Let’s Rank the Actors on Actors
The best Actors on Actors interviews aren’t the sweet ones or the ones with the deepest conversation. No. The best Actors on Actors videos either have an inherent underlying tension between two performers actively campaigning to win the same Oscar (think Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh) or the two people are such an unexpected pairing that it shocks you to imagine them in the same room, much less talking (Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lopez). Variety unveiled its 2025 Actors on Actors pairings on December 5, and this year, the duos are shockingly unshocking, especially considering The Apprentice star Sebastian Stan couldn’t find a partner because nobody wanted to talk about Trump. Boo! Well, we ranked the lineup from expected to most unexpected, including who should have gone with Stan instead.
#ActorsOnActors Season 21????️ pic.twitter.com/DtKafos7th
— Variety (@Variety) December 5, 2024
10. Drew Starkey and Harris Dickinson
Actor on actor? More like twink on twink. Both boys play the love interests of older respected actors who will probably get Oscar nominations this year (Starkey in Queer and Dickinson in Babygirl), and they also look identical.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? Yes! Same sexual tension, more variety.
9. Kate Winslet and Zoë Saldaña
This one falls into a classic Actors on Actors category: former co-workers gabbing. Winslet and Saldaña have different movies out this year (Lee and Emilia Pérez, respectively), but they were both in Best Picture nominee Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022 and that’s presumably why they’ve been paired. The former–co-worker thing can work (Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl being the most obvious example), but it’s usually better if the project is old enough that we feel nostalgic about it or if there was behind-the-scenes drama. We don’t need to see them gabbing about James Cameron.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? Winslet and Stan talking biopics would give us a chance to hear from one actor who loves their biopic subject (Winslet) and one who … did not.
8. Andrew Garfield and Ryan Reynolds
These two “internet boyfriend” types aren’t in movies that will actually be nominated for Oscars (We Live in Time and Deadpool & Wolverine, respectively). We are of the opinion that awards season should still be about awards. Otherwise, the conversations lack the desperate yearning.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? We can’t imagine Reynolds would want to alienate any of his fan base by talking Trump, but it would add even more intrigue to Taylor Swift’s friend group.
7. Ariana Grande and Paul Mescal
This is a blatant attempt at a follow-up to one of last year’s major triumphs: Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy’s conversation. But just as “Glicked” did not have the success of “Barbenheimer,” this pairing also lacks its predecessor’s weight because it didn’t feel like Wicked and Gladiator II were ever really competing.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? Probably not: Neither has starred in a biopic … yet.
6. Daniel Craig and Josh O’Connor
Both are British lovers of going gay4pay onscreen, and both are in Luca Guadagnino movies this year (Queer and Challengers, respectively). Part of the issue is that Craig is a Bond, obviously, but O’Connor is more of a Q. What are they going to talk about? Linen suits? Sweat dripping down their back? The tender gaze of a male companion? Okay, this one’s fine.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? No, too British.
5. Angelina Jolie and Cynthia Erivo
At first glance, this one is amazing: Jolie has been spouting off quotes about how she learned to sing opera for Maria, and Erivo is a professional singer who may make a face when she hears someone claim they learned opera in a matter of months. But instead of talking too much about that, expect these serious actors to hold space for the fact that Maleficent is basically just Wicked with Sleeping Beauty.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? Jolie, famously an activist willing to have hard conversations, should have done it.
4. (Three-way tie) Nicole Kidman and Zendaya, Mikey Madison and Pamela Anderson, Amy Adams and Demi Moore
Here’s where we start to have fun. All these pairings were clearly engineered for some kind of mutual thematic resonance that is at play in both actors’ films, and they’re all competing for the same award: Best Actress. Kidman and Zendaya, promoting Babygirl and Challengers, will probably chat about portraying sexual power onscreen; Madison and Anderson, for Anora and The Last Showgirl, can talk about agency and freedom; while Adams and Moore, focusing on Nightbitch and The Substance, can discuss evolving with age. Three separate mother-offs with clearly laid out syllabi? We’re so in.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? No, these are all correct.
3. Adrien Brody and Tilda Swinton
Technically, these two, who are chatting about The Brutalist and The Room Next Door, starred in The French Dispatch together, but we don’t think that’s why they’re paired. We think it’s because they both have weird little vibes that are hard to put your finger on.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? Probably not, but it would be fun to watch the ever-brittle Swinton contend with the loose evil of Trump and Cohn.
2. Colman Domingo and Kieran Culkin
These are two wildly charismatic people with exactly opposite ways of being. Domingo is all calm and cool, while Culkin is manic and constantly in motion. Despite both being Oscar front-runners this year, for Sing Sing and A Real Pain, it’s impossible to imagine what their conversation will be like. They may not even like each other! That would be fun.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? Eh, Culkin could have chatted about working with Jeremy Strong.
1. Selena Gomez and Saoirse Ronan
On December 4, Gomez (Emilia Pérez) called Ronan (Blitz, The Outrun) in a THR interview “one of the most encouraging people I’ve met in this industry.” And while we definitely believe that, we also didn’t think of these two in the same context at all before that moment. Both of them started acting early, though one was on Disney in Wizards of Waverly Place and the other was getting an Oscar nomination for Atonement. They’ve both also co-starred with Li’l Timmy Tim (Gomez in the Woody Allen movie A Rainy Day in New York and Ronan in Lady Bird and Little Women). Still, they’re not in the same friend group, exactly. There’s fodder for conversation, plus they’re both trying to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year.
Should one of them have gone with Sebastian Stan instead? We wouldn’t want to give up this pairing.
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