# Who is the best actor to play Hercule Poirot?

> Nine men, one moustache, and no two of them play him the same way. Fussy, funny, mournful or barely recognisable.

*By YPB Team · Published August 14, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-actor-to-play-hercule-poirot*

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## Current results (0 votes)

1. **David Suchet**
   Played Poirot on ITV from 1989 to 2013 and adapted every major Poirot story across 70 episodes.
2. **Peter Ustinov**
   Played Poirot six times from 1978, starting with Death on the Nile.
3. **Albert Finney**
   Played Poirot once, in the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express, and got an Oscar nomination for it.
4. **Kenneth Branagh**
   Directed and starred in three Poirot films from 2017, moustache included.
5. **John Malkovich**
   Played a bleak, beardless Poirot in the BBC's 2018 The ABC Murders.
6. **Alfred Molina**
   Played a modern-dress Poirot in the 2001 American television Murder on the Orient Express.
7. **Tony Randall**
   Played Poirot in the 1965 comedy The Alphabet Murders.

Tags: movies, actors, tv shows, agatha christie