The wrong Batman, but the one with the best sense of humor about it. And standing slightly away from the pack, his softly mocking smirk still intact, those amused eyes still signaling to you that he knows a secret you don’t, is George Clooney. So to consider the fame of Brad Pitt, or Angelina Jolie, or Matt Damon, or Will Smith, or Ben Affleck, or Robert Downey Jr., or Jennifer Aniston, or Leonardo DiCaprio, or Keanu Reeves, or Denzel Washington, is to realize how some of the biggest names of the ‘90s remain the biggest names of today. Blame it on the rise of social media, and how the ability to immediately post one’s opinions-for better and for worse-has stripped away the inaccessibility that once ensconced actors, and that provided them with an aura of mysteriousness that probably did them some good.
Blame it on the change in celebrity and entertainment coverage, and the downward slide of magazines like People and US Weekly, and the rise of more cynical news outlets like TMZ. Blame it on the changing nature of filmmaking, on the rise of superhero franchises that value characters over actors, and on the increase of streaming options and people’s tendency to binge series rather than visit movie theaters. (Gosling is a noted Internet boyfriend, but did all those people see Only God Forgives? Or Evans’s Gifted?) To secure critical respect, box office receipts, and widespread adoration is a tricky combination, and no new actor or actress has quite been able to master it in the past couple of decades. Yes, there are actors who have insane name recognition-your Ryan Goslings, your Jennifer Lawrences, your Emma Stones, your Chris Evanses-but look at their filmography, and realize that their commercial success does not necessarily sync up with that fame.
The question of whether America has produced a new A-list actor since the 1990s has an easy answer: No.
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