Movie News
For the Second Year, Johnny Depp is America’s Favorite Actor
In 2011 he was the voice of Rango, he was Captain Jack Sparrow (again) and he was also a journalist. And, again this year, Johnny Depp has the distinction of being America’s Favorite Actor. Next on the list are two actors who haven’t actually acted in a movie this past year. Tied for number two are Denzel Washington, who was in the second spot last year, and Clint Eastwood who was number 9 on the list last year.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll ® of 2,237 adults surveyed online between December 5 and 12, 2011 by Harris Interactive®.
Se7en
Rounding out the top five favorite actors is Larry Crowne or rather Tom Hanks in the number 4 spot, up from a tie for number 6 last year, and at number 5 the only actor to have been on this list since it began in 1994, the Duke himself, John Wayne down from the number 3 spot last year.
After being part of a three-way tie for number 6 last year, George Clooney now holds that position by himself. Up from number 10 to number 7 is Sandra Bullock who is the only woman in the top ten and dropping from number 4 to number 8 is Harrison Ford. There are two new additions to the list this year. At number 9, returning to the top ten after a two year absence is Will Smith and debuting at number 10 is funny man Adam Sandler.
Phat Girlz
This year there are two additions to the list from last year, which means that two actors have dropped out of the top ten. She made her directorial debut this past year, but Angelina Jolie, who was number 5 last year is not on this year’s list. And, America’s Sweetheart Julia Roberts dropped out of the top ten from a tie for number 6 last year.
The Change-Up
Age, region, gender and political party and leanings mean different favorite actors. Men cite Clint Eastwood as their favorite while women say it is Johnny Depp. Echo Boomers (those aged 18-34), Gen Xers (aged 35-46) and Baby Boomers (aged 47-65) all say Johnny Depp is their favorite actor while for Matures (those aged 66 and older), George Clooney is their favorite.
The South is a region that stands alone. Those who live in the East, Midwest and West all say Johnny Depp is their favorite while for Southerners, their favorite is Clint Eastwood. Johnny Depp is also the favorite actor for both Republicans and Independents, but Democrats say Denzel Washington is their favorite actor. There is finally something that Liberals and Conservatives agree on – Johnny Depp is their favorite actor however, for Moderates it is Denzel Washington.
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TABLE 1 FAVORITE MOVIE STAR “Who is your favorite movie star?” Unprompted responses |
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| Base: All adults | ||||||||
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | |
| Johnny Depp | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * |
| Clint Eastwood | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | =4 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Denzel Washington | * | 4 | 8 | 10 | 10 | * | =7 | 8 |
| Tom Hanks | 5 | 6 | 7 | * | * | =5 | 6 | 2 |
| John Wayne | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| George Clooney | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * |
| Sandra Bullock | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 10 |
| Harrison Ford | 4 | * | * | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Will Smith | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * |
| Adam Sandler | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * |
| TABLE 1, continued FAVORITE MOVIE STAR “Who is your favorite movie star?” Unprompted responses | ||||||||||
| Base: All adults | ||||||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Johnny Depp | * | 10 | 4 | 2 | =7 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Clint Eastwood | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 1 | * | 2 | 1 | 9 | =2 |
| Denzel Washington | 7 | 9 | 6 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | =2 |
| Tom Hanks | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | =6 | 4 |
| John Wayne | 6 | 7 | 7 | =3 | 3 | 6 | =3 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| George Clooney | * | * | 10 | 8 | 9 | * | * | 6 | =6 | 6 |
| Sandra Bullock | 10 | * | * | 10 | * | 9 | * | 4 | 10 | 7 |
| Harrison Ford | 4 | =5 | 5 | =3 | 10 | * | 5 | * | 4 | 8 |
| Will Smith | * | * | * | * | =5 | 5 | =3 | * | * | 9 |
| Adam Sandler | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | * | 10 |
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DROPPED OUT OF TOP 10 IN 2011 Angelina Jolie (#5) and Julia Roberts (tied for #6) TABLE 2 WHICH MOVIE STAR IS #1 AMONG DIFFERENT GROUPS? |
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| Group | Favorite Movie Star |
| Men | Clint Eastwood |
| Women | Johnny Depp |
| Republican | Johnny Depp |
| Democrat | Denzel Washington |
| Independent | Johnny Depp |
| Conservative | Johnny Depp |
| Moderate | Denzel Washington |
| Liberal | Johnny Depp |
| Echo Boomers (18-34) | Johnny Depp |
| Gen X (35-46) | Johnny Depp |
| Baby Boomers (47-65) | Johnny Depp |
| Matures (66+) | George Clooney |
| East | Johnny Depp |
| Midwest | Johnny Depp |
| South | Clint Eastwood |
| West | Johnny Depp |
Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between December 5 and 12, 2011 among 2,237 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. 
