Owen Wilson's best movies and TV shows prove that this brilliant comedic actor delivers more than just laughs. Born in Dallas, Texas, on November 18, 1968, Wilson is also the middle brother of actors Luke Wilson and Andrew Wilson. He found success in Hollywood following his breakout movie Bottle Rocket, which he also co-wrote with his roommate Wes Anderson. That small movie opened a lot of doors in Hollywood for Wilson and kicked off a hugely successful career.

Along with his many collaborations with Anderson, Wilson is also known for being a member of the unofficial comedy gang known as the Frat Pack, which includes the likes of Vince Vaughn, Jack Black, and Wilson's frequent costar Ben Stiller. Beyond his hilarious comedies, Wilson has also appeared in some big franchises, including the MCU and Pixar worlds. Though he has plenty of other big projects on the horizon, Wilson's best movies and TV shows to date feature plenty of classics.

10 Cars (2006)

As Lightning McQueen

Owen Wilson has one of the most iconic voices in Hollywood, so it seemed like the perfect fit to have him voice a Pixar character. Wilson steps into the lead role in Cars as Lightning McQueen, a rookie racecar whose skills are only outmatched by his arrogance. However, while on his way to the biggest race of his career, McQueen finds himself stuck in a small roadside community of Route 66 where the colorful characters there teach him some humility.

Wilson's performance is one of the reasons McQueen has become one of Pixar's most beloved characters with young audiences. While Larry the Cable Guy's Mater is the comedic relief of the story, McQueen's redemption arc is what really makes Cars work. While lacking the uniqueness and depth of other Pixar movies, Cars was a massive success, with Wilson leading two more movies in the franchise.

9 The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

As Francis Whitman

The Darjeeling Limited is not generally seen as one of the best collaborations between Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson, but it has earned a reputation for being underrated while also featuring a stellar performance from Wilson. The movie sees Wilson alongside other Anderson regulars, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody, as three dysfunctional brothers who reunite on a train journey across India to reconnect and find their estranged mother.

Wilson gives an authentic and hilarious performance as the older brother, who doesn't even seem to notice that he lapses into the role of the boss. He also hides a deeper sadness behind the facade of controlling everything. The chemistry between the three lead actors is outstanding, especially as they are all more than comfortable with Anderson's distinct writing style. It makes for one of the most accurate and moving comedies about brotherhood, filled with humor and heart.

8 Shanghai Noon (2000)

As Roy O'Bannon

Owen Wilson is one of the best actors when it comes to making buddy movies, and Shanghai Noon is the best example of his stepping into the buddy action comedy genre. Shanghai Noon is a hilarious and clever take on the Western genre, with Jackie Chan starring as a member of the Chinese Imperial Guard who travels to America in order to save a princess who has been captured by a crime lord. Along the way, Chan's hero s forces with a loudmouth outlaw (Wilson) who is looking to make his own fortune.

While Chan works great with Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour movies, Wilson is perhaps the costar he has shared the best chemistry with out of his entire career. The pair is hilarious playing off of one another, each bringing their own style to the Western genre. It also features some truly fun action sequences courtesy of Chan's incredible skills.

7 The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)

As Ned Plimpton

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was the first Wes Anderson movie that was not co-written by Owen Wilson, but proved that they could still collaborate in terrific ways. Bill Murray stars as the title character in this adventure, a self-centered and eccentric oceanic documentarian in the vein of Jacques Cousteau. After his best friend is eaten by a rare shark, Zissou sets out on a mission to kill the animal while also connecting with the son he never knew he had, played by Wilson.

With Murray and Wilson being two of Anderson's most important collaborators of his career, it is great fun to see them sharing the screen as father and son, leading the movie together. They are ed by a typically star-studded Anderson cast, including Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, and Jeff Goldblum. It is an absurd and silly adventure comedy that delivers some truly emotional moments in its final act.

6 Bottle Rocket (1996)

As Dignan

After making their short film Bottle Rocket, Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson expanded the idea into a feature film that helped launch their Hollywood careers. Bottle Rocket stars Luke Wilson as Anthony, a young man who is recently released from a mental health facility and is quickly recruited by his best friend and wannabe criminal, Dignan (Owen Wilson), to pull off his big heist plans. However, their friendship is put to the test as Anthony finds love along the way.

The movie is a hilarious twist on the typical crime caper with characters who seem like they have seen too many of those movies and got carried away with themselves. Owen Wilson is particularly hilarious and endearing as a guy who wants to present himself as an outlaw but cannot hide his own insecurities. Despite it being a small movie, it is a terrific showcase of Wilson and Anderson's talents.

5 Loki (2021-2023)

As Mobius M. Mobius

Owen Wilson might not be the first actor fans think of when it comes to people appearing in the MCU, but he quickly cemented himself as a beloved character. Loki is the Marvel Disney+ series that allows Tom Hiddleston to take center stage as the God of Mischief, following Loki's time travel escape in Avengers: Endgame, which quickly makes him a target for the powerful organization known as the TVA. Wilson plays TVA bureaucrat Morbius, who teams with Loki to track down a rogue variant of the Asgardian troublemaker.

Wilson is able to bring his own style of humor and fun to the role that works surprisingly well in this sci-fi/fantasy setting. He is particularly fun to see playing off of Hiddleston and giving Loki a foil like he's never had before. Generally seen as a high point of the MCU Disney+ shows, Loki is a clever, thought-provoking, and entertaining Marvel ride like no other.

4 Wedding Crashers (2005)

As John Beckwith

As one of the most notable of the so-called Hollywood Frat Pack, Wilson has starred in a number of beloved comedies from the early 2000s, with Wedding Crashers being a true highlight. Wilson and Vince Vaughn proved themselves to be an ideal comedic pairing as two best friends who have dedicated much of their adulthood to crashing weddings in order to drink free liquor, eat free food, and score with women. However, Wilson puts their perfect scheme at risk when he falls for an engaged woman, played by Rachel McAdams.

Wilson and Vaughn are hilarious together, with Wilson's laconic dry with paired perfectly with Vaughn's rapid-fire delivery. Wilson also has great chemistry with McAdams, bringing a sweetness to the R-rated mayhem. A box office hit, there are still many fans who are wondering when a Wedding Crashers 2 might happen.

3 Zoolander (2001)

As Hansel

While Owen Wilson has had a number of collaborators that he's worked with several times, Ben Stiller marks his most frequent and most memorable on-screen partnership. Wilson and Stiller have made 12 movies together to date, but if you were to ask the average fan which collaboration comes to mind first, it would likely be Zoolander. The absurd comedy stars Stiller as Zoolander, a dim-witted male model who finds his popularity usurped by the up-and-coming model Hansel (Wilson), only to find himself mixed up in an assassination conspiracy.

Both Stiller and Wilson are at their comedic peaks in this movie, with them as funny as empty-headed rivals as they are as friends later on. Wilson brings big laughs as his vapid airhead character, with his line about Sting being an inspiration especially memorable ("The music he's created over the years, I don't really listen to it, but the fact that he's making it, I respect that.")

2 Midnight In Paris (2011)

As Gil Pender

Before Woody Allen's Hollywood career ended due to his controversies, he delivered one of his best movies, which also featured one of Owen Wilson's best performances. Midnight in Paris finds Wilson starring as Gil, a nostalgia-obsessed writer visiting Paris with his vain fiancée (Rachel McAdams), who finds a secret ageway in the city that transports him back to the 1920s each night at midnight. There, he meets cultural heroes like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Salvador Dalí, while questioning his life in the 21st century.

The time-travel premise is presented very simply and sets the stage for a funny and charming fish-out-of-water story while also commenting on the trappings of being too drawn to the past. Wilson's performance is essential to balancing the absurd premise and the grounded notions of the story. He is funny and charming, and he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work.

1 The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

As Eli Cash

The Royal Tenenbaums is Owen Wilson's greatest achievement as a writer, earning an Oscar nomination alongside Wes Anderson, but it also features his best performance. Gene Hackman stars in the movie as Royal Tenenbaum, the self-centered and dishonest patriarch of a family that has spawned three prodigy children, all of whom have grown up to be troubled adults. Broke and with nowhere to live, Royal fakes a terminal illness in order to move back in with his estranged family.

Wilson steals the show in a ing role as Eli Cash, a drug-addicted author who is an old family friend of the Tenenbaums. Wilson brings a hilarious eccentricity to the role, standing out in a star-studded cast. It is Wes Anderson's best movie and a perfect display of his unique style, wonderful humor, and ability to create deeply emotional moments.