In the great, big universe of DC’s The Flash, enormous numbers of actors have brought the character to life in every imaginable live-action and animated format. The range of performances has spurred fan debates over who really made it to the top, and who was left behind.
Now, using the smarts of thousands of voters over on Ranker, as of May 2024, we count down the truly definitive rankings of Flash actors. From Rod Haase, right down to Grant Gustin.
#10 Kenny Johnston
In tenth place was Kenny Johnston, who played Barry Allen, alias The Flash, in the 1997 TV movie Justice League of America, and then in an unsuccessful TV pilot produced by CBS.
#9 Josh Keaton
Josh Keaton voiced Flash and Aquaman for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths in 2010.
He never got to portray the character in a live-action setting but went on to voice Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash, in several future animated projects and voiceovers for other DC heroes like Green Lantern.
#8 Jack Angel
Actor Jack Angel was the voice behind The Flash and so much more on the TV show Super Friends, where he also did voice-over work for DC’s Hawkman and Samurai.
He has also made numerous television debuts, including in The All-New Super Friends Hour, Challenge of the Superheroes, The Legendary Super Powers Show, and more.
#7 Kyle Gallner
Kyle Gallner, who ranked in at number 7, played a live-action Bart Allen aka Impulse/The Flash in the classic DC series Smallville.
He made his first appearance during the 2004-05 season.
#6 Charlie Schlatter
In many voice-over projects, The Flash was voiced by Charlie Schlatter, who was also heard in games like Lego Batman 2 and Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite.
#5 Ezra Miller
Ezra Miller was in the fifth position, as far as the thousands of fans voting, to have brought life into one of the most recent expensive live-action Flash iterations to hit Hollywood.
Miller donned the character for the last time in The Flash, the 2023 film, where he appeared not only as the character but also in different variations.
However, the recent rebooting efforts by the DC Universe under the co-stewardship of James Gunn likely mean that the next live-action Barry Allen will be played by an altogether new actor.
#4 Alan Tudyk
The character that the very well-known actor Alan Tudyk voiced in the Batman series, The Brave and the Bold (2010-2011), was The Flash.
#3 Michael Rosenbaum
Michael Rosenbaum was the voice behind The Flash in Justice League Unlimited in the early 2000s and also as Kid Flash in two episodes of Teen Titans from 2005 to 2006.
He proved his Flash voice acting skills in Static Shock (2000-2004) and then in the Justice League series (2001-2004), with his most recent role being in 2018’s Lego DC Super-Villains video game.
He also portrayed Lex Luthor in Smallville, the DC live-action television series.
#2 John Wesley Shipp
One of the most infamous faces behind the character in a live-action television show was none other than John Wesley Shipp, who played the speedster in the early ’90s on CBS’s The Flash.
He’d at one point return to play Jay Garrick, aka The Flash of Earth-2 during the Grant Gustin era of the character.
#1 Grant Gustin
Grant Gustin is ranked as the number one best actor of all time for playing the character of The Flash.
After being portrayed on TV screens for years in The Flash series, thousands of DC fans voted for him to be one of the greatest contributors to the live-action version of the character.
Gustin has also starred in the spinoff programs Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.
