My 5 Favourite Performances of 2023.

The truth is that there were just too many wonderful acting performances to choose from in 2023 to talk about here at length. Unlike last year’s favourites list, I decide to streamline it to just five this time around. It’s worth noting that while I enjoyed critically acclaimed performances from the likes of Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer or Margot Robbie in Barbie, they necessarily didn’t tick all the boxes to make it a favourite of mine. I will have more to say about the films that I enjoyed and all the red hot performances most critics are talking about in my annual Oscar prediction special in the coming weeks. Like last year this short list includes performances by actors who graced our television screens. But first honourable mentions to Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us, Teo Yoo in Past Lives, Bob Odenkirk in Lucky Hank, Emma Corrin in A Murder at the End of the World, Juno Temple in Fargo, Ryan Gosling in Barbie, Tiffany Haddish in The After Party and Joaquin Phoenix in Napoleon, who all made me laugh, cry, cringe and or simply be in awe of their talents. Anyway, without further ado, the following five actors below produced arguably my 5 favourite performances of 2023.

Rebecca Ferguson – Silo.     

The Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson was relatively unknown for many years. Things though began to slowly fall in place for her when she landed the role of Ilsa Faust in the Mission Impossible franchise. While she’s also starred in a handful of notable films throughout the 2010s, I didn’t really take much notice Ferguson until her exceptional performance in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) as Lady Jessica. It triggered a revisit of some of her past performances including the television miniseries The White Queen and Daniel Espinosa’s sci fi horror Life (2017). Last year Ferguson graced our screen again in the new Mission Impossible titled Dead Reckoning and Apple TV+’s sci fi dystopian drama Silo. But if I am to talk briefly about my favourite performance of Ferguson in 2023, it has to be her lead role as Juliette, an engineer-turned-Sheriff of a colossal underground silo, where humanities survival hangs by a thread with strict rules and lies. As the silo’s unlikely new sheriff, after the death of the former sheriff, she uncovers a conspiracy which has the potential to upend the safe sanctuary of thousands of survivors.

Ferguson’s performance is an understated one compared to some of the more high profile roles of 2023, such as Sarah Snook’s Shiv Roy in HBO’s Succession. Maybe that’s because her character Juliette is an introvert, who is far more at home repairing the silo’s giant generator than she is fixing herself. But when Ferguson’s Juliette is thrust into the limelight, it awakens something inside of the silo’s reluctant new champion. As Juliette secretly investigates a series of strange happenings, it is here that Ferguson dogged performance and determination shines the most. What I also like about Ferguson performance is this. We all know Ferguson is a beautiful woman. But as Juliette, Ferguson appears dishevelled and unfriendly. It’s a great disguise. Not all action heroes have to be Captain Marvel.  

Jeremy Allen White – The Bear.

The Bear is an impossible show to choose the standout performance from an ensemble cast who are continually, maybe unconsciously, trying to “one-up” each other. A good performance turns to a great one especially when the pressure is turned up in those chaotic kitchen scenes where everything goes to shit. Even in the shows quiet moments, you feel a real connection with actors like Ayo Edebiri as Sydney and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie. But for my mind my favourite performance comes from Jeremy Allen White as Carmy. White has such an expressive face that you can feel the electricity of excitement and fear of everything he does. While some shows might cake on the make up to hide actors blemishes, the creators of The Bear seemingly allow White’s face to tell us how he feels. His facial blushing is key to us understanding how Carmy is feeling. More often than not, Carey’s severe anxiety takes hold of him and he is blotchy and sweaty. The constant inner struggle of White’s performance makes him very relatable. And when his hypnotic and piercing blue eyes look upon you, it’s not hard to say “Yes Chef!”. 

Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Shrinking.

Harrison Ford is arguably my favourite actor of all time. But I’ll just say he is definitely in my top three for now. Anyway, a 2023 list without Harrison Ford would be a travesty given the fact that he graced us with this presence on both the big screen as Indiana Jones (for the last time) and small screen as Dr. Paul Rhoades in Apple TV+’s comedy-drama Shrinking. 

As a lifelong fan I never expected we would see Ford in his familiar fedora hat again as Indiana Jones. Apparently neither did Ford until one day he started to miss him.  Ford thought that “there was room for one more story….. And that story was the one that dealt with age, time, and relationships in his family — knitting the whole thing together just a little bit more, and feeling a kind of roundness in all of the different stories we’ve told. I’m more comfortable leaving him at this place than he was at the end of Crystal Skull.”

That said, given James Mangold had to work with Harrison Ford’s age and the weight of expectation, The Dial of Destiny is a terrific send off. I loved almost every minute. It was fun, sombre, nostalgic and Ford is superb.

With Shrinking, Ford is also happy here to don his elder statements hat. He even takes a back seat, never allowing his larger than life persona to tower over his co-stars. Ford is terrific as a no-nonsense crabby therapist. And there is a vulnerability to his performance we don’t often see. I’ve always loved Ford’s gruff and dry sense of humour (especially in interviews and his late night tv show appearances) and in Shrinking its brought to the forefront as a strength rather than a ridicule of Ford’s defence mechanism especially when dealing with interviewers. In short, I never thought I would be saying that Ford is absolutely hilarious in this small screen comedy. It makes you think what might Ford’s career have looked like if he had ventured into comedy a little more often? If you too, liked Ford in Shrinking, I also recommend you check out his comedy chops in Working Girl (1988) and Morning Glory (2010).  

Emma Stone – Poor Things.

The film everyone is still talking about is Yorgos Lanthimos’ black comedy-drama Poor Things. It’s true this film is many things to many people. There is a ferocious debate being played out with commentators questioning the validity of the film. Is it sadistic fairytale, a feminist film or a male fantasy and why would Emma Stone even risk her reputation making a film like this, are all questions currently being asked. I don’t have the answer except to say Emma Stone has proven time and time again that she is one of the best at her craft at the moment. With Poor Things Stone has clearly stepped outside of her comfort zone as an actress showcasing her versatility. We have never seen her play a role like this. And I’m not talking about the unabashed nudity and the sex scenes. In short, Stone is fun to watch. She gives us a performance which is exactly what is needed. She dominate the screen as Bella Baxter, a childlike creation reborn after a brain transplant. It’s a Frankenstein tale. And one of personal discovery, freedom, sexual awakening and free will.

Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

While I’m not really a Marvel fan, the marketing around Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was relentless and enough for me to say this looks like a really fun movie to go and see. But first I needed to binge Guardians Vol. 1 and 2. I did and I was blown away by its humour, action, great performance and genuinely likeable characters. Did I mention it has a killer soundtrack? I now understood why fans loved the galactic outcasts created by director James Gunn.

In the lead up to seeing Vol. 3, it was recommended that I view Avengers: Endgame (2019) to explain what happens to Zoe Saldana’s Gamora between the end of Vol. 2 and the beginning of Vol. 3. But I forgo the temptation to watch Endgame. I really didn’t want to get bogged down in the whole multiverse maze created by Marvel. It didn’t really matter I got a good enough explanation in Vol. 3. Sort of.

Anyway, the accumulation of all 3 films ends Guardians on a real high. The emotional payoff really works! And while Vol.3 centres around saving Rocket’s life (a C.G.I creation, voiced by Bradley Cooper), it’s Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord who leads his ensemble through the thick of it, all the while grieving for Gamora. When the first Guardians film was announced Pratt’s name was thrown around. He had to that point in the early 2010s and by his own admission failed miserably to crack the big time. Gunn of course saw Pratt’s potential and through playing Peter Quill, Pratt cemented his big time status as an action hero. In Vol. 3 Pratt is outstanding. Some say it’s his best performance to date. As Quill, Pratt digs deep in his bag of tricks. He’s vulnerable, moody, funny but also likeable in what we want our quirky space hero to be. While Pratt’s Quill isn’t Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, he is nonetheless still a loveable rogue, brought to life by a good script and Pratt’s performance.