An A-list actor is a major movie star, or one of the most bankable actors in a film industry.
The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List, which ranks the bankability of 1,400 movie actors worldwide,[1] and has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood. American entertainment journalist James Ulmer, the guide's creator, has also developed a version including directors, the Hot List of Directors.[1] The Ulmer scale categorizes the lists into A+, A, B+, B, C, and D listings. Similarly, in India, there is three-tier strategy, tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3, which are based on the saleability and box office collection capability of a star.[2]