Americans love celebrities, especially movie stars. We look to them for entertainment, cultural leadership, and — for better or worse — political guidance. Any way you look at it, actors have an inordinate amount of influence in our society.
That influence generally emanates from Los Angeles and New York City, the two main hubs of the entertainment industry. Yet only a fraction of actors actually come from these cities. Our nation’s star thespians originate from all across our vast nation.
Exploring this notion, 24/7 Wall Street has identified the most famous actor from each state. Each actor’s level of fame was determined by creating an index based on IMDb popularity, Wikipedia page views, and audience ratings of his or her work.
Many of the country’s most famous actors have earned their status through years of hard work. John Goodman, who was born in Affton, Missouri, has been working steadily for 43 years. He has 155 acting credits and is the most famous actor to originate in Missouri.
Still, an entertainer’s level of fame doesn’t directly correlate with how prolific or formally accomplished they are. A number of actors on the list are younger and have had shorter careers. These include Damon Wayans Jr., who hails from Vermont, and Matthew Fox, who comes from Wyoming. Both actors have fewer than 30 credits to their names yet represent their respective states on our list.
Actor: Octavia Spencer
Total acting credits: 127
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,275,846
Actor: Darby Stanchfield
Total acting credits: 47
Annual Wikipedia page views: 234,607
Actor: Emma Stone
Total acting credits: 42
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,854,694
Actor: Billy Bob Thornton
Total acting credits: 89
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,551,143
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
Total acting credits: 42
Annual Wikipedia page views: 6,355,562
Actor: T.J. Miller
Total acting credits: 74
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,152,671
Actor: Meg Ryan
Total acting credits: 49
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,919,595
Actor: Aubrey Plaza
Total acting credits: 65
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,522,399
Actor: Bella Thorne
Total acting credits: 71
Annual Wikipedia page views: 4,260,691
Actor: Chloë Grace Moretz
Total acting credits: 64
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,887,771
Actor: Jason Momoa
Total acting credits: 28
Annual Wikipedia page views: 8,764,490
Actor: Aaron Paul
Total acting credits: 76
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,715,934
Actor: Harrison Ford
Total acting credits: 75
Annual Wikipedia page views: 4,217,405
Actor: Jenna Fischer
Total acting credits: 46
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,477,543
Actor: Michelle Monaghan
Total acting credits: 45
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,363,389
Actor: R. Lee Ermey
Total acting credits: 124
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,841,932
Actor: Johnny Depp
Total acting credits: 84
Annual Wikipedia page views: 5,917,490
Actor: Reese Witherspoon
Total acting credits: 57
Annual Wikipedia page views: 4,810,000
Actor: Anna Kendrick
Total acting credits: 49
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,978,820
Actor: Anna Faris
Total acting credits: 49
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,752,956
Actor: Matt Damon
Total acting credits: 79
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,383,071
Actor: Kristen Bell
Total acting credits: 92
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,684,761
Actor: Chris Pratt
Total acting credits: 49
Annual Wikipedia page views: 5,386,720
Actor: Lacey Chabert
Total acting credits: 135
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,638,045
Actor: John Goodman
Total acting credits: 155
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,519,371
Actor: Michelle Williams
Total acting credits: 54
Annual Wikipedia page views: 021,244
Actor: Jaime King
Total acting credits: 56
Annual Wikipedia page views: 809,105
Actor: Jena Malone
Total acting credits: 70
Annual Wikipedia page views: 794,757
Actor: Mandy Moore
Total acting credits: 70
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,351,224
Actor: Zoe Saldana
Total acting credits: 57
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,386,247
Actor: Demi Moore
Total acting credits: 60
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,121,681
Actor: Scarlett Johansson
Total acting credits: 62
Annual Wikipedia page views: 6,436,034
Actor: Evan Rachel Wood
Total acting credits: 50
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,671,248
Actor: Leslie Bibb
Total acting credits: 69
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,738,659
Actor: Maggie Grace
Total acting credits: 47
Annual Wikipedia page views: 920,080
Actor: Brad Pitt
Total acting credits: 80
Annual Wikipedia page views: 4,825,661
Actor: River Phoenix
Total acting credits: 25
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,686,290
Actor: Will Smith
Total acting credits: 75
Annual Wikipedia page views: 5,144,554
Actor: Mena Suvari
Total acting credits: 70
Annual Wikipedia page views: 869,203
Actor: Chadwick Boseman
Total acting credits: 30
Annual Wikipedia page views: 5,112,603
Actor: January Jones
Total acting credits: 29
Annual Wikipedia page views: 1,259,319
Actor: Morgan Freeman
Total acting credits: 122
Annual Wikipedia page views: 4,091,654
Actor: Woody Harrelson
Total acting credits: 93
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,827,378
Actor: Roseanne Barr
Total acting credits: 31
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,218,052
Actor: Damon Wayans Jr.
Total acting credits: 27
Annual Wikipedia page views: 612,103
Actor: Sandra Bullock
Total acting credits: 57
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,578,143
Actor: Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Total acting credits: 67
Annual Wikipedia page views: 3,071,153
Actor: Brad Dourif
Total acting credits: 168
Annual Wikipedia page views: 768,436
Actor: Mark Ruffalo
Total acting credits: 68
Annual Wikipedia page views: 2,161,641
Actor: Matthew Fox
Total acting credits: 23
Annual Wikipedia page views: 503,363
Methodology:
To determine the most famous actor from each state, 24/7 Wall Street created an index based on each actor’s STARmeter ranking on IMDb, the number of audience user ratings of all films and television shows in which the actors appear, and the number of page views of each actor’s Wikipedia pages from May 2017 to May 2018. To be considered, each actor had to appear in the top 10,000 rankings on IMDb’s STARmeter.
Each actor’s place of birth was the reference point for determining where they are from. Actors who have gained the majority of their fame for reasons other than acting, such as Meghan Markle, were excluded from consideration.
24/7 Wall Street is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
