Today, we continue our decade series, where we recap the best cinema had to offer in the 2010s. This time, we tackle the best acting of the last 10 years by highlighting the actors and actresses who turned in the most iconic performances. The performers, six men, and five women, must have surely not known that their work would not only be remembered, but would also be celebrated years after its initial release. Whenever art is created, whether it’s a painting, a written novella or acting performances, the artist rarely thinks about the effect his or her work will have on the zeitgeist in the future; however, the following 10 performances have turned into time-capsule worthy moments, not just in the present decade, but that will surely stand the test of time.
1) Joaquin Phoenix (“The Master”)
Of all the great Joaquin Phoenix performances this decade (“Her,” “I’m Stil Here,” “Two Lovers”), you are just not ready to encounter the cinematic ticking time bomb that is Freddie Quell in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master.” No words can prepare you for what Phoenix does on screen in this movie. It is not only the best acting we’ve seen this decade, but also a performance that will be talked about for ages. Phoenix had shown signs of greatness in past roles - most notably in 2009’s underrated “Two Lovers,” but in “The Master” he’s in a whole other league. Painting his character with shades of 21st-century non-conformist anxieties, Phoenix is funny, sad, scary and ultimately bewildering.
2) Leonardo Dicaprio (“The Wolf of Wall Street”)
The sky’s the limit for DiCaprio, and in Scorsese’s now-classic epic of debauchery, he brought a whole new range to his repertoire. With some scenes veering towards slapstick comedy, Leo’s portrayal of Wall Street madman Jordan Belfort could have quite easily tipped over the top towards caricature, but I don’t think anyone could have pulled it off better than DiCaprio did. A divisive movie upon its release, ‘Wolf’ has gained notoriety over the last few years and will no doubt continue to do so as a classic. It is the riskiest performance DiCaprio has ever given us.
3) Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”)
How iconic is Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s “The Social Network?” Well, for the longest time, whenever people would mention Zuckerberg’s name, you couldn’t help but think of Eisenberg’s face rather than, ya know, the real Mark Zuckerberg. Eisenberg’s Zuckerberg, courtesy of writer Aaron Sorkin, is left for us to be judge and jury when it comes to his potential guilt. Did Zuckerberg really backstab best friend Eduardo Saverin? Did he really steal The Winkelvoss twins’ idea? Eisenberg masterfully refuses to reveal any signs of guilt. Instead, we get a stone-faced millennial, thrust into the dog-eat-dog world of American capitalism, trying to survive the towering world-changing monster he built in his Harvard college dorm room.
4) Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”)
On the set of “Lincoln,” Daniel Day-Lewis demanded that everyone, including director Steven Spielberg, refer to him as "Mr. President" and not let English cast members speak to him (in their own accents) while trying to get Abe's voice right, for fear that it might throw him off. The maddening method acting worked out well as Lincoln is propulsively played by Day-Lewis in another performance that will be remembered for years to come. His Lincoln is a man of many flaws, but with enough heart, soul, and drive to push the all-important 21st amendment forward. It has almost come to be a predictable thing to say that Daniel Day-Lewis performance but it is always highly welcome. Day-Lewis gives a great performance, but, no doubt yo heavy research, the method actor’s gestures and physical traits make it feel as though you are actually watching honest Abe on-screen; Thrintensity that rages in his eyes is that of a man that is not playing Lincoln but IS Abraham Lincoln.
5) Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”)
The story of an East coast socialite snob (Cate Blanchett) who, after her exceedingly rich husband (Alec Baldwin) commits suicide while in jail for his fraudulent financial activity, goes west to stay with her floozy trusting hippy-esque sister appropriately named Ginger (Sally Hawkins). “Blue Jasmine” has Blanchett, in the performance of a lifetime, portraying the sad consequences of a woman deluding herself with notions of security and self-importance, is a convincing embodiment of an elite’s cozy works slowly but surely crashing down.
6) Greta Gerwig (“Frances Ha”)
Greta Gerwig, in the role she was born to play, is so damn good as Frances, a 27-year-old yuppie New York girl still trying to find herself in the big city and refusing to let go of her dream of becoming a professional dancer. Noah Baumbach’s film was thunderously received, destined to be the coming-of-age classic and that it has no doubt become. Frances, and by that measure Gerwig, has almost become a symbol of disenfranchised millennials. The character spoke volumes about the very real predicaments facing Gen Y’ers this decade, and a lack of opportunity mixed in with the existentialism of an ever-changing world have made Gerwig and Frances Ha an indelible portrait of the times.
7) Emmanuel Riva (“Amour”)
Michael Haneke’s uncomfortably brilliant “Amour” dared us to ask questions about love and marriage that most other directors would be too scared to tackle. Emmanuel Riva’s perceptive and ultimately heartbreaking performance as Anne, married to a George (Jean-Louis Trintignant) for almost six decades, is a feast in high-wire artistry. George sees the love of his life slowly but surely deteriorating into pure nothingness, with stroke upon stroke only debilitating her speech, mannerisms and mental health further. The late Riva, an immeasurably legendary actress of the French New Wave, gave us a swan song of a performance that defied the norms for late-career work. It’s an unmistakably bleak look at how true love must always end with death.
8) Anna Paquin (“Margaret”)
“Margaret” centers on a New York schoolgirl named Lisa (Anna Paquin), who inadvertently causes a fatal road accident. What follows is the emotional aftermath, fought outwardly with her mother, as a moral and ethical war wages within her hormone-ravaged body. Paquin gives an incredible performance here; she feels like a real-life teenager (so confident in her rightness, so prone to outbursts when her rightness isn’t so right). In fact, Paquin’s performance really pretty much completely single-handedly holds Kenneth Lonergan’s masterful opus together. We follow her through all of her mood swings and somewhat pointless arguments that she picks with some adults, and completely well-reasoned arguments that she picks with others. She’s the kind of well-intentioned but guilt-racked protagonist you would expect to find in a novel or a play, or maybe a really good ongoing TV series–but definitely not a film with a definitive arc, which is what makes her character that much more unforgettable.
9) J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”)
You want electric? Look no further than J.K Simmons in “Whiplash” a blisteringly made crowd-pleaser that produces excitingly high art from jazz drumming. J.K Simmons is the teacher from hell, pushing his students to limits they might not even have thought existed — think Sgt. Hartman from “Full Metal Jacket” but turned into a Jazz band professor at the best music school in the U.S. You watch every move, hell every nod, that Simmons does in a mesmerizing performance filled with questionably ethical behavior and confounding moral dilemmas. It took a bald-headed music teacher for us to ask questions about the boundaries that might exist in perfecting your art.
10) Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”)
Greta Gerwig’s autobiographical triumph wouldn’t have worked without Saoirse Ronan in the lead role — it’s a masterstroke of casting. The 23-year-old Irish-American actress, oh so piercingly heartbreaking in “Brooklyn,” gives us an other-worldly performance that feels both achingly precise and comic. The neuroses-infused performance has Ronan’s Christine McPherson going through the hardships of her senior year of high school all in the while trying to deal with her dad having just lost his job. Ronan delivers a miracle of subtle sensibilities, a touchingly humane performance that juggles all the baggage that comes with being a confused 17-year-old girl.
Runners-Up:
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Denis Lavant (Holy Motors), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Christian Bale (The Fighter), Joaquin Phoenix (Her), Kirsten Dunst ( Melancholia), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave), James Franco (Spring Breakers), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave), Scarlett Johansson (Under the Skin), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Lily Gladstone (Certain Women), Viola Davis (Fences), Robert Pattinson (Good Time)