Top 35 Acting Performances of the Decade
Few people have actually posted about the top acting performances of the decade and the few that I saw were top 25 so I went 10 steps further for a top 35 performances of the decade. I tried to be balanced and populated the list with about as many female performances as male one. The list was initially ranked because everyone loves rankings so much but after some pondering, I had to remove those meaningless numbers and shuffle things around. The point is those performances were some of my favorites of the decade and it wouldn’t do justice to any of them to try to put one ahead of another.
This was an incredibly difficult list to populate because there was so many notably good performances each and every year to choose from and making a small list of 35 doesn’t do justice to all the excellent work we have had the chance to watch over the years. Finally, well I haven’t seen every movies of last decade so there might be a few glaring omissions. I’m working on those! If you feel like I personally offended or infuriated you, yes it was definitely on purpose. Here are Anomalous Material top 35 performances of the decade:
 | Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream (2000): The unrecognizable Burstyn gives a bold and captivating performance as Sarah Goldfarb, an amphetamine-addicted widow trying to lose weight so she can appear on an infomercial which she watches religiously. She never gets invited though and increase her dosage of amphetamines causing her to constantly have terrible hallucinations. Few actresses of her age would have been willing to take on the character, no less been able to give it such heart-wrenching genuineness. Watch her fantastic monologue on YouTube. |
 | Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-06): I can't say I'm a fan of the trilogy but I still admire Depp's work which is by far the best thing out of those movies. The flamboyant Jack Sparrow became an instant icon thanks to Depp's charismatic creation of a completely original character. |
 | Christian Bale, American Psycho (2000): Christian Bale gives, in my opinion, his best performance to date as Patrick Bateman, an apparently successful, wealthy, handsome man with some disturbing psychological issues. Bale is so good that it feels like his character is from another planet, an alien who has to watch other people to know how to react and behave in the world. Bateman is obsessed with appearances but his soul is empty and Bale did an excellent job with the hilarious dark humor. |
 | Anamaria Marinca, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2007): Marinca gives one of the most heart-wrenching and mesmerizing performance of the decade as Otilia, a young woman willing to go through horrible obstacles to help her friend get an illegal abortion. She is tough, fearless and constantly working to get the process moving forward. Otilia has an innocence about her at the beginning of the movie that fades away as the film unfolds. |
 | Amy Adams, Junebug (2006): Playing Ashley, a bubbly southern firecracker, Amy Adams gets the big breakthrough role that she had been waiting for so long. Ashley talks on and on and on and seems to have the least care in the world but behind her joyful facade lies a genuinely kind person whose entire hopes and dreams rest on the baby inside of her. Adams shows excellent range as she is able to make you laugh and cry all within the same scene. Twenty years from now, she might well be the next Meryl Streep. |
 | Naomi Watts, Mulholland Dr. (2001): Naomi Watts show excellent range and control in Mulholland Dr. where she has to play a variety of characters ranging from the perky Betty Elms, the disillusioned and schizophrenic Diane Selwyn and countless characters in between those two. David Lynch had all his actors play below their capacities in the first half of the movie to highlight the dream quality of the film. Betty Elms was too nice, too perky, too much of a go-getter, just too much of everything! It is something to behold when an actor purposely acts wooden and over-the-top in the first half of the movie and then unleashes everything in the second half when her character then gives a spectacular audition that comes out of nowhere. |
 | Robert Downey Jr, Tropic Thunder (2008): Tropic Thunder was a funny but ultimately a forgettable movie. Robert Downey Jr's character Kirk Lazarus is however the most lasting and memorable thing about the movie. Seriously one of the most hilarious character of the decade, Downey Jr is almost unrecognizable as "the dude playing the dude, disguised as another dude". |
 | Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (2009): Not too many people can speak four languages, let alone put up an outstanding performance while using all four. Christoph Waltz plays Colonel Landa, a cunning and incredibly pompous Nazi officer specialized in catching Jews-in-hiding. Waltz portrays magnificently one of the most memorable villain of the decade. |
 | Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven (2002): Moore plays Cathy Whitaker, a housewife in 1950's Connecticut who seemingly lives a charming life. She soon has to confront two social taboos when she discovers her husband in a awkward situation with another man and befriends her African-American gardener. Julianne Moore is breathtaking as the restrained and submissive housewife with a steely spirit who desperately fights the era's injustice. |
 | Daniel Day-Lewis, There will be Blood (2007): Much has been said about British actor Daniel Day-Lewis' antics as a method actor, his habit of staying in-character at all times intimidated the actor who was initially supposed to play Eli Sunday. Day-Lewis is literally consummated with every each of his role and nowhere is it more apparent than in There will be Blood, which is the Daniel Day-Lewis show and a movie which would be completely insignificant without him. The ruthlessly greedy and narcissistic Daniel Plainview has no redeeming qualities and yet, Day-Lewis manages to make him completely mesmerizing. People will look back and single this performance as one of the all-time great. |
 | Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (2008): I haven't been able to sit through Brokeback Mountain yet but Ledger's portrayal of the Joker carried the Dark Knight and elevated the movie well beyond where it would have been without him. There really isn't much more one needs to say.Watch a scene on YouTube. |
 | Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004): Winslet, the best actress of her generation, manages to keep the disorienting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind grounded. Her heartbreaking performance as Clementine is nothing short of mesmerizing, she is able to genuinely convey the pain of this failed relationship to the audience so that we also know what it's like to live through that. |
 | Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married (2008): Anne Hathaway gives her strongest work to date as Kym, a drug addict in rehab who gets to come home for her sister's wedding. The return of the egocentric Kym brings back painful memories for her family members and long simmering tension erupt when we soon realize that Kym wants the spotlight even on her sister's most important evening. |
 | Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson (2006): Coming into Half Nelson, I never considered Ryan Gosling to be more than a relatively average actor. Granted, I had only seen him in one movie, The Notebook where he was mostly unimpressive. So it was with great surprise and enthusiasm when I "re-discovered" him in Half Nelson. Playing Dan Dunne, an idealistic school teacher who spends most of his free time high on drugs, Gosling is nothing short of hypnotizing in a nuanced and subtle role. |
 | Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me (2000): The ever so reliable Linney gives an Oscar nominated performance as Sammy, a single mother who reunites with her troubled brother (the underrated Mark Ruffalo) after a long absence. The two share an extremely close relationship since their parents died during their childhood but their relationship sours as she realizes her brother is a mess of a man. Linney gives a charming, poignant and genuine performance that is well-deserving of all the praises she received for it. |
 | Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone (2007): The normally elegant and classy Amy Ryan undergoes a transformation playing Helene McCready, the trashy mother of the missing little girl in Gone Baby Gone. She is so good that you literally want to scream at the screen at how despicable of a person her character is but there is actually more to her character that meets the eyes. An excellent nuanced portrayal of what could have been a one-dimensional character. |
 | Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky (2008): Hawkins plays Poppy, an ultra-bubbly character with a decidedly positive take on life. Sally Hawkins is nothing short of dazzling as Poppy, some may find her overly positive attitude annoying but Hawkins gives a unique performance in a very complex character. |
 | Rachel McAdams, The Lucky Ones (2006): The versatile Rachel McAdams plays returning soldier Colee Dunn in the small indie The Lucky Ones. Young, naive Colee is a chatterbox with a golden heart who also has a very short temper. She chats on and on with childish wonder to mask a deeper current of sadness. The beauty of her portrayal is that McAdams manages to genuinely convey her character's background and persona without the viewer ever being told. That's simply brilliant acting. One scene of the movie can be seen on Youtube. Unfortunately, it's a very little seen indie and there is only one (one?!) cheesy montage of the film. |
| Denzel Washington, Training Day (2001): Playing Alonzo, Washington is at the top of his game playing a highly memorable bad guy fully intent on corrupting an idealistic rookie police officer into a member of his dirty cop team. A highly intense portrayal of a man who went down the wrong path with some great lines delivery throughout the entire movie. "King Kong ain't got no shit on me!" |
 | Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia (2009): Meryl Streep has turned into a living legend and it is only fitting that she gets to portray the legendary Julia Child. Streep's interpretation is nothing short of phenomenal. Not only does she nails the physicality of Julia Child and her voice, she completely inhabits her character. What could have become a mild caricature is ultimately not even an impersonation, Streep was Julia Child, capturing her essence and warmth. |
 | Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed (2006): I've never been a huge Leonardo fan but he helped his cause with his performance in The Departed. Intense and yet under control, DiCaprio is separating himself from his boyish looks and taking on more mature (shaft would say "manly") roles such as Billy Costigan for example. |
 | Sean Penn, Mystic River (2003): Penn plays Jimmy Markum, the distraught father of his murdered daughter. Penn gives a visceral performance, forcefully unleashing all the grief and rage that one would feel if his daughter was found not only dead but murdered. In my opinion, the best performance of his career alongside Dead Man Walking. |
 | Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind (2001): Russell Crowe plays John Nash, the schizophrenic mathematician who helped revolutionized game theory and fought severe paranoia and delusions throughout most of his adult life. Crowe progressively inhabits his character as the film unfolds and he gives a believable and complex portrait of Nash free of cliches and shortcuts that demonstrate his skill as an actor. |
 | Bill Murray, Lost in Translation (2003): Sofia Coppola wrote Lost in Translation with Bill Murray in mind as her lead character. His humor is only a mask to an exhausting sadness and loneliness deep inside. Murray plays Bob Harris, an American actor sent to Japan to shoot a commercial and completely lost in a world that he doesn't know or understand. Harris meets Charlotte, another American lost soul in this alien world and the two share an unlikely friendship. Murray gives one of his best performance of his career, a quiet but very expressive portrayal of a lonely man. He does with his eyes what most actors have to do with drawn out dialogues. It just doesn't get much better than that. |
 | Richard Jenkins, The Visitor (2008): Richard Jenkins plays Walter, a lonely widower going through life with no joy since his wife passed away. One day, his life takes a turn when he stumbles upon two immigrants living in his New York City apartment. Jenkins is such a familiar face, notching dozens of notable supporting roles in mainstream movies and it is a great thing to see him thrive in a rare leading role. |
 | Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda (2004): The always effective Don Cheadle plays Paul Rusesabagina, an unassuming hotel manager who puts his life in danger to shelter over 1,200 civilians trying to escape the ethnic cleansing that happened in Rwanda in 1994. Cheadle is riveting and turns in the performance of his career in a powerful and nuanced portrayal that only he would have been able to accomplish. |
 | Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton (2007): Swinton plays ruthless corporate attorney Karen Crowder, a woman bent on using any means to satisfy her clients. Her Oscar winning portrayal is economical and we never get to know all that much about her character but Swinton leaves many doors open for the viewer to make his own interpretation of her motives. Crowder speaks only in corporate legalese almost like a well-oiled machine with no personality but we can see her insecurities when she goes through her many rehearsals of her speech. Michael Clayton features outstanding performances from George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson but it's Swinton who seals the deal. |
 | Paul Giamatti, Sideways (2004): Giamatti plays Miles, a neurotic and self-pitying aspiring writer who has reached mid-life with nothing to show for it. Giamatti has always been a brilliant supporting character but he takes it to the next level in American Splendor and Sideways where he gives a nuanced and honest portrayal of a loser. |
 | Penelope Cruz, Volver (2006): The voluptuous Cruz plays Raimunda, a hard-working single mother driven to murders her abusive boyfriend to protect her daughter. Cruz is sassy and displays touching motherly instincts. She dedicated three months to rehearsals before shooting the movie and it paid off as her luminous performance revived her career. |
 | Adrien Brody, The Pianist (2002): Brody plays Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish pianist who somehow escapes being thrown into a concentration camp and stays in hiding in the Warsaw ghetto until the end of the war. Brody literally inhabits his character, losing 30 lbs of his already lean frame and giving a quiet, understated but incredibly powerful portrayal of a person caught in one of the most abominable chain of events in History. |
 | Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises (2007): Viggo Mortensen plays Nikolai Luzhin, a driver for a Russian mobster. and gives a superb performance which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Mortensen has a knack for underplaying his characters and letting his quiet mannerism do all the talking. Luzhin is a man of few words, a haunted man with the tattoos to prove it (in his criminal underworld, one's tattoos says everything about the man). Best of all, he nails the Russian accent. |
 | Ulrich Mühe, The Lives of Others (2006): Mühe plays Gerd Wiesler, an East German Stasi secret police officer tasked to eaves drop on a couple of artists and who becomes more and more interested in their lives and ends up having to make some pivotal decisions that could go against what he has always thought was right. Mühe gives a powerful interpretation of Wiesler. At first, cold, robotic and intransigent, Wiesler progressively becomes more and more human as the film unfolds. An incredibly satisfying performance that any movie lover would appreciate. Sadly, we will not see any more movies with this talented actor as he passed away in 2007. |
 | George Clooney, O' Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000): Clooney is pitch perfect as Ulysses Everett, a good looking rascal who is not all too bright but knows where $1.2 million are hidden. Clooney is witty and demonstrates perfect comic timing in a brave and goofy performance that showed to the world that he does have some acting skills to go with his charm. |
 | Chris Cooper, Adaptation (2002): Cooper plays orchid thief John Laroche for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Cooper shows his incredible versatility with an unforgettable interpretation of an eccentric character. Cooper was really able to convince me that Laroche has a unbounded love for orchids and that he would do anything to get hold of one. |
 | Ed Harris, Pollock (2000): Harris was nominated for an Oscar for his interpretation of the larger than life American painter Jackson Pollock. One of the amazing thing is that Harris does some of the painting himself and it actually looks great! Read an interview with Ed Harris on Pollock here. |
Fifteen More for the Road!
Daniel Day Lewis, Gangs of New York (2002): Seriously, I don’t need to say anything more about Day-Lewis, he singlehandedly pull that movie out of mediocrity.
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (2009): The Dude is homing in on his first Academy Award win?
Ellen Page, Juno (2007): She might not have great range but she is excellent at what she does best, play bitchy quick tongued characters with issues.
Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde (2004): There is so much focus on drama but I have to commend Reese Witherspoon who is hilarious and somehow elevates what could have been a horrendous flick into a charming comedy. It’s not as easy as it looks people.
Amy Adams, Enchanted (2007): Adams makes it look effortless but gives an Oscar worthy performance in a Disney movie for God’s sake!
Viola Davis, Doubt (2008): A tidbit part but what a part it is. She outshines absolutely outstanding performances by Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Phillip Seymour Hoffman with barely ten minutes on screen.
Meryl Streep, The Devil wears Prada (2006): Seriously, I could name just about any movie she has made this decade. She was also sublime in Doubt by the way.
Sergi Lopez, Pan’s Labyrinth (2006): Lopez is larger than life and commands the screen every time he is in a scene, creating a cunning and oppressive villain that one can’t take his eyes off.
Ken Watanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima (2006): A template of leadership in combat right there.
Kelly McDonald, The Merry Gentleman (2008): McDonald makes the movie worth seeing, if only for her sublime and understated performance.
Rachel McAdams, Means Girls (2004): She steals Lindsay Lohan’s thunder (she wants it back!) with her delicious portrayal of Regina George.
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men (2007): Anton Chigurh was one of the most terrifying and memorable villain of the decade.
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener (2005): Rachel Weisz has been in some questionable movies but she definitely has top shelves acting chops as shown in The Constant Gardener where she plays Tessa Quayle.
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! (2001): Kidman crushes it out of the park and revives an entire genre with her performance as Satine.
Melissa Leo, Frozen River (2008): Leo gives a fantastic portrayal of a struggling single mother reduced to smuggling illegal immigrants across the Canadian border in this independent gem.
Min-sik Choi, Old Boy (2003): Choi is astonishing in the movie and who can forget the shocking ending where he … No I won’t spoil it for you.
Anybody I have been missing? Any flaming or criticism? Let it be known in the comments.
55 Comments
Ellen Burstyn, the worst Oscar snub ever for that horse mouthed tight bra wearing Rom Com queen.
I am SO happy to see Viggo on here for Eastern Promises. One of my favorite performances ever.
The problem with a list like this is that there are some actors that deserve numerous repeat attention on here. Viggo being one. He was incredible in History Of Violence as well. But you know, Robert Downey Jr., Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, and Russell Crowe are among the many that have shinned in the past years on such a consistent basis it’s difficult to narrow down the best of each.
Really good list. I started one over a month ago and never finished it. Maybe I will!
Couldn’t agree more Heather. Out of the actors/actresses that you just listed, we could probably come up with a top 35 as a group.
Great list, Castor. It’s good to see you were such a fan of Jenkins and “The Visitor”. You loved the movie a little more than I did, but Jenkins gives one of the more touching performances of the decade.
Good to see Tilda Swinton listed, but for a better performance, check out “Julia”, which is out on DVD by now. The movie itself is a mess, but if I had an Oscar ballot, Swinton would be at the top of the list…easily…even over Meryl, Gabby or Mulligan.
I was thinking of making a top 25 for each gender myself. Though, I was thinking of going with 50 each and simply making them lists, because I don’t think I would have enough adjectives in my dictionary to do with you just did.
@ Heather: Oh yes, you are so right and this is why a puny top 35 or top 50 is not enough but all of us have only so much time to dedicate to a single post lol
Viggo Mortensen is absolutely phenomenal in A History of Violence and it was a tossup between the two. RDJ (Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, even Zodiac or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Winslet (The Reader, Iris), Crowe (everything?). Those guys are big names for a reason and I guess I like to give props to slightly smaller name maybe ? lol
@ Red: Yea I should try to catch Julia, I would definitely be interested in seeing your list Red. If you don’t want to make a huge post, that’s fine with me, it can even be in the comments here
Generally I can see merit in all of the people on this list, but I just cannot get behind the love for Meryl’s Julia Child. Not at all. No one from The Hours? Bening? Marcia Gay Harden?
The only one on this list that I would disagree with would be Crowe for “A Beautiful Mind”. I know the performance is well-liked by just about everybody, but that was a movie that I couldn’t get into. Ditto for Crowe in Master and Commander. I couldn’t finish that movie.
I’ll start working on my list. I’ll probably start the list off by claiming every Laura Linney performance superior to every other piece on the women’s side, though.
Laura Linney even made Congo tolerable. That’s bloody talented.
Exactly!!
WOW, another tremendous post, Castor! Like Red said, I don’t think I possess enough adjectives to do this either… but I sure love reading it. I agree with a lot of your picks here… I LOVE Crowe in pretty much anything too, though I might rate his performance in The Insider higher than in A Beautiful Mind, but that one was more than 10 yrs ago. Totally agree about Jenkins in The Visitor, Murray in Lost in Translation (and Broken Flowers, too), Adams in Junebug and Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda. I’m not crazy about American Psycho, but that surely was one of the highlights of Bale’s substantial career. Though some might argue his performance in The Machinist deserves more praise (I haven’t seen it).
Btw, I’d add James McAvoy in Atonement and Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction.
I actually liked McAvoy better in Last King Of Scotland. He was just out-shined by Whitaker, but it was still a real noteworthy performance on his part.
Hi Heather, I haven’t seen Last King of Scotland, my hubby said there are scenes in there I might not be able to watch. But I’ll take your word for it, McAvoy is just one of those actors who always deliver for me.
I’ll back up Heather on this…while watching it, I knew why Whitaker was getting all the attention, but I was wondering why in the blue hell I had never heard of McAvoy before. That was his first true “break-out” in my eyes….the fact that he did Chronicles of Narnia at the same time still astonishes me…then again, so did Tilda Swinton.
RTM, it has some disturbing moments, especially in relation to the mistreatment of women in general, but it’s a movie worth seeing. Very good, but also very dark.
@ Encore: I haven’t seen the Hours (yet)
Definitely a huge fan of Annette Bening though. Very interesting post you have on your website, I read the Julie and Julia review link which is an interesting take of Streep. I don’t really agree but it is definitely something to keep in mind.
@ Red: A Beautiful Mind is a movie that is somewhat hard to get into because well, we are just watching a schizophrenic man but I believe Crowe’s performance really carried the movie
@ rtm: Thank you Ruth! Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction is in my list!
I’m not seeing Ferrell….though I agree on it. The chemistry he has with Maggie in that movie was pretty surprising.
Did I miss it? I make sure I didn’t add someone that’s already on the list but I didn’t see it here. In any case, most of your choices are great anyway. Has anybody seen Moon? I heard that Sam Rockwell totally rocked (pun intended) in that movie.
Noooooo!!!! It probably got cut out somewhere, no wonder I had a couple missing on final count. Well, at least you know it was on my ORIGINAL list lol
Absolutely loved Moon. To me, it’s more important to the Sci-Fi genre than either Star Trek or District-9…which is saying something considering the chances of one of those two getting nominated for Best Picture get better every day.
Where’s Cate Blanchett on the list, Toni Collette, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Judie Dench, Helen Mirren … all of their roles are historical and legendary.
Most of them are worthy, McGregor in Moulin Rouge!, Cate Blanchett in Benjamin Button, Helen Mirren in The Queen. There was only so many spots Dez
If someone wants to go for a top 100, be my guest lol
McGregor has done some good work. I’m a big fan, and Jude Law is widely unrecognized. He doesn’t play roles that get him a lot of commercial attention, but I think he’s one of the biggest talents out there right now. I became a huge supporter from The Talented Mr. Ripley on. Damon was good, but Law was great. Speaking of, Matt Damon has turned out to be a very solid actor as well.
I would have to say Anamaria Marinca for her role in 4 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days… easily one of the best performances of the decade, and you missed it! and Mickey Rourke from the wrestler, who I also believed was robbed as was Burstyn- creating perhaps an Aronofsky curse. Also Marion Cotillard for her role in the Edith Piaf biopic.
“Anamaria Marinca for her role in 4 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days… easily one of the best performances of the decade, and you missed it!”
It’s on the list man. I haven’t seen The Wrestler yet, nor La Vie en Rose but it’s on my playlist!
Lol, I’ve certainly given Castor an ear-full of Cotillard. That role, as well as any she has done, are things of perfection. She even carried “Nine” on her back, and that’s really saying something considering the cast that she had around her.
Castor, in case you’re wondering why you got traffic from IMDb, I submitted this post via the Hit List forum, I hope you’re ok with it
All actors certainly deserve to be on this list….however, I will say that Mickey Rourke should be on here for his role in Sin City. All actors in that film pulled out their finest…Brittany Murphy even pulled out an amazing character; and how about Benecio Del Toro?
You haven’t seen the Hours? That needs to be corrected
Great list though! Love that you included Bill Murry! And obviously lovely Kate in Eternal Sunshine.
MARION COTILLARD
How can you leave her off? She wasn’t one of the best performances of the decade, she was THE BEST. Not putting her on here is an egregious snub.
Hi Marshall, I haven’t seen any of her movies except Public Enemies to this date. I’m sure she is fantastic and I’m planning to see La Vie en Rose soon!
As you can tell, I just feel very strongly. Seriously though, discussion about the best performances of the decade cannot begin without seeing her in “La Vie en Rose.”
Read my thoughts here: http://marshallandthemovies.com/2009/11/20/filmweek14/
Try as I might, I can’t find one dud in the bunch, though I did find a few I didn’t quite agree with. Maybe the appeal of Hawkins in “Happy-Go-Lucky” was lost on me or maybe I need to see the film again. She didn’t wow me. I liked Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” but thought she was a little too obviously looking for Oscar. I’d like it if she’d been a little more restrained, a little less showy.
Sean Penn in “Milk” might deserve a spot on here (hell, everything he does almost would), as does Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in “Capote” and Tilda Swinton’s take on a selfish alcoholic in “Julia.”
This is a great, diverse selection. I enjoyed seeing some atypical selections like Paul Giamatti, Amy Adams, and Viggo Mortensen. I would’ve included Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There, but this is an excellent, unique list already.
Yes, someone who agrees on I’m Not There! Amazing performance.
OK… Rachel Getting Married… WTF???
Anne Hathaway was incredible in “Rachel Getting Married!” That’s what.
Agreed but Top 35 of the decade??? Come on!
amazing list castor….chris cooper is legendary as john laroche..my favourite film character ever..ddl is always amazing,viggo,ulrich,amy ryan and ryan gosling are also great..
and what about woody harrelson in the messenger,nicholas cage in adaptation,philip seymour hoffman in synechdoche new york and tom wilkinson in michael clayton….
Great list! So many performances that I love are on this list – I love the inclusion of Amy Adams and Penelope Cruz’s performances as well. I would probably have chosen Little Children over Eternal Sunshine for Winslet, but both are brilliant and so different. Also, I adore Bjork’s performance in Dancer in the Dark but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
Am I bad for falling asleep in Adaptation? LOL
I love your little blurb on Kidman “Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! (2001): Kidman crushes it out of the park and revives an entire genre with her performance as Satine.” – She gets so much flack over her paparazzi sightings and lackluster box office performance… some people forget she’s a good actress.
Bruno Ganz – Downfall
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler/Sin City
Casey Affleck – Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain
Will Ferrell – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Abbie Cornish – Bright Star
Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
Charlize Theron – Monster
etc
WHAT?!?! Where’s Kevin Spacey for American Beauty??? That was the best performance I’ve ever seen in a film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cDXwOIPC2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xCCoull3I4
American Beauty was released in 1999
Kevin Spacey certainly was outstanding.
ooooh…. “…Of the decade”, yeah.. sorry. Looks like I forgot the caption =)
Great list, but I’d add a few.
Jake Gyllenhaal- Brokeback Mountain
Jennifer Hudson- Dreamgirls
Hillary Swank- Million Dollar Baby
Kate Winslet- Revolutionary Road
Bad list watch more movies
Cate blanchette, the aviator.
i gotta say man decent list… BUT you focused a little more on teenybopper bullshit then i anticipated when i first oppened the link.
I liked the list very much, and while I disagree with some of your choices, mostly Clooney, I think Marion Cotillard gave one of the best performances in La Vie En Rose. Her scenes as an old lady are just amazing to me.
Charlize Theron- Monster
Nicole Kidman- The Hours
Sean Penn- Milk
Jake Gyllenhaal- The Good Girl
Not sure how Harvey Keitel’s performance in Bad Lieutenant can be left off any top ten individual acting performances
No Charlize Theron for Monster? I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous. That was one of the greatest performances of ALL TIME. Leaving her out almost completely invalidates your list and credentials.
Legally Blonde over Jamie Fox in Ray??????????????
Decent list with some obvious omissions. Here are my 20 best of the decade:
Ellen Burstyn – Requiem for a Dream
Sam Rockwell – Moon (Best male performance of the decade)
Tom Hardy – Bronson
Paul Giamatti – Sideways
Laura Dern – Inland Empire (Best female performance of the decade)
Adrien Brody – The Pianist
Naomi Watts – Mulholland Drive/21 Grams *Tie*
Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Julianne Moore – Far From Heaven
Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote/Synecdoche, New York *Tie*
Nicole Kidman – Dogville
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Antichrist
Anamaria Marinca – 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
Hugh Jackman – The Fountain (Most overlooked performance of the decade)
Bjork – Dancer in the Dark
Tilda Swinton – Julia
Nicolas Cage – Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Jim Carrey – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
Jamie Foxx – Ray
First of all, great list. I know it was made a while ago, so don’t know if anyone is still reading these comments.
A few honorable mentions, in my opinion:
Leonardio Dicaprio – Shutter Island (One of my favourite perfomances ever)
Ryan Gosling – The Believer
Really these are best performances, very nice list of all.these all are good in their role.
Thanks for the list.
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