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Posted on 12/18/2003 6:06:02 PM PST by truthandlife
American audiences are passionate about Mel Gibson.
According to the annual Harris poll that tracks which movie stars are most popular among U.S. filmgoers, the Aussie actor is tops--moving up to number one from last year's number two berth.
The leap up the ladder for the Signs star most likely has nothing to do with his laboring over his controversial pet project The Passion of Christ--a 12-hour epic about the final hours of Jesus Christ's life. The project has drawn a lion's share of criticism, though it remains largely unseen and will likely not be anywhere near as popular as, say, Lethal Weapon 3.
Passion or no, Gibson has held his own among the popular crowd over time--he's made the top five in the rankings every year since the poll began in 1993.
Slipping into the number two slot this year is America's Sweetheart star Julia Roberts (news). She of the Mona Lisa Smile was number three last year and number one in 2001.
The Pretty Woman ingnue was the only member of the fairer sex to crack the top 10--the other nine slots are held by male actors.
The folks at Harris Interactive conducted the 2003 poll online, collecting the film star preferences of a nationwide sample of 1,102 adults between November 17 and 23.
Apparently the American public is consistent about what it likes--nine out of the top 10 stars were also in the top 10 last year.
The sole new addition to the list is Johnny Depp (news), who came in at number 10. The Chocolat thesp (and E!'s pick for Entertainer of the Year) was the lone member of the top 10 club to score a box-office success in 2003, with the wildly popular Pirates of the Caribbean, not to mention Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
Depp displaced last year's bottom-runger, Sandra Bullock (news), who went unseen at the 2003 box office.
Other ebbs and flows in the Harris poll rankings affected Tom Cruise (news), who shot up from a low number nine to share the number five slot with Harrison Ford (news), who fell a notch from his number four position last year.
Sean Penn (news) jumped from number five to number three, while Harris poll stalwart, the late John Wayne (news) slipped to a number seven seat--his lowest ranking yet.
Wayne's longevity in the rankings remains baffling to entertainment insiders--the actor has been dead since 1979 and is the only dead movie star ever to make it into the Harris top 10.
When broken down by sex, more men choose the Duke as their favorite star than choose any other actor, with Tom Cruise coming in second.
Women choose Mel Gibson (news), as do whites, while African Americans favor Denzel Washington (news). Hispanics choose Robert DeNiro.
Political affiliation weighs into the choices as well--Democrats and Republicans concur that Mel Gibson is the best, while Independents think that Julia Roberts and John Wayne top the charts.
Here's a complete list of the top movie stars of 2003 according to the Harris poll:
1. Mel Gibson 2. Julia Roberts 3. Sean Connery (news) 4. Tom Hanks (news) 5. Harrison Ford (tie) 5. Tom Cruise (tie) 7. John Wayne 8. Clint Eastwood (news) 9. Denzel Washington 10. Johnny Depp
...as well as Johnny Deppitydo!
Anyone else find this paragraph bafflingly out of place in this sort of article. See any blurbs like that about any other actors in this piece? What's more, see any evidence that this assertion has more than the article writer's own feelings on the matter to back it up?
I will venture a guess and say that The Passion of the Christ will ultimately be seen by more people than ever see Lethal Weapon Whatever. I am talking over the next 100 years, not short term here.
In any case Gibson is an anomoly: deeply religious, ferociously principled, and highly intelligent. What a refreshing human, in contast to the usual pack of Hollywood degenerates, morons, and other liberals.
Slipping into the number two slot this year is America's Sweetheart star Julia Roberts (news). She of the Mona Lisa Smile
Cultural ignorance much? Mona Lisa Smile is not the same as Cheshire Cat Grin
Political affiliation weighs into the choices as well--Democrats and Republicans concur that Mel Gibson is the best, while Independents think that Julia Roberts and John Wayne top the charts.
No. Just because you find a random deviation from the average doesn't mean political affilation was responsible. If fact, from the actual choices made, I'd say it had no influence.
But it has received top reviews.
He's not Australian...he was born in the US and moved to Australia as a boy, living there for several years.
His Braveheart movie was one of the best movies of all time IMHO.
It's our last show of the year,
and we're going out with a bang...
Special Guest
Kenneth Timmerman
will be discussing his latest book!
Radio FreeRepublic is sponsored by the FreeRepublic Network.
Johnny Dep is a frenchie weirdo
like most of his life. His family home is in Australia, his children go to school there.
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