3. Eddie Adams aka Dirk Diggler - Boogie Nights
Paul Thomas Anderson's epic masterpiece about the changing trends of the porn industry in the 1970s is one of the best films of the late-1990s, and also gives Mark Wahlberg his first truly meaty performance, tearing away the cobwebs of mediocrity that festooned his early career, and announcing him as an emerging talent to keep an eye on. The film is definitely one of the actor's most thematically challenging and ambitious works, yet girded by Anderson's flawless direction, he crafted a film that does a huge service to not just Wahlberg, but the immense ensemble cast, including Burt Reynolds (whose career was very temporarily resurrected by the film), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Heather Graham, Julianne Moore, and John C. Reilly. Again, Wahlberg could easily have been overshadowed by his supporting compatriots, but the film proved above all doubt that the actor could hold his own in a lead role. It's near-impossible to imagine anyone else playing Dirk Diggler in retrospect; Wahlberg is so perfectly picked for the role, as a good-looking if somewhat bunny-stunned young man who grows into a prosperous, charismatic leader of the industry. Wahlberg has the physical specs down pat, but what makes him great in this role is that he fulfils the emotional requirements, too, when things don't look so great as the film transitions into the darker territory of the mid-1980s.