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Tim Robbins.

I think his role in Bull Durham was his best (give it a 9.5).

Shawshank was an easy 8

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There are a lot of stupid things in this thread (including me categorizing about a dozen Eddie Murphy movies I never saw, and apparently missing badly on Bowfinger and Golden Child), but Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne as only an 8 is colossally incorrect. If this isn't a ten, what is?

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While the movie may be a 10 (or relatively close), I don't think that necessarily means that Robbins acting was a 10 -- in fact, I think the 8 is generous, riding on the coattails of the overall quality of the movie. Obviously this is personal preference, but I like the acting to feel less forced, and I didn't think Robbins nailed his character the way others could have. IMO, Morgan Freeman was a 10 in this movie; Robbins was not.

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That's an interesting perspective and I suspect you aren't the only one who feels that way.
Hadn't quite considered what that role/film would have been like with a different actor in that role such as a Tom Hanks or Kevin Spacey or whoever else.

My feeling the first couple times I saw it was that Robbins nailed it. Even moreso perhaps than Freeman nailed his role.
I think people may have been more affected by the times Freeman's voice was narrating over the video. But really I didn't think there was very much acting involved in that. It was pretty much his regular reading/speaking/narrating voice.

Seeing it now I can kind of see a bit more of the over-the-topness of Robbins performance. But I still think he added far more to the film than he detracted from it.