The Best Performances of the 21st Century?
The Ringer just released a list ranking the Top 101 Best Performances of the 21st Century and while I don’t necessarily agree with the list, I think it’s pretty solid. And as per usual, I felt as though it was the perfect opportunity for me to put some stats together, but don’t worry, I kept this one pretty brief.
They caveated that a performer was only eligible for one entry on the list, but a film could have more than one performer. There were 6 movies that had 2 performers make the list:
Gone Girl
In the Mood for Love
Lady Bird
Michael Clayton
The Master
Uncut Gems
So of the 95 unique movies on the list, I’ve only seen 40. That’s so weak of me.
The performances were decently split when it cames to actors vs actresses with 57 male performances & 44 female performances.
The Ringer added a section on their list saying Oscars didn’t factor into their list and stated that of the 101 performances, 29 were Oscar-nominated, 13 actually won Osars, and 59 were not nominated. I actually got a different outcome on this, that I checked a couple times: 28 Oscar-nominated, 16 Oscar wins, 56 that were not nominated, & 1 that isn’t yet eligible due to it’s 2025 release (Michael B. Jordan for ‘Sinners’). They ranked the list 1-101 and the lowest rated Oscar-winning performance was Emma Stone in ‘La La Land,’ which came in at No. 57.
While their Oscars stat was different than mine, I will just include their list for the years of each performance (though I’ll note that the one they have listed in 2024 was actually a 2023 release, if you count the initial festival release).
There were 11 Non-English Performances that made the list:
Cantonese (2) - Maggie Cheung & Tony Leung in ‘In the Mood for Love’
French (3) - Adèle Haenel in ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire,’ Léa Seydoux in ‘The Beast,’ & Isabelle Huppert in ‘The Piano Teacher’
German (1) - Sandra Hüller in ‘Toni Erdmann’
Korean (2) - Choi Min-sik in ‘Oldboy’ & Song Kang-ho in ‘Parasite’
Mandarin (1) - Michelle Yeoh in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’
Norwegian (1) - Renate Reinsve in ‘The Worst Person in the World’
Spanish (1) - Penélope Cruz in ‘Volver’
The earliest birth year of a performer on the list is Gene Hackman (1930) and the most recent is Paul Mescal & Florence Pugh (1996). The oldest person on the list (based on birth year minus the release year of the movie) is Robert De Niro (80), while the youngest is Timothée Chalamet (22). 17 total entries were in their 20s when their performance was released, while 42 were in their 30s, 27 were in the 40s, 10 were in their 50s, 3 were in their 60s, 1 was in their 70s (Hackman in ‘The Royal Tenenbaums), and 1 was in their 80s (De Niro, as previously mentioned).
Three of the performers are deceased as of the release of the list: Gene Hackman, Val Kilmer, & Heath Ledger
Andy Serkis’ performance as Gollum in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ was the only motion capture performance on the list.
Kevin Garnett is the only person that made the list for playing himself in ‘Uncut Gems.
Ben & Casey Affleck are the only siblings in the list, earning spots for ‘Gone Girl’ & ‘Manchester by the Sea,’ respectively.
There were 3 of what I call ‘Parent Trap performances’ where an actor plays two roles, with those being: Michael B. Jordan in ‘Sinners,’ Nicolas Cage in ‘Adaptation,’ & Lupita Nyong’o in ‘Us.’
The only person to appear on the list & direct someone else’s entry is Denzel Washington, who made the list for ‘Training Day’ & directed Viola Davis in ‘Fences.’
Some performers that I feel were notable exclusions from the list were:
Amy Adams, Andrew Garfield, Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Djimon Hounsou, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chadwick Boseman, Mark Ruffalo, & Tom Cruise, though I suppose there’s only so many spots open. Also I just woke up in the middle of the night and realized Matthew McConaughey was nowhere on this list? That’s got to be the most egregious exclusion.
