this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025
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Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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Who do you consider to be THE sci-fi actor? (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by Squorlple@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world
48 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

My nominees and some of their top sci-fi roles:

Oscar Isaac:

• Star Wars 7-9 - Poe Dameron

• Dune Part 1 - Duke Leto Atreides

• X-Men Apocalypse - Apocalypse

• MCU (Moon Knight) - all 3 Moon Knight personae

• Spider-Verse movies - Miguel O’Hara (Spider-Man 2099)

Christopher Lloyd:

• Back to the Future I-III - “Doc” Emmet Brown

• Star Trek 3 - Kruge

• Star Wars (The Mandalorian) - Commissioner Helgait

Djimon Honsou:

• MCU films (Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel) - Korath the Pursuer

• DCEU film (Aquaman) - Fisherman King

• DCEU films (Shazam 1 & 2, Black Adam) - the Wizard Shazam

• Stargate - Horus

top 48 comments
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[–] FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee 52 points 5 days ago (1 children)

THE sci-fi actor? Tough to choose, but Sigourney Weaver deserves to be on the nomination list.

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 19 points 5 days ago

Milla Jovovich too.

[–] shittydwarf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 44 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Patrick Stewart has been in some real bangers

[–] termaxima@jlai.lu 15 points 5 days ago

When I think Sci-Fi I think Patrick Stewart. Bonus points that I can actually believe he is his character. When he plays Picard, I see Picard.

On the other hand, when Matt Damon plays the guy on Mars, I see Matt Damon playing a guy on Mars.

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 37 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Jeffrey Combs.

He's mostly a supporting actor, but he's a chameleon who always delivers.

[–] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

This is the answer. Patrick Stewart is the face, but Jeffrey Combs is the backbone

[–] Apeman42@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Watch the Re-animator movies. He gets to be the lead! He has a knack for delivering B-horror scripts with the gravitas of the finest stage actors.

[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I've been meaning to watch it for a while now; I'll have to make that happen soon.

Ever seen The Frighteners? The CGI definitely does not hold up, but the plot and acting are top-notch. Combs plays a super creep in it that you love to hate.

[–] Apeman42@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Oh for sure! Just rewatched it a few weeks ago actually.

"My body... is a roadmap of pain."

[–] HulkSmashBurgers@reddthat.com 4 points 5 days ago

From Beyond!

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

[–] friendlymessage@feddit.org 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yep, absolutely, it's not even a contest

[–] 13igTyme@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Guy played multiple roles in some of the same episodes.

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I cannot believe no one has mentioned Bill Paxton, who is, to my knowledge, the only actor to have been killed onscreen by the Terminator, a xenomorph, AND a Predator. If that doesn't qualify him for a spot in the genre HoF, idk what does.

[–] 13igTyme@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

Game over man!

[–] notaviking@lemmy.world 24 points 5 days ago (2 children)

How has no one mentioned Karl Urban yet, criminal. Apart from fantasy and superhero films, his sci-fi films like Doom, Judge Dredd, Star Trek, Riddick

[–] 0x0@programming.dev 3 points 4 days ago

Best Dredd ever.
Almost Human series too.

[–] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Karl Urban is great, but he still has a bit to catch up to Jeffrey Combs lol

[–] UncleJosh@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

John Hurt.

[–] Aux@feddit.uk 10 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Is it about the best actors or about your favourite movies?

If it's about actors, then:

  • Sigourney Weaver - played in many Sci-Fi movies, excellent actress and her talent is not limited to a bad ass from Alien. I would say that she defined a woman's place in Sci-Fi works and you can see a lot of women leading Sci-Fi these days.
  • Harrison Ford - again, played in many Sci-Fi movies, got popular for his role as Han Solo, but he's very talented and got a huge list of incredible roles.
  • Emily Blunt is a great actress, but her exposure to Sci-Fi is limited. With that said she did an amazing job in Quiet Place.
  • Cillian Murphy is one of my favourites! And he has some banging Sci-Fi roles: from 28 x Later zombie series to Inception to Sunshine.
  • Wes Chatham. He has a few Sci-Fi roles, but his portrayal of Amos Burton is just next level shit in the world of Sci-Fi. A very atypical character, which just blew my mind.

P.S. Also who the fuck considers stupid comic book movies a Sci-Fi?

[–] Wolf314159@startrek.website 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Whoa there. Are you seriously gatekeeping sci-fi? Don't be a jerk.

Just the MCU characters with an obvious sci-fi backstory: Tony Stark, Hulk (an actual scientist), everyone in Guardians of the Galaxy. Even Thor is actually an alien using Sci-Fi tech. Bucky Barnes is a cybernetic super soldier. There's the Nazi scientist from Hydra that transferred his consciousness into a computer. Fucking Vision and his love story with Wanda. Black Panther may mix in some mystical drug, but his suit and all the other toys are all science fiction.

I'm not arguing that ANY of these are great science fiction stories, but they are still undeniably science fiction. Sci-fi stories are often also something else: horror, action, humanist, dramatic, comedy, or all of the above.

Not every science fiction story needs to use the obvious sci-fi tropes either. Ursula K Le Guin wrote a bunch of very influencial science fiction stories that you could be forgiven for classifying as fantasy and have very little shiny tech in them.

[–] Aux@feddit.uk -1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I hate comics with passion. They're nothing but mental diarrhea.

[–] Wolf314159@startrek.website 1 points 2 days ago

Wow, what a dumb and toxic take.

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Emily Blunt also delivers an incredible performance in "The Edge of Tomorrow".

[–] Aux@feddit.uk 3 points 4 days ago

Agree!

[–] Taco2112@lemmy.world 22 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Zoe Saldana should be in the conversation

[–] blarth@thelemmy.club 2 points 4 days ago

She was the first person I thought of.

Second, probably Patrick Stewart.

Then, I think, Sigourney Weaver.

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 20 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Speaking on behalf of the Star Trek nerds: Jeffrey Combs or Vaughan Armstrong with an honorable mention for J.G. Hertzler

[–] 0x0@programming.dev 17 points 5 days ago

Jude Law's in most scifi i like, such as eXistenZ, Gattaca, AI, etc...

[–] biofaust@lemmy.world 16 points 5 days ago

Max Von Sydow

[–] KanadrAllegria@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago

I'd like to nominate Alan Tudyk.

[–] Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 4 days ago

My first thougt is Rutger Hauer. Rarely in anything spectacular, but always delivers. Just a good solid back catalogue of surprisingly decent performances in otherwise B-movies.

[–] freezy@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Moon: Sam Rockwell

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 days ago

And Galaxy Quest. And Iron Man II (if it counts). And "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy".

[–] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 5 days ago

S. Weaver, Z. Saldaña, S. Agdashloo, N. Portman

[–] hungprocess@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Matt Frewer.

[–] anthropomorphized@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

The Binder! Nice pick

[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago

Maybe William Shatner or perhaps the guy from Blue's Clues

[–] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Wayne Alexander, he's the Jeffrey Combs of Babylon 5

[–] friendlymessage@feddit.org 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

To be fair, Jeffrey Combs played every second alien in Star Trek, Wayne Alexander every second alien in Babylon 5, but: Jeffrey Combs was also in B5, Wayne Alexander never in Star Trek

[–] MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 days ago

Jeffrey Combs was also in B5

Oh yeah, so he was.

[–] HulkSmashBurgers@reddthat.com 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Oscar Isaac was also the tech bro ceo in ex machina.

[–] SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Acting credits aside, Djimon is literally named after a sci-fi franchise

[–] nirodhaavidya@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

Sam Neill

[–] jenni007@lemm.ee -2 points 5 days ago

Jack Vance.