Famous actors from New York

Written by:
July 21, 2022
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Famous actors from New York

Admiring and envying the world's biggest stars is easy to do on Instagram. From A-list movie stars and major musicians to pro ball players and comedians who landed their own sitcoms, there's no shortage of evidence of just how good the good life is. They post pictures of themselves with other big shots on rooftop bars, at exclusive clubs, at backstage parties, and at restaurants where regular people can't get a reservation.

But the vast majority of these celebrities were born and raised outside of Hollywood, finding their way to the bright lights and big money of superstardom from obscure beginnings in regular small towns or cities across the country.

Stacker compiled a list of actors that were born in New York from IMDb's most popular list. For each actor, we included a movie poster image from a film he is known for (all movie poster images from OMDb). Keep reading to see which favorite actors are from your home state.

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Timothée Chalamet

- Born: New York City, New York (12/27/1995)
- Known for:
--- Elio in "Call Me by Your Name" (2017)
--- Kyle Scheible in "Lady Bird" (2017)
--- Nic Sheff in "Beautiful Boy" (2018)

Tom Cruise

- Born: Syracuse, New York (7/3/1962)
- Known for:
--- Maverick in "Top Gun" (1986)
--- Nathan Algren in "The Last Samurai" (2003)
--- Jerry Maguire in "Jerry Maguire" (1996)

Kieran Culkin

- Born: New York City, New York (9/30/1982)
- Known for:
--- Igby in "Igby Goes Down" (2002)
--- Wallace Wells in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (2010)
--- Buster in "The Cider House Rules" (1999)

Pete Davidson

- Born: Staten Island, New York City, New York (11/16/1993)
- Known for:
--- Scott Carlin in "The King of Staten Island" (2020)
--- Blackguard in "The Suicide Squad" (2021)
--- Tom Zutaut in "The Dirt" (2019)

Nicholas Braun

- Born: Long Island, New York (5/1/1988)
- Known for:
--- Greg Hirsch in "Succession" (2018-2021)
--- Josh in "How to Be Single" (2016)
--- Zach in "Sky High" (2005)

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Macaulay Culkin

- Born: New York City, New York (8/26/1980)
- Known for:
--- Kevin in "Home Alone" (1990)
--- Thomas J. Sennett in "My Girl" (1991)
--- Henry in "The Good Son" (1993)

Devin Ratray

- Born: New York City, New York (1/11/1977)
- Known for:
--- Cole in "Nebraska" (2013)
--- Pulaski in "R.I.P.D." (2013)
--- Runny in "Masterminds" (2016)

Dylan O'Brien

- Born: New York City, New York (8/26/1991)
- Known for:
--- Stiles Stilinski in "Teen Wolf" (2011-2017)
--- Thomas in "The Maze Runner" (2014)
--- Thomas in "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" (2015)

Al Pacino

- Born: Manhattan, New York City, New York (4/25/1940)
- Known for:
--- Serpico in "Serpico" (1973)
--- Michael in "The Godfather" (1972)
--- Sonny in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975)

Denzel Washington

- Born: Mount Vernon, New York (12/28/1954)
- Known for:
--- Troy Maxson in "Fences" (2016)
--- Eli in "The Book of Eli" (2010)
--- Dr. Jerome Davenport in "Antwone Fisher" (2002)

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Mel Gibson

- Born: Peekskill, New York (1/3/1956)
- Known for:
--- William Wallace in "Braveheart" (1995)
--- Martin Riggs in "Lethal Weapon 3" (1992)
--- Jerry Fletcher in "Conspiracy Theory" (1997)

Adam Sandler

- Born: Brooklyn, New York City, New York (9/9/1966)
- Known for:
--- Bobby Boucher in "The Waterboy" (1998)
--- Robbie Hart in "The Wedding Singer" (1998)
--- Nicky in "Little Nicky" (2000)

Robert Downey Jr.

- Born: Manhattan, New York City, New York (4/4/1965)
- Known for:
--- Tony Stark in "Iron Man" (2008)
--- Tony Stark in "Iron Man 3" (2013)
--- Sherlock Holmes in "Sherlock Holmes" (2009)

Jon Favreau

- Born: Queens, New York City, New York (10/19/1966)
- Known for:
--- Producer in "Chef" (2014)
--- Producer in "Swingers" (1996)
--- Producer in "Iron Man" (2008)

Peter Billingsley

- Born: New York City, New York (4/16/1971)
- Known for:
--- Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" (1983)
--- Producer in "Iron Man" (2008)
--- William Ginter Riva in "Spider-Man: Far from Home" (2019)

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Robert De Niro

- Born: New York City, New York (8/17/1943)
- Known for:
--- Jake La Motta in "Raging Bull" (1980)
--- Max Cady in "Cape Fear" (1991)
--- Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver" (1976)

Sylvester Stallone

- Born: New York City, New York (7/6/1946)
- Known for:
--- Rocky in "Rocky" (1976)
--- Rocky Balboa in "Rocky IV" (1985)
--- Rocky Balboa in "Creed" (2015)

Richard Masur

- Born: New York City, New York (11/20/1948)
- Known for:
--- Clark in "The Thing" (1982)
--- Rutherford in "Risky Business" (1983)
--- Phil Sultenfuss in "My Girl" (1991)

Billy Magnussen

- Born: Woodhaven, Queens, New York (4/20/1985)
- Known for:
--- Rapunzel's Prince in "Into the Woods" (2014)
--- Ryan in "Game Night" (2018)
--- Logan Ash in "No Time to Die" (2021)

Billy Crudup

- Born: Manhasset, New York (7/8/1968)
- Known for:
--- Russell Hammond in "Almost Famous" (2000)
--- Dr. Manhattan in "Watchmen" (2009)
--- Will Bloom in "Big Fish" (2003)

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David Krumholtz

- Born: Queens, New York City, New York (5/15/1978)
- Known for:
--- Harvey Wasserman in "The Deuce" (2017-2019)
--- Monty Levin in "The Plot Against America" (2020)
--- Charlie Eppes in "Numb3rs" (2005-2010)

Stanley Tucci

- Born: Peekskill, New York (11/11/1960)
- Known for:
--- Secondo in "Big Night" (1996)
--- Mitchell Garabedian in "Spotlight" (2015)
--- George Harvey in "The Lovely Bones" (2009)

Frank Grillo

- Born: New York City, New York (6/8/1965)
- Known for:
--- Diaz in "The Grey" (2011)
--- Sergeant in "The Purge: Anarchy" (2014)
--- Brock Rumlow in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014)

Adrien Brody

- Born: Woodhaven, Queens, New York City, New York (4/14/1973)
- Known for:
--- Wladyslaw Szpilman in "The Pianist" (2002)
--- Dmitri in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014)
--- Henry Barthes in "Detachment" (2011)

Vincent D'Onofrio

- Born: Brooklyn, New York City, New York (6/30/1959)
- Known for:
--- Edgar in "Men in Black" (1997)
--- Carl Stargher in "The Cell" (2000)
--- Pvt. Pyle in "Full Metal Jacket" (1987)

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Ansel Elgort

- Born: New York City, New York (3/14/1994)
- Known for:
--- Gus in "The Fault in Our Stars" (2014)
--- Caleb in "Divergent" (2014)
--- Baby in "Baby Driver" (2017)

Theo Rossi

- Born: Staten Island, New York City, New York (6/4/1975)
- Known for:
--- Burt Cummings in "Army of the Dead" (2021)
--- Juan Carlos 'Juice' Ortiz in "Sons of Anarchy" (2008-2014)
--- Hernan 'Shades' Alvarez in "Luke Cage" (2016-2018)

Ethan Suplee

- Born: Manhattan, New York City, New York (5/25/1976)
- Known for:
--- Guard Max Conlin in "John Q" (2002)
--- Louie Lastik in "Remember the Titans" (2000)
--- Fan in "Chasing Amy" (1997)

Chad Michael Murray

- Born: Buffalo, New York (8/24/1981)
- Known for:
--- Lucas Scott in "One Tree Hill" (2003-2012)
--- Nick in "House of Wax" (2005)
--- Austin in "A Cinderella Story" (2004)

Kyle Chandler

- Born: Buffalo, New York (9/17/1965)
- Known for:
--- Deputy Jackson Lamb in "Super 8" (2011)
--- Hamilton Jordan in "Argo" (2012)
--- Joe Chandler in "Manchester by the Sea" (2016)

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Jason Bateman

- Born: Rye, New York (1/14/1969)
- Known for:
--- Michael Bluth in "Arrested Development" (2003-2019)
--- Guy Trilby in "Bad Words" (2013)
--- Nick Wilde in "Zootopia" (2016)

Chevy Chase

- Born: New York City, New York (10/8/1943)
- Known for:
--- Clark Griswold in "National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983)
--- Ty Webb in "Caddyshack" (1980)
--- Dusty Bottoms in "Three Amigos!" (1986)

Michael Kenneth Williams

- Born: Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, New York (11/22/1966)
- Died: 9/6/2021
- Known for:
--- Omar Little in "The Wire" (2002-2008)
--- Robert in "12 Years a Slave" (2013)
--- Moussa in "Assassin's Creed" (2016)

David Harbour

- Born: New York (4/10/1975)
- Known for:
--- Shep Campbell in "Revolutionary Road" (2008)
--- Hellboy in "Hellboy" (2019)
--- Dexter Tolliver in "Suicide Squad" (2016)

Bokeem Woodbine

- Born: New York City, New York (4/13/1973)
- Known for:
--- Herman Schultz in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017)
--- Mike Milligan in "Fargo" (2015-2020)
--- Uncle Earl in "Queen & Slim" (2019)

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Viggo Mortensen

- Born: Manhattan, New York City, New York (10/20/1958)
- Known for:
--- Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003)
--- Ben in "Captain Fantastic" (2016)
--- Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002)

Dave Annable

- Born: Suffern, New York (9/15/1979)
- Known for:
--- Jake Adams in "What's Your Number?" (2011)
--- Justin Walker in "Brothers & Sisters" (2006-2011)
--- Bean in "Little Black Book" (2004)

Eli Wallach

- Born: Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York City, New York (12/7/1915)
- Died: 6/24/2014
- Known for:
--- Tuco in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966)
--- Calvera in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960)
--- Silva Vacarro in "Baby Doll" (1956)

Bill Pullman

- Born: Hornell, New York (12/17/1953)
- Known for:
--- President Thomas J. Whitmore in "Independence Day" (1996)
--- President Whitmore in "Independence Day: Resurgence" (2016)
--- Lone Starr in "Spaceballs" (1987)

Ben Stiller

- Born: New York City, New York (11/30/1965)
- Known for:
--- Producer in "Zoolander" (2001)
--- Producer in "Tropic Thunder" (2008)
--- Producer in "Zoolander 2" (2016)

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Peter Gallagher

- Born: New York City, New York (8/19/1955)
- Known for:
--- Buddy Kane in "American Beauty" (1999)
--- Sandy Cohen in "The O.C." (2003-2007)
--- Peter in "While You Were Sleeping" (1995)

Mickey Rourke

- Born: Schenectady, New York (9/16/1952)
- Known for:
--- Marv in "Sin City" (2005)
--- Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in "The Wrestler" (2008)
--- Harry Angel in "Angel Heart" (1987)

Philip Seymour Hoffman

- Born: Fairport, New York (7/23/1967)
- Died: 2/2/2014
- Known for:
--- Lancaster Dodd in "The Master" (2012)
--- Truman Capote in "Capote" (2005)
--- Andy in "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (2007)

James Caan

- Born: The Bronx, New York (3/26/1940)
- Known for:
--- Sonny in "The Godfather" (1972)
--- Frank in "Thief" (1981)
--- Paul Sheldon in "Misery" (1990)

Christopher Walken

- Born: Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York (3/31/1943)
- Known for:
--- Nick in "The Deer Hunter" (1978)
--- Frank Abagnale in "Catch Me If You Can" (2002)
--- Wilbur Turnblad in "Hairspray" (2007)

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John Lithgow

- Born: Rochester, New York (10/19/1945)
- Known for:
--- Dr. Dick Solomon in "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1996-2001)
--- Roberta Muldoon in "The World According to Garp" (1982)
--- Eric Qualen in "Cliffhanger" (1993)

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