Actors Who Can Make You Cry Quickly

Some performances grab your attention; others sneak up and hit you in the feelings before you realize what’s happening. This list spotlights actors with a track record of delivering emotionally charged work that’s grounded in memorable roles, well-crafted scripts, and thoughtful collaborations with directors and ensembles.

Each entry highlights specific projects and roles, along with useful context—character names, story stakes, awards recognition, and creative teams. You’ll find drama, biopics, and even genre films where the performances are built on clear choices, disciplined craft, and attention to detail.

Denzel Washington

In ‘Fences’, Washington directs and stars as Troy Maxson, adapting August Wilson’s stage work with a cast that includes Viola Davis. The production retains the intimate, dialogue-forward structure of the play, keeping key scenes centered on family conflict and generational expectations.

In ‘Glory’, he plays Pvt. Trip under director Edward Zwick, part of an ensemble led by Matthew Broderick and Morgan Freeman. The film integrates historical context with character-driven scenes, and Washington’s performance earned major awards recognition for supporting acting.

Tom Hanks

In ‘Philadelphia’, Hanks portrays Andrew Beckett, a lawyer navigating a wrongful dismissal case, working alongside Denzel Washington under director Jonathan Demme. The film’s courtroom sequences are structured to foreground legal strategy while charting Beckett’s personal challenges.

In ‘Saving Private Ryan’, he stars as Capt. John Miller for Steven Spielberg, anchoring the mission narrative with a company of actors portraying the squad. The production is known for its meticulously staged combat sequences and ensemble interplay that supports the central objective.

Joaquin Phoenix

In ‘Joker’, Phoenix develops Arthur Fleck’s transformation with director Todd Phillips, combining character-study pacing with grounded production design and careful sound choices. The project’s awards run focused on best actor, score, and craft categories.

In ‘Her’, he plays Theodore Twombly for Spike Jonze, with Scarlett Johansson voicing Samantha. The film uses close framing, voice work, and production design to depict intimacy and isolation within a near-future Los Angeles.

Adam Driver

In ‘Marriage Story’, Driver works with Noah Baumbach on a bi-coastal narrative about a director and actor navigating divorce. The production emphasizes legal procedures, mediation scenes, and a supporting cast that includes Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta.

In ‘Paterson’, he leads Jim Jarmusch’s quiet character piece as a bus driver and poet, with structured daily routines forming the backbone of the story. The film’s visual repetition and observational rhythm place focus on small interactions and creative habits.

Mahershala Ali

In ‘Moonlight’, Ali portrays Juan for director Barry Jenkins, contributing to one chapter of a triptych structure that follows the protagonist at three ages. The production’s color palette and score support the chaptered storytelling, and Ali’s work drew widespread supporting-actor accolades.

In ‘Green Book’, he plays pianist Dr. Don Shirley opposite Viggo Mortensen, with Peter Farrelly directing. The project reconstructs tour logistics, performance venues, and travel arrangements through the American South, with attention to period detail.

Andrew Garfield

In ‘Hacksaw Ridge’, Garfield embodies Desmond Doss under Mel Gibson’s direction, charting the conscientious objector’s basic training and battlefield medic work. The production combines practical effects with sound design focused on close-quarters combat.

In ‘Silence’, he stars as Jesuit priest Rodrigues for Martin Scorsese, sharing the screen with Adam Driver and Liam Neeson. The film’s location work, language choices, and historical framing highlight the tension between faith, policy, and survival.

Willem Dafoe

In ‘The Florida Project’, Dafoe plays motel manager Bobby Hicks, directed by Sean Baker with a cast that blends professional and first-time performers. The production shoots on location near Orlando, using handheld camerawork and natural light to depict life on the margins.

In ‘Platoon’, he portrays Sgt. Elias for Oliver Stone, part of a dual-lead dynamic with Tom Berenger’s Sgt. Barnes. The film’s structure maps patrols, ambushes, and command decisions, placing the platoon’s internal divisions at the center of the plot.

Heath Ledger

In ‘Brokeback Mountain’, Ledger plays Ennis Del Mar for Ang Lee, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jack Twist. The production emphasizes seasonal time jumps, location cinematography, and an intimate focus on the characters’ private and domestic spaces.

In ‘The Dark Knight’, he appears as the Joker under Christopher Nolan, working within a crime-thriller framework that includes staged set pieces and IMAX photography. Ledger’s work received numerous posthumous awards for supporting actor.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

In ‘Capote’, Hoffman leads as Truman Capote under Bennett Miller, covering the research and writing process behind ‘In Cold Blood’. The production details interviews, legal access, and editorial timelines that shape the book’s completion.

In ‘Doubt’, he plays Father Brendan Flynn alongside Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, adapted by John Patrick Shanley from his own play. The film preserves theatrical beats while using cinematography and staging to sharpen interrogation scenes.

Anthony Hopkins

In ‘The Father’, Hopkins portrays Anthony, collaborating with Florian Zeller adapting his stage work. The production design arranges the apartment setting to reflect shifting perception, while editing patterns subtly reconfigure space and continuity.

In ‘The Remains of the Day’, he appears as butler James Stevens under James Ivory, opposite Emma Thompson. The film’s narrative uses letters, flashbacks, and estate settings to map loyalty, duty, and postwar change.

Ben Kingsley

In ‘Gandhi’, Kingsley works with Richard Attenborough on a large-scale biographical production, filming across multiple Indian locations. The project coordinates crowd scenes, period transport, and press coverage re-creations to chart key campaigns and movements.

In ‘Schindler’s List’, he plays Itzhak Stern for Steven Spielberg, forming a central partnership with Liam Neeson’s Oskar Schindler. The production uses black-and-white cinematography and on-location shooting to support the historical narrative.

Daniel Day-Lewis

In ‘There Will Be Blood’, Day-Lewis stars as Daniel Plainview for Paul Thomas Anderson, with Jonny Greenwood’s score providing a distinct sonic framework. The film’s production emphasizes oilfield engineering, land deals, and community development details.

In ‘My Left Foot’, he portrays Christy Brown, directed by Jim Sheridan, with a supporting ensemble including Brenda Fricker. The project tracks family dynamics, medical interventions, and the creation of Brown’s art and writing.

Eddie Redmayne

In ‘The Theory of Everything’, Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking under James Marsh, with Felicity Jones as Jane Hawking. The film integrates academic milestones, medical developments, and family life within a biographical structure.

In ‘The Danish Girl’, he appears as Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe for Tom Hooper, with production design and costume choices centered on Copenhagen and Paris art circles. The project addresses medical consultations, documentation, and identity records of the period.

Dev Patel

In ‘Lion’, Patel stars as Saroo Brierley under Garth Davis, with Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara supporting. The film depicts adoption processes, mapping technology, and international travel logistics to reconstruct Saroo’s search.

In ‘The Green Knight’, he plays Gawain for David Lowery, working within a mythic quest framework that integrates practical effects and stylized visuals. The production adapts the poem’s episodes into a single, cohesive journey.

Cillian Murphy

In ‘Oppenheimer’, Murphy leads as J. Robert Oppenheimer for Christopher Nolan, with sequences structured around hearings and testimony. The production alternates between color and black-and-white to separate narrative viewpoints and procedural strands.

In ‘A Quiet Place Part II’, he joins the ensemble as Emmett under John Krasinski, contributing to world-building that details safe zones, signal plans, and resource scarcities. The project balances set-piece tension with survival logistics.

Jake Gyllenhaal

In ‘Brokeback Mountain’, Gyllenhaal portrays Jack Twist under Ang Lee, balancing ranch work, rodeo settings, and long-distance correspondence within the film’s time-jump structure. The production uses location photography to support the characters’ life paths.

In ‘Prisoners’, he plays Detective Loki for Denis Villeneuve, opposite Hugh Jackman. The film builds a procedural timeline with maps, witness interviews, and case files that structure the investigation.

Hugh Jackman

In ‘Les Misérables’, Jackman plays Jean Valjean for Tom Hooper, with live on-set vocals that shaped the recording process. The production coordinates large ensemble numbers with single-take close-ups for character-driven songs.

In ‘Prisoners’, he appears as Keller Dover under Denis Villeneuve, sharing key interrogation and search sequences with Jake Gyllenhaal’s character. The film’s narrative tracks leads, dead ends, and escalating community pressure.

Ryan Gosling

In ‘Blue Valentine’, Gosling works with Derek Cianfrance, who structured the shoot around two distinct time periods. The production alternates between early relationship scenes and later domestic moments, emphasizing authenticity through location work.

In ‘The Notebook’, he portrays Noah Calhoun for Nick Cassavetes alongside Rachel McAdams, adapting the bestseller. The film coordinates period production design, letters as narrative devices, and a framing story that links past and present.

Jeremy Renner

In ‘The Hurt Locker’, Renner stars as EOD tech William James for Kathryn Bigelow, with handheld camerawork and on-location shooting shaping the visual style. The production focuses on mission structures, team roles, and equipment procedures.

In ‘Arrival’, he appears as physicist Ian Donnelly for Denis Villeneuve, collaborating with Amy Adams’s linguist. The film outlines contact protocols, translation frameworks, and cross-agency coordination in response to extraterrestrial visitation.

Michael B. Jordan

In ‘Fruitvale Station’, Jordan portrays Oscar Grant under Ryan Coogler, drawing on public records and interviews. The production reconstructs the day’s events through transit locations, family interactions, and community settings.

In ‘Creed’, he leads as Adonis Creed, again with Coogler, training under Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. The project structures training camps, bout schedules, and promotional build-up to frame the boxing narrative.

Chadwick Boseman

In ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’, Boseman plays Levee under George C. Wolfe, adapted from August Wilson. The production’s recording-studio setting focuses on session dynamics, band negotiations, and artistic control.

In ’42’, he portrays Jackie Robinson for Brian Helgeland, with on-field sequences and clubhouse scenes mapping Robinson’s first season in the majors. The film tracks travel, contracts, and league integration milestones.

Robin Williams

In ‘Good Will Hunting’, Williams appears as therapist Sean Maguire under Gus Van Sant, opposite Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The production balances campus settings, therapy sessions, and South Boston locations to ground the story.

In ‘Dead Poets Society’, he plays John Keating for Peter Weir, set at a preparatory academy. The film’s classroom staging, extracurricular scenes, and administrative pressures form the narrative’s institutional framework.

Liam Neeson

In ‘Schindler’s List’, Neeson leads as Oskar Schindler for Steven Spielberg, coordinating with Ben Kingsley’s Itzhak Stern within the factory and business storyline. The production uses archival-informed set design and location shooting to reconstruct wartime Kraków.

In ‘Michael Collins’, he portrays the Irish revolutionary leader under Neil Jordan, charting political negotiations, internal disagreements, and tactical decisions. The film integrates public speeches, cabinet meetings, and intelligence operations.

Leonardo DiCaprio

In ‘The Revenant’, DiCaprio portrays Hugh Glass for Alejandro G. Iñárritu, with location shoots emphasizing natural light and extended takes. The production details frontier survival practices, tracking, and fur-trade networks.

In ‘Titanic’, he stars as Jack Dawson for James Cameron, with large-scale set construction, practical water effects, and miniatures integrated with visual effects. The project interweaves a present-day salvage expedition with the historical voyage narrative.

George Clooney

In ‘Up in the Air’, Clooney plays Ryan Bingham for Jason Reitman, with a structure built around corporate travel, airport hubs, and consulting gigs. The production incorporates real travelers and industry professionals to enhance authenticity.

In ‘The Descendants’, he appears as Matt King under Alexander Payne, set in Hawaii. The film balances legal decisions about land trusts with family responsibilities, using location photography to reflect personal and cultural considerations.

Share the names you’d add to this list in the comments so everyone can compare notes on unforgettable performances.