Top 10 Actor Performances of 2019

For old timers and newcomers alike, 2019 was a banner year for film acting. Some of the performances below were so strong because they subverted expectations, while others leaned directly into the actor’s respective strengths. Be sure to share your favorite roles as well!

10. Chris Cooper in Little Women

as Mr. Laurence

The ensemble of Little Women was great, but I thought Chris Cooper was stunning in this film. I’m so used to seeing Cooper play angry, gruff, and ill-tempered. And to see all of that energy harnessed into genuine grief was absolutely breathtaking.

9. Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems

as Howard Ratner

I’m not sure if Adam Sandler isn’t offered enough roles like Howard Ratner, or if Sandler is offered these roles but turns them down, but either way, I wish Sandler dove into dramatic work more often. He completely immersed himself into Howard’s manic life, and the result was arguably the best work Sandler has done yet.

8. Adam Driver in Marriage Story

as Charlie

I’ve really enjoyed watching Driver’s meteoric rise to fame over the past decade, and Marriage Story could be his finest work. The brutal argument, the night with the court-appointed evaluator, reading the letter – all scenes that will be shared during Driver’s Lifetime Achievement Award a few decades from now.

7. Paul Walter Hauser in Richard Jewell

as Richard Jewell

I guess I’m one of the few people who really liked Richard Jewell, and much of that is thanks to Hauser, who went for broke in his heartfelt capture of Jewell. This was truly a star-making turn, and I only hope it affords Hauser more excellent roles.

6. Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

as Rick Fuckin’ Dalton

Has Leonardo DiCaprio ever had more fun on screen? The Wolf of Wall Street, maybe, but the point is that I love seeing DiCaprio throw his manic humor into a role. Dirty fuckin’ hippies.

5. Joaquin Phoenix in Joker

as Arthur Fleck

Listen you fuckers, you screwheads, here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is someone who stood up. Here is…

4. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci in The Irishman

as Frank Sheeran. Jimmy Hoffa, and Russell Bufalino

Perhaps unfair to group these three together, but I loved all of their work in The Irishman. De Niro played such a convincingly subdued sociopath, Pacino felt born to play Jimmy Hoffa, and Pesci could have very well delivered his finest work as the boss who controls everything with a whisper. I’m not sure what films these three guys will deliver in the future, but these performances could very well be their legendary swan songs.

3. Brad Pitt in Ad Astra

as Roy McBride

I read criticism that Brad Pitt’s work as Roy McBride was bored, sluggish, absent. I suppose we all see what we see, and what I saw was Pitt inhabit an abandoned, adult boy whose traumatic childhood left him with no idea how to share a human connection. To achieve that connection, he travels to the end of our solar system, and to what avail? To learn, quite simply, that we’re all we’ve got. This performance knocks the wind out of me.

2. Kelvin Harrison Jr. in Waves

as Tyler

Kelvin Harrison Jr’s work in Waves is one of the most honest coming-of-age performances I’ve ever seen. There was so much realistic joy and tragic pain in this work. Tyler makes several poor decisions in the film, and not only did I understand why he made those decisions, but even when I didn’t agree with him (which was often), I just wanted to help the poor kid. This performance, and this film, will live in my heart forever.

1. Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

as Cliff Booth

I can’t remember the last time an actor was at such ease on screen, to such astonishing results. Whether he’s feeding his dog, fixing an antenna, picking up a hitchhiker, or just fucking driving home, every act Cliff Booth undertakes is worth watching, simply because Brad Pitt plays him with such effortless command. Please, for the love of God, let this be Brad Pitt’s Oscar. Long overdue, and long well deserved.

Honorable Mentions

More Best of 2019 Lists

Top 10 Films of 2019

Top 10 Actress Performances of 2019
Top 5 “Rotten” Films of 2019