42. JAMES GANDOLFINI
In the span of a single episode, the hulking actor could take menacing Mob boss Tony Soprano through rage, self-pity, love, and depression: He was a weekly how-to manual on Greek tragedy. Early on in The Sopranos' revolutionary first season, Tony took a brief recess from his daughter's college tour to hunt down and kill one of his enemies. This brutally revealed to the audience exactly who they were rooting for — a family man, yes, but also a cold-blooded killer.

Get This! The Sopranos, season 1