Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime. The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since. So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.
Today, we continue with the 4 actors that has starred in 21 movies that I have seen, an increase of three from 3 years ago.
Samuel L. Jackson
26 years ago, I first made the acquaintance of Samuel L. Jackson in 2 polar opposite films, Pulp Fiction and National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1. After 1994, I also saw 2 Jackson films in 2000, 2006, 2019, and 2020. There was a 6 year break between Lakeview Terrace, which I saw in 2010, and Kingsman: The Secret Service, which I saw in 2016. The last starring roles of Jackson’s I took in earlier this year were 2019’s Shaft and 2015’s Barely Lethal.
Scarlett Johansson
I was first introduced to Scarlett Johansson in 2001 when I saw the comic-book adaptation Ghost World. Starting in 2004, there was a 6 year run where I saw 11 of the 14 films that make up this total, including 5 in 2006 alone. Another 3 films came in 2014. She is riding an active 3-year streak, with my most recent experience with her coming last year in Netflix’s Marriage Story.
Eddie Murphy
It’s hard to believe now, but at one time, Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the land. My first experience with him was likely Beverly Hills Cop. 7 of his films were seen before I started my database, so I can’t be entirely sure of when I first saw them. Of the 7 years since that I have seen an Eddie Murphy film, 5 of them have been multiples. After a 15 year absence, Eddie Murphy returned to my screen in 2019, when I finally took in 2003’s Haunted Mansion.
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts burst on to the scene in 1990’s Pretty Woman, which was one of 2 films of hers I saw in 1991. I’ve seen multiple films from her in 1991, 1994, 2000, and 2017, with her big year for me being 2000, when I saw 4 different films in which she starred. My last Julia Roberts vehicles, 2016’s Money Monster and 2011’s Larry Crowne, were seen in 2017.