We all have our favourite actors—stars whose filmographies we could devour like an all-you-can-eat buffet. However, according to Letterboxd (the internet’s favorite movie-tracking app), in 2024, two stars captivated audiences way more than the rest: the human meme machine, Willem Dafoe, and Hollywood’s reigning heartthrob, Timothée Chalamet. One has a rubber face that could launch a thousand nightmares (and, of course, A24 art-house masterpieces), while the other looks like he strolled straight out of a Vogue magazine cover designed by Tim Burton to break hearts on the big screen. Together, they ruled watchlists, earning the title of 2024’s most-watched actors.
Letterboxd’s Year in Review: Who Ruled Cinema in 2024?
Letterboxd, one of the largest communities of cinema aficionados on the internet, has just released its yearly rankings. Ever wondered what the most popular films of 2024 were (according to fans)? How about the best films by female directors? All that and more appeared as categories in the sites’ Year in Review.
It should come as no surprise that Dune: Part Two ranked as the highest-rated film of 2024 among Letterboxd users. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic is the closest we’ve been to an actual Star Wars film since Revenge of the Sith came to theaters two decades ago.
However, the real surprise came when it was time to pick the most-watched actors of 2024. The two leading men (the site has a separate category for actresses) were Willem Dafoe and Timothée Chalamet. While Chalamet’s pick was almost a given, seeing as he’s the star of Dune: Part Two, Dafoe enjoyed a particularly notorious year, starring in some incredible passion projects that launched him straight into the mainstream spotlight.
RELATED: Movies Ineligible For The Best Picture Oscar in 2025 (Including Sonic 3 & Smile 2)
Timothée Chalamet: From Indies to Mainstream Lead
Chalamet’s rise to stardom in Hollywood has been remarkably swift. Though he began his acting career in an episode of Law & Order, the French-American heartthrob quickly became a landmark for his roles in movies like Call Me By Your Name and Little Women.
In 2021, he’d soar to mainstream popularity thanks to Villeneuve’s first entry in the renovated Dune universe. Since then, we’ve seen a lot of Chalamet in more conventional roles, like that time he was an aspiring chocolatier who might or might not be exploiting his foreign labor in Wonka.
Last year, Chalamet had a somewhat slow year for a celebrity of his caliber. According to Letterboxd, the actor only appeared in two films, Dune 2 and A Complete Unknown, a biopic about Bob Dylan. Still, Dune‘s success at the box office made him one of the most-watched actors of the year, beating out his Dune co-star Stellan Skarsgård for the number two spot.
RELATED: Willem Dafoe As Joker: A Missed Opportunity For DC
Willem Dafoe: Letterboxd Triple Champion
There’s no other actor like Willem Dafoe in modern Hollywood. He can deliver a comedic performance (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) as effortlessly as he can make you believe he’s Jesus Christ himself. Last year, Dafoe got to prove his fantastic acting range, delivering some truly memorable performances.
What I’m trying to say is that Dafoe really doesn’t need any introductions. He’s been in everything from comic book movies to animated films, and 2024 saw him as one of the lead characters in a sequel many thought would never see the light of day.
His role as Wolf Jackson in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice combines the two sides of Dafoe, delivering a character that’s as entertaining as he’s fearsome (in his head, anyway.) Later in 2024, Dafoe would return to the screens with Robert Eggers’ resurrected classic Nosferatu. In it, Dafoe plays a Doctor Van Helsing of sorts. He’s one of the few wholly original characters in Eggers’ reimagining of the horror classic, and he knocks it out of the park just as he did in The Lighthouse.
By the way, in 2024, Dafoe embodied Jesus Christ once more – something he hadn’t done since The Last Temptation of the Christ. The Salvation According to His Creatures is a Brazilian short film that sees Dafoe returning to one of his most divisive roles to date. With such a diverse filmography, it’s no wonder Dafoe has been named the most-watched actor on Letterboxd on three separate occasions.
With a packed 2025 ahead of us, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will become Letterboxd’s top performer in 2025.
RELATED: Edgar Scissorhands: Why This Sequel With Timothée Chalamet Needs To Happen
Tell us, which of these two actors dominated your watchlist in 2024, Willem Dafoe or Timothée Chalamet?
