From Natalie Portman in Black Swan to Saoirse Ronan in Ladybird, these are our picks for few of the best acting performances in films that will stay with us forever.
Margot Robbie in I, Tonya (2017)
US Olympic Figure Skater Tonya Harding, known for one of the biggest scandals in US sports history, was abused throughout her life. Robbie plays her as someone with a tough exterior and extremely vulnerable heart. In a heartbreaking scene, Tonya is putting on makeup and crying. She tries to smile through the tears. It perfectly captures how women have to put up a show to survive.
Rooney Mara in Carol (2015)
Carol resists labels and its depiction of desire is largely unspoken. Mara, through her silence, brings a profound perspective to Belivet as curiosity and passion play out on her face whenever she is around Carol, the lady she is in love with.
Kristen Stewart in Personal Shopper (2016)
Stewart is very good at disappearing on screen. Maureen is dealing with the death of her twin brother and Stewart plays her as someone hardly existing in reality. She slips in and out of rooms noiselessly and barely makes eye contact. Stewart’s lack of dramatic expression helps to create a more intense environment.
Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out (2017)
Get Out is a very smart film about racism and Kaluuyu nails his character’s slight skepticism and deep fear as he realizes what his girlfriend is up to. Kaluuyu has a good understanding of how to do compelling horror as we will see in his next film Widows.
Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Full of grief and remorse, Affleck’s character Lee has suffered a lot of loss in his life. He walks around like a ghost, keeping his emotions bottled inside him. Visiting Manchester to attend the funeral of his brother, Lee runs into his ex-wife Randi and is suspended between a great urge to break down and maintain his cool.
Adam Driver in Marriage Story (2019)
This is probably Driver’s career’s best performance. Charlie is self-involved and flawed but he is also full of warmth and a man with regrets. When he sings ‘Being Alive’ in a bar, you witness a man who does not know who he is anymore.
Emma Stone in La La Land (2016)
If one looks past all the heavy production sets, big musical numbers, and Ryan Gosling’s beautiful face, one notices Emma Stone’s very acute emotional performance as an aspiring actress. The way she transforms her expressions from intense happiness on getting an audition to intense pain on being rejected is some masterclass acting.
Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine (2010)
While Stone stole the show in La La Land, Gosling’s intimate and powerful performance of a hopeless romantic who is in love with a girl cannot be overlooked. The film portrays the complexities and difficulties of a modern relationship. Shifting back and forth in time, Gosling plays a man in love and a man who is desperate equally well.
Natalie Portman in Black Swan (2010)
Portman’s ability to do dramatic roles without over-acting is her greatest strength. At the end of the film, not only Nina transforms into a Black Swan but Portman herself. It’s the most demanding but also the most fearless performance of her career.
Saoirse Ronan in Ladybird (2017)
To get into the headspace of an annoying, stubborn teenager is not easy but Ronan does it easily. She cracks the body language of Ladybird and gives a sincere performance with a remarkable lack of vanity.
Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name (2017)
Just like Ronan, Chalamet plays Elio with a lot of sincerity and compassion. He captures the conflicting emotions of this 17-year old boy who is consumed by love and lust for a man. He acts like he is a cool person but inside, he is like any young adult, trying to navigate his place and learning to let go of his first love.
Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha (2012)
It is a very endearing performance by Gerwig of a 30-something woman in New York who is lonely and still trying to find who she is and what she wants out of life. Frances is a dreamer and she carries hope even in the most hopeless situations.
Ethan Hawke in Before Midnight (2014)
Hawke’s character Jessie transforms from a wide-eyed boy of Before Sunrise to a man who has an ex-wife and a son, along with two daughters with Celine. His relationship with her is breaking down and he is confused, tired but relentlessly trying to do the right thing.
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010)
Even though real-life Mark Zuckerberg’s barely movable lips are in direct contrast to the character’s verbosity in the film, Eisenberg brilliantly portrays an arrogant Harvard student who tries to belittle people when he is the guy with extensive insecurities.
Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids (2011)
Wiig co-wrote the film and destroyed the general assumption that women can’t be funny. She plays a woman who is unable to grasp her best friend is getting married and is meeting other people while she is all alone. It is both a hilarious and sensational performance by Wiig.