The great Lee Strasberg once said, “Work for the actor lies essentially in two areas: the ability to consistently create reality and the ability to express that reality.” The pioneer of method acting was more of a good teacher than an actor, and in his very broad territory of the acting philosophy, he always made sure he included drawing emotions from unseen areas or unrevealed facts. This meant his student actors had to find a way to expand the life of a fictional character by exploring emotional planes that simply didn’t exist.
This is one of many ways to bring an idea to life through the very difficult craft of acting. Some performers make it seem easier than it is, and for others, every role is a different opportunity to explore moral landscapes that could develop into other versions of the truth. In this journey of the art of acting, we canhighlight fantastic performances. Most of them are awarded every year during that period in which art is subjectively evaluated by a few. But what do you say if we dig around some of the performances that, sometimes with a few minutes of screen time, have helped improve, deconstruct, and elevate this beautiful craft?
25Alexis Bledel - The Handmaid’s Tale
The Handmaid’s Tale’sAlexis Bledelis the best performance in the show and one of the best in TV history. Bledel represents the effects of terror in only a handful of scenes, but she does it with a great interpretation of a hopeless woman who really understands and shows that once you’re in Hell, you won’t likely get out. This is unfortunately a very underrated performance in modern television.
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24Eva Melander - Border
Eva Melander’sperformance as Tina in the fantasy filmBorderis extraordinary. When it comes to fictional beings in films, there are only a few occasions in which performers were able to convey a sense of humanity and sensibility. This is one of those movies. For Melander’s Tina, it feels natural and inevitable to find her true self by allowing herself to feel and perhaps accept she isn’t part of the world she was born in: She’s a troll in the literal sense of the word.
23Robert De Niro - Raging Bull
Robert De Niro’spresence in Scorsese’sRaging Bullis impressively natural and raw consideringthe subgenre of sports films. When it comes to this kind of films and their performances, it doesn’t get any better than De Niro’s self-destructive boxer Jake LaMotta. This one redefined the lengths you would go to physically represent decadence as a consequence of past glory. Yeah, we’re talking about that weight gain for a few minutes of running time.
22Geoffrey Rush - Shine
Geoffrey Rush’swork inShinechanged the rules of performances of mentally disturbed characters because, in this case, trauma was enough of a strong cause of David Helfgott’s breakdown. Music can drive you mad as this one proves, and Rush personified this with a solid, and strangely hopeful, interpretation of a pianist whose talent was exploited by his father and his lack of self-confidence. This is one of the Oscars on this list that was truly well-deserved.
21Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple
The Color Purpleis Spielberg’s underrated masterpiece that we don’t appreciate more because of when it was released (this was the director’s peak moment in commercial cinema).Whoopi Goldbergstars as Celie, an African American girl who experiences growing up in America in the early 20th century. Goldberg’s physicality is extraordinary as she embodies innocence blended with trauma in a world that will never be forgiving to her and will never prepare her for what comes next. Her glance, filled with questions, is one that left everyone speechless back in the day.
Related:20 Fantastic Performances in “Bad” Movies
20Sean Penn - Mystic River
Sean PenninMystic Riverturned the idea of a loving father into a horrible representation of something no one cares to deny. What would you do if your daughter was killed? Would you ever stop trying to avenge her death? Penn’s Jimmy Markum is a solid performance in the revenge universe that allowed for dramato make monsters compellingand acceptable in the face of horrible circumstances. Try to see the guy asking the cops if the corpse is that of his daughter and see if you don’t goosebumps.
19Olivia Colman - Tyrannosaur
Olivia ColmaninTyrannosauris an essential piece of interpretation of fear and trauma, but nothing like cinema is used to. In this case, the demons of Colman’s world are actively aggressive and haunt every second of her existence. The worst hasn’t passed yet. Her expression is desperate, urgent, and incredibly loud. This one’s on the list because of how surprisingly effective it was alongside Peter Mullan’s pristine performance as her counterpart.
18Peter Finch - Network
A magnificent expression of a man tired of lying to people.Peter Finchangrily rants and makes a point of every lie told on TV and disconnects audiences for a while from the stupor created by media. It’s not that it feels authentic. It’s just a necessary performance that transcended the film’s script. For his performance as Howard Beale inNetwork, Peter Finch won a posthumous Oscar in 1977. He’s the reason why De Niro didn’t win forTaxi Driver, but yeah, Finch deserves this much more.
17Tilda Swinton - We Need To Talk About Kevin
Tilda SwintoninWe Need to Talk About Kevinisa shocking interpretationof numbness in the face of terror. Only in Swinton’s face are we able to recognize such terror, but this is only an idea at first. The film turns her journey from one of a “mother and wife who got tired and left it all behind” to one of a “survivor who made it to the end because a relentless monster considered her witnessing could be stronger than death itself.”
16Ann Dowd - The Handmaid’s Tale
Ann Dowd’scareer is ridden with highlights. However, inThe Handmaid’s Taleshe fully displays her capacity for being able to embody a concept with plausibility and substance. A horrible concept by the way, since Aunt Lydia confirms that ambiguity between empathy and loyalty, while naturally recognizing her gender, will cause her character to go down at some point. We’re just waiting for this to happen.
