5 Mark Rylance movies and TV shows that deserve a spot on your watchlist

Mark Rylance is arguably the most quietly commanding actor of his generation, capable of introspective performances, exact in one hand, while also being empathetic. Having come from the theatre, he was artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe for almost a decade. Rylance has an almost literary approach to screen acting, sometimes saying more in pauses and silences than with lines.

Mark Rylance has cultivated a varied film career over the years, working with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and Luca Guadagnino. Playing historical figures, spies, or creepy outsiders, he forever lifts up the material in a way that feels subtle and smart.

Here are five movies and TV shows featuring Mark Rylance that you should check out if you like his work.

Here are 5 Mark Rylance movies and TV shows that deserve a spot on your watchlist

National Alternative Remembrance Ceremony, London - Source: Getty

Wolf Hall

The Emmy-winning star Rylance takes the role of Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall, which came out in 2015. He portrays the character of the lowborn powerbroker who is Henry VIII’s right-hand man in the cutthroat Tudor court. Rylance’s performance is nuanced and subdued, making it clear that Cromwell is not a villain or a hero, but an individual who has been influenced by loss, intellect, and the instinct to survive.

This performance of the actor is widely regarded as one of the best performances in prestige television.

Bridge of Spies

This is a Cold War-based biographical drama by Steven Spielberg that parallels the secret talks of the 1950s and ’60s between the United States and the Soviet Union. Amid the paranoia of postwar America, insurance lawyer James B. Donovan, played by Tom Hanks, is assigned to represent a captured Soviet spy, and then he executes a prisoner swap in Berlin.

The great Mark Rylance gives a career-best performance, which earned him the Oscar as well, as Rudolf Abel, the Soviet intelligence officer who is the emotional anchor of the film.

The Government Inspector (2005)

Playing the role of Dr. David Kelly, this is a British political drama based on the life of Dr. David Kelly, the weapons analyst who became the source of disputed intelligence assertions on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The major conflict happened when his identity was revealed to the public.

The show is about the relentless media attention, political pressure, and ethical challenges confronting Kelly’s involvement in the Iraq War scandal, and exposing the human toll behind the bureaucratic and governmental breakdowns.

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Rylance is William Kunstler, the defense attorney representing the group of anti-Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and inciting riots following the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In a heavily politicised trial in a courtroom drama, his portrayal is both warm and frustrated, given the show's fiery political rhetoric.

Dunkirk

This film is another notable work of the actor. Rylance is Mr. Dawson, a civilian who braves wartime danger to ferry soldiers across the English Channel in his modest vessel. The movie is indeed defined by scale and tension; Rylance contributes quiet morality to it, representing civilian bravery and low-key heroism.