46. Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland
      Cast Away (2000)

For Cast Away, Hanks underwent the kind of physical transformation that’s practically de rigueur for Oscar contenders; infinitely more impressive, though, is how he manages to hold the screen for nearly an hour with little more than a volleyball to play off of. Using just his expressions and body language—which move deftly between desperation and hope and triumph—Hanks turns the elemental task of building a fire, for instance, into moments of breathless suspense.

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