SREET OPINION:Who is the better Hollywood actor between Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio or Brad Pitt?

Looking past the pageantry of awards and celebrity, I’d say Matt Damon is a more versatile and capable performer than either Pitt, Wahlberg or DiCaprio. His films don’t necessarily have a winning track record like Brad and Leo but when it comes to sheer acting capability and talent it’s easier to see where those actors are lacking than it is to see how Damon could improve.

Brad and Leo make questionable choices as actors. Half-decent accents, over-the-top performances and occasionally give into typecast which can erase the complexity and nuances of the characters they are trying to play. Matt Damon, on the other hand, succeeds thru nuance. Damon has range, yes he often plays generic suburban family men (his choice to stick to Everyman roles seems deliberate) but he can also play a psychopathic expat (The Talented Mr. Ripley) or a 19th century Texas Ranger (True Grit) quite convincingly while still retaining key traits that make his performances recognizable and accessible to audiences. He doesn’t immerse himself into a role like Meryl Streep or Gary Oldman might but that’s not necessarily a detriment to his performance. They excel in thru transformation while Damon is just as capable of bringing credibility to his roles by making small adjustments to his delivery (timing, cadence or posture).

Think about it this way, did you ever believe (even for a second) that DiCaprio was that elderly J. Edgar Hoover? Or was that forced trans-atlantic and overworked gate enough to make you question if you’d wandered into a high school production at the cinema? Far superior is Damon’s performance in Behind The Candelabra where Matt plays Liberace’s teenage lover. Sure, no amount of makeup or CGI could ever make Damon pass for 18, but the evocation of youth stays present and the father-son dynamic between Damon and Douglas retains an air of authenticity that sells the whole bizarre casting choice.

Watching Devil’s Own, did you ever believe Brad Pitt had even set foot in Ireland? Pitt’s Achilles’ heel (the irony) is his inability to shed his Missouri accent which unfortunately limits his credibility to southern roles or parts which either ignore or don’t acknowledge his character’s background. Damon isn’t limited in this regard, while Damon hails from Boston he doesn’t actually have a Boston accent (despite brief hints in his speech). Matt is capable with a Boston accent but also a very challenging South African accent (Invictus) or Pitt’s own Southern accent in the aforementioned True Grit. Damon is LITERALLY running circles around Pitt’s performances.

Matt makes the most of the little details. It’s not that Brad or Leo are terrible actors it’s that they for go nuance for the sake of painting the broader strokes of their characters (in the name of immersion). And when they aren’t as capable the illusion falls flat. As for Mark Wahlberg, I credit his success to novelty. Nobody expected Marky Mark to have any acting talent so they never questioned his prowess when he proved he did.