I don't think I'll be getting to "Best of the Aughts" until late this year or possibly March 2010 given what's sure to be a crazed Oscar season but I was looking over those old Actors & Actresses of the Aughts list (compiled to reflect 2000-2005 cinema) and realizing how much can change within four to five years of cinema. Halfway through this decade Meryl Streep hadn't yet reconquered the world, Christian Bale hadn't yet started alienating fans, Scarlett Johansson hadn't yet started boring people, Heath Ledger hadn't left us, Holly Hunter hadn't moved to the small screen, Jude Law's career hadn't receded, Maggie Cheung hadn't vanished...
Here's what the lists looked like in 2005
Actor
- Jude Law
- Gael Garcia Bernal
- Ewan McGregor
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
- Johnny Depp
- Clive Owen
- Peter Sarsgaard
- Daniel Craig
- Christian Bale
- George Clooney
Further down... Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Bill Murray, Cillian Murphy, Brad Pitt and dozens of others who've seen great success (or much less of it) since
Not even in the top 100 We'd just barely met James McAvoy and he had pointed ears and really furry legs in Narnia. Who knew?
Actresses- Nicole Kidman
- Patricia Clarkson
- Kate Winslet
- Kirsten Dunst
- Samantha Morton
- Julianne Moore
- Cate Blanchett
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Scarlett Johansson
- Toni Collette
Further down... Tilda Swinton, Meryl Streep, Laura Linney, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Evan Rachel Wood and god knows who else... with success and failures of every degree waiting for them in the near future (now our collective past)
Not even in the top 100 In 2004, I still sorta hated Penélope Cruz. HA! What a difference a few years made
I wonder how much these lists will change once 2006-2009 are factored in? Whose career changed the most for you, cinematically speaking, recently? I suppose you'll be wanting a "Directors of the Aughts" list, too?
