So what are the greatest acting performances of all time? Throughout August 2019 we polled members and contributors to find out what they considered to be the greatest performances in film ever. As with all these types of polls the final list is not going to please everyone. Perhaps unsurprisingly (and a little disappointingly) the best of the American mainstream dominates here, with a high placing for Heath Ledger’s turn in The Dark Knight and a large representation from the New Hollywood era (with 5 entries for the first 2 Godfather films!). What stands out more than anything is the lack of female performances that make the top 100 (only 12!). Is Casablanca really Bogart’s best performance? Wasn’t Brando better in On the Waterfront than anything he did in the 70s? Let us know what you think.
1 Marlon Brando – The Godfather (1972)
2 Robert De Niro – Raging Bull (1980)
3 Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood (2007)
Day-Lewis delivers an intense and towering performance as a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California’s oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The performance earned him best actor awards from the Oscars, BAFTA, the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, NYFCC and IFTA.
4 Ralph Fiennes – Schindler’s List (1993)
5 Robert De Niro – Taxi Driver (1976)
6 Maria Falconetti – The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1927)
Celebrated stage actress Falconetti was cast in the lead role by visionary Danish director T. H. Dreyer in what turned out to be her only major film role. He was initially unimpressed with seeing her perform in an amateur theatre but saw something in her he thought he could bring out. With a reputation as a tyrannical director, the filmmaker reportedly treated her harshly (although the rumours are disputed). The film’s narrative follows the records of the Rouen trial to focus on the spiritual and political conflicts of Joan’s last day as a captive of England. The film was instantly acclaimed by critics as a masterpiece although Falconetti, who always preferred the art of theater to cinema, said she never understood the positive reaction to the film’s acting. However, her iconic performance, often listed as one of the finest in cinema history, and her devotion to the role during filming, are considered legendary among film scholars.
7 Rutger Hauer – Blade Runner (1982)
In Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic, loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Hauer stars as the violent but thoughtful leader of a group of replicants (synthetic life forms) who having worked on space colonies, escape back to earth and are hunted down by a Blade Runner. Scott cast Hauer without having met him, based solely on his performances in the Paul Verhoeven movies Scott had seen (Katie Tippel, Soldier of Orange, and Turkish Delight). Hauer rewrote his character’s “tears in rain” speech himself and presented the words to Scott on set prior to filming.
8 Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (2008)
9 Samuel L. Jackson – Pulp Fiction (1994)
10 Klaus Kinski – Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
11 Peter Lorre – M (1931)
12 Orson Welles – Citizen Kane
13 Robert De Niro – The Godfather Part II
14 Jean-Louis Trintignant – The Conformist
15 Peter O’Toole – Lawrence of Arabia
16 Al Pacino – The Godfather
17 Malcolm McDowell – A Clockwork Orange
18 Monica Vitti – L’Avventura
19 Anatoly Solonitsyn – Andrei Rublev
Andrei Tarkovsky’s masterpiece centres on the life of the Russian icon painter against the backdrop of a realistically portrayed 15th century medieval Russia. The film is composed of eight episodes sometimes following Rublev as a protagonist and sometimes just as witness to the events going on around him. Solonitsyn, who would go on to collaborate many times with Tarkovsky, was an unknown actor at a theater in Sverdlovsk when he first read the film script in the film magazine Iskusstvo Kino. He was very enthusiastic about the role, travelling to Moscow at his own expense to meet Tarkovsky and even declared that no one could play the role better than him. To Tarkovsky, Solonitsyn provided the right physical appearance and the talent of showing complex psychological processes. This powerful expressiveness manages to convey wisdom and contentment but also anxiety and an obsessive single mindedness.
20 Gloria Swanson – Sunset Boulevard
Swanson stars as Norma Desmond, a former silent film star who draws a struggling screenwriter into her demented fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. According to producer and co-writer Charles Brackett, director and co-writer Billy Wilder and he never considered anyone except Gloria Swanson for the role of Norma Desmond. Wilder, however, had a different recollection. He recalled first wanting Mae West and Marlon Brando for the leads. West rejected the offer out-right as she portrayed herself as a sex symbol through her senior years, and was offended that she should be asked to play a Hollywood has been. Having approached Greta Garbo, Pola Negri, Norma Shearer and Mary Pickford and got nowhere, Wilder asked George Cukor for advice. He suggested Swanson, one of the most feted actresses of the silent-screen era, known for her beauty, talent, and extravagant lifestyle. In many ways, she resembled the Norma Desmond character, and like her, had been unable to make a smooth transition into talking pictures. However, Swanson had gone on to work on talking pictures, accepted the end of her film career and then worked on radio, television and the stage. Though Swanson was not seeking a movie comeback, she became intrigued when Wilder discussed the role with her and was glad for the opportunity to earn a greater salary than she had been making in other mediums. However, she didn’t want to do a screen test, saying she had “made 20 films for Paramount. Why do they want me to audition?” Her reaction was echoed in the screenplay when Norma Desmond declares, “Without me there wouldn’t be any Paramount.” In her memoir, Swanson recalled asking Cukor if it was unreasonable to refuse the screen test. He replied that since Norma Desmond was the role for which she would be remembered, “If they ask you to do ten screen tests, do ten screen tests, or I will personally shoot you.” His enthusiasm convinced Swanson to participate, In a 1975 interview, Wilder recalled Swanson’s reaction with the observation, “There was a lot of Norma in her, you know.”
21 Jack Nicholson – One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Nicholson plays Randle Patrick McMurphy in Milos Forman’s film (an adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel) about a man who end ups inside an asylum as a way of avoiding jail for statutory rape. McMurphy tries to take charge and goes about manipulating both the other patients and the staff. Hal Ashby, who had been an early consideration for director, suggested Nicholson for the role even though he had never played this type of role before. Production was delayed for about six months because of Nicholson’s schedule, but producer Michael Douglas later stated in an interview that “that turned out to be a great blessing: it gave us the chance to get the ensemble right”. The part is the one that allows the actor to show his full range, moving from quieter restrained moments to full on rages. Forman allowed Nicholson to improvise throughout the film, including most of the group therapy sequences. He was rewarding with an Oscar for best actor and the performance is seen as one of American cinema’s most legendary.
22 Robert De Niro – Once Upon A Time In America
23 Dennis Hopper – Blue Velvet
The role of the gas-huffing, obscenity-screaming villain Frank Booth in David Lynch’s neo-noir mystery thriller brought about a career resurgence for Hopper. He was the biggest name in the film, having starred in and directed Easy Rider (1969). Hopper, said to be far from Lynch’s first choice (Michael Ironside has stated that Frank was written with him in mind), accepted the role after Harry Dean Stanton and Steven Berkoff both turned it down because of the violent content in the film. Few actors have thrown themselves into a part as Hopper does here, showing no inhibition with a performance that had left an imprint on popular culture, with countless tributes, cultural references and parodies.
24 Al Pacino – The Godfather Part II
Pacino delivers another strong performance as Michael Corleone, who is now the new Don of the Corleone crime family, protecting the family business in the aftermath of an attempt on his life. Many believe Pacino’s performance to be his finest acting work, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was criticized for awarding the Academy Award for Best Actor that year to Art Carney for his role in Harry and Tonto. In 2006, Premiere issued its list of “The 100 Greatest Performances of all Time“, putting Pacino’s performance at #20. Later in 2009, Total Film issued “The 150 Greatest Performances of All Time“, ranking the performance in fourth place.
25 James Stewart – Vertigo
26 Anthony Perkins – Psycho
27 Charles Chaplin – The Gold Rush
28 Marlon Brando – Apocalypse Now
29 Jean-Pierre Leaud – The 400 Blows
30 Christopher Walken – The Deer Hunter
31 Gena Rowlands – A Woman Under the Influence
Rowlands stars a woman whose unusual behavior leads to conflict with her blue-collar husband (Peter Falk) and her wider family. Rowlands’s husband, the film’s director, John Cassavetes, was inspired to write A Woman Under the Influence when she expressed a desire to appear in a play about the difficulties faced by contemporary women. His completed script was so intense and emotional she knew she would be unable to perform it eight times a week, so he decided to adapt it for the screen. Rowland makes a huge impression, improvising much of her characters descent into madness and earning herself an Oscar nomination.
32 Morgan Freeman – The Shawshank Redemption
Freeman was cast at the suggestion of producer Liz Glotzer, who ignored the novella’s character description of a white Irishman, nicknamed “Red”. Freeman’s character alludes to the choice when queried by Andy on why he is called Red, replying “Maybe it’s because I’m Irish.” Freeman opted not to research his role, saying “acting the part of someone who’s incarcerated doesn’t require any specific knowledge of incarceration … because men don’t change. Once you’re in that situation, you just toe whatever line you have to toe.” Darabont was already aware of Freeman from his minor role in another prison drama, Brubaker (1980), while Robbins had been excited to work alongside the actor, having grown up watching him in The Electric Company children’s television show. Freeman described filming as tense, saying, “Most of the time, the tension was between the cast and director. I remember having a bad moment with the director, had a few of those.” Freeman referred to Darabont’s requiring multiple takes of scenes, which he considered had no discernible differences. For example, the scene where Andy first approaches Red to procure a rock hammer took nine hours to film, and featured Freeman throwing and catching a baseball with another inmate throughout it. The number of takes that were shot resulted in Freeman turning up to filming the following day with his arm in a sling and sometimes he simply refused to do the additional takes. Freeman’s commanding and poignant performance was a major factor in the critical acclaim the film received on release.
33 Jack Nicholson – The Shining
34 Marcello Mastroianni – 8½
Mastroianni plays a film director, Guido Anselmi, in Federico Fellini’s surrealist tale of one man’s struggles to make a science fiction film and deal with the problems of his marriage.
35 Bibi Andersson – Persona
36 Marlon Brando – On The Waterfront
37 Jean-Pierre Leaud – The Mother and the Whore
38 Anthony Hopkins – The Silence Of The Lambs
Sir Anthony has by far his most memorable screen role as psychopathic cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Despite limited screen time, his chillingly sinister presence is hard to forget and steals the movie.
39 Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Austrian actor Waltz seemed to appear from nowhere when he took the role of Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Despite being the major antagonist and a Nazi hunter of jews it’s hard not to enjoy his character even if at the same time we find ourselves despising his actions and what he stands for.
40 Brad Pitt – Fight Club
41 Kirk Douglas – Paths of Glory
42 Emily Watson – Breaking the Waves
43 Toshiro Mifune – Seven Samurai
44 Jack Nicholson – Chinatown
45 Casey Affleck – The assassination of the jesse james by the coward robert ford
46 Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
47 Marilyn Monroe – Some Like It Hot
48 Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs Of New York
While the epic period piece Gangs of New York was not the best reviewed of Martin Scorsese’s films, Daniel Day-Lewis’s terrifying turn as Bill The Butcher is right up there among some of the great performances in the filmmaker’s work. It stretches beyond the film’s narrative flaws.
49 Joe Pesci – Goodfellas
“…but I’m funny how, I mean, funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh? I’m here to fuckin’ amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?” — Pesci as Tommy DeVito
One of a number of great performances by Pesci in the films of Martin Scorsese. Here he plays a charismatic gangster, Tommy DeVito (based on the notorious real life gangster Tommy DeSimone), who is prone to explosions of extreme violence. Pesci’s mannerisms and unique delivery of lines provide the film with arguably its most memorable moments, which is even more impressive when you consider that the film features an ensemble of quality actors, some of whom were at the peak of their powers. Perhaps the most iconic scene showing the frightening volatility that Pesci brings, sees DeVito breaking the bulls of the lead character Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) after the younger man casually calls him ‘funny.’ The scene draws on a similar incident from Pesci’s actual youth, with the actor improvising most of his dialogue in rehearsal.
50 Diane Keaton – Annie Hall
51 Ray Liotta – Goodfellas
52 Robert Mitchum – The Night of the Hunter
53 Humphrey Bogart – Casablanca
Bogart plays businessman Rick Blaine, a man who initially appears to only look after number one. However, he begins to transform from the selfish character he claims to be when confronted with the arrival of his romantic past in the form of Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa Lund. Bogart delivers a performance of remarkable internal angst as his character is forced with the decision of sacrificing what he desires, for the greater good. It’s quite possible that an actor has never been able to look so wounded and yet so intelligently cool at the same time.
54 Liv Ullmann – Persona
55 Bruno Ganz – Downfall
56 Russell Crowe – Gladiator
57 Tony Leung – In the Mood for Love
Well known for his work with director Wong Kar-wai, Leung once again delivers a performance of subtle brilliance as a husband who discovers that his wife has been cheating on him, and who later develops a romantic but ultimately platonic bond with the spouse of his wife’s lover.
58 Robert Duvall – Apocalypse Now
59 Peter Sellers – Dr. Strangelove
60 Liam Neeson – Schindler’s List
61 Al Pacino – Scarface
Brian De Palma directs Pacino in one of his most famous post Godfather roles. The film depicts the rise and fall of immigrant drug lord Tony Montana and the performance is almost as transformative as Pacino’s legendary portrayal of Michael Corleone. The character moves from hope at arriving in a country of opportunity, the USA, onto a path of violence and self destruction as he maneuvers towards the top of the criminal ladder
62 Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind
63 Viggo Mortenson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
64 Paul Scofield – A Man For All Seasons
65 Robert De Niro – The Deer Hunter
66 Bette Davis – All About Eve
67 James Stewart – Rear Window
While it’s Stewart’s performance in Vertigo that has probably had the most lasting impact, his role in Rear Window was arguably his most challenging. His character spends most of the film confined to one room and stuck in a wheelchair. Few actors could hold the audience’s attention in such a limited setting.
68 Brad Pitt – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
69 Paul Newman – Cool Hand Luke
70 Orson Welles – Chimes at Midnight
71 Clint Eastwood – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
72 Bruce Lee – Enter the Dragon
73 Tim Robbins – The Shawshank Redemption
74 Al Pacino – Dog Day Afternoon
75 Kevin Spacey – American Beauty
76 Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator
77 John Wayne – The Searchers
78 Clark Gable – Gone with the Wind
79 Marlon Brando – Last Tango in Paris
Brando stars opposite Maria Schneider in Bernardo Bertolucci’s hugely controversial drama that follows the romantic and violent relationship between Paul (Brando), who is suffering after the suicide of his wife, and Jeanne (Schneider). Brando brings a striking ambiguity to his role and his early monologue is probably one of the most outstanding moments in his career.
80 James Dean – Rebel Without a Cause
81 Edward Norton – American History X
82 Harrison Ford – Raiders of the Lost Ark
83 George C. Scott – Patton
84 Tatsuya Nakadai – Ran
85 Alec Guinness – The Bridge On The River Kwai
86 Sigourney Weaver – Aliens
87 Charlie Chaplin – City Lights
Chaplin delivers another dose of brilliant physical comedy but his face is able to convey so much more, from naivety to a rare sort of kindness.
88 Kevin Spacey – The Usual Suspects
89 Ewan McGregor – Trainspotting
90 Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
91 Henry Fonda – Once Upon a Time In the West
92 Guy Pearce – Memento
Pierce plays Leonard, a traumatized husband whose short-term memory deficit complicates his mission of vengeance against the man he thinks murdered his wife. The film is known for it’s ambitious back to front narrative, and it’s Pearce’s empathetic performance that pulls the audience into the mystery.
93 Gabriel Byrne – Miller’s Crossing
94 Ben Kingsley – Sexy Beast
Sir Ben gives one of his most intense performances as gangster Don Logan who is busy recruiting criminals for an underworld boss. The revelatory performance garnered Kingsley an Oscar nomination.
95 Denzel Washington – Malcolm X
Having already garnered acclaim for playing South African activist Steve Bilko, Spike Lee’s memorable biopic sees Washington take on the challenging role of the controversial Malcolm X. It’s much more than a impersonation as Washington delivers an expressive and passionate performance.
96 Michael Fassbender – Shame
97 Sam Shepherd – The Right Stuff
98 Gene Hackman – The Conversation
99 Dustin Hoffman – Midnight Cowboy
100 James Caan – The Godfather