Actors on the decline? New analysis reveals when iconic movie stars peaked in their careers

Whether you’re a Marvel superfan or a sucker for a rom-com, Hollywood’s biggest movie stars have defined some of the world’s most iconic films.

But have you ever wondered which actors have the best track record when it comes to movie success, and whose performance is on the decline?

Margot Robbie crowned most improved actor with a 68% increase in movie performance rating on IMDb

Looking at films dating back to the 1980s, the study shows how average IMDb scores have improved or worsened for each actor.

Despite still having one of the lowest average IMDb scores, Margot Robbie is crowned as the most improved of all actors analysed. Robbie has seen a huge improvement, jumping up from a disappointing average IMDb score of 2.85 in the 2000s to a score of 6.69 in the 2010s and now 6.78 for this decade. This comes as no surprise as she stars in some of the 21st century’s most memorable films, including her iconic role as Harley Quinn in DC’s Suicide Squad.

Vin Diesel’s film performance has dipped the most by 11% on IMDb

American actor and filmmaker Vin Diesel is the actor whose performance has declined the most. Since the 1990s, Diesel’s performance has decreased by 11.15% from when his average IMDb score was an impressive 8.13 and now currently 5.45 overall.

Anne Hathaway follows closely, seeing her performance decline by 10.94% on IMDb over the last few decades. Hathaway’s average IMDb score sat at 6.4 overall during the decade of The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Now, it has dropped to 4.93 following a string of low-scoring films including The Witches (2020).

Whoopi Goldberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Zendaya crowned top-performing actors on IMDb, with average ratings of up to 7.39

The analysis of 30 actor profiles on IMDb, considering the number of films appeared in and their scores, found Whoopi Goldberg to be the top-performing star with an impressive rating of 7.39 overall. This actor has featured in iconic films, including Sister Act, released in 1992 with an IMDb score of 6.5 and the 1985 classic, The Color Purple, which had an outstanding score of 7.8 on the review site.

The top 10 best performing actors based on their average IMDb score:

Known for his impressive and diverse collection of films, including Titanic (1997) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Leonardo DiCaprio ranks second with an average IMDb score of 7 across his 57 films.

Hollywood veteran Michael Caine named worst-performing actor on IMDb with a score of 5.32 overall, followed by ‘The Rock’ with a 6.06 rating

Despite featuring in some huge Hollywood films such as Inception alongside DiCaprio, Tenet (2020) and The Dark Knight (2008), Michael Caine, comes in as the actor with the lowest performance on average with an IMDb score of 5.32, over 2.7 below Whoopi Goldberg.

The top 10 worst-performing actors based on their average IMDb score:

Despite her declining IMDb score, Anne Hathaway has the best award-winning rate, bagging 68% of all awards nominated for

From the Golden Globes to the Oscars, winning an award is an indicator and celebration of great performances in film and television. But how do they compare to each actor’s IMDb performance scores?