Throughout Hollywood, there have been a long list of actors whose first name was Michael. This is a list of my personal favorite actors with that name. Part 2 will features actors named ‘Mike’ and some lesser known ones.
Michael B. Jordan
Like Chris Evans, B. Jordan starred in the Fantastic Four movie, only the 2015 Jordan one was about 20 times worse the FF. He went on to redeem himself, in part with the help of the MCU. In 2018’s ‘Black Panther’ he played the main antagonist ‘Killomger’. His other most noteable project would have to be the Creed movies, with Sylvester Stallone.
Michael Caine
The knighted actor has been in the industry for over 70 years. He’s been in great movies, bad movies, obscure movies, but he always gives his roles everything he’s got. From playing Batman’s butler in the Dark Knight trilogy, to Jesse Eisenberg and co’s manager in the Now You See Me movies, he’s a standout actor and as far as I can tell, has always been so.
Michael Fassbender
The German born Irish actor has been able to appear in hit after hit, his first being the Zack Snyder film ‘600’ followed by Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, the X-Men franchise, the Alien sequels and so many more. For his cinematic contributions, the actor has landed not one, but two Oscar nomination, most noteably for the 2015 film ‘Jobs’, where he played Steve Jobs.
Michael J. Fox
Though he isn’t very relevant today, Fox was all the rage back in the mid and late-80s. Most noteably having played Marty McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy. Since then he’s had to deal with parkinson’s discease, having thankfully recovered. After BTTF his career was never quite as great, but he still makes the ocassional appearence in random movies you somehow ended up seeing. One of these appearences was 1996’s ‘Mars Attacks’ ( read my full review here: https://www.thescreenwritersjournal.com/mars-attacks-an-honest-review/ )
Michael Keaton
Michael Keaton, who by the way has no relation to Diane Keaton, first came a household name after portraying to iconic characters, in two seperate Tim Burton projects. ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘Batman’, in both of which he played the title character. He’s good at playing good guys, who have a certain edge to them. The way he delivers dialogue makes him a standout and a personal favorite to me. He’s always good, and for the most part, so are his movies.
Michael Madsen
The actor, most famous for his work with Quentin Tarantino, had already the year before Reservoir Dogs, appeared in two semi-major films. ‘Thelma and Louise’, which was directed by Ridley Scott, and ‘The Doors’, which is a movie about, the band, The Doors, starring Val Kilmer. Since then he’s experienced the highs and lows of Hollywood, having appeared in amazing films, alright films, and downright terrible trash films that even he probably doesn’t know why exactly he made them. All in all, for films like 2018’s Megalodon, he can cancel dozens of them out with films like Reservoir Dogs/ Mr. Blonde.
Michael Pena
The comedy actor somehow manages to smuggle himself into what feels like every other movie ever made. Depending on the screenplay, his characters can be great, complimented by his unique charm, or straight up cold, heartless and vanilla. Either way, Pena has done a great job in the last ten years to become a globally famous actor.
Michael Rooker
Rooker has been around as an actor for decades, appearing in major name movie, to major name movie. He first really came to fame thanks to two roles, Yondu in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ movies, and Merle in ‘The Walking Dead’. He excells at playing bold, angry characters. Balancing right on the line between evil, and oddly funny at the same time. Also, on a side note. If they ever decided to reboot Full Metal Jacket ( not saying they should ) Michael Rooker wouldn’t be a bad choice for the Drill Sergeant.
That was my list of famous actors named Michael. Did I miss any big ones? If so, lemme’ know in the comments below.
-The Screenwriter
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