I grew up watching older actors as much as modern ones and for a long time I've felt that sort of "don't make them like they used to" sort of thing about Hollywood.

The stars like Cary Grant (:x), Anthony Hopkins, the classy, phenomenal actors... I feel like they're fading away and they aren't being replaced. I don't see it as much with the female stars but Susan Sarandon is one who comes to mind.

I don't know if I'm explaining this very well at all but there are some great actors in Hollywood. Not denying that. Ed Norton is amazing. Matt Damon & Russell Crowe are fabulous. But they don't have the charm of actors like Grant, Clark Gable.

Maybe it's the type of movies that are being made now, what audiences are looking for, but does anyone know what I'm talking about?

I think that what you're getting at is that we have fewer of the urbane leading men now, which is partly the fault of the kind of films being made. There are actions movies galore, and slapstick/gross/teen comedies, but relatively little in the way of sophisticaed comedies and thrillers.

Pierce Brosnan strikes me as being one of the closest to that kind we currently have: think of him in the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, or in Matador.

Johnny Depp can also shine in that kind of role, as he did in Don Juan deMarco, but he prefers more off-beat roles. But I bet he'd be terrific in the Cary Grant role in Arsenic and Old Lace. And he does look fabulous in black and white - even more so than usual.

Are you talking about the roles or the actors themselves?

Mostly about the actors, Myri, but I started thinking as I was typing and I really do think, as CD said, that there aren't roles like Rhett Butler being cast anymore so maybe there isn't a need for the actors we're seeing now to come across like Clark Gable.

I've mostly noticed that actresses don't dress with anywhere near the grace and glamour of the past. It's sad, really...

I know that I'm getting sick of people thinking the Superbad type actors are fantastic. Give me a break, a pre-school could do the jokes they do in those sort of movies.

I've mostly noticed that actresses don't dress with anywhere near the grace and glamour of the past. It's sad, really...

I know. Charlize Theron and... guh, can't remember the other actress' name, but she's a blonde, dresses pretty classy. Every time I see them on the red carpet it reminds me of something you might have seen years and years ago.

Rogue, yes! Don't get me wrong, there are comedians I think are fabulous actors. Robin Williams comes to mind and God knows he's done some stupid comedy. But he is one actor who can do anything. Any role, he can pull it off amazingly.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is good at the old-fashioned glamour. She usually looks fabulous on the red carpet.

George Clooney is probably the closest we've got. Man always looks so unbelievably fabulous on the red carpet, very suave but not intimidating. And so very cool and smooth and, yes, sexy, in Ocean's 11. Plus, there's something positively dazzling about his smile. I get the impression he's the sort of guy that smiles at a girl and she thinks that the smile is just for her.

That he had a pet potbelly pig, which I have wanted since I was 11, just makes him even better in my book!

George Clooney is fantastic. Great actor, seems like a nice guy, no huge scandals. And I agree about the smile...*swoons*

Actually, I had a similar conversation to this with my mum the other night while watching the Olympics, just about athletes instead of actors. We're both huge fans of Roger Federer, and think that it'll be a sad day for the sport when he goes. He's one of those great sportsmen, not just because he's fantastic at his sport, but because he can accept defeat just as graciously as victory. Unlike that boxer guy, which just goes to show that nice seems to be going out of style everywhere, not just Hollywood.