9. Hugo Weaving
Hugo Weaving may not be one of the most in your face actors out there at the moment but hes certainly built up an impressive body of work, appearing in mainstream blockbusters and small indie films alike. In terms of iconic roles, Weaving has several on his CV. Agent Smith in The Matrix was the main bad guy in that movie and portrayed the cold, clinical ruthlessness of a computer program designed to hunt humans. He stood out from the other Agents in the film as he began to express human qualities - wanting to break free of the system and losing control when he interrogates Morpheus. The character would return in the two Matrix sequels and develop along the way, becoming not only Neos nemesis but a danger to the Matrix computer program as a whole. Weaving became part of cinema history when he played Lord Elrond of Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and more recently reprising that role in The Hobbit. The Rings trilogy was universally acclaimed and hit the big time at the box office. Weaving will play the role again in the second and third Hobbit movies. Weaving worked again with the Wachowskis, who directed the Matrix films, when he took on the role of the vigilante V in V for Vendetta. The film, based on the graphic novel of the same name, concerns a masked vigilante trying to bring down the totalitarian regime which runs the UK and also to get revenge on those who wronged him. Due to the fact that V wears a mask throughout the film, you never actually see Weaving but the voice is unmistakably his. Weaving recently also became part of the Marvel movie universe by playing Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger. Also worthy of mention is the fact that Weaving provides the voice of Megatron in the three Transformers films.