4. Maximus Decimus Meridius - Gladiator
Crowe has Ridley Scott to thank for casting him in the role that made him a household name, and it is unquestionably the character which most people will generally associate with the actor. Though the film shouldn't have won Best Picture by any measure at that year's Oscars, Crowe did well to win the Best Actor Oscar, forever cementing himself in film history in the process in another performance that mixes the brutish with the poignant. As General Maximus Decimus Meridius, Crowe is asked a lot, to be adept at sword-fighting and horseback-riding, but also to accentuate the film's unexpected emotional elements, given the brutal murder of Maximus' family at the start of the film, and his being reunited with them at the end. Crowe proves that just because a film's about swords and sandals, that doesn't mean it can't be intelligently executed and superbly acted.