I am often asked about what actors I like. I find that it is easier to think in terms of specific performances rather than actors who I like consistently (this is kind of rare, since a lot depends on the quality of the director involved). So here is a list of performances I like. I’ll just add to it as performances occur to me or as I see them.
I am just adding performances as I come across them. This is not in any way intended to be a comprehensive list.
Note: That I like a performance in a movie or show doesn’t mean that I like the movie or show itself.
Jonathan Banks in Better Call Saul
Max Arciniega in Breaking Bad
Olivia Colman in The Favorite
Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody
Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Nina Arianda in Goliath
William Hurt in Goliath
Molly Parker in Goliath
Maria Bello in Goliath
Billy Bob Thornton in Goliath
Dwight Yoakam in Goliath
Juan Gabriel Pareja in Goliath
Richie Merritt in White Boy Rick
Chris O’Dowd in Juliet, Naked
Michelle La in Searching
Rob Yang in Succession
Chloe Grace Moretz in The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Steve Yeun in Sorry to Bother You
Nick Robinson in Love, Simon
Sarah Silverman in Battle of the Sexes
Elizabeth Shue in Battle of the Sexes
Bill Pullman in Battle of the Sexes
Jessica McNamee in Battle of the Sexes
Connie Britton in Beatriz at Dinner
John Lithgow in Beatriz at Dinner
David Warshofsky in Beatriz at Dinner
Sam Claflin in Their Finest
Rachel Stirling in Their Finest
Lars Eidinger in Personal Shopper
Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out
Allison Williams in Get Out
Caleb Landry Jones in Get Out
Adam Driver in Paterson
Siena Miller in The Lost City of Z
Robert Pattinson in The Lost City of Z
Angus Macfadyen in The Lost City of Z
Lucas Jade Zumann in Twentieth Century Women
Diego Luna in Rogue One
Martin Compston in Line of Duty
Adrian Dunbar in Line of Duty
Keely Hawes in Line of Duty
Casey Affleck in Manchester-by-the-Sea
Alex Hibbert in Moonlight
Mahershala Ali in Moonlight
Jharrel Jerome in Moonlight
Andre Holland in Moonlight
Armie Hammer in Free Fire
Ciaran Hinds in Free Fire
Hayden Szeto in Edge of Seventeen
Matthew Rhys in The Americans
Noah Emmerich in The Americans
Annet Mahendru in The Americans
Margo Martindale in The Americans
Lev Gorn in The Americans
Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things
Marin Ireland in Hell or High Water
Katy Mixon in Hell or High Water
Sam Elliott in I’ll See You In My Dreams
Olivia Colman in The Night Manager
Alden Ehrenreich in Hail, Caesar!
Ralph Fiennes in Hail, Caesar!
Blake Jenner in Everybody Wants Some!!
Will Brittain in Everybody Wants Some!!
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa in The Man in the High Castle
Joel de la Fuente in The Man in the High Castle
Luke Kleintank in The Man in the High Castle
Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
Christian Bale in The Big Short
Steve Carell in The Big Short
Brad Pitt in The Big Short
Niels Arestrup in Farewell
Liev Schreiber in Spotlight
Domhnall Gleeson in The Force Awakens
Shameik Moore in Dope
Kapg in Dope
Jason Segel in The End of the Tour
Jean Dujardin in Möbius
Cécile De France in Möbius
Michael Gambon in The Good Shepherd
Robert de Niro in The Good Shepherd
Tammy Blanchard in The Good Shepherd
Oleg Shtefanko in The Good Shepherd
John Turturro in The Good Shepherd
Jason Mitchell in Straight Outta Compton
Homayoun Ershadi in Zero Dark Thirty
Lily Tomlin in Grandma
Julia Garner in Grandma
Simon Pegg in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Sean Harris in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Joel Edgerton in The Gift
Hiroyuki Sanada in Mr. Holmes
Keir Gilchrist in It Follows
Toni Servillo in The Great Beauty
Carlo Verdone in The Great Beauty
Elyes Gable in A Most Violent Year
Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year
Mark Strong in Body of Lies
Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher
Emma Stone in Birdman, or, The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Lilla Crawford in Into the Woods
Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Kill the Messenger
Andy Garcia in Kill the Messenger
William Hurt in Gorky Park
Kim Dickens in Gone Girl
Christopher Berry in Twelve Years a Slave
Sarah Paulson in Twelve Years a Slave
Paul Giamatti in Twelve Years a Slave
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tom Hardy in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Nicole Beharie in Shame
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Robert Forster in Jackie Brown
Gena Rowlands in Opening Night
Noomi Rapace in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds
Mark Wahlberg in The Departed
Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter
William Holden in Network
Tom Hardy in Inception
Elle Fanning in Somewhere
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine
Robin Wright in 9 Lives
Sanaa Lathan in Love and Basketball
Hamish Linklater in The Future
Chloe Moretz in Let Me In
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Peyman Maadi in A Separation
Sareh Bayat in A Separation
Sarina Farhadi in A Separation
Cody Horn in Magic Mike
Andrew Dice Clay in Blue Jasmine
Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables
Amanda Seyfried in Les Miserables
Colm Wilkinson in Les Miserables
Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood
Marco Perella in Boyhood
Riz Ahmed in Nightcrawler
Mila Kunis in Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Oscar Isaac in In Secret
Julia Stiles in The Bourne Ultimatum
Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum
Cyril Cusack in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Jason Miller in The Exorcist
Michelle Pfeiffer in The Russia House
Dimitrios Makropoulos in The Mask of Dimitrios
Orson Welles in The Kremlin Letter
Jon Voight in The Odessa File
Noel Willman in The Odessa File
Ingrid Bergman in Notorious
Laraine Day in Foreign Correspondent
George Segal in The Quiller Memorandum
Senta Berger in The Quiller Memorandum