What if the best of the last few decades fell through the cracks? In an era where box office figures and awards chatter contribute so greatly to determining what lingers in our memories, most magnificent performances are left behind overshadowed by more prominent names, more boisterous lines, or plain old time.
For film fans, stumbling upon such gems is stumbling onto gold. They are the type of performances that remind us something new about a performer’s abilities, sometimes playing in off-kilter genres or B-movies. From restrained emotional payers to laugh-out-loud comical steals, these performances remind us that brilliant acting isn’t necessarily about the most raucous applause it’s about the ones that take their mark long after the final credits roll.
Here are 10 of them every one a testament to an actor’s range, depth, and power to single-handedly revive a movie, even if the world wasn’t quite paying enough attention at the time.
1. Yalitza Aparicio in Roma (2018)
Foreign film generally has a hard time finding its place in English-speaking territories, but Yalitza Aparicio’s passion project in Alfonso Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical work of art is not likely to be forgotten any time soon. As Cleo, an in-house domestic worker in Mexico City during the 1970s, Aparicio delivers a performance so restrained and emotionally charged that it anchors the film’s loose, poetic visual style.
Her ability to hold the silence of sacrifice, and propel herself through the undertows of social and political change, is admirable. Aparicio, a beginner in acting, was an Oscar nominee, yet even her waif-like performance still does not get the focused attention that it deserves.
2. Bill Murray in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Bill Murray and Wes Anderson have a collaboration of legend, but his role as the eccentric oceanographer Steve Zissou may be one of his finest. The film itself was not a hit, and it is simple to say that this part has been neglected due to this.
Murray steers deadpan comedy into counterpoint with moments of cringe-making vulnerability to develop a character that is surreal but deeply human. It’s virtuosity in the balance of tone evidence that tragedy and comedy are not only possible within the same shot, but don’t even weaken each other.
3. John Cusack in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
In Woody Allen’s farce set in the 1920s, John Cusack is a neurotic author torn between creative vision and gangster interference. While the rest of the supporting cast of the remainder of the film is great, Cusack’s inner energy and sense of timing are what bring the mayhem to glitter.
Unmatched to his performance is the way he piles the insecurity of the character upon the fast-talking repartee. He thereby gives a comedic performance with consideration for the thin-skinned ego of an actor who needs ego stroking.
4. Scarlett Johansson in Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Taika Waititi’s satirical take on Nazi Germany is best remembered for its audacious humor, but Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of Rosie Jojo’s quietly rebellious mother provides the film’s emotional heartbeat.
Johansson brings warmth, wit, and acidic determination to Rosie. She processes her interactions with Roman Griffin Davis gently without ever appearing mawkish, and the suggestions made by implication of her own rebellion off-screen resonate through to give a richness to what could have been a one-dimensional turn elsewhere.
5. Jesse Eisenberg in The Double (2013)
Double roles tend to get gimmicky, but in this case, the acting of Eisenberg in Richard Ayoade’s offbeat black comedy is a study in restraint. Playing bumbling Simon and his cool double brother James, he releases two contrary characters whose lives informingly converge.
The Kafkaesque tone of the film requires an actor who can walk the tightrope of absurdity and existential fear at the same time and Eisenberg accomplishes it with bracing authority, one of his best efforts.
6. Adam Driver in The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018)
Terry Gilliam’s delayed child at last saw the light of day featuring Adam Driver playing a testy director recruited into a dreamlike journey. The film’s manic energy might have engulfed a less commanding actor, but Driver anchors it with his typical combination of annoyance and reality.
His comedic moments are at their best in the early scenes, and afterwards fanciful digressions unveil a concealed depth of emotion. Proof that Driver has the skill to convince us of even the most implausible things.
7. Vicky Krieps in Phantom Thread (2017)
No easy gig that has the acting brilliance of Daniel Day-Lewis to share the screen space, but Vicky Krieps does more than hold her own she starts stealing scenes unbeknownst. Alma, her character, starts out as a meek muse but increasingly acquires a toughness of will that rattles the power equations of the story.
Krieps makes this change so subtle that one hardly realizes it until she’s fully had her epiphany, transmogrifying her performance into one of the film’s biggest surprises.
8. Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Spike Lee’s war film about the Vietnam war has a plethora of stand-out performances but Delroy Lindo’s Paul, a guilt-stricken vet consumed by trauma, is its center.
In maybe the most celebrated sequence of the movie, Lindo speaks directly to the audience in a monologue that is unflinching, raw, and indelible. Despite awards consideration, this performance’s omission ranks among the decade’s biggest misses.
9. Shirley MacLaine in The Children’s Hour (1961)
Best remembered as a comedian, Shirley MacLaine played straight as a schoolteacher suspected of an impropriety with another teacher in this version of Lillian Hellman’s play. This emotional vulnerability was unusual for the era.
MacLaine’s own performance is restrained and anguished, capturing the hot pressure of public opinion. It remains eerily relevant decades later.
10. Jamie Lee Curtis in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Steadied by comedic legends John Cleese and Kevin Kline on either side, Jamie Lee Curtis glides into catch-up playing scheming, sexy Wanda. Her sassy wit and teasing jabs are the ideal fulcrum for the film’s slapstick spin-offs.
Curtis demonstrates that comedies are as difficult and gratifying as dramas are, with an as-tough-as-she-is-funny turn of performance.
Those performances will never come to define award-show montages or streaming algorithms, but they are the sort of performance that makes movies so deeply worth the time and effort. To those willing to look a little deeper, they are evidence that sometimes the most enduring work occurs just outside of the brightest light.
