A-List Actors
in Independent Films
A-List Actors in Independent Films
Actor / Film
Aaron Eckhart / Thank You for Smoking
Steve Carell & Greg Kinnear / Little Miss Sunshine
Johnny Depp / The Libertine, *Finding Neverland
Alec Baldwin* & William H. Macy* / The Cooler
Jake Gylenhol / Brokeback Mountain, Proof
George Clooney / Good Night and Good Luck
Zach Braff & Natalie Portman / Garden State
Edward Norton / The Painted Vail, American History X*
Clive Owen & Jennifer Aniston / Derailed
Pierce Bronson & Greg Kinnear / The Matador
Bruce Willis & Josh Hartnett / Lucky Number Slevin
Morgan Freeman & Luci Lui
Sir Ben Kingsley
Bruce Willis & Uma Thurman / Pulp Fiction
John Travolta & Christopher Walken
Amanda Plummer
Samuel L. Jackson
Leonardo DeCaprio* / Gangs of New York, Basketball Diaries
Billy Bob Thornton / School for Scoundrels, Sling Blade*
Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts & Gene Hackman / The Mexican
James Gandolfini
Ryan Gosling / Half Nelson*
Christian Bale / American Psycho
Sandra Bullock & Don Cheadle / Crash
Laura Linney*, Liam Neeson & John Lithgow / Kinsey*
Timothy Hutton & Chris O'Donnell
Forest Whitaker^ / The Last King of Scotland
Sean Penn^ / Milk
^Academy Award Winners
*Academy Award Nominees
**Oftentimes, these actors will defer all or part of their salary in order to take a percentage of the film's net profits. Having one of these A-list stars will not only increase a film's interest in the festival circuit, but also attract attention from distributors.