Acting is a popular and demanding business. Many people want to work as actors but only the most talented or the luckiest become famous. It helps when the actors can make the dialogue seem believable, and sell it to the audience. That's especially true in drama movies and other genres that rely on the characterization of the heroes.
However, other genres, such as action or superhero movies, or even comedy, use the physicality of the performers. Not every actor who excels at delivering the dialogue is a great physical performer, but there are some who have a talent when it comes to both and are even capable of doing their own stunts in some cases or can remember complex dance choreography.
5 Tom Hardy
Regardless of whether he stars in big blockbuster movies (such as The Dark Knight Rises) or in more civil drama movies (the movie Locke that's set in a car), Tom Hardy delivers a strong performance. His physicality is one of the aspects that makes him different from many actors. For example, when Hardy appeared as the villainous Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, he was just as threatening as the character in the comics due to his sheer size.
Hardy bulked up for the role, and it's not the first time he did so, as the 2008 movie Bronson proves. To this day, the best case that Hardy can act with just his body and doesn't need too much dialogue is Mad Max: Fury Road from 2015. As the titular Max, Hardy says only about 329 words in the movie, even though the usual standard for main characters is from 2000 to 5000 words per movie. Despite that, Hardy manages to sell the part, and is the most notable character in the movie, right alongside Charlize Theron's Furiosa.
4 Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves is no stranger to movies of other genres, but most people recall his action work when somebody mentions his name. Even when he doesn't speak, Reeves is impressive in his roles, and the action scenes he participates in look believable. It helps that Keanu Reeves is one of the actors who like to do their own stunts.
Just like many successful action stars, Reeves has a sports background - he used to play ice hockey, and he can also surf and ride horses. It doesn't matter whether he's attempting to drive a bus out of control (Speed, 1994), fights to free humanity (in the Matrix series), or is avenging the death of his dog (in John Wick), Keanu Reeves looks like he's doing the hard work and that makes it easier to cheer on his characters and wish them success.
3 Tom Holland
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As one of the younger Hollywood stars, Tom Holland hails from England, and he started his acting career in physically demanding roles. He portrayed Billy Elliot in a theater musical and his first major movie was the catastrophic drama The Impossible (2012) based on real events. Of course, most people will know Holland thanks to his role as Spider-Man in the MCU.
Holland got the role after he showed he could not only act but also do back flips, as he has a background in gymnastics. Since Holland is agile and physically gifted, it's easy to believe he's indeed the wall-crawling Spider-Man. Yet Holland doesn't limit himself to action roles as he demonstrated by taking on parts in movies such as The Devil All the Time, Cherry, or the historical series Wolf Hall.
2 Manu Bennett
Unlike other actors, Manu Bennett is known both for his TV and movie work. He played Azog, the main antagonist of The Hobbit series. Even though Azog's face and body are CGI, his movement and fighting style is based on Bennett's work. Bennett appeared in person in action roles in the TV series Spartacus as Crixus and in Arrow as Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke.
In the second case, his character mentored Oliver Queen and taught him how to fight. Bennett used to play rugby and his muscular build, as well as his experience with sports, makes him loom over his opponents. So much so that even the physically fit Green Arrow looks less intimidating than Deathstroke. At the same time, Bennett pulls off dramatic, non-action scenes with ease that many movie stars could be envious of.
1 Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton created his most iconic movies in times when movies were still silent. As such, he couldn't rely on his voice and instead had to use his physicality to speak to the viewers and capture their attention. Keaton managed this well by starring in multiple movies that saw him do stunts that many people wouldn't dare to repeat.
He combined action and comedy and created many unforgettable moments, most notably in the feature film The General where he pursues soldiers on a train. Even though the movie came out almost a hundred years ago, in 1926, it still works just as well today and helps understand why Keaton became a legend. Other creators who also excelled at physical comedy and were active in the silent era include Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd.