A-List Actors
in Independent Films

A-List Actors in Independent Films

Actor / Film

Aaron Eckhart / Thank You for Smoking

Steve Carell & Greg Kinnear / Little Miss Sunshine

Johnny Depp / The Libertine, *Finding Neverland

Alec Baldwin* & William H. Macy* / The Cooler

Jake Gylenhol / Brokeback Mountain, Proof

George Clooney / Good Night and Good Luck

Zach Braff & Natalie Portman / Garden State

Edward Norton / The Painted Vail, American History X*

Clive Owen & Jennifer Aniston / Derailed

Pierce Bronson & Greg Kinnear / The Matador

Bruce Willis & Josh Hartnett / Lucky Number Slevin

Morgan Freeman & Luci Lui

Sir Ben Kingsley

Bruce Willis & Uma Thurman / Pulp Fiction

John Travolta & Christopher Walken

Amanda Plummer

Samuel L. Jackson

Leonardo DeCaprio* / Gangs of New York, Basketball Diaries

Billy Bob Thornton / School for Scoundrels, Sling Blade*

Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts & Gene Hackman / The Mexican

James Gandolfini

Ryan Gosling / Half Nelson*

Christian Bale / American Psycho

Sandra Bullock & Don Cheadle / Crash

Laura Linney*, Liam Neeson & John Lithgow / Kinsey*

Timothy Hutton & Chris O'Donnell

Forest Whitaker^ / The Last King of Scotland

Sean Penn^ / Milk

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^Academy Award Winners

*Academy Award Nominees

**Oftentimes, these actors will defer all or part of their salary in order to take a percentage of the film's net profits. Having one of these A-list stars will not only increase a film's interest in the festival circuit, but also attract attention from distributors.