Decade-Defining Performers: The 2000s

Some film actors are commended for a single performance they gave in one decade. Others are celebrated for an incredible body of work they gave in the same duration. Here is a curated list of such performers from the 2000s. 

George Clooney

Oceans Eleven (2001) / Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) / Syriana (2005) / Michael Clayton (2007) / Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) / Up In the Air (2009)

Johnny Depp 

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) / Finding Neverland (2004) / Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005) / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) 

Leonardo DiCaprio

Gangs of New York (2002) / Catch Me If You Can (2002) / The Aviator (2004) / The Departed (2006) / Blood Diamond (2008) 

Robert Downey, Jr. 

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) / Charlie Bartlett (2007) / Iron Man (2008) / Tropic Thunder (2008) / The Soloist (2009) 

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Punch-Drunk Love (2002) / Capote (2005) / The Savages (2007) / Synechdoce, New York (2008) 

Heath Ledger

A Knight's Tale (2001) / Brokeback Mountain (2005) / I'm Not There (2007) / The Dark Knight (2008) 

Bill Murray

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) / Lost In Translation (2003) / The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) / Broken Flowers (2005) / The Darjeeling Limited (2007) / Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) 

Brad Pitt

Oceans Eleven (2001) / Troy (2004) / Burn After Reading (2008) / The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) / Inglorious Basterds (2009) 

Kate Winslet

Iris (2001) / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) / Little Children (2006) / The Reader (2008) / Revolutionary Road (2008)