2. Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp's first role as a doomed teen in "Nightmare on Elm Street" has become one the more popular pieces of contemporary pop-culture. Anyone halfway interested in the actor loves to reel off this little fact. This is probably because since this first appearance in feature film, Depp has taken up a bewildering variety of Hollywood roles. It's always a cool fact to know where such a versatile actor began. After three distinctly unique performances as three distinctly unique protagonists in "Edward Scissorhands", "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", and the infamous Hollywood schlock director in "Ed Wood", Johnny Depp emerged in the mid-nineties as one of the most versatile actors of his generation. One of his more surprising performances arose in 2003 as swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow, an opportunistic pirate with a cult-like reputation and an achilles heel for swilling rum. Sparrow became the breakout character of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, and gave further credit to Depp's versatile acting credentials. Whilst Depp gives the character of Sparrow an undoubtedly eccentric streak, the actor went wildly overboard in this sense when playing the likes of Willy Wonka in "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory" and the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland", showing he could play crazy very, very well. A little too well perhaps. But maybe you've got to be a little bit mad to be an actor. Who in the right mind would take up a role as a guy with scissors for hands? Yet, Depp makes it work.