Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Lisa Laman | Film | August 11, 2025
“Surprise, bitch, I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.”
That American Horror Story quote has surely been on the lips of countless male actors in the last eight months. Specifically, it’s applicable to 2010s leading men who’re suddenly coming back as great characters. Jai Courtney, for instance, was infamously pushed as Hollywood’s “hot new thing” in the mid-2010s with Terminator: Genisys and A Good Day to Die Hard. Playing an Australian serial killer in 2025’s Dangerous Animals, though, is what really brought him acclaim.
Jack O’Connell, meanwhile, didn’t make too much of an impression on people with Unbroken and Money Monster in the mid-2010s. As Irish vampire baddie Remmick in Sinners, though, he’s scored one of the year’s most acclaimed performances. Then there’s Alden Ehrenreich, who was handed the no-win task of playing young Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Seven years later, he’s tremendously memorable as dirtbag cop Paul in the horror movie Weapons.
What’s going on with 2025? When did this year become the go-to home for would-be 2010s leading men to reaffirm their chops? “Surprise,” folks, these guys are now excelling as character actors.
The 2010s Was Not a Great Time for Leading Men
In the 2010s, Hollywood was not focused on star-driven vehicles. For the first time—really ever—in the industry’s history, the priority was not on exploiting brand names as the equivalent of Tom Hanks/Julia Roberts/Will Smith. Actors were folks who signed multi-film contracts to play characters that (as Terrence Howard and Rachelle Lefevre can attest) they could easily lose at the drop of a hat. This was the awkward age when a new crop of leading men was asked to establish themselves. Rather than down-to-earth stories like Moonstruck that could show off their acting chops or chemistry with other performers, they were now tools to help launch new Marvel Cinematic Universe competitors.
This is the realm where Jack Reynor, Charlie Hunnam, Brenton Thwaites, Garrett Hedlund, Scott Eastwood, and others were all trying to make a name for themselves, playing opposite tennis balls that would later turn into CG aliens/robots/superheroes, etc. This cavalcade of Caucasians featured several performers who were severely limited in their talents, no matter the film. Thwaites, for instance, never had any discernible personality even in his smaller indie works, ditto Eastwood. However, others, like Reynor and Hedlund, have shown in their post-2015 indie exploits that they were underserved by movies more focused on cinematic universe set-up than on human beings.
2025’s various films have only reinforced that reality. Just a few weeks into the year, Divergent leading man Theo James flexed his stuff inhabiting The Monkey’s twin protagonists. Gun to my head, I couldn’t have told you a single attribute about what James brought to his trio of Divergent performances. In The Monkey, though, James is a riot playing off of so many abrupt, grisly occurrences. He’s especially a hoot as the unabashedly malicious member of those twins. No longer is James just servicing Divergent lore or action sequences. He’s inhabiting something much more intimate in scale that lets him demonstrate his dark comedy skills. It’s a humorous anchor for The Monkey that also set the precedent for several other 2025 movies that let 2010s leading men cut loose.
“We Believe in Equality”: 2025 as a Renaissance for Would-Be Mid-2010s Leading Men
Alden Ehrenreich absolutely killed it as Hobie Doyle in Hail, Caesar! It should’ve been the kind of performance that instantly catapulted him to stardom. Instead, mid-2010s franchise-oriented Hollywood thinking led to him playing Han Solo in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Ehrenreich did fine work in the film, but he was stuck in a lose-lose scenario. How could he ever escape Harrison Ford’s shadow? Solo didn’t offer him a chance to strut his unique gifts as an actor. He was just around to remind people of a late-’70s Harrison Ford performance.
Cut to seven years later, and Ehrenreich is tremendously riveting as Paul, the slimy cop in Weapons. There’s big Phillip Seymour Hoffman energy radiating off Ehrenreich’s work here as he carves out an instantly engaging everyman personality growing increasingly desperate and sweaty as the story goes on. It’s a fascinating translation of Doyle’s underdog spirit here recalibrated to reflect Paul constantly and obliviously being way over his head. It’s a great performance that doesn’t require Ehrenreich to remind people of yesteryear. Director Zack Cregger gives the man behind Hobie Doyle the room to breathe idiosyncratic life into Paul. As just another member of the Weapons ensemble cast, Ehrenreich flourishes.
Speaking of great performances in 2025 horror movies, Jack O’Connell is a revelation as Remmick in Sinners. Often tasked with being simultaneously slimy, tragic, terrifying, and even amusing in the space of a single scene, O’Connell dives headfirst into portraying every nook and cranny of Remmick’s personality. That’s how you get tremendously bravura sequences like the vampire’s Irish jig in the “Rocky Road to Dublin” sequence or Remmick’s delightfully outsized delivery of the word “SAMMY!!!”
Who could’ve comprehended that O’Connell had these kinds of heightened chops back when he was taking in a thankless supporting role in 300: Rise of the Empire? Even his mid-2010s adult drama roles in movies like Unbroken and Money Monster didn’t give him room to cook. They were features concocted from the ground up to seem “respectable” to older audience members. That informed a buttoned-up approach that left Jack O’Connell adrift in his lead roles. He was born to do a little dance, drink a little blood, and get down tonight. He never got the chance to show off those talents in the mid-2010s. Like Ehrenreich, though, Jack O’Connell has found salvation in supporting roles in 2025 movies.
Even Alexander Skarsgard somewhat reflects this phenomenon. Unlike Ehrenreich, Courtney, or O’Connell, he’s still taking on lead roles, and he hasn’t (yet) had a 2025 supporting turn that’s garnered acclaim. However, the guy who was so forgettable in 2016’s Legend of Tarzan has let his freak flag fly in 2020s features like The Northman, Infinity Pool, or 2025 Cannes sensation Pillion. In the 2010s, the chiseled Skarsgard was seen as being only perfect for Tarzan, Battleship, and Godzilla vs. Kong (the latter of which eventually dropped in 2021). Leaving the world of franchise films far behind, though, has let Alexander Skarsgard exude personality. Like these other would-be 2010s movie stars, he’s finally able to appear in motion pictures that care about human beings and not endless sequel teases.
Variety is the Spice of Life…And Strong Acting Careers
In the mid-2010s, a slew of leading men were groomed to become the next generation of “movie stars.” To accomplish this, they were handed a slew of tired reboots, remakes, and prequels to headline. How could the next Jimmy Stewart, Denzel Washington, or Tom Cruise emerge in those circumstances? With Hollywood severely limiting how many and what kind of movies it made, there were few opportunities for these actors to exude talent or personality.
Cut to the mid-2020s, those same men no longer have to defer to brand names or fan service. Now they’re showing up as character actors in original features and finally displaying the chops that got them a foot in Hollywood’s door in the first place. Horror films are an especially lively domain where they can thrive. With studios inching back to making more movies than just The Legend of Tarzan or Gods of Egypt, there are actual characters for these men to play once again. Just imagine the possibilities for them if studios start consistently making big-screen comedies again!
No wonder newer movie stars like Jeremy Allen White, Jessie Buckley, or Glen Powell have expressed minimal or outright no interest in headlining superhero or toy adaptation movies. Going that route didn’t work out for Alden Ehrenreich, Jai Courtney, Theo James, and other mid-2010s leading men. The real joy is in smaller, more idiosyncratic works where these guys can carve out something new. That’s how you deliver performances in movies like Sinners and Weapons that conjure up comparisons to that one meme-able Emma Roberts line from American Horror Story.
