Cool actors

I read one of my friends Jason Macdonald's Facebook notes and I commented on it. Then I figured I may as well post it on here. The question he asked is: Who is cooler than Steve Buscemi? The inference here is "out of the people who were matched to Jason's image". This included Richard Clayderman, (who I suspect paid to have his image put on there - this is the most publicity he has ever received in North America, although apparently he is huge in countries whose people love elevator music. He's sort of a Kenny G for pianists.), Elijah Wood (who I think approaches cool, but he is too pretty), Clark Gable, Steve Buscemi, and wait for it....Kirsten Dunst! Hahaha! Anyway, such is the question that was posed.

Remember that cool is defined as "calm self-control".

In my opinion, Clark Gable is much cooler than Steve Buscemi. Watch some of Gable's movies - he is Mr. Cool. Steve plays characters that are so uncool it gives him a level of coolness (cool in the sense that he is an excellent actor), but for the real deal it's Gable, or Bogart, or Cary Grant, or Steve McQueen. I'll even throw in James Dean, although he was only in a few movies.

James Bond is cool, personified. So are the actors who played him, except for Roger Moore. Grrr! How could they let him play Bond! A farce, if you ask me.

Cool actors from our time? Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Liam Neeson and of course Jack Nicholson (although he has been around for 40 years). They have that self-confidence that is evident, no matter the role or the medium (film or TV). My favourite "new" actor for coolness is Christian Bale. Check him out in Batman Begins (by the way, Batman is the coolest superhero.)