While the thriller has always been an impactful and wildly popular genre of filmmaking, it truly came into its own late in the 20th century and leading into the 21st century. This refining has allowed it to massively thrive in the past 25 years, with some of the most memorable and critically acclaimed films of the generation being thrillers. A great part of why these films have grown to be so notable to modern audiences is the wide array of brilliant performances that thriller films lend themselves to spotlighting.
The grittier and more tension-fueled energy of a thriller inherently allows actors to delve into darker sides to create great, complex and multi-layered performances. More than any other genre, the thriller seems tailor-made to create exceptional performances from its actors, with the thriller performances of the 21st century being some of the best that the genre has ever seen. Several of these award-winning performances have even been touted among the best overall performances of the century, and some even rank among the best performances of all time.
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Nicolas Cage in ‘Pig’ (2021)
While Nicolas Cage is most commonly recognized and acclaimed for his more manic, over-the-top impulses, the inherent brilliance of his work in Pig is its reserved nature and inherent subtleties. He fully engrosses himself in the role of Rob Feld, a man with a fractured and intricate past who, despite all that he’s gone through, is willing to trudge through the pains of his past to save his beloved swine companion. The performance doesn’t have any deranged outbursts or chaotic acts of aggression, yet undeniably still plays into Cage’s greatest attributes as an actor.
It shows a great deal of range and continued room to grow for Cage, simultaneously delving outside his comfort zone and feeling right at home with this melancholy attitude and demeanor. His emotional performance is the cornerstone element that makes Pig such a compelling and heartfelt experience, transforming it into Cage’s essential movie of the 2020s and arguably his best film of the 21st century so far.
9
Song Kang-ho in ‘Parasite’ (2019)
By nature of being one of the most critically acclaimed and overall best thrillers of all time, nearly every performance in Parasite adds exceptional weight and impact to the overall experience. However, the standout is Song Kang-ho as Kim Ki-taek, the patriarchal figure of a poverty-stricken family doing anything and everything they can to get by. While one would expect his performance to be one of desperation following the poor state of his family, in actuality, it ends up being one of kindhearted strength and love for his family, no matter their situation.
The performance becomes more dynamic and layered when seeing his interactions with non-family characters compared to those of his immediate family, seeing a stark shift in perception of the world around him that he doesn’t let his family see. Kang-ho and director Bong Joon Ho have worked together many times over the years, so by this point in both of their careers, they bring out the absolute best in one another to make each moment more dynamic and impactful than the last.
8
Sandra Hüller in ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (2023)
The central figure in a murder mystery story is always going to be one of abject focus and attention, yet Sandra Hüller‘s performance in Anatomy of a Fall reshapes the very notions of murder mystery. Her emotional and personal portrayal of Sandra Voyter helps immensely with the film’s overall focus on the murder trial’s impact and pain upon this family unit. It’s a performance that ranges greatly and can be interpreted in multiple ways based on whether the audience believes that she did or did not murder her husband.
Through emotional outbursts and pleas for help while in court, to her painful plights of anger against her husband shown off to the courtroom, Hüller makes each of her scenes deeply memorable. Her exceptional performance acts as the key component that makes Anatomy of a Fall work as well as it does, with its layers of depth and different meanings being the very crux and weight of the film’s impact and rewatchability.
7
Rooney Mara in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2011)
It would be difficult for anyone to give a great performance in a film remake, living up to an already beloved performance. However, Rooney Mara not only does a great job as the character of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but in some ways even manages to surpass the original iconic performance by Noomi Rapace. Mara fully commits to the intricacies and depth of this already acclaimed character while still finding ways to add signature flair to make the performance her own.
It certainly helps that David Fincher’s impactful directing brings out the absolute best in Mara’s performance, helping The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo stand out easily as one of Mara’s best films. Similarly to how Rapace’s performance was in the original Millennium trilogy, Mara is the central figure who ties everything together. It’s difficult to imagine the film working if the performance wasn’t as exceptional as it is, as it alone helped justify the American remake’s very existence.
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Adam Sandler in ‘Uncut Gems’ (2019)
While Adam Sandler is most commonly recognized for his wide variety of goofy, nonsensical roles, Uncut Gems shows he has the real capability for dramatic greatness in a powerful, electrifying performance. Sandler plays into his inherent screen presence and chaotic attributes to create a toxic character who consistently plays the odds and risks everything for the off chance of greatness. The performance never lets up on this spiral of charm mixed with sleaze, amplifying the inherent tension and nail-biting nature of the film.
Especially for an actor who had largely been associated with average to below-average comedy outings, Uncut Gems feels like a breath of fresh air and a glorious return to form for Sandler. It makes the occasional dramatic performances from him that much more impactful and notable, knowing that Sandler has undeniable talent that, when tapped into, can create an all-time great dramatic performance.
5
Cho Min-sik in ‘Oldboy’ (2001)
Oldboy is considered one of the most powerful and impactful revenge thrillers of all time; thus, it would make sense that its central figure of brutality and revenge would sport an exceptionally layered performance. Choi Min-sik fully transforms into a cold husk of what was once a loving man, turning into a tool for anger and vengeance against those who have wronged him in the past. The performance only gets that much more painful and heartbreaking after Oldboy‘s array of shocking twists and emotional turns.
A large part of what makes the performance so impactful is the sorrowful pain that is constantly impacting the character of Oh Dae-Su, as having been imprisoned for 15 years has forever destroyed his psyche and perspective on life. What remains can only barely be described as a barely living human, as he has lost so much of himself that he simply cannot recognize the man that he used to be. All of this pain and anguish shines through the performance, with Min-sik making each moment more emphatic and effective than the last.
4
Rosamund Pike in ‘Gone Girl’ (2014)
David Fincher has continuously cemented himself as the master of thriller filmmaking in the modern era, with each of his films having a standout performance that enters the annals of all-time thriller history. However, even among the catalog of exceptional performances that he has helped craft and bring to the big screen, Rosamund Pike‘s work as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl is a special type of vicious and calculated. Pike finds the perfect balance of cold and uncaring yet highly precise and flexible for what is required of her plan of vengeance.
It’s the type of performance that only grows more memorable and effective when given the full context of Gone Girl and all its different twists and turns. It reframes previous sequences and layers them with multiple meanings, allowing them to be interpreted in completely different ways based on the knowledge the audience has about the character in that specific moment. Pike plays into the role of Amy perfectly, elevating the presence and weight of a character that could very easily be written off as unlikable.
3
Isabelle Huppert in ‘Elle’ (2016)
Elle is the type of centralizing thriller that entirely revolves around a captivating central performance, and Isabelle Huppert is exceptional enough to carry the entire film. Huppert’s performance is one of sheer talent and depth. Each scene allows her to add more complex layers and intricacies to the character of Michèle and her cynical, detached view of the world around her. She navigates the difficulty and pain of previous trauma with a tone of calculated strength and perseverance felt with each passing scene.
While Elle‘s story and setup are similar to many other rape-revenge thrillers, Huppert’s brave performance makes it much more intricate and complex than the basic concept. She is calculating, incisive, and somewhat cold; it’s a masterclass in eerie subtlety that makes the character an outlier in the thriller genre. The performance is so powerful that it acts as the all-encompassing talking point about the film as a whole; every other aspect builds towards amplifying the aspects of Huppert’s character and depth.
2
Javier Bardem in ‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
While audiences are largely trained to root for the heroes in a given story, there will always be an inherent fascination and excitement towards a well-crafted villain. Thrillers have some of the most versatile and impactful villain performances that cinema has to offer, with one of the all-time best being Javier Bardem‘s role as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. There is an inherent sense of raw terror and discomfort that exudes from Bardem in each scene, building up his impact and presence to create one of the most terrifying villains in cinema history.
Chigurh is deeply layered with symbolism and thematic resonance, and Bardem’s performance, with its mix of unfeeling yet methodical action, further elevates the characterization. Between all the well-written dialogue and messaging, it’s Bardem’s centralizing and iconic performance that transformed the ruthless Anton Chigurh into an all-time icon of villains in cinema.
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Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)
The task of bringing to life a prominent historical figure is always a difficult balancing act, as one has to not only stay true to the truth of the real-life figure but also add new elements to the performance to make it their own. As far as 21st-century biopic performances are concerned, it’s difficult to imagine another one as well-crafted and exceptional as Cillian Murphy‘s Oscar-winning role of the creator of the atomic bomb, Robert J. Oppenheimer.
It takes an especially great performance to stand out in a film like Oppenheimer, which is filled to the brim with great work across the board. However, it’s Murphy’s central performance that gives the film its inherent edge and weight with each scene, whether it be the thrills and build-up leading to the weapon’s creation or the somber self-actualization and pain with what he’s created. While the performance is relatively recent in the grand scheme of things, it will assuredly be continuously brought up in conversations as one of the best of the 21st century.
