Imo, the most important thing is being able to adapt into other roles without feeling forced in any way.
For example, Christian Bale is able to play the Batman, but also go and be a magician (The Prestige) and his performance as the latter is not hindered at all.
Compared to Jennifer Lawrence who I will always see as the Hunger Games girl (not to say she is a bad actor, just not excellent)

nothing

If its an excellent actor you first recognize the character then the actor. If its just a good actor, you see the character and be like, hey thats "...."

Daniel Day Lewis is the greatest actor of all time then

Yeah Gosling and Lakeith are "good" actors.

I was thinking of him when I wrote this. not my fave tho

Not my favorite either but it describes him perfectly lol

He's good but he's no Vin Diesel

Great actors care about family

Christian Bale is overrated. I see the same guy every film. Try hard overly serious.

hes def one of them. no debating

His first half of his career was good but i agree with you in his recent movies and now he’s doing a damn Marvel movie smh

Just want to say that determination and hardwork aren't of deciding factors, they still commendable qualities ofc and ideally it's what you'd expect out of them

Some people just shine when they land a certain role while faring just good enough (suffice) on the rest. Jon Hamm and Aaron Paul for example and in the end I still think of them as great actors

Hey that's Will Smith

I think American psycho f***ed him up, he's been pretty psycho ever since. Plus I read he's one of the worst actors to work with.

He also ruined Batman for me, great movies but his voice killed me inside.

Excellent acting is thoughtful.

An actor should always observe a character as a complete living organism. An actor should know their character beyond what is written in the script because great characters should feel whole. Like they are real things. Not an impersonation but a new living thing of its own.

Lakeith was great in uncut gems and we already know he's got the weirdo/mysterious angle down

Eh I just see Lakeith Stanfield playing Lakeith Stanfield

a good actor is able to dive into a character and act well enough to not cause a distraction from the plot or story.
most good actors are serviceable and don't stand out to much.

a great actor is able to not only play a character but make the character it's own and make the audience view the character as more than just someone's creation and more of an actual person or entity

theres only like 3 excellent actors then

being able to convey genuine emotion

If they are able to make me feel actual empathy for a character they’re excellent

i bet you wrote this in a coffee shop

I just watch Joaquin Phoenix in The Master

The best actors don't have to have insane range imo. I feel like some actors go way to hard to prove that s*** for no reason and end up looking dumb. Ex. Daniel Craig cartoon character accent in Knives out and Logan lucky
The best ones just have a complexity to the emotions their portraying I guess.