Actors with Guinness World Records (On or Off Screen)

Guinness World Records has documented some of the most surprising milestones in film and television, and many of them belong to actors. Some honors were earned on set through stunts, longevity, or landmark roles. Others came from achievements outside the studio, from spaceflight to charity work and pop culture moments that reached massive audiences.

This list gathers notable actors who have received official recognition at one time or another. Each entry explains what the record is and gives the key details that made it official. You will see everything from firsts and mosts to oldest and youngest benchmarks that continue to shape entertainment history.

Jackie Chan

Guinness has recognized Jackie Chan for multiple achievements including most stunts performed by a living actor and most credits on a single film for his work on the action movie ‘Chinese Zodiac’. He also received recognition for the most takes for a single scene after an intricate shuttlecock sequence in ‘Dragon Lord’ reportedly required well over two thousand attempts to capture correctly.

These records reflect how he has run his own stunt team and maintained hands on control across departments. On ‘Chinese Zodiac’ he was credited in roles such as director, producer, writer, lead actor, and stunt coordinator, which is how he accumulated the verified tally of credits on one feature.

Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman received recognition for the longest career as a live action Marvel superhero. The span began with ‘X Men’ in 2000 and was measured through ‘Logan’ in 2017 when the certificate was first issued for his portrayal of Wolverine.

He later returned to the role in ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ in 2024 which extended the span between his first and most recent appearances. The original record was calculated in days between those bookend releases and set the benchmark that subsequent returns have continued to push forward.

Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart shares the longest career as a live action Marvel superhero for playing Charles Xavier. The official measurement began with ‘X Men’ in 2000 and included his appearances through the 2017 timeline when the recognition was announced.

His participation in later projects added further distance between first and latest portrayals. The calculation used the release dates of his earliest and most recent films to determine the verified length of service in the same superhero role.

Betty White

Betty White was recognized for the longest television career for a female entertainer. Her first work on camera dates to 1939, and Guinness validated more than seven decades of professional activity when the certificate was awarded.

Her timeline includes starring turns in ‘Life with Elizabeth’, an acclaimed run on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’, and lead roles in ‘The Golden Girls’ and ‘Hot in Cleveland’. Documented broadcast and production dates across those series helped substantiate the uninterrupted span.

William Shatner

William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space when he flew on a suborbital mission with Blue Origin on October 13, 2021 at the age of 90 years. Guinness recorded the verified age on the date of flight along with flight parameters to confirm the milestone.

The mission reached the internationally accepted boundary of space on a brief flight and returned a few minutes later. The certified age and official mission records established the achievement under the spaceflight category.

Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson set the record for the most selfies taken in three minutes at a film premiere. During the ‘San Andreas’ event in London in 2015 he completed 105 verified selfies within the time window, all captured with attendees who lined a red carpet area.

Guinness adjudicators enforced rules that required full faces, acceptable framing, and visibility in each image. Any blurred or incomplete photo was discarded from the count, and the final tally reflected only the images that met the criteria.

John Cena

John Cena holds the record for the most wishes granted through the Make A Wish Foundation. He surpassed the five hundred mark years ago and continued beyond six hundred fifty by 2022, all verified by the organization and acknowledged by Guinness.

He began granting wishes in 2004 and the requests commonly involve meet and greets, event attendance, and behind the scenes access. The record is based on confirmed wishes completed, which the charity tracks by date and recipient.

Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins became the oldest winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor when he won for ‘The Father’ in 2021 at 83 years of age. Guinness records document the exact age on the date of the ceremony to confirm the distinction.

He had previously won Best Actor for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, but the 2021 result set a new age benchmark for the acting categories. Academy records and the ceremony date provide the verification used for the listing.

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep holds the record for the most Academy Award nominations for acting. Her nomination tally stands at more than twenty across lead and supporting categories, with three wins included in that total.

The nominations span from the late 1970s through the late 2010s and cover films such as ‘The Deer Hunter’, ‘Kramer vs Kramer’, ‘Sophie’s Choice’, and ‘The Post’. The count is substantiated by the Academy’s published nomination lists and the years they were announced.

Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson holds the male record for the most Academy Award acting nominations with a dozen nods that include three wins. His nominations cover lead and supporting roles across several decades of work.

The record is verified using Academy archives and ceremony dates. His recognized performances include ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, ‘Terms of Endearment’, and ‘As Good as It Gets’ among others that make up the total.

Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn holds the record for the most acting Oscars won by any performer with four Best Actress awards. The wins came for ‘Morning Glory’, ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’, ‘The Lion in Winter’, and ‘On Golden Pond’.

Guinness confirms the count using the Academy’s official records. The awards span from the early 1930s through the early 1980s, and each win is tied to the ceremony year associated with the corresponding film.

Peter O’Toole

Peter O’Toole holds the record for the most acting Oscar nominations without a competitive win. He received eight nominations in lead roles that covered a period of decades.

In 2003 he accepted an Honorary Award that acknowledged his body of work. Guinness lists the competitive record unchanged because honorary awards are not counted as category wins in the acting tallies.

Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer became the oldest nominee for an acting Oscar at the age of 88 for ‘All the Money in the World’. He had also become the oldest acting Oscar winner in 2012 for ‘Beginners’ at age 82, which set an additional age milestone at the time.

The nomination and win are confirmed by Academy records and the ceremony dates. Guinness uses those dates to calculate age precisely on each occasion and to validate the record entries.

Tatum O’Neal

Tatum O’Neal is the youngest person to win a competitive Academy Award for acting. She won Best Supporting Actress for ‘Paper Moon’ in 1974 at the age of 10.

Guinness confirms the record by calculating her exact age on the ceremony date and cross checking the Academy’s winner list. The category and film title are used to anchor the entry to the verified result.

Quvenzhané Wallis

Quvenzhané Wallis is the youngest nominee for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. She received the nomination for ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ in 2013 at age 9.

The record is based on her age on the day nominations were announced and the category in which she was recognized. Academy documentation and the nomination calendar supply the verification details used in the listing.

Ajay Kumar

Ajay Kumar, also known as Guinness Pakru, holds the record for the shortest actor to play a full length film lead role. His height is recorded at approximately 76 centimeters and he starred in the Malayalam film ‘Albhutha Dweep’.

Guinness validated both the medical measurement and the credited lead role status in a feature length production. Release and certification details for the film are used as part of the verification process.

Kiran Shah

Kiran Shah holds the record for the shortest professional stuntman. His height is just over 1.25 meters and he has worked as a stunt performer and body double on major film series.

Credits include roles and stunt doubling in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘The Hobbit’, and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’. Guinness relies on documented filmographies and verified height measurements to certify the record.

Brahmanandam

Brahmanandam was recognized for the most screen credits for a living actor in a single language at the time his certificate was issued. The tally surpassed eight hundred appearances in Telugu cinema when Guinness first recorded the figure.

He began appearing in films in the mid 1980s and continued to add credits well past the original milestone. Film certification boards and studio release lists were used to verify the count when the record was awarded.

Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana became the first performer to appear in four films that each grossed more than two billion dollars worldwide. The four titles are ‘Avatar’, ‘Avatar The Way of Water’, ‘Avengers Infinity War’, and ‘Avengers Endgame’.

The record is verified through worldwide grosses tracked by industry reporting and the official release histories of those films. Guinness lists the titles and their release years to document the qualification for the mark.

Desmond Llewelyn

Desmond Llewelyn holds the record for the most appearances as the same character in a film series for playing Q in the James Bond franchise. He appeared in 17 films beginning with ‘From Russia with Love’ and concluding with ‘The World Is Not Enough’.

The count includes all official Bond entries in which he portrayed the character through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Studio records and credits confirm each appearance and support the verified total.

Share your favorite record holding performances or surprising milestones in the comments so we can compare notes.