The Best Actors Who Have Played Julius Caesar, Ranked

Julius Caesar has been everything on screen and stage. He has been the shrewd statesman who sees five moves ahead and the ruthless commander who never blinks. He has been a mentor in one story and a dangerous rival in another. That range gives actors a lot to play with and it is why so many performances feel distinct while still landing the same larger than life presence.

This countdown celebrates the portrayals that capture authority, intelligence, and a complicated humanity. Some lean into Shakespeare and the music of the language. Others bring modern swagger or sly comedy. All of them make you believe you are in the room with the most consequential Roman of them all.

15. Vincent Cassel

Vincent Cassel turns Caesar into a stylish scene stealer in ‘Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom’. He plays the ruler with feline ease and a glint that says he is always in control even when the walls are closing in. It is a witty take that lets vanity and charm sit side by side.

The performance works because Cassel never forgets the stakes. He moves with coiled confidence and tosses off lines with a light touch that still hints at danger. It is a playful portrait that remembers the bite.

14. Gottfried John

Gottfried John gives Caesar a cool and calculating edge in ‘Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar’. He feels like a leader who loves the machinery of power and knows how to make it sing. There is steel in the voice and a measuring look that says he is counting every outcome.

John adds a sly sense of humor that keeps the role from becoming stiff. He lets small smiles do the work of full speeches and you can see pride and irritation flicker across his face in an instant.

13. Kenneth Williams

Kenneth Williams makes Caesar a comic icon in ‘Carry On Cleo’. He leans into wordplay and grand gestures and somehow makes imperial arrogance both ridiculous and delightful. The performance is big but never sloppy and the timing is razor sharp.

What lingers is how Williams uses comedy to sketch a real character. Under the quips you can feel a Caesar who craves adoration and hates being surprised. It is a reminder that power can be very funny and very fragile.

12. Charles Gray

Charles Gray brings ceremonial weight to Caesar in the BBC production of ‘Julius Caesar’. His speech has a cool clarity that suits a man who expects obedience the moment he enters a room. He is patrician without feeling hollow.

Gray also plays the private moments with quiet curiosity. You sense a mind taking in every detail and a body that has already decided what will happen next. The stillness becomes thrilling.

11. Warren William

Warren William offers a sleek and urbane Caesar in ‘Cleopatra’. He glides through rooms like a practiced diplomat who can turn charm into policy. The smile arrives first and the command follows half a beat later.

There is a lightness to his touch that makes strategy feel elegant. He matches wit for wit with Cleopatra and lets small shifts in tone reveal leverage changing hands. It is old Hollywood craft at its smoothest.

10. Todd Lasance

Todd Lasance tears into Caesar as a hungry upstart in ‘Spartacus: War of the Damned’. This version prizes speed and boldness and Lasance gives it a sharp edge. Every line lands like a test and every look doubles as a plan.

The energy never feels empty. He builds a portrait of a man learning to weaponize reputation and rumor while staying lethal on the ground. It is brash and focused and hard to shake.

9. Karl Urban

Karl Urban makes Caesar a charismatic schemer in ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ and ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’. He blends ambition with seduction and turns every alliance into a temporary convenience. You understand why people follow him and why they regret it.

Urban finds fun in the character without losing menace. He smiles often and means almost none of it. Behind the charm he sells a ruthless survivor who treats destiny like a personal project.

8. Colm Feore

Colm Feore brings mature authority to ‘Empire’. His Caesar is a tactician first and a performer second. He listens as much as he speaks and the pauses carry as much threat as the words.

Feore excels at the mentor side of the role. He can disarm with patience then redirect with absolute conviction. The leadership feels learned rather than inherited which makes the victories satisfying.

7. Jeremy Sisto

Jeremy Sisto gives a ground level view of Caesar in the miniseries ‘Julius Caesar’. He plays the growth from idealist to power broker with unforced honesty. You see the man change step by step rather than through a single thunderclap.

That human scale makes the triumphs and betrayals hit harder. Sisto keeps the emotions readable and never lets the politics drown the person. It is approachable without losing scope.

6. Timothy Dalton

Timothy Dalton brings romantic magnetism and steel to the ‘Cleopatra’ miniseries. He wears command like a tailored suit and speaks with a calm that pulls people into his orbit. The chemistry with Cleopatra feels lived in and electric.

Dalton chooses precision over bluster. When he raises his voice it matters. His Caesar understands the optics of power and the cost of it which gives the love story an extra ache.

5. Louis Calhern

Louis Calhern is all patrician poise in ‘Julius Caesar’. He shows a leader who believes his authority is natural law and that belief becomes both strength and blind spot. The bearing is impeccable and the presence fills the frame.

Calhern lets cracks show in quiet beats. A glance becomes doubt and a breath becomes foreboding. When the knives come out the fall feels tragically inevitable.

4. Claude Rains

Claude Rains crafts a Caesar of wit and warmth in ‘Caesar and Cleopatra’. He mentors with a twinkle and commands with gentle certainty. The voice alone could run an empire.

The magic is in the balance. Rains plays the teacher and the conqueror without shortchanging either. He makes patience feel like power and turns wisdom into charm.

3. John Gielgud

John Gielgud embodies stately grace in ‘Julius Caesar’. Every syllable lands with perfect shape and every gesture is measured. He gives the role a spiritual stillness that suggests a man already part myth.

The performance lingers because of its quiet. Gielgud does not strain for effect. He trusts the text and his own clarity and the result feels inevitable and haunting.

2. Rex Harrison

Rex Harrison is effortless command in ‘Cleopatra’. He mixes playful intelligence with strategic cool and makes politics look like an art form. The banter sings and the authority never slips.

Harrison also finds tenderness without losing sharpness. He can flatter and test in the same breath and you see the romance and the realpolitik feed each other. It is star power tuned to a fine instrument.

1. Ciarán Hinds

Ciarán Hinds gives the most complete Caesar in ‘Rome’. He is magnetic and human and terrifying by turns. One moment he is the friend who remembers your name and the next he is the ruler who will change your life with a nod.

Hinds builds the character from a thousand small choices. The walk is heavy with thought and the voice carries both kindness and warning. He makes Caesar feel inevitable and alive which is exactly what the role demands.

Share your own favorite Caesar performances in the comments and tell us who you would place at the top.