DENZEL WASHINGTON
Julius Caesar (2005)

Washington created a hurricane when he swooped into New York to play the scheming Brutus. Despite middling reviews, Washington proved bankable was enough: The revival became one of 2005's bona fide box office hits. (And Denzel's Shakespearean turn fared far better than Kelsey Grammer's; the Frasier star closed on Broadway in Macbeth after just 13 regular performances in 2000.) But unlike A-list pal Julia Roberts, Washington was denied top-drawer costars, delivering the Bard's bombastic one-liners to none other than...former Roswell actor William Sadler.