Canada is famous for a lot of things, but perhaps its movie stars are one of the country’s greatest exports.
There are many famous actors and actresses who are Canadian citizens - some of whom you might even be surprised to know are Canadian at all due to how synonymous they are with Hollywood. But out of all of the fantastic Canadian movie stars currently in the industry, who is the greatest of all?
Let's take a look at the stats to find out!
Canada’s Greatest Living Movie Star is brought to you by [Client Name]. Data about acting credits and box office revenue was gathered from the-numbers.com. Data about award wins and nominations was gathered from imdb.com. Social media follower numbers were gathered from relevant social networks. All values in US$
Success at the box office is one way to measure the star power of actors and actresses - whether featuring in a hit franchise, or proving their popularity across a range of films, the worldwide box office revenue generated by some of the stars on our list is phenomenal.
Sitting comfortably at the top of the list is Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock. With a combined worldwide box office revenue of $12,300,000,000, he eclipses even the second place Cobie Smulders who has starred in movies totalling $7,800,000,000 in revenue.
The Rock also tops the list when we focus only on movies in which the star had a leading role, with $9,200,000,000 in revenue, further verifying his dominance at the box office. Jim Carrey comes second at $5,200,000,000 with a career of high profile leading roles in comedy films under his belt.
When we look at the average box office per movie, the power of starring in a hit franchise really begins to show. Evangeline Lilly tops this list with an average of $627,400,000 per movie, with Cobie Smulders in second at $435,200,000. Both of these actresses have featured in Marvel movies, including the smash hit Avengers franchise, which have significantly pumped up their averages.
Movie stars and awards ceremonies go together like pancakes and maple syrup, so it’s no surprise that some of the heavy hitters on our list have picked up several trophy cases worth of accolades during their careers.
Jim Carrey tops the list in terms of total career award wins with 50, while Ryan Gosling is evidently no stranger to being pipped at the post with an incredible 151 nominations - the most on our list (don’t feel too sorry for him though because Ryan has also picked up a very respectable 38 wins along the way).
The most famous awards in the movie industry are undoubtedly the Academy Awards. When we look solely at the Oscars, Donald Sutherland, Anna Paquin and Christopher Plummer have bagged one each for best actor or actress (including in a supporting role), while Ryan Gosling heads the table in nominations, yet again, with 2.
Picking up an individual Oscar is clearly a mark of talent, but being involved in the best picture winning movie is also a boon. Christopher Plummer again scores the highest here, starring in 2 winners and 2 nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture during his career.
Despiste starring in fewer movies than some of the people on our list, Victor Garber is the actor with the highest success rate when it comes to the Oscars. 13% of movies he had a role in either won or were nominated for best picture, including Titanic and Argo.
When it comes to work rate, our data shows that there are seemingly two paths actors and actresses can take to movie stardom.
A significant proportion of Dwayne Johnson’s box office revenue has been down to starring in hit franchises like the Fast and the Furious, but the action star’s work rate is perhaps another one of the keys to his success.
Since making his movie debut, the Rock has made an average of 2.26 movies every year, more than anyone else on our list! But while Mr. Johnson has spent a lot of time in front of the camera, he isn’t yet part of the 48% on our list who have all three of acting, producing and directing credits to their name.
Conversely, Evangeline Lilly has made only 0.59 moves per year, but still comes top in terms of average box office per movie. And with a 10% success rate at starring in a movie nominated for best picture, it seems that Lilly has chosen her roles wisely.
When it comes to work rate, our data shows that there are seemingly two paths actors and actresses can take to movie stardom.
A significant proportion of Dwayne Johnson’s box office revenue has been down to starring in hit franchises like the Fast and the Furious, but the action star’s work rate is perhaps another one of the keys to his success.
Since making his movie debut, the Rock has made an average of 2.26 movies every year, more than anyone else on our list! But while Mr. Johnson has spent a lot of time in front of the camera, he isn’t yet part of the 48% on our list who have all three of acting, producing and directing credits to their name.
Conversely, Evangeline Lilly has made only 0.59 moves per year, but still comes top in terms of average box office per movie. And with a 10% success rate at starring in a movie nominated for best picture, it seems that Lilly has chosen her roles wisely.
It’s one thing starring in movies that break office records, or to pick up oscars for your acting talent, but when it comes to being Canada’s greatest movie star another key indicator is popularity with fans.
Analysing social media follower numbers we can see that Dwayne Johnson is a firm fan favourite, with 201.6 million combined followers and 187 million on Instagram alone - a number that continues to grow on a daily basis. Ryan Reynolds, who is famous for keeping fans entertained with often hilarious social media posts, comes in second with 52 million combined followers and Nina Dobrev is third with 27 million.
It’s important to point out that some of the stars on our list aren’t active on social media, preferring to keep their off screen lives out of the public eye. However, if Dwayne Johnson is anything to go by, having a large social media following might just translate to success at the box office.
While some of the stars on our list have carved out an illustrious career spanning a diverse range of roles, there are others who have risen to the top by featuring in some of the world’s most popular franchises.
And nobody can ignore perhaps the biggest franchise in recent years that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Starring in superhero movies has added significant box office draw for some actors and actresses. Cobie Smulders and Evangeline Lilly - who are both in the top 5 when it comes to total worldwide box office revenue - count Avengers titles as their biggest hits, and Ryan Reynolds’ role as Marvel antihero Deadpool has been the actor’s biggest box office success to date.
Dwayne Johnson is one actor that has so far not picked up a role at Marvel, however a significant amount of his box office take can be put down to another popular action franchise - The Fast and the Furious. Will The Rock ever look to extend his lead at the top of the box office with a role in a Marvel movie? Only time will tell.
All of the actors and actresses on our list are stars in their own right, and it wouldn’t necessarily be fair to label anyone as a one hit wonder. However, there are some that, while not having starred in the most movies, seem to have made great choices when it comes to the projects they got involved with.
As already mentioned, Victor Garber has seen the most success at the Oscars despite starring in a relatively modest (compared to some stars on our list) 23 movies. The smash hit Titanic also propelled the actor’s total box office to $4 Billion, accounting for 55% of revenue for all movies he’s starred in.
Emily Van Camp, with just 8 acting credits under her belt, has raked in an incredible $253.8 million on average for each movie thanks primarily to her role in Captain America: Civil War.
Highest worldwide box office (all movies): Dwayne Johnson
Highest worldwide box office (lead ensemble): Dwayne Johnson
Highest average box office per movie (all movies): Evangeline Lilly
Highest average box office per movie (lead ensemble): Evangeline Lilly
Highest grossing movie: Evangeline Lilly (Avengers: Endgame)
Most Award Wins: Jim Carrey
Most Award Nominations: Ryan Gosling
Most individual Oscar wins: Anna Paquin, Christopher Plummer, Donald Sutherland
Most individual Oscar nominations: Ryan Gosling, Christopher Plummer
Starred in most movies winning Best Picture Oscar: Victor Garber, Christopher Plummer
Starred in most movies nominated for Best Picture Oscar: Ellen Page, Anna Paquin, Bruce Greenwood, Christopher Plummer, Mike Myers, Donald Sutherland
Highest individual Oscar success rate (wins or nominations): Ryan Gosling
Highest best picture Oscar success rate (wins or nominations): Victor Garber
Most acting credits: Donald Sutherland
Most lead acting credits: Keanu Reeves
Highest average movies made per year: Dwayne Johnson
Most social media followers: Dwayne Johnson
