
What exactly does it take to be a successful movie star? Is it the chiselled looks, the confidence, the sex appeal, the acting gravitas or a magical combination of all these things?
Turns out, a bonafide Hollywood star can mean one thing to the audience at home, and another thing entirely to the critic combing over their performance on the screen.The Hustlewas curious about which big-name actors mainly bring in the box-office gold and which ones are merely the critics' darlings, so they compiled a huge amount of data to find the very interesting results.
Some of that data included a list of actors' average Metacritic score, based on film critics' reviews of their entire body of cinematic work. The average score was 54, on a scale of very, very bad to acting perfection.
Watch: The auditions that scored actors their leading roles. Post continues below.
These actors have won over the film critics...
1. Daniel Day-Lewis.
You don't win three Academy Awards without some pretty solid reviews of your work, and Hollywood's most committed actor is incomparable, earning an average critic's score of 77.6.
Before he retired, Day-Lewis long had a reputation for being a laser-focused method actor, going to extreme lengths to get into character for a role. Some examples? The English actor learned to speak Czech forThe Unbearable Lightness of Being, spent a month living in the woods forThe Last of the Mohicans, caught pneumonia because he refused to wear a coat while filmingGangs of New Yorkand made the crew call him "Mr President" on the set ofLincoln.
At least the critics appreciated his hard work!
2. Lupita Nyong'o.
This actress was a relative latecomer to the acting game, but she's been wowing the critics since her breakthrough role in 2013's12 Years A Slave, which landed her an Oscar.
She's gone on to impress inBlack PantherandUs,and even though her Hollywood portfolio is small, her future as a Tinseltown fixture looks big.
3. Carey Mulligan.
With powerful performances inShame,Promising Young WomanandShe Said, to name but a few, the British actress and mum-of-three has been on the esteemed actors list for years.
Interestingly though, while Mulligan brings in the rave reviews, she doesn't exactly light up the box office - her films are only in the 25th percentile for average box office success.
4. Tilda Swinton.
She once said she didn't consider herself an actor, and "wouldn't know how to approach a character if I tried".
Which makes Swinton's 70.7 average critics score all the more impressive, thanks to the British actor's head-turning roles inWe Need To Talk About KevinandThe Grand Budapest Hotel.
5. Florence Pugh.
At just 27, the English rose has been a darling of the film world since she commanded attention inLittle WomenandMidsommaronly a few years back.
It seems everyone wants to work with Pugh, who has already garnered nominations for a BAFTA and an Oscar in her short career. She also happens to have killer red carpet style!
And these actors shouldn't hold their breath for an Oscar nomination...
1. Katt Williams.
The stand-up comedian and rapper tops the list of worst critically acclaimed actors, following roles in movies such asFriday After Nextin 2002,Scary Movie 5andNorbit.
Williams scored a critics average of just 27.9, which isquitethe difference from Day-Lewis's method acting brilliance.
2. Hilary Duff.
Poor Lizzie McGuire might have been a Disney hit, but Duff hasn't gone on to win over the critics in her big-screen endeavours.
The actress scored a measly 35.2 in her critics' average, proving that reviewers aren't easily convinced by films in the realm ofBeauty & the BriefcaseandA Cinderella Story.
But hey, she's got 26.8 million fans on Instagram who love her!
3. Rob Schneider.
Perhaps it's not all that surprising that the actor who playedDeuce Bigalow: Male Gigalois considered a bit of a joke by the film critics.
Spare a thought for Adam Sandler's right-hand man - he's one of the unfortunate stars who gets below average reviewsandbelow average box office results. Thank god Sandler gives him all those roles!
4. Chad Michael Murray.
He was the undisputed heart-throb ofOne Tree Hillfor years until 2012 and he continued his heart-throb reign in the years since.
But one group of people who don't rate Murray's, uh, talent? The critics, who also ranked him in the top five actors with the worst combination of box office and critical 'success'.
5. Taylor Lautner.
Long live the Twihards! Team Jacob are clearly still very willing to pay to see him at the cinema, with Lautner bringing in a whopping $155 million on average at the box office, which equates to the 99th percentile.
Not surprisingly, esteemed film critics don't really go for the werewolf vibe, and Lautner also failed to prove his acting skills in 2010 rom-com ensembleValentine's Dayand the 2011 action flopAbduction.
Side note: Film critics take their job very seriously, and won't be swayed by hotness! Genetically blessed actors such as Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Megan Fox and Jessica Biel fell way short of the average acting score.
The critics also don't care for humour, with David Spade, Johnny Knoxville and Dax Shepard among the funny guys with average ratings.
Feature Image: Getty.
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Nikita Lee Fletcher
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