
Dear Evan Hansen 2021
Another entry in the Amy Adams slump list.
Disenchanted 2022
The fifth and final credit in the Amy Adams slump list.
Arrival 2016
Cited in Adams's defense: she used to alternate stinkers with genuinely great movies.
The Card Counter 2021
Oscar Isaac, compelling as "a monastic psycho," but not quite a movie-star turn.
Dune 2021
Isaac's brief reign as Duke Leto, cited approvingly despite his cut.
Creed III 2023
Tessa Thompson's most recent credit, playing a character with "a little bit more going on than the wife partner," but not enough to keep her on.
The Little Mermaid 2023
Melissa McCarthy is about to play Ursula in it, not quite enough to save her cut.
Hypnotic 2023
Ben Affleck's new one, from a now-defunct studio; cited as proof he's in "an ebb" as an actor but "a flow" as a director.
Emancipation 2022
Will Smith's Apple TV+ film, not a success, part of the case for his cut after the Oscars slap.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die 2024
Referred to as "Bad Boys 4" at the time; called a retrenchment meant to remind people what they love about Will Smith.
Father Stu 2022
Mark Wahlberg's flop, cited as the end of a phase for him even though he was never actually on either list.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage 2021
One of two recent Venom films that keep Tom Hardy off the list; "I need Tom Hardy to make more movies."
Capone 2020
Tom Hardy's other recent credit: "so bad," Josh Trank's follow-up to Chronicle.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 2019
Cited among Angelina Jolie's recent credits, deemed not enough to make the cut.
Those Who Wish Me Dead 2021
Another Angelina Jolie credit weighed and found wanting.
Eternals 2021
Angelina Jolie's MCU credit, also not enough to make the cut.
Next Goal Wins 2023
One of two Michael Fassbender films this fall cited as a possible comeback.
The Killer 2023
The other Fassbender film this fall; "it's been 22 years since Michael Fassbender appeared in a film," Amanda jokes.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 1999
Cited in passing during the Natalie Portman discussion, and separately as the trailer Amanda's toddler watched on repeat.
Coming 2 America 2021
The case against Eddie Murphy's cut; his 2019 comeback in Dolemite is deemed too far back now.
You People 2023
Eddie Murphy's other recent credit, and separately part of Jonah Hill's eligibility case.
Dolemite Is My Name 2019
Eddie Murphy's 2019 comeback, deemed too far back to keep him on the list now.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 2022
Edward Norton's part of a movie that "didn't open in theaters, but if it did, would have made a lot of money."
Don't Worry Darling 2022
Chris Pine's recent "L," though the spit-gate press tour worked in his favor.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 2023
Cited as the movie that could put Chris Pine back on a future list.
Avatar: The Way of Water 2022
Kate Winslet's cameo, "for like four minutes," cited against her cut.
Don't Look Up 2021
The credit that makes Jonah Hill's eligibility questionable in the first place.
Stutz 2022
Jonah Hill's documentary, cited as evidence he "hasn't been in the frame" as an actor lately.
Venom 2018
Brought up re: Michelle Williams, who once apologized for it on The Rewatchables; called "the classic great actor, not quite movie star" case.
The Upside 2019
Kevin Hart's more serious-register hit, made for $40 million and grossing $130 million; cited as proof he could be a top-15 star if he chose to.
The Mother 2023
Jennifer Lopez's new Netflix film, out the day of taping.
Shotgun Wedding 2022
J. Lo's Amazon movie, reportedly a huge streaming hit now getting a sequel.
Marry Me 2022
J. Lo's Peacock film with Owen Wilson, also cited as a streaming hit.
Second Act 2018
The J. Lo movie Sean almost saw in a Palm Springs second-run theater and didn't.
Dune 2021
Jason Momoa is "phenomenal" but "the eighth lead" in it, per Amanda; his character's fate is a running joke.
The Creator 2023
John David Washington's big-buzz CinemaCon sci-fi tentpole, misattributed on air to "Gareth Evans" rather than director Gareth Edwards.
Infinity Pool 2023
International pick Alexander Skarsgård, cited as a strategic move away from being "just a TV star."
Lee 2023
Skarsgård's upcoming film with Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard.
RRR 2022
Amanda's international pick: N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan, huge stars in India newly discovered by Netflix audiences.
The countdown: No. 35 to No. 135 movie stars, all over 35
The Gray Man 2022
No. 35 Ryan Gosling: the paycheck movie Amanda holds against him, a "betrayal" of the Drive/Half Nelson version of Gosling she knows.
Barbie 2023
No. 35 Ryan Gosling: the Greta Gerwig/Noah Baumbach film that could go either way, per Sean.
The Fall Guy 2024
No. 35 Ryan Gosling: the David Leitch action film with Emily Blunt, which Amanda says feels more like his flavor.
Nope 2022
No. 34 Steven Yeun: cited as slipping his ranking down slightly since it had already come and gone by last list.
Mickey 17 2025
No. 34 Steven Yeun: the new Bong Joon-ho movie he's set to star in, following Yeun's role in Okja.
Thunderbolts* 2025
No. 34 Steven Yeun: his rumored upcoming MCU role, framed as evidence of a rare Korean American star reaching this scale.
Oppenheimer 2023
No. 33 Emily Blunt: playing the wife role, part of her big year coming up.
Pain Hustlers 2023
No. 33 Emily Blunt: a David Yates adaptation of a Wells Tower screenplay about the opioid crisis, also starring Chris Evans.
The Fall Guy 2024
No. 33 Emily Blunt: also opposite Ryan Gosling.
Thor: Love and Thunder 2022
No. 32 Chris Hemsworth: not very successful in their opinion, though it still opened big.
Extraction 2 2023
No. 32 Chris Hemsworth: the trailer alone got a "put it inside me" from Amanda.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 2024
No. 32 Chris Hemsworth: the Mad Max prequel he's also set to appear in.
Swan Song 2021
No. 31 Mahershala Ali: a soft-science-fiction Apple TV+ film that made Amanda cry, late in her pregnancy.
Leave the World Behind 2023
No. 31 Mahershala Ali: the new Sam Esmail film he stars in, out that November.
House of Gucci 2021
No. 30 Adam Driver: one of the four big movies he had ahead of him last time, none of which drove audiences the way expected.
White Noise 2022
No. 30 Adam Driver: another of the four.
65 2023
No. 30 Adam Driver: the last of the four, cited earlier as an example of the vagaries of the IP era.
The Lost City 2022
No. 29 Channing Tatum: alongside Dog, the pair of 2022 films that reannounced his power as a movie star.
Dog 2022
No. 29 Channing Tatum: made with producing partner Reid Carolin, cited as a model for the mid-budget hit.
Magic Mike's Last Dance 2023
No. 29 Channing Tatum: "no one saw it," a rare miss in his comeback stretch.
Fast X 2023
No. 28 Vin Diesel: the reason he's finally back on the list, a week from release at the time of taping.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2023
No. 28 Vin Diesel: his voice role as Groot, though voice work doesn't formally qualify.
Avatar: The Way of Water 2022
No. 27 Zoe Saldana: called the most important character in the film even more than Jake Sully, per Amanda.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2023
No. 27 Zoe Saldana: as Gamora, an example of stardom "subsumed by the IP."
Amsterdam 2022
No. 27 Zoe Saldana: playing a nurse, cited as proof she could do more outside franchise work.
Thor: Love and Thunder 2022
No. 26 Christian Bale: not a good movie in their view, but he's great in it.
Amsterdam 2022
No. 26 Christian Bale: a box-office disaster, though not one they blame on him.
The Pale Blue Eye 2022
No. 26 Christian Bale: the Scott Cooper Edgar Allan Poe mystery, straight to Netflix.
The Church of Living Dangerously
No. 26 Christian Bale: an announced-but-unreleased project (Bale as a drug-smuggling preacher) that Amanda jokes she can't identify; still unproduced as of taping.
Zero Dark Thirty 2012
No. 25 Jessica Chastain: the film she's remembered for before this list, now that she finally has an Oscar.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye 2021
No. 25 Jessica Chastain: the Oscar-winning performance, plus makeup.
The Good Nurse 2022
No. 25 Jessica Chastain: "I watched it to the end. That's where I stand on it."
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 2022
No. 24 Daniel Craig: one of the most-watched movies of last year, even on a streaming service.
Queer 2024
No. 24 Daniel Craig: the Luca Guadagnino film Sean would love for him.
Air 2023
No. 23 Matt Damon: expected to be seen by "north of 700 billion people" on Prime Video, per Sean, and quite good in it.
Oppenheimer 2023
No. 23 Matt Damon: playing what's likely a supporting lead.
Stillwater 2021
No. 23 Matt Damon: "grievously miscast," per Sean, in one of the weirdest mainstream films in memory.
Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
No. 22 Michelle Yeoh: the Oscar win that reminded everyone she's "one of the greats."
Crazy Rich Asians 2018
No. 22 Michelle Yeoh: cited as the actual start of her renaissance.
A Haunting in Venice 2023
No. 22 Michelle Yeoh: the Kenneth Branagh film Sean pre-declares "an absolute travesty."
Free Guy 2021
No. 21 Ryan Reynolds: a huge hit that "destroyed my soul," per Amanda.
Deadpool & Wolverine 2024
No. 21 Ryan Reynolds: referred to on air as "Deadpool 3," with Hugh Jackman set to costar.
IF 2024
No. 21 Ryan Reynolds: the John Krasinski-directed high-concept project he's set to star in.
The Batman 2022
No. 20 Robert Pattinson: a year old by the time of taping, cited as making his ranking feel slightly dated.
Tenet 2020
No. 20 Robert Pattinson: the Nolan film Sean insists everyone actually liked.
Mickey 17 2025
No. 20 Robert Pattinson: his upcoming Bong Joon-ho lead role.
The Lost City 2022
No. 19 Sandra Bullock: her comeback, a standalone $100 million hit she opened wearing a catsuit.
Bullet Train 2022
No. 19 Sandra Bullock: a trade-off cameo the same year.
Bird Box Barcelona 2023
No. 19 Sandra Bullock: not actually in it, but cited as a spinoff of her Netflix hit worth watching for.
Beau Is Afraid 2023
No. 18 Joaquin Phoenix: the most debated movie of the year so far, at a minimum.
Napoleon 2023
No. 18 Joaquin Phoenix: one of two very high-profile films coming, playing the title role for Ridley Scott.
Joker: Folie à Deux 2024
No. 18 Joaquin Phoenix: the musical Joker sequel with Lady Gaga.
Oppenheimer 2023
No. 17 Robert Downey Jr.: his pivot back from Iron Man toward serious work.
Sr. 2022
No. 17 Robert Downey Jr.: the documentary about his father, made with Chris Smith, that Sean loved.
Maestro 2023
No. 16 Bradley Cooper: the Leonard Bernstein biopic he directed and stars in, wearing what Amanda calls "a lot of old person makeup."
Nightmare Alley 2021
No. 16 Bradley Cooper: an Academy Award Best Picture nominee.
Licorice Pizza 2021
No. 16 Bradley Cooper: his memorable Jon Peters cameo.
Asteroid City 2023
No. 15 Scarlett Johansson: the new Wes Anderson movie, opening in about three weeks; she plays a movie star in it.
Jojo Rabbit 2019
No. 15 Scarlett Johansson: one of the auteur projects she sprinkled in around her MCU run.
Fly Me to the Moon 2024
No. 15 Scarlett Johansson: discussed under its working title, Project Artemis, a space-race project also starring Channing Tatum.
Hustle 2022
No. 14 Adam Sandler: won him an Independent Spirit Award, proof that making Netflix movies doesn't disqualify him as a movie star.
Murder Mystery 2 2023
No. 14 Adam Sandler: "quite poor, but I watched it. Literally all of it," says Amanda.
Uncut Gems 2019
No. 14 Adam Sandler: "one of the last good things we had in this world before the pandemic."
Black Adam 2022
No. 13 Dwayne Johnson: his movies "stink," per Sean, even as his charisma remains undeniable.
Red Notice 2021
No. 13 Dwayne Johnson: another entry in a run of quality complaints against him.
TÁR 2022
No. 12 Cate Blanchett: gave the world Lydia Tár, "the most important person forever," Oscar snub notwithstanding.
Thor: Ragnarok 2017
No. 12 Cate Blanchett: cited as one of her more mainstream dips.
Borderlands 2024
No. 12 Cate Blanchett: her second film in a row made with director Eli Roth, who left partway through production.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2023
No. 11 Chris Pratt: reason enough that "no one on this podcast can remember" the Jurassic films exist despite the money they make.
Jurassic World Dominion 2022
No. 11 Chris Pratt: part of a franchise that keeps printing money regardless of memorability.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2023
No. 11 Chris Pratt: his voice role, which "doesn't count" by their rules but made an enormous amount of money.
Leave the World Behind 2023
No. 10 Julia Roberts: Sean's "most anticipated movie of the year," and part of what makes her barely eligible.
Ticket to Paradise 2022
No. 10 Julia Roberts.
Ben Is Back 2018
No. 10 Julia Roberts: the qualifying third film, and one they think she's wonderful in.
A Man Called Otto 2022
No. 9 Tom Hanks: made $140 million and became Netflix's top streaming film; "it's not good, but it's fine."
Elvis 2022
No. 9 Tom Hanks: made a tremendous amount of money on his and Austin Butler's names both.
Creed III 2023
No. 8 Michael B. Jordan: a surprisingly bigger hit than Creed II.
Without Remorse 2021
No. 8 Michael B. Jordan: not a very good Amazon film, but the basis of the Rainbow Six spinoff he's developing.
Just Mercy 2019
No. 8 Michael B. Jordan: an example of the more prestigious work he dips into occasionally.
Fast X 2023
No. 7 Charlize Theron: her one upcoming credit, after a fall from No. 2 on the last list.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 2022
No. 7 Charlize Theron: a surprise post-credits appearance, part of an otherwise very quiet stretch.
Babylon 2022
No. 6 Brad Pitt: called one of the greatest films of their times.
Bullet Train 2022
No. 6 Brad Pitt: forgettable, per Sean, but plenty of people have watched it and forgotten it.
F1 2025
No. 6 Brad Pitt: an Apple-backed racing drama from Joseph Kosinski, framed as classic star-driven packaging.
Air 2023
No. 5 Viola Davis: expected to earn her an Oscar nomination, per Sean, even in a historically loose performance.
The Woman King 2022
No. 5 Viola Davis: should have been nominated, in their view.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes 2023
No. 5 Viola Davis: her next, prompting a "songbird or snake" bit.
John Wick: Chapter 4 2023
No. 4 Keanu Reeves: called Sean's actual favorite movie of the year so far.
The Matrix Resurrections 2021
No. 4 Keanu Reeves: "most people didn't" like it, but he did.
Ballerina 2025
No. 4 Keanu Reeves: the John Wick-universe spinoff he's expected to appear in.
Killers of the Flower Moon 2023
No. 3 Leonardo DiCaprio: his third film in roughly as many years, premiering the following week in France without them.
Don't Look Up 2021
No. 3 Leonardo DiCaprio: reportedly the most-watched film in Netflix history at the time.
The Equalizer 3 2023
No. 2 Denzel Washington: the trailer alone got a "this looks fucking sick" text to Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan.
Gladiator II 2024
No. 2 Denzel Washington: an unconfirmed-at-the-time Ridley Scott sequel rumored to also include Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, and Pedro Pascal.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 2023
No. 1 Tom Cruise: the summer blockbuster Sean says he's never been more excited for, save for Maverick.
Top Gun: Maverick 2022
No. 1 Tom Cruise: the campaign that got the crown back, per Sean, calling it "very strange" and "very effective."
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing The Place Beyond the PinesDriveLost RiverFirst ManBlue ValentineCrazy Stupid LoveMinariBurningSorry to Bother YouMoneyballThe DepartedOcean's ElevenA Man Called OveHustlersBird Box
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV She-Hulk: Attorney at LawMoon KnightTed LassoDaisy Jones & the SixThe EnglishRed Table TalkHomecomingGaslitThe SympathizerBeefLimitless with Chris HemsworthLove and Death
Podcasts and web Cheap HeatJam SessionThe Rewatchables
Games FIFA World Cup
Ads CarvanaBoar's HeadFanDuelPricelineAthletic BrewingWayfair