Thinking about A. Rickman - who I'll miss. I enjoyed his work, voice-overs. But thinking back to Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, a handful of other male actors. There isn't the scope of movies for up & coming actors to practice their craft in. If you look around now, in the US it's Clint Eastwood & Harrison Ford - both nearing the end of their careers in front of the camera. We have a handful of actors who might develop further - but no one's making epic movies - @ least, not enough for the actors to rise through the ranks.
Ford has been in a series of very profitable movies - Star Wars, Jack Ryan, Indiana Jones, & interesting singles - Blade Runner, American Graffiti.
Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Clark Gable - were actors who got better as they did more movies. Personally, I like Kevin Spacey - but he seems pulled just as much to theater as to movies/TV. Kevin Branagh is another - I enjoy his work, but he seems just as happy to be in theater, & more & more, he also seems to be producing/directing.
Where is the next set of excellent actors going to come from?