19 greatest performances in all of cinema 

Great performances in cinema go beyond simply portraying a character. They stick in your mind, creating something memorable. These actors portray the characters fully, giving life to them in extraordinary depth and emotion. It is those moments that make a movie iconic, not the small gesture or a strong expression. Here, we focus on 19 of the greatest cinematic performances, actors who have refined their craft and captured the imagination of their audiences with unforgettable portrayals. These performances continue to shape the modern cinematic landscape.

1. Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive (2001)

Naomi Watts is a tour de force in Mulholland Drive, embracing the film's dreamlike, fractured storytelling with some depth. In the role of innocent actress Betty Elms, who becomes slowly drawn into an increasingly sinister mystery, Watts acts out the gamut of emotions: innocence and wonder gradually giving way to terror and confusion. She is nothing short of mesmerizing in her transformation in that film from a fresh-faced newcomer to a woman unraveling under trauma. Watts's performance is hauntingly captivating, and she went on to win great accolades.

2. Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane was a role Orson Welles played as Charles Foster Kane, which marked the beginning of a new trend in acting art. He acted as the ambitious, complex newspaper magnate and brought a very interesting combination of power, vulnerability, and unpredictability to this character. Welles's interpretation of Kane covered decades, following the tragic downfall of a man who was full of promise and vision. It is his deep, resonant voice and commanding presence that inhabit the character to make Kane one of cinema's most iconic and multifaceted characters earning Welles critical acclaim that remains valid to this day.

3. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008)

Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight is one of cinema's most hauntingly unforgettable performances. His 'preparation' included spending weeks sequestered away, developing eerie Joker mannerisms and chilling voice; the performance ran deep, breaking out of the confines of the comic book genre altogether. Ledger's Joker has become the epitome of the on-screen villains, even bagging an Oscar posthumously and thereby putting his mark on the world of cinema forever.

4. Christian Bale in American Psycho (2000)

Christian Bale did chilling justice in such a masterclass of psychological complexity as his role portrays Patrick Bateman, a wealthy New York investment banker who has a darkness of destroying others. Bale's performance has been cold and calculating but skilfully balances all aspects of a manic personality, swapping between the cold detachment of an investment banker and bursts of violent rage. Bale was so devoted to the role that he lost over 60 pounds for it. The film has since become iconic, and Bateman has become one of cinema's most unforgettable antiheroes, a point in Bale's career.

5. Charlize Theron in Monster (2003)

Charlize Theron's transformation into serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster is both a physical and an emotional shocker. The actress underwent an astonishing physical transformation to play the part of the actual murderer, taking on prosthetics and weight. But it's Theron's emotional depth that really raises the performance—haunting humanity gives the audience empathy toward her tragic history. Raw vulnerability and single-minded commitment to earning her roles won Theron many accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, which made her one of the most versatile actresses of her generation.

6. Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (2010)

Jesse Eisenberg combines controlled intensity in The Social Network in his rendition of Mark Zuckerberg. He brings a sharp wit and arrogance without being arrogant but also gives a sense of vulnerability, creating a bright character intellectually but emotionally detached. His fast-paced delivery of the Aaron Sorkin dialogue has him sometimes fascinating but infuriating as he projects the unison of ambition, power, and loneliness. It was that performance by Eisenberg that lifted the film above a tech drama to become something of a character study that has won him his Oscar nomination and leading-man status.

7. Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out (2017)

Daniel Kaluuya's acting in Get Out is a class performance in the subtlety and slow burn of tension. Playing Chris Washington, he shows great mastery of how a man uncovers an incredibly terrifying truth behind polite smiles and eerie conversations. His capacity to express fear and emotional depth, especially in the haunting "Sunken Place" scene, makes his performance unforgettable. Kaluuya's expressive, restrained acting draws the audience into Chris's nightmare and raises the film's social commentary.

8. Marcello Mastroianni in 8½ (1963)

Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi in 8½ is a masterful representation of an artist torn by personal and professional chaos. Again, as a director who has attained a creative deadlock, there is humoring confusion and existential anguish in the delivery, which captures the vulnerability and complexity of a man torn between fantasy and reality, guilt, and desire. The fact that Mastroianni managed to capture so much uncertainty surrounding the struggle of an artist so subtly and deeply makes his performance one of the greatest in cinema history.

9. Anna Karina in Vivre sa vie (1962)

Anna Karina in Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie is one of the exemplary performances of silent rebellion and emotional depth. It is shown through the young woman, Nana, who falls into the trap of prostitution step by step. Through the minimalistic direction of Godard and the subtle portrayal of Karina, Nana becomes a symbol of vulnerability as well as rebellion. Karina is hauntingly beautiful in her simplicity. She depicts the contradictions of a young woman looking for meaning in a world that offers little.

10. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

In The Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort in a wild, electrifying performance that captures the excess and debauchery of Wall Street in the 1990s. DiCaprio masters the outrageous antics his character could get into, turning Belfort into an icon of greed and morals built on decay, and his comedic timing in particular does justice to the chaotic quaalude scene. Balancing charisma with reckless abandon, DiCaprio's work is thrilling as well as creepy, which landed him all-time critical acclaim, including an Oscar nomination for such a fearlessly dedicated performance.

11. Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love (2000)

Su Li-Zhen in In the Mood for Love is, played by Maggie Cheung, an exquisite study of restraint and longing set in the 1960s in Hong Kong. She captures the subtle emotions of a woman who could not clearly express her utmost entrapment due to her forbidden relationship. Her role was nuanced enough to earn her many accolades and cemented her as one of the best actors in the world.

12. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)

Daniel Day-Lewis is fantastic as Daniel Plainview, a single-minded oilman whose selfishness and aspiration push him towards madness. Meticulous about his transformation to command with the voice, glare with piercing intent, and be in control even of his rages, this is a characterization that is fascinatingly monstrous. Day-Lewis brings raw intensity to every frame, from charm with manipulation and explosive outbursts, in making Plainview one of the cinema's greatest antiheroes ever. His chilling delivery in the "I drink your milkshake" scene remains iconic.

13. Juliette Binoche in Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991)

Juliette Binoche stars as a woman in a fall in Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, playing both tender and tragic. Here she is Michelle: emotionally fragile yet fiercely independent and trapped in her own world but trying to reach out to another soul. Binoche gives the film raw, vulnerable work that holds all the anguish that love and loneliness can entail. This performance, in which Binoche manages to balance emotional chaos with tenderness, is one of the most striking and memorable in French cinema.

14. Erland Josephson in The Sacrifice (1986)

Erland Josephson plays Alexander in the film The Sacrifice by Andrei Tarkovsky. He is a very spiritual and meditative actor, and his portrayal of a man who is soon to see the end of the world is heart-wrenching. He plays existential fear in the face of annihilation with a deep sense of struggle for meaning. His performance is quite restrained yet very emotionally resonant, allowing him to embody the themes of sacrifice, faith, and humanity from Tarkovsky. Josephson performs this inscrutable film by his truly impressive ability to convey and portray deep emotional depth.

15. Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Frances McDormand brings Mildred Hayes to life in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri with ferocity and heartbreaking sadness. A mother who is not allowing her daughter's murder to go unsolved, McDormand brings so much depth and complexity to the role: a delicate dance of anger, grief, and determination. Her win for Best Actress at the Oscars provided one of the most memorable portrayals in recent history. The role was done fearlessly and in multifaceted ways by McDormand, bringing fierce energy and humanity to the film.

16. Michael Fassbender in Shame (2011)

Shame features Michael Fassbender, who gives a hauntingly raw depiction of Brandon, caught between the compulsive stranglehold of sexual addiction. Fassbender depicts shame, isolation, guilt, and emotional disintegration in his performances, as he brings out the complexity of a character struggling to exert control over himself while spiraling into self-destruction. Fassbender achieves this with virtually no dialogue, bringing his audience deeply into the deep emotional journey inside the tormenting Brandon. One of his most remarkable performances is from Shame, wherein he demonstrated immense talent and versatility.

17. Viola Davis in Fences (2016)

Viola Davis is tour de force as the emotionally deep and complex Rose Maxson in Fences. This woman, at once fiercely protective of her family and resentful of her husband's infidelity, is acted by Davis with powerful restraint to reveal the many layers of the character. Her performance won her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her ability to bring raw humanity to every role she inhabits is unmatched by anyone, ever. This can be said in the way she portrayed the role in Fences, one of the most emotionally stirring performances ever in film.

18. Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Peter Sellers's Dr. Strangelove is brilliant comic versatility, playing both three distinct roles Group Captain Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, and, of course, the eponymous Dr. Strangelove in a manner as fresh and fantastically absurdist as Stanley Kubrick's dark satire requires. This kind of skill blends one's ability to be fluent between characters in its comedic brilliance and satirical edge. Sellers's performances were simultaneously hilarious and terrifying, and this is one of the most celebrated comic achievements in film history.

19. Cate Blanchett in Carol (2015)

Cate Blanchett delicately plays a highly poignant and complex portrait of a woman who navigates love within all constraints in the 1950s. Her graceful yet quiet intensity captures every inner turmoil that goes on inside Carol with subtle profundity. Stealing glimpses that display longing and vulnerability over a touch or a glimpse lends layers to what a character would write for herself as she grows old. Her chemistry, and dynamic with Rooney Mara, is very palpable, raising the film to an emotional crescendo.