On our podcast over the weekend, we were discussing some of the best performances … ever. In 1982 Dustin Hoffman did Tootsie, Paul Newman did The Verdict, Ben Kingsley did Gandhi and Meryl Streep did Sophie’s Choice. While Streep’s stratospheric rise happened just before she reached the apex with Sophie’s Choice, journalists weren’t quite ready to surrender to the force that was and is Meryl Streep.
I personally think that Streep’s performance in Sophie’s Choice is the best performance by any actor ever, male or female. But that got me thinking and wondering what others I would add to the list. Off the top of my head I would say, in no particular order (but with an eye on transformation, becoming someone other than the actor) – obviously my own personal choices, this list of names:
[Note: a few of of these performance missed out on an Oscar nomination but we’re making up for the omission and including them anyway — Ryan].
Meryl Streep, Sophie’s Choice
Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire/On the Waterfront
Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor/Sandy Dennis/George Segal, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Mary Tyler Moore/Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People
Bette Davis, All About Eve/Now Voyager/The Letter
Jack Nicholson Carnal Knowledge/Five Easy Pieces/One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Louise Fletcher, Cuckoo’s Nest
Katharine Hepburn, The Lion in Winter
Peter O’Toole, Lawrence of Arabia/The Stuntman
Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind/A Streetcar Named Desire
Robert De Niro, Raging Bull
Judy Garland, A Star is Born
Frances McDormand/Steve Buscemi/William H. Macy, Fargo
Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
Paul Newman/Piper Laurie, The Hustler
Holly Hunter, Raising Arizona
Anthony Perkins, Psycho
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen
Dustin Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy/Tootsie
Cloris Leachman/Ben Johnson/Jeff Bridges/Ellen Burstyn, The Last Picture Show
William Hurt, The Kiss of the Spider Woman
Denzel Washington, Malcolm X
Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind
Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski
Anjelica Huston/Annette Bening/John Cusack, The Grifters
Kevin Spacey, American Beauty
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein
Peter Sellers, Being There/Dr. Strangelove/Lolita
Liza Minnelli, Cabaret
Malcolm McDowell, Clockwork Orange
Sissy Spacek & Piper Laurie, Carrie
George C. Scott, Patton
Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard
Judy Holiday, Born Yesterday
Al Pacino, The Godfather II
Robert Walker, Strangers on a Train
Jessica Lange, Frances
Sally Field, Norma Rae
Angela Bassett, What’s Love Got to Do with It
Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Sean Penn, Milk
Diana Ross, Lady Sings the Blues
Glenn Close & Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune
Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump
Ralph Fiennes, Schindler’s List
Colin Firth, A Single Man/The King’s Speech
Emma Thompson, Sense & Sensibility
Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs
Kate Winslet, Heavenly Creatures
Holly Hunter, The Piano
Cicely Tyson/Paul Winfield, Sounder
Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple
Jodie Foster, Taxi Driver
Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
Laura Dern, Inland Empire
Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth/I’m Not There
Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven
Diane Keaton, Reds/Annie Hall
Nicole Kidman, To Die For
Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Gene Hackman, The French Connection
Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Georgia
Peter Finch, Network
Faye Dunaway Network/Chinatown/Bonnie and Clyde
Charles Laughton, Hunchback of Notre Game
Sidney Poitier, To Sir with Love, Lilies of the Field
Meryl Streep, One True Thing/The Devil Wears Prada
What would be your list? Or more importantly, whom have I left off?
Top 5
Random Order
Renée Jeanne Falconetti – The Passin of Joan of Arc
Lamberto Maggiorani & Enzo Staiola – Bicycle Thives
Vanessa Redgrave – Isadora
Robert Mitchum – The Night of the Hunter
Marion Cotillard- La Vie en Rose
Way late cuz I just came back from vaycay but two performances that are constantly overlooked but understandable considering the roles and not mentioned too much here These performancces are in a different galaxy:
Dame Judith Ander Anderson / Rebecca
Charlize Theron / Monster
Marion Cotillard: La Vie en Rose
Kirsten Dunst: Interview With The Vampire/Melancholia
Natalie Portman: The Professional/Closer
Charlize Theron: Monster/Young Adult
Alicia Silverstone: Clueless
Imelda Staunton: Vera Drake
Michelle Pfeiffer: Batman Returns/The Fabulous Baker Boys
Rooney Mara: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Jane Fonda–KLUTE
Jane Fonda–COMING HOME
Jane Fonda–THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?
Marion Cotillard: La Vie en Rose/Nine/Rust and Bone
Great acting (part One)
Holger Löwenadle Lacombe, Lucien
Marília Pêra in Pixote
Tsilla Chelton in Tatie Danielle
Anna Magnani in Roma, citta aperta
Michel Serreault in La cage aux folles
Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the wind (First black actress to win an oscar)
Butterfly McQueen in Gone with the wind
Carmen Maura in Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios
Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy
Vanessa Redgrave in The Bostonians, Isadora, The Trojan Women
Adrian Brody in The Pianist
Anouk Aimée Un homme et une femme
Liv Ullman for The Emigrants and Unto a Good Land
Marie-Josee Croze for Les invasions barbares
Jean-Louis Trintignant for Il Conformista and Amour
Maribel Verdú for El laberinto del fauno
Ivana Baquero for El laberinto del fauno
Victoire Thivisol for Ponette
Ida Kaminska for Obchod na korze (The Shop on the Main Street)
Peter O’toole for the Stunt Man
Forest Whitaker for The Crying Game and The Last King of Scotland
Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake
Luis Tosar for Celda 211
Norma Aleandro for La Historia oficial
Gerard Depardieu for Danton, Novecento, Cyrano de Bergerac
Ingrid Bergman for Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata)
Miou-Miou for Dites-lui que je l’aime, Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l’an 2000, La dérobade (Great french actress)
Debra Winger (Terms of endearment)
Glenda Jackson for Women in Love, Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Chunibala Devi for Pather Panchali (haunting performance)
Al Pacino for The Godfather
Jeanne Moreau for Jules et Jim
Marie-France Pisier for Cousin, Cousine
Holly Hunter for The Firm
Alain Vezina