Role Call

16. John Travolta: "Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction just because at the time I really needed the job. Before [director] Quentin Tarantino called me I had no other scripts. I was saying, 'Oh man, it's over.' Then a year later the response I got when the movie came out just broke my heart, so I'll never forget that role. I felt such a goodwill and desire for people to see me do well. It makes me want to cry even thinking about it now."

17. Richard Dreyfuss: "Hooper in Jaws was terrific, although I did get my hand stuck in the shark's stupid mechanical jaw. I also liked what I did in American Graffiti, and I have very good memories from the shoot. My fondest is of Harrison Ford getting drunk and throwing me in a pool."

18. Angela Bassett: "It has to be Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It, which scared me a little because it inhabited me. I actually walked around all the time with my lips pursed like she does. I laughed like her. I lost myself in the role. Also, working with Laurence Fishburne was incredible--we had immediate, palpable chemistry."

19. Robert Duvall: "My role in Lonesome Dove is my favorite ever. I also enjoyed playing Stalin. I used to stand in the mirror to make sure I was as quiet as I could be--Stalin did that himself to practice being him. Now those were my favorite TV movie roles, but my favorite big-screen experience was on The Godfather, because James Caan and fun go hand-in-hand. Marlon [Brando], Al [Pacino], Jimmy and I all had this house in upstate New York, where we would hang out on the weekends. We'd invite our wives, too, but then we'd disappear. They could never find us."

20. James Caan: "Playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather was so much fun because we had a lot of laughs on the set of that movie. One day a bunch of us guys had to carry Marlon [Brando] on a stretcher because he was so damn heavy--and this was years ago. Well, he had put bricks under himself as a practical joke. I nearly got a hernia, but it was just part of the craziness."

21. Diane Keaton: "I loved my role in A_nnie Hall_ because that really started everything for me. It made me learn to trust my instincts and after that movie I suddenly felt that if I liked a part, it might be OK. Plus, being around Woody Allen was great, but it did make me realize I didn't have his talent. I picked up his sense of discipline and the fact that he is a very hard worker."

22. Halle Berry: "I really liked my character Khaila Richards in Losing Isaiah, because she was strong, and the movie had real meaning and purpose--it was about race and adoption. White families adopting black kids is an issue today, so I felt by doing the film I was helping put a little light in a dark place."

23. Kirsten Dunst: "Ohhh, this is so hard. I really loved playing Tom Hanks's daughter in The Bonfire of the Vanities. Tom was soooo nice. But I think my favorite role was Amy March in Little Women, because off-camera I got to make lemonade with Susan Sarandon's daughter, Eva, and we sold it to the crew. We got $20, which is pretty good considering people could get it for free on the set."

24. Lauren Bacall: "I won't say Slim from To Have and Have Not, because it's such an obvious choice, so I'll say Marilla Hagen from Designing Woman. I really loved doing a comedy with Gregory Peck. Someone asked me the other day if the movie should be remade. My answer: 'Without me? Hell no!'"

25. Val Kilmer: "Playing Jim Morrison in The Doors, because performing live onstage was one of the ultimate challenges."

26. Jon Voight: "Luke Martin from Coming Home was my favorite role because I got to work with great people like Jane Fonda and Hal Ashby. And we were sincerely at work. All the paraplegics and Vietnam veterans made us feel like we all had a sense of purpose, which was to give this piece to the public so people who were divided might come together and heal the hurt. It was a heart-wrenching time. I also got to write scenes for the movie. I remember one moming Jane and I were reading the script. I said, 'Gee Jane, this is good--I really like these pages.' And she said, 'You ought to like them, Jon, you wrote them.'"

27. Bruce Willis: "Playing Carl Roebuck in Nobody's Fool _was a great role. It went by so fast and I was sad when it was over. I wanted to work with Paul Newman so bad because he is one of my all-time heroes. I wasn't there for the money, I just wanted to act with Paul. He was so generous, too. We would rehearse the scene and talk things out, and I just had a ball doing it. I played this guy who was out of control and crazed so there weren't that many rules. I'm also very proud of my work in _Pulp Fiction."

28. Jennifer Connelly: "My best role was in my first movie, Once Upon a Time in America, because I was such a young kid and everything seemed bigger than life. I received my first kiss on that movie, so that made it special, too. I also enjoyed doing Labyrinth with David Bowie because even the kids at school who didn't like me suddenly thought I was cool because I knew Bowie."

29. Chris O'Donnell: "I've always had an affection for my first role, in Men Don't Leave. I was this high-school kid who almost blew off the audition because I had crew practice. When the casting lady asked me to come back and audition again that night I said, 'But I can't--it's a school night!' Can you imagine? I'm thinking about homework. Then when I got the role I wasn't exactly sure who Jessica Lange was so I rented Tootsie."

30. Harrison Ford: "My favorite role? You will never pin me down on this one. I don't have a favorite. But don't feel bad that I won't answer the question. You'll never get me to commit on my favorite flavor of ice cream, either."

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Cindy Pearlman is a Chicago-based freelance writer.

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