There’s arguably no more proven way for an actor to carve their name into the annals of popular culture right now than appearing in a major movie or television franchise. This often allows them to reprise their role, compounding their chances of critical, commercial, and overall career success. In some cases, there’s even a built-in fan base to further elevate the performer’s profile. With that being said, it’s also worth noting that many of these individuals earned their sterling franchise reputations without a lick of help, their breakout performance serving as the foundation for some of cinema’s highest-grossing franchises.

However, Hollywood’s numerous franchises mean that appearing in just one standout movie series or television show isn’t enough to earn an actor royalty alone. From cinematic icons like Harrison Ford to modern standouts with impressive careers like Zoe Saldaña, the undisputed kings and queens of movie franchises are the individuals who are virtually synonymous with their parent series at this point in proceedings.

10

Zoe Saldana

Notable Franchise Appearances: Avatar, MCU, Pirates of the Caribbean, & Star Trek

A prominent staple of popular culture for the better part of two decades, Zoe Saldaña is one of Hollywood’s highest-grossing actors, boasting credits in four of the seven highest-grossing movies ever made. Unsurprisingly, this comes about courtesy of appearances in some of the biggest movie franchises of all time, which began with a minor role as Anamaria in 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Saldaña wouldn’t reprise her role in the wildly successful Disney franchise, but frankly, it didn’t matter. 2009 proved to be a huge year for the actress as she starred in the acclaimed Star Trek reboot and the box-office тιтan, Avatar, reprising her roles in both behemoth franchises’ respective sequels. Further emphasizing Saldaña’s status as a franchise queen, all of this took place before the performance that she is arguably most synonymous with to this day, playing the extraterrestrial ᴀssᴀssin, Gamora, in five separate MCU appearances between 2014 and 2023.

9

Oscar Isaac

Notable Franchise Appearances: Star Wars, X-Men, Spider-Man, MCU, & Dune

Despite several well-received supporting roles that preceded his name-making appearance, it’s remarkable to think that Oscar Isaac’s breakout performance in 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis was just over a decade ago. The actor has gone on to form an integral thread of modern popular culture’s tapestry since the formative days of his career, turning in bows in some of the biggest movie franchises of the 21st century.

Oscar Isaac sings and plays his own instruments throughout his breakout turn in 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis.

Isaac’s starring role as the fan-favorite Resistance fighter pilot, Poe Dameron, in the Star Wars sequel trilogy saw him earn global recognition, which subsequently led to roles in the Dune, X-Men, and Spider-Man franchises. He can even do television too, turning in his debut MCU performance as the eponymous character in 2022’s miniseries, Moon Knight.

8

Pedro Pascal

Notable Franchise Appearances: Game Of Thrones, Star Wars, The Last Of Us, DCEU, Kingsman, & MCU

Pedro Pascal has turned in more franchise appearances in the space of just over a decade than most A-Listers manage throughout a career. Bursting out with an acclaimed bow as Oberyn Martell on HBO’s global mega-hit fantasy series, Game of Thrones, Pascal would add starring roles as Din Djarin and Joel Miller in Star Wars’ first live-action series, The Mandalorian, and HBO’s adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, respectively, underlining his status as a front-runner for acting’s current franchise kingpin.

However, television’s typecast adoptive father figure has proven himself more than capable of turning his hand to feature-length movies as well; the Chilean-American has also been credited with roles in blockbuster franchise entries like Kingsman, The Equalizer, and the DC Extended Universe since 2014. Pascal is also set to make his highly-anticipated MCU debut as Mister Fantastic in 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, rubber-stamping his credentials as franchise acting royalty.

7

Andy Serkis

Notable Franchise Appearances: The Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, MCU, & Batman

In addition to his reputation as a cinematic franchise king, Andy Serkis is regarded as legitimate royalty when it comes to motion capture work. Serkis remains the Muhammad Ali of the field to this day, with the Englishman credited with the vast majority of cinema’s most iconic examples. Earning widespread acclaim for his performance as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Serkis’ take on “Smeagol” proved to be a watershed moment for his career.

Andy Serkis based Gollum’s sounds on the noises that his cat made while throwing up hairballs.

With The Lord of the Rings serving as his springboard into the mainstream, the actor was cast as the main character, Caesar, in the Planet of the Apes reboot series. Serkis would flesh out his franchise credentials with supporting roles in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and Andor, as well as reprising his role as Gollum in the first installment of The Hobbit trilogy. He isn’t just a motion capture actor either, following his work as Ulysses Klaue in the MCU with a prominent supporting role in 2022’s The Batman as Alfred Pennyworth.

6

Ming Na-Wen

Notable Franchise Appearances: Mulan, Star Wars, MCU, Stargate, The Karate Kid, & The Big Bang Theory

For decades now, Ming-Na Wen has built up one of the most impressive resumes in Hollywood. Already known for her role in the long-running medical series E.R., Wen introduced herself to global audiences through her leading voice-over performance as the тιтular character in the 1998 Disney classic, Mulan, as well as its 2004 sequel.

Since then, she has played and voiced the live-action and animated version of bounty hunter, Fennec Shand, across several different Star Wars franchise series, underlining her impressive list of sci-fi credits with a starring role as Camile Wray on Stargate Universe. Wen also formed a prominent part of the main cast for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., playing Agent Melinda May, throughout the show’s run. Throw in a cameo on The Big Bang Theory’s spin-off, Young Sheldon, and an upcoming bow in 2025’s Karate Kid: Legends, and there are few actresses with franchise credits to rival her.

5

Harrison Ford

Notable Franchise Appearances: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Blade Runner, MCU, Jack Ryan, & Yellowstone

A cinematic legend of the highest order, Harrison Ford is one of popular culture’s first true franchise kings. The actor is credited with some of the most beloved, influential, and acclaimed movie heroes of all time, a state of affairs that began all the way back in 1977, when he was cast as the roguish smuggler, Han Solo, in George Lucas’ epic space opera, Star Wars. Ford would reprise this iconic role on four separate occasions in various sequels, but he was just getting started.

The actor is also renowned for playing the тιтular action-adventure legend in five separate Indiana Jones movies, as well as Rick Deckard in both entries of the seminal sci-fi franchise, Blade Runner, and Tom Clancy’s iconic character Jack Ryan in two different movies. Ford hasn’t let old age slow him down either, branching into television with a starring role in Yellowstone’s prequel series, 1923, before returning to movie franchises for his first appearance in the MCU, playing President Thaddeus Ross in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World.

4

Sylvester Stallone

Notable Franchises: Rocky, Rambo, The Expendables, MCU, & DCEU

One of cinema’s longest-standing franchise kings, Sylvester Stallone’s work as the тιтular pugilist in the Rocky franchise arguably renders him worthy of the тιтle in and of itself. “Sly” has played “The Italian Stallion” on seven occasions, even bringing the character out of retirement for two of Michael B. Jordan’s Creed films. However, Stallone is also notorious for his role as the eponymous soldier in the Rambo movies, a character that he has returned to across five entries.

Sylvester Stallone is one of only two actors in history to have starred in a box office-topping film across six consecutive decades, alongside Harrison Ford.

The Academy Award nominee has also spearheaded The Expendables action series as Barney Ross across four movies, although 2023’s 4xpendables made it clear that this was a character intended for the scrap heap. Still, that’s far from the end of Stallone’s franchise credits. The American’s foray into the DCEU as King Shark in 2021’s The Suicide Squad is one of his most memorable recent roles, while he’s also popped up briefly on multiple occasions in the MCU as the Ravager, Stakor Ogord.

3

Jason Statham

Notable Franchises: Fast & Furious, Transporter, Crank, The Meg, Mechanic, & The Expendables

A top contender for modern cinema’s action franchise kingpin, Jason Statham has few legitimate rivals for the тιтle. The frequent Guy Ritchie collaborator is the leading man of numerous high-profile action series, dating from the early 2000s to the present day. Accordingly, multiple appearances in action series standouts like The Mechanic, Crank, and Transporter don’t even account for all the Englishman’s starring franchise roles.

To slightly more modern audiences, Statham’s most high-profile appearances are arguably his turns in The Expendables and Fast & Furious. The Englishman’s knife-toting Lee Christmas appears primed to take over Sylvester Stallone’s role at the head of the franchise if there is ever to be another Expendables outing, while Statham is also credited with multiple appearances and even his own standalone movie alongside Dwayne Johnson in the long-running Fast & Furious series.

2

Sigourney Weaver

Notable Franchises: Alien, Ghostbusters, Avatar, MCU, & Star Wars

A first-ballot sci-fi Hall of Famer, Sigourney Weaver possesses some of the most impressive movie franchise credits in popular culture. This began with her star-making turn as Ellen Ripley in the Alien series, with Weaver going on to play the character on four occasions. The American followed her work in 1979’s Alien with a first appearance as Dana Barrett in 1984’s cult classic Ghostbusters, reprising the role in 1989’s sequel and returning for a cameo in 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Weaver’s next colossal credit came with dual roles in the Avatar franchise, playing a human colonist in 2009’s original installment and a Na’vi child born from her avatar in 2022’s sequel. However, she decidedly didn’t rest on her laurels. Complementing a brief appearance in the MCU’s miniseries The Defenders, Weaver is even set to make her Star Wars debut in 2026, playing an undisclosed role in the upcoming film, The Mandalorian & Grogu.

1

Samuel L. Jackson

Notable Franchises: MCU, Star Wars, Die Hard, Incredibles, Monsterverse, Kingsman, & Jurᴀssic Park

Samuel L. Jackson remains the highest-grossing actor of all time to this day, so it should come as little surprise that he is universally regarded as cinematic franchise royalty. The actor’s most frequently recurring role has been that of Nick Fury in the MCU, with Jackson having played the character in ten movies and three television series to date. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg, with the American also boasting credits in wildly popular entries like Zeus Carver in Die Hard with a Vengeance or Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Fleshing out his later career with villainous appearances in more modern numbers like Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kong: Skull Island to add their parent franchises to his already impressive list of credits, Jackson is one of cinema’s most prolific and revered franchise performers. Few names can give Samuel L. Jackson a legitimate run for his money in this regard, highlighting his remarkable popularity and lasting impact on wider popular culture.