Not a small number of Hollywood male actors have made their names by starring in popular casino-themed movies.
Going to a casino is one of the top pleasures in life, and so is watching casino-themed movies. A large number of big Hollywood names have propelled their fame by starring in casino-themed films.
Here are a few male actors who gave a sterling performance in some of the best movies covering the topic of gambling:
Robert De Niro
One of the all-time greatest Hollywood actors, Robert De Niro, appeared in no less than two casino blockbusters:
Casino: Considered by most to be the best casino movie ever made, Casino is Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece about money, greed, power, deception, and murder that ensue between two best friends: one a mafia hitman (played by Joe Pesci), and the other a casino operator (played by De Niro).
Las Vegas: This entertaining movie is about four ageing childhood friends who visit Las Vegas to celebrate the end of one’s long-lasting bachelorhood. However, once there, they find that the intervening decades have altered Sin City and tested their friendship.
Brad Pitt
Arguably one of the biggest movie stars of our time, Brad Pitt has appeared in three highly acclaimed casino movies:
Ocean’s trilogy: In all three Ocean’s trilogy movies, Pitt plays Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean’s right-hand man, who oversees the logistical side of the heists. Often shown eating fast food, Ryan is a skilled planner. However, his ex-girlfriend gets the team in hot water in Ocean’s Twelve.
Killing Them Softly: In this 2012 movie, Brad Pitt plays a mob enforcer, Jackie Cogan. Cogan is tasked with pinpointing and eliminating three crooks who rob a card game overseen by the mob, which ultimately causes the collapse of the local criminal economy.
George Clooney
One of the most handsome male actors to ever appear on the silver screen, George Clooney has also made appearances in the Ocean’s Trilogy movies:
Ocean’s Eleven: Ocean’s Eleven is about a gang of criminals, led by Clooney’s character Danny Ocean, who decide to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously. The film ended up being a huge box-office success hit and made Clooney a Hollywood powerhouse.
Ocean’s Twelve: In this anticipated sequel to Ocean’s Eleven, Danny Ocean (played again by Clooney) recruits one additional accomplice to pull off three concurrent casino heists in Europe.
Ocean’s Thirteen: In the second follow-up to Ocean’s Eleven, George Clooney returns to his role as Danny Ocean, rounding up his gang for yet another heist after a casino owner dupes one of the original eleven.
Kevin Spacey
The now-discredited actor Kevin Spacey, who was at one time considered a top Hollywood performer, appeared in two popular casino movies:
21: 21 is an exciting movie based on an actual story of six MIT students who were trained by an unorthodox professor, Mickey Rosa, to become pros in card counting, which won them millions of dollars in Vegas casinos. Rosa is played faultlessly by Kevin Spacey in one of his most memorable roles.
Casino Jack: In this film about the dangers of money, privilege, and power, a bigwig Washington DC lawyer, Jack Abramoff (played by Spacey), and his business partner, Michael Scanlon (played by Barry Pepper), find themselves in loads of trouble as their scheme to accrue millions of dollars through influence peddling leads to corruption and murder.
Christian Slater
Christian Slater, who made his name by playing a cool kid in movies like Untamed Hearts, Heathers, and Young Guns II in the late 80s and early 90s, appeared in two casino movies too:
Very Bad Things: In this black comedy, Slater plays an unhinged young man called Boyd, who is amongst a group of four friends who head off to Vegas for a bachelor party. When one of the group members accidentally kills a hired stripper, Boyd murders the security guard to stop him from calling the cops and then goes after his buddies to save himself.
Guns, Girls and Gambling: In this comedy thriller, Slater plays a down-on-his-luck guy who sets off to an Indian reservation casino after losing his lover to a doctor. He finds that his troubles are far from over when a hooker steals all his money. Shortly after that, someone pinches an Apache war mask from the casino, making Slater the prime suspect. To make things worse, a swarm of criminals descends on the casino to claim the valuable treasure for themselves.
