This has been an incredible year for TV, and of course one of the biggest reasons for that are the wealth of exceptional actors in wonderful roles. Sometimes the roles aren’t even that good, but a great actor will make it their own anyway. Chris Cabin and I both came up with a list of 25 actors (removing overlaps and adding back others from our huge lists) that we felt really stood out in this wonderfully crowded TV cycle.
There are lots of leading ladies and leading men in my picks:Claire Foyagain does more with a moment of silent hesitation than anyone else could dream to inThe Crown;Elisabeth Mosswas devastating inThe Handmaid’s Tale, andKyleMacLachlanplayed three distinct versions of one character forTwin Peaks: The Return. But there are also many who stole the show:Louie Anderson, again, inBaskets;Rufus Sewellin a soulfulVictoriarole;Paula Malcolmson, who gave her character a beautifully real swan song;Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whoseFargocharacter would have deserved a spinoff.
2017 also brought us some potent villains, fromJack Farthingas the deliciously dastardly George Warleggen inPoldarktoJosh Segarra’s character Prometheus essentially single-handedly savingArrowSeason 5. Other actors stood out by embodying a role so completely that they changed the course of that character’s fate, likeJoe KeeryinStranger Things, or how despite the choppy mess that wasThe Defenders,Krysten Rittercontinues to shine as the most consistent of the heroes. And this is all to say nothing of the deeply emotional and revelatory performances we got fromNicole KidmaninBig Little LiesandMaggie GyllenhaalinThe Deuce.
Below, you’ll find Chris' summary of his picks, along with our full list of the 50 best actors (unranked). My 25 picks are only a fraction of the amazing performances we saw this year, so add some of your favorites in the comments as well, and lets celebrate the positives of Peak TV with how many great roles there are for so many talented performers.– Allison Keene
Auteur TV moved into a new phase in 2017, and that’s thanks mostly to two shows:Twin Peaks: The ReturnandShe’s Gotta Have It. The familiar storytelling pathways that dictate approximately 88% of narrative and reality programs were discarded for more personal stories and vast, complex, and unpredictable world-building. This audacity and disinterest in referring to a playbook that wasn’t their own came through strongest in images and language, but it also made for some of the most electrifying performances of the year in TV or film, for that matter.
This came out most noticeably in two legendary actresses of the big screen:Laura DernandNicole Kidman. Both of them expertly exposed the inner-workings of privileged white women in two very different households inBig Little Liesbut found their vulnerable spots hiding behind steel-clothed wills. And that wasn’t all. Dern blew the doors off the place as the immediately iconic Diane inTwin Peaks, the love of one of Dale Cooper’s lives, complete with red wigs, ominous texts, blunt cursing, and innumerable cigarettes. And in the wildly undervalued second season ofTop of the Lake, Kidman made a troubled mother into a complex creature of desire and wealth, elegantly balancing a well-honed wisdom with pomposity and passion that has demolished her daughter’s view of her as a mother and a wife.
Not surprisingly, it was women who were willing to swing for the fences more regularly than their male counterparts this year in TV.DeWanda Wiseexpressed the inner bedlam of being young, black, and female in the Republic of Brooklyn with striking empathy and ribald humor throughoutShe’s Gotta Have It, whileRachel Bloomoutdid herself once again in exploring a woman undone by her desires as an apt musical premise inCrazy Ex-Girlfriend’s excellent third season.Claire Foycontinued to communicate as sharply with a raised eyebrow or an elongated gaze as she does withPeter Morgan’s unerringly involving dialogue inThe Crown.The Deucedelivered a bevy of brilliant female performances from the likes ofMaggie Gyllenhaal,Margarita Levieva,Pernell Walker, andEmily Mead, but no performer so effortlessly illuminated the plight of sex workers thanDominique Fishbackas Darlene.Merritt WeaverofGodless,Betty GilpinofGLOW,Ruth NeggaofPreacher,Yvonne OrjiofInsecure, andReese WitherspoonofBig Little Liesall similarly stuck out in imposingly talented and varied casts, whereasRachel Brosnahanfinally came into her own as a bonafide leading lady inThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
This isn’t to say that their male counterparts were slouching.Ted Dansonwas funnier, more electric, and more surprisingly soulful than he’s ever been inThe Good Place’s ecstatically ingenious second season, whileJimmy Tatrogave what may be the breakout comic performance of the year inAmerican Vandalas an idiot high-schooler at the center of a dick-centric controversy. Though in far more grim terrain,Jon Bernthal’s take on Frank Castle in Netflix’sThe Punisheremployed a level of empathy for Castle and discarded, damaged veterans in general that made the inner conflicts of the vigilante all the more effective and ultimately tragic. The work done byDavid Lynch,Kyle MacLachlan,Harry Dean Stanton, andMiguel FerrerinTwin Peakssurpasses the confines of categorization, and in turn offered unexpected delights in speech and physicality.
MacLachlan deserves extra points for portraying a great villain in Mr. C, as well as Dougie Jones and Dale Cooper, and there were plenty of other great villains.Aubrey Plaza’s Lenny tore up the screen in a variety of guises in a similar way thatNoah Hawleydid with his imagery in the astonishing first season ofLegion. Hawley went for two in the creation of V.M. Varga, the bulimic, insufferable, and strangely eloquent liquidator inFargo, played menacingly by the greatDavid Thewlis. AndAmerican Godslaid out a platter of deliciously malevolent performances from the likes ofIan McShane,Crispin Glover,Bruce Langley,Peter Stormare, andPablo Schreiber.
There were heroes inBryan Fuller’s latest near-masterwork as well, inRicky Whittle’s Shadow Moon andOrlando Jones' scene-stealing Mr. Nancy, and there were men of courage elsewhere. That goes as much for romance as for government intrigue, withAziz AnsariandEric Wareheimbeautifully and hysterically playing the roles of would-be white knights in the former sense inMaster of None.Jonathan Groffrightly gets a lot of the credit for his work inMindhunter, but the soul of the show belongs to longtime character actorHolt McCallannyas his older, more mentally and emotionally bruised partner. TV on the Radio singerTunde Adebimpemade for potently conflicted U.S. Marshal trying to get a high-stakes witness settled into life in the Witness Protection Program inThe Girlfriend Experience, looking after the former live-in lover of a drug kingpin, played by the equally enliveningCarmen Ejogo.
A performance likeMatt Smith’s inThe Crownsplits the difference between good and bad, between self-indulgent and loving loyalty, and he made the character of Philip all the more galvanizing in doing so. Indeed, the more difficult it is to judge the morals of a character as cleanly positive or negative, the better. The most stirring example of this would have to bePamela Adlon’s instinctive, uproarious, and devastating performance as Sam, a version of herself, in the indispensableBetter Things, and she’s certainly not the only one or the last one. As more complex and audacious projects begin to hit the small screen, there’s sure to be just as many defiant performances (if not more) in 2018’s TV roster. See you then! -Chris Cabin
For more of the Best of 2017, check out Allison Keene’stop 25 TV showsof the year, Chris Cabin’stop 25, Dave Trumbore’s list of thebest new animated series, Emma Fraser’s look atthe best songs on TV, and Evan Valentine’s ranking of the year’ssuperhero TV.
Louie Anderson-Baskets
Dan Stevens-Legion
Alison Tolman-Downward Dog
Krysten Ritter-The Defenders
Paul Bettany-Manhunt: Unabomber
Kyle MacLachlan-Twin Peaks
Elisabeth Moss-The Handmaid’s Tale
Rufus Sewell-Victoria
Paula Malcolmson-Ray Donovan
Maggie Gyllenhaal-The Deuce
Peter Serafinowicz-The Tick
Nicole Kidman-Big Little Lies
Vera Farmiga-Bates Motel
Sam Richardson-Detroiters
Michael K Williams-Hap and Leonard
Jessica Lange-Feud
Mary Elizabeth Winstead-Fargo
Bob Odenkirk-Better Call Saul
Julia Louis-Dreyfus-Veep
Josh Segarra-Arrow
Joe Keery-Stranger Things
Jonathan Groff-Mindhunter
Sarah Gadon-Alias Grace
Jack Farthing-Poldark
Claire Foy-The Crown
Eric Wareheim-Master of None
Marque Richardson-Dear White People
Holt McCallany-Mindhunter
Yvonne Orji-Insecure
Maisie Williams-Game of Thrones
Gwendoline Christie-Top of the Lake: China Girl
Tunde Adebimpe-The Girlfriend Experience
Dominique Fishback-The Deuce
Ian McShane-American Gods
Pamela Adlon-Better Things
Lena Dunham-Girls
Jimmy Tatro-American Vandal
Betty Gilpin-GLOW
Ruth Negga-Preacher
Aubrey Plaza-Legion&Easy
Matt Smith-The Crown
Ted Danson-The Good Place
Merritt Weaver-Godless
Jon Bernthal-The Punisher
David Lynch-Twin Peaks
Keegan-Michael Key-Friends from College
David Thewlis-Fargo
DeWanda Wise-She’s Gotta Have It
Reese Witherspoon-Big Little Lies
For all of Collider’s Best of 2017 content,click here, or peruse our recent links below:
