40 Hollywood Stars Shared The Best Moment From Their Entire Acting Careers

Tom Hanks has been in a lot of movies. A lot. But his all-time favorite is 1992’s A League of Their Own, because of how much he loved filming it. He told the Bill Simmons Podcast in 2021, “We lived in a house in the middle of cornfields. We went to Burger King at night and Dairy Queen in the afternoon. It was a great summer and my entire family still speaks about it.”

Generally Jennifer Aniston has played nice people throughout her career, so her favorite role might come as a bit of a shock. It’s not Rachel Green, but Julia of Horrible Bosses. Aniston proudly told website The Wrap in 2014, “I love Dr. Julia… I love playing the crazy woman.”

The late Kirk Douglas had one film he loved above all others: Lonely Are the Brave. In his 2012 book I Am Spartacus!: Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist, he wrote that he considered it “the best script I’ve ever read.” He then declared, “I still believe the character of Jack Burns is the best role I’ve ever played.”

Tweens the world over fell in love with James McAvoy when he appeared as the adorable Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. McAvoy himself considers that a highlight of his career, as well. Tumnus was his favorite character across not only the Narnia books but all children’s books, and he was thrilled to bring him to life.

Jessica Chastain considers Molly’s Game to be her best work as an actress. In 2017 she told Variety magazine about one scene she had with Kevin Costner: “The scene that Kevin and I have outside, I said to Aaron [Sorkin, the director], ‘This is the best scene I’ve ever had the chance to do on film.’”

Harrison Ford’s favorite career moment was playing Allie Fox in The Mosquito Coast, which might come as a surprise to some because the film was a big flop on release. But Ford absolutely relished getting to play an unsympathetic character. Plus, he’s not the type to care what the critics think.

Morgan Freeman has played many iconic characters over the years, but his favorite ever role was in a movie that doesn’t actually get all that much attention these days. His Oscar-nominated performance as Fast Black in the Christopher Reeve-starring drama Street Smart is Freeman’s career highlight. Not to mention the thing that put him on the map.

While Anthony Hopkins will always be remembered for playing Hannibal Lecter, it was a film he did later in life that he considers his greatest acting moment. Speaking of The Father in 2020, he told Entertainment Weekly magazine, “I shouldn’t say this, I know it sounds really conceited, but it was so easy to play.” And he nabbed an Oscar for his role in the end.

Men In Black would’ve been a career-defining experience for anybody, right? And it certainly was for Will Smith. He once told GQ magazine that playing Agent J in that movie was one of his best film experiences… but no prizes for guessing the worst. Yep, the infamous Wild Wild West.

Many people love the critically-acclaimed TV show Breaking Bad — and especially actress Jessica Hecht, who played Walter White’s ex-girlfriend Gretchen. She named it as her “role that was a lesson in screen acting” to Broadway.com in 2013, And she also said that working with series star Bryan Cranston was “totally thrilling.”

The internet’s favorite person has a favorite film. Keanu Reeves’ greatest career moment was getting to play Constantine in the movie of the same name, because he absolutely loved the character. The film may have gotten bad reviews, but nevertheless Reeves told podcast The Big Ticket in 2019, “I’ve always wanted to play John Constantine again.”

Sure, Dick Van Dyke got a few barbs thrown his way for his Mary Poppins accent. But that didn’t stop him from considering the movie the best one he’d ever done. He told CNN in 2014 that being in the movie was “the most fun I ever had… it was so much fun.”

Before Terry Crews was the star he is now, he was just another uncredited extra making his way in Hollywood. But he considers his split-second appearance in Training Day — a film he wasn’t even paid for — to be one of the defining moments of his career. He thinks the finished movie was incredible.

Drew Barrymore’s all-time favorite character might be a surprising one: Josie, aka “Josie Grossie,” from 1999’s Never Been Kissed. Barrymore doesn’t find her gross. She said on podcast The Chatroom in 2017, “I am Josie Grossie! I feel so passionate about that movie because... I love empathy and kindness and goodness.”

In 2004 Chevy Chase talked about his best work with Entertainment Weekly magazine. It turned out his all-time favorite was the 1985 movie Fletch. He said of it, “… if anything represented my comic ability and was closest to what I’m really like, that movie is it. I was able to make up anything.”

Game of Thrones turned young Maisie Williams into a superstar, and she still remembers her favorite moment on her favorite episode. She told Vulture magazine in 2019 that the episode where she witnesses Ned Stark’s execution was the “best work I ever did.” She would have been only 13 years old at the time!

Some actors might consider superhero flicks to be beneath them, but not Scarlett Johansson. In a 2016 interview with Michigan Avenue magazine, she actually named Black Widow as her favorite role. She said, “It’s been an interesting journey, to take a character and grow it over these years, and peel the layers back and be able to, as you do in life, grow with this person.”

Marilyn Monroe was widely perceived as a blonde airhead of an actress, but in actual fact she took her craft very seriously. Her favorite role was that of Angela Phinlay in the film noir The Asphalt Jungle, a film she wasn’t even the central star of. Modern-day critics think it’s one of her finest works, as well.

Thanks to a 1969 interview conducted by Roger Ebert, we know what John Wayne’s best acting moment was. It was playing Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, which came out that same year. He said, “It’s sure as hell my first decent role in 20 years, and my first chance to play a character role instead of John Wayne.”

Millions of people loved Emma Watson’s portrayal of Hermione in the Harry Potter films… and she did, too. The young actress told Time magazine in 2010 that, though she enjoyed working on all the Potter movies, “[the] last movie was amazing because I had such big parts, and it was really challenging and demanding. I did a lot of stunts and had a lot of very difficult scenes to do.” And she did them wonderfully.

Frank Langella has been in lots of high-profile, critically-acclaimed movies, so his career highlight definitely isn’t what you’d expect. His favorite ever role is, well, Skeletor from Masters of the Universe. Yes, really! He took the part for the sake of his son, who hopefully appreciated his dad’s hard work and time in the make-up chair.

Robert Duvall’s top career moment was playing Stalin in the 1992 movie of the same name, an incredibly difficult — but ultimately a rewarding — task. He’s mentioned in interviews that someone who actually knew the Soviet tyrant contacted him after the film’s release. Apparently, they told him what a good job he’d done.

The 1977 hockey comedy Slap Shot was a financial flop, but it was nevertheless Paul Newman’s favorite movie role. He had to train for over a month to do the film’s stunts — not easy work at all. And yet he absolutely loved it! Part of the reason was because he’d spent a lot of time ice-skating as a child.

Angelina Jolie’s favorite role was a real person: Marianne Pearl, the widowed woman she played in 2007’s A Mighty Heart. She told Vogue in 2007 that she loved the movie because, “I loved Marianne, and Brad [Pitt] produced it, and I think it was a well-done film about something that matters.”

Sandra Oh has played many great roles throughout her career, but the role of Dr. Cristina Yang from Grey’s Anatomy is still of utmost importance to her. She told the Asian Enough podcast in 2021, “It’s very rare, I would say, to be able to see in such a way the impact of a character.” And a month later, on Instagram, she described Yang as one of her “muses.”

Over the years, it seems John Travolta has mastered the art of not giving a damn what anyone else thinks. His favorite role is that of Moose in The Fanatic, a Travolta-led film that was such a critical failure it was nominated for, not one, but multiple Razzie awards. But Travolta doesn’t care.

In 2021 the Intelligence Squared podcast asked Kate Winslet what her favorite ever role was. She answered that it was Clementine from the sci-fi romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Why? Well, because Winslet always “[felt] much more comfortable when I don’t have to sort of look good on-screen.”

Michael Caine has appeared in a whopping 130 films throughout his life, and his all-time favorite is the 2015 movie Youth. You know it’s a good one, then. He told CBS News that year, “Secretly, I regarded it as the best thing I ever did. It was the most difficult and the criterion for that is that I made it look the most easy.”

James Stewart’s favorite movie was Harvey, the one about the man who befriends a giant invisible rabbit. Stewart believed in the story when it was still a West End play and insisted he play the lead (human, not rabbit) role when Hollywood set out to film it. And even when the film flopped, Stewart stood by it.

Arnie’s favorite role, as it turns out, isn’t from one of his high-octane special-effects-laden action movies. Actually, his fave is Kindergarten Cop! He told James Corden this in 2015 and added, “Kindergarten Cop, it was such great training for when I went up to Sacramento [as California governor]. I had to be a Kindergarten Cop up there!”

Asked by the Andscape website in 2018 to rank his best roles, Samuel L. Jackson put Mitch Henessey from The Long Kiss Goodnight at number one. He said, “I just loved Mitch because he’s got such a big heart. He’s a fun-loving, kind of profane guy that wants to be this thing that he’s not. But he’s not afraid to step into the space for somebody that he cares about.”

Johnny Depp’s favorite career moment is a big surprise. No, it’s not Pirates of the Caribbean or Edward Scissorhands or anything else you’d actually expect. It is, in fact, a short appearance on the last episode of British sketch comedy The Fast Show. Depp loved it to bits, and to this day considers his brief cameo one of his proudest moments.

Like a lot of people, Jeff Bridges loves The Big Lebowski. It’s the high point of his whole career, in fact. Asked by Esquire magazine in 2017, “Which is the favorite of all of your roles?” he answered, “Oh man, that’s like asking, ‘Which is your favorite kid!’ I mean, The Dude has got to be right up there.”

Anna Faris told Entertainment Weekly magazine in 2017 — after hesitating for a moment — that she always loved her Playboy-themed movie The House Bunny. She said, “It was frivolous and silly, but I still felt a lot of love toward that project, and it makes me very grateful that a lot of people still love it, and that I was involved in the making of it and selling of it.”

Dolph Lundgren got his big break playing Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, but that role established him as a “meathead” type. So, he was delighted when he was allowed to redeem Drago in Creed II and present him as a more developed character. He told The Hollywood Reporter magazine in 2018, “People think, ‘He’s a robot and he has no emotions.’ Now I can do the opposite, and it’s very, very satisfying.”

Bill Murray’s performance in Lost in Translation changed his whole life. He was largely known as a comedic actor before he took the part of Bob Harris in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 movie, but the film’s success established him as someone who had serious dramatic chops. So, perhaps it’s not surprising that on the Lost in Translation DVD commentary, he said it was his favorite role.

Leonardo DiCaprio was asked by CNN in 2012 what his all-time favorite role was, and he said, “If I had to choose one, it would probably be The Aviator, playing Howard Hughes… I got to develop it for over eight years, and then the great Martin Scorsese got to direct me in it. So that’s the one I’m probably the most proud of.”

Though Viola Davis has played many big and important roles throughout her career, her all-time favorite is a fairly small appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the 2002 episode she played a murderous ex-cop who bludgeons her victims with a baseball bat… and she loved every minute of it.

Ever wonder why the Sundance Film Festival is called that? It’s because founder Robert Redford really loved his role in 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He gave the festival its name nine years after the film came out, but he’s continued to celebrate his part in the movie as his favorite.

Robin Williams must have had his best acting moment on one of his comedies, right? Jumanji, Mrs. Doubtfire, Night at the Museum? Nope, his favorite role of all time was that of Dr. Malcolm Sayer in the drama film Awakenings. He told Reddit in 2013 that he loved it because he got to, “explore the human brain from the inside and out.”