8. Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider
In 1969, Dennis Hopper (an often used character actor in low budget Roger Corman films) and Peter Fonda (the disillusioned prince of Hollywood royalty, also a Corman regular) decided to make a road movie about searching for the American dream and watching it all blow up in your face. It struck a chord with audiences and critics when released, and is still considered one of the true pioneer films in independent cinema and of film-makers being granted more control over their work. Dennis Hopper's directorial debut is a verite style opus of rock n' roll and the open road, and he left his mark with this terrific film. Hopper's style was very much from the hip; he used natural improv in most of the scenes, and cast as many "non-actors" as possible to play local rednecks seen throughout the film, firstly to cut costs, but also to add more realism to the look and feel of their brooding nature. Hopper never directed another film that had anywhere close to an impact that Easy Rider did, but he continued a memorable film career as an actor until his death in 2010.