The Coolest Cast
in the 2000s

The 2000s felt like the last time we had true movie stars. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon—these were familiar names that could draw large crowds to the movie theater. And can you believe they actually got to cast all of them in one movie? Ocean's Eleven is still one of the coolest movies from that time because of this cast.

I feel like the allure of an all-star cast has slightly dwindled over the years. It's not that no one cares that big celebrities are getting together for an ensemble anymore. Audiences just want better stories to pair with the big stars. It's no longer enough to have someone famous headline the movie.

Fortunately, Ocean's Eleven had both. The film boasted a stellar cast and a great story that had already been done before. The 2001 movie is a remake of the 1960 comedy that starred what was known as the “Rat Pack,” which included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford.

In fact, the 2001 remake only repeated the ensemble casting, but with more modern movie stars. And they couldn't have picked any better than the ones I mentioned. They were all at the top of their game, some would say the peak of their careers, when they did Ocean's Eleven. I could only imagine how hyped people were to see it.

I may not have been there to see it all unfold since I was too young, but I already knew who they were. Listening to my parents and older relatives talk about it, I also got a good sense of how big of a deal it was that these celebrities starred in one movie together.

So when I watched the film myself later on, when I was old enough, I instantly loved it. I didn't just love the cast and their performance, but I also loved how fun it was. I saw the film at a time when movies were a bit too serious and somber for my taste. As if to prove how prestigious the industry still was, comedy took a back seat, and drama took the lead.

The film made me fall in love with movies all over again and inspired me to hound celebrities for autographs. I figured this movie poster would be the best place to start, since most of them were still pretty big. I figured it would be easy to chase them down for some autographs.

The reality was different, but only slightly. It wasn't that it was hard to meet these big names, but it took me a while to finish. It would've been more convenient if they'd reunited for a special anniversary event, but it never happened (at least, not yet). So I had to go to their individual public appearances through the years.

I went to movie premieres, awards shows, conventions, and sometimes even flew overseas for film festivals. It took me more than a decade, but I finally managed to get most of them to sign my movie poster. Every encounter was better than the last, and they all looked beautiful and were so nice.

I could also feel their star quality in person. No one was as appealing as Clooney, as charismatic as Pitt, as charming as Roberts, or as endearing as Damon, and so on. Meeting them in person showed me why they're still the big names they are today.

They were the coolest cast of the 2000s, perhaps even today. I’ve yet to see a film with that much star power, and I don’t think I ever will!