Best Acting Performances Of The 2010s

When I say the best acting performances of the decade, I do not mean THE best acting performances of the decade since that’s sort of difficult to cover in one go and I can’t simply list them all. Today, I just look forward to listing down some of those performances that stayed with me long after I’d finished the movie. You know something that makes you reflect on the art of performing instead of focusing on the plot and stuff, (guilty as charged) a performance that blows your mind (spoiler alert) like how Tyler Durden blew up his brains (figuratively and literally) in Fight Club and something that just makes you pause the movie and have a minor existential crisis because the acting was THAT good.

We all know acting is an art and hence, the actors are artists as they wield the screen as their canvas and paint their emotions in vibrant colors that leaves the audience in an awe and wonder. But its not for everyone to ponder upon how difficult it is to bring a character to life from a few pages of written scripts, but some of us recognize the shard of connection that the actor establishes with the character for it to be as believable as it turns out. In short, let’s just talk about some of the many actors (4 to be specific) who understood the damn assignment, or as the saying goes these days.

1. Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, 2014): It is with great regret that I admit that the first movie I’d come across with this legendary person was ‘Spiderman: Far from Home’ and yes, now it’s difficult to perceive him as a good guy in any scenario, but it’s also not cool at all that I didn’t know a lot about him since he’s an ah-ma-zing actor. In this particular movie; Jake (Lou Bloom) comes off as a guy who you wouldn’t wanna be around in general because even despite all that politeness and smiling and stuff, there’s something off about him (not helping with the bad guy complex). Maybe it’s in the way his eyes glitter when he thinks/talks about something malicious, the kind of thrill he feels in witnessing someone else’s pain and how everything he says sounds too eager and too calculated.

All in all, typical sociopathic behavior; which is not an entirely new concept but its always about how it is portrayed differently by various people, and I guess its safe to say that Jake Gyllenhaal nailed it. Lou is a guy who is sort of a thief, until he is charmed by the idea of capturing some of many crimes that occur in the belly of Los Angeles at nighttime, as means of making more money. And it’s not long until he starts developing intense tactics to serve as means to this end. Riz Ahmed (Rick) and Rene Russo (Nina) are great in their roles, but Jake steals the show and seals the deal with his amazing performance in this commanding role.

2. Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird, 2017): For this one, can we just take a moment of silence and think about Saoirse Ronan’s range? I mean I don’t know about you but it’s definitely something I can obsess about at least twice a day. From Atonement, Lovely Bones, to Lady Bird and Little women we have witnessed Saoirse Ronan in a variety of roles, and she makes you feel like you personally know her character so well, EVERY time. This directorial-debut is beautiful in the most simple and basic way; at a glance Christie’s character in the movie wouldn’t seem anything special but that is exactly the most special thing about it.

The story navigates the ups and downs of a teenager’s life, typical? I know, but its also about how its portrayed in the most realistic and the most relatable way. Christine’s joy and anguish, her complicated relationship with her mother, her struggle to be one of the cool kids, her dreams of leaving her small suburban town and being a part of some new, big cities… everything that reminds people of being a teenager, the simplicity and complexity of it at the same time, all of it is just downright beautiful and Saoirse Ronan made it all happen for the audience to witness firsthand and connect with Christine’s character.

3. Emma Stone (Birdman, 2014): I believe we can all agree that Michael Keaton, Birdman himself, is the absolute star of this one. This movie focuses on Riggan Thomson (Keaton) who is working out means to revive his past years of glory when he used to be the lead of a successful comic adaption series, by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway production. The best thing about this movie is that it seems as if it was filmed in one single long take, the director had every chance of changing shots as a lot of scenes in the film are in dimly lit hallways and corridors, but no, 97% of the movie had the continuity that was probably contributing to the vibe of a theater production.

Edward Norton is amazing in his role of an arrogant/jerk-ish and celebrated theater artist while Emma Stone plays Sam, daughter and assistant to Riggan Thomson himself, and she fits well in the role of a sharply opiniated and cynical young-adult in her early 20’s who is affected by substance-abuse and daddy issues. Sam isn’t necessarily one of the lead characters in the film; but her portrayal by Stone shines bright, her quick grasp on her emotions is evident as during one of the scenes she quickly goes from having an angry meltdown towards her father, to being guilty and thoughtful. In an interview with MTV, she explained how difficult was it for the actors, specifically herself to keep up with director’s unique style of filming since it was a new thing for all of them and the particular meltdown scene had to be shot over at least 25 times, but the final results are inconclusively stunning.

4. Hugh Jackman (Prisoners, 2013): When you sit down to make a list of all those actors who deserved an Oscar for their range and performance, this guy doesn’t land in less than top 5 in my opinion. During these seventeen years for which Hugh Jackman has been a part of the X-Men family as Wolverine, he has established a commendable career by working in a variety of roles; from playing a hardened and washed-up superhero in Logan to singing and dancing to infuse joy in the hearts of audience as PT Barnum, he has given the world many memorable performances, including the one mentioned here. In this particular movie Hugh plays the role of Keller Dover, a father pushed through his lengths of desperation to take the matter of his daughter and her friend’s disappearance into his own hands.

INSIDER magazine claimed this performance to be Oscar worthy when the movie was released back in 2013 and Stephen Farber of ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ mentioned this performance to be “illuminating the character’s conflicted nature without ever begging for sympathy”. And that’s exactly where Hugh Jackman’s performance takes the audience, into getting torn between sympathizing and hating his character. Jake Gyllenhaal’s character of a frustrated cop/detective actually has more screen-time than Hugh’s character, but it’s his performance specifically that stands out for the audience.

Like I had mentioned before, to even assume that I can pick out all best acting performances of the decade in a single article is foolishness and its also among the movies I’ve come around to watching. The possibilities of coming across similarly striking, or even better performances is thoroughly exciting and something to look forward to and hopefully we can do sort of a series of these articles.