Actor | Top 3 Performances of the Last Decade |
1. Timothee Chalamet | 1. Call Me By Your Name (2017) 2. Dune: Part One and Two (2021, 2024) 3. Little Women (2019) |
2. Adam Driver | 1. Marriage Story (2019) 2. Paterson (2016) 3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) |
3. Ryan Gosling | 1. La La Land (2016) 2. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) 3. Barbie (2023) |
4. Robert Pattinson | 1. The Lighthouse (2019) 2. Good Time (2017) 3. The Batman (2022) |
5. Joaquin Phoenix | 1. Joker (2019) 2. Beau is Afraid (2023) 3. You Were Never Really Here (2017) |
6. Cillian Murphy | 1. Oppenheimer (2023) 2. Small Things Like These (2024) 3. Dunkirk (2017) |
7. Willem Dafoe | 1. The Lighthouse (2019) 2. The Florida Project (2017) 3. Poor Things (2023) |
8. Brad Pitt | 1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) 2. Ad Astra (2019) 3. Babylon (2022) |
9. Jesse Plemmons | 1. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020) 2. Kinds of Kindness (2024) 3. Civil War (2024) |
10. Barry Keoghan | 1. Saltburn (2023) 2. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) 3. Bird (2024) |
11. Oscar Isaac | 1. The Card Counter (2021) 2. Dune (2021) 3. Annihilation (2018) |
12. Daniel Kaluuya | 1. Get Out (2017) 2. Widows (2018) 3. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) |
13. Bradley Cooper | 1. Nightmare Alley (2021) 2. Maestro (2023) 3. A Star is Born (2018) |
14. Colin Farrell | 1. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) 2. The Batman (2022) 3. After Yang (2021) |
15. Leonardo DiCaprio | 1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) 2. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) 3. Don’t Look Up (2021) |
16. Ralph Fiennes | 1. Conclave (2024) 2. The Menu (2022) 3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023) |
17. Michael B. Jordan | 1. Sinners (2025) 2. Black Panther (2018) 3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
18. Benedict Cumberbatch | 1. The Power of the Dog (2021) 2. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023) 3. The Phoenician Scheme (2025) |
19. Adrien Brody | 1. The Brutalist (2024) 2. The French Dispatch (2021) 3. Asteroid City (2023) |
20. Austin Butler | 1. Elvis (2022) 2. Dune: Part Two (2024) 3. The Bikeriders (2023) |
21. Gary Oldman | 1. Mank (2020) 2. Darkest Hour (2017) 3. Oppenheimer (2023) |
22. Steven Yeun | 1. Burning (2018) 2. Minari (2020) 3. Nope (2022) |
23. Benicio del Toro | 1. The Phoenician Scheme (2025) 2. The French Dispatch (2021) 3. Reptile (2023) |
24. Andrew Scott | 1. Ripley (2024) 2. All of Us Strangers (2023) 3. 1917 (2019) |
25. Dev Patel | 1. The Green Knight (2021) 2. Monkey Man (2024) 3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023) |

If this a list that considers the best performances of the last decade, then why isn’t 2015 considered ? Specifically Di Caprio’s performance in The Revenant wich would skyrocket him here
Nevermind I’m stupid, ten years ago is 2016
This is only considering the range 2016-2025. If The Revenant was considered though that would certainly push him way up.
Nevermind I’m stupid 2016 was ten years ago
Hear me out…what about home grown stars; Joel Edgerton and Ben Mendlesohn? But if you’re going to feature the Irish Brat Pack, Paul Mescal seems a glaring omission tbh. 🙂
Mescal is a decent candidate, he’s really just one more great performance away from making the list. At the moment I think Aftersun is his strongest. He’s solid in All of Us Strangers and The Lost Daughter but is largely secondary to others, and I don’t think much of Gladiator II at all really. His star is still rising though and I don’t think we’ve seen him peak yet.
Edgerton’s case rests on The Underground Railroad for me with Master Gardener, Loving, and The Green Knight to back him up. I think he just needs a couple more to fill out his resume but he’s right there on the edge, he could easily slot in for a 20-25 position.
I might be missing something but I’m not sure Ben Mendelsohn has given a standout performance in the last ten years to rival the others here. He has been consistently decent but his choice of projects has been shaky. Cyrano and Darkest Hour come to mind, but I’m not sure there’s much beyond that.
Mendelsohn is great in The Land of Steady Habits in the lead role and supporting Eliza Scanlen in Babyteeth.
And another great performance in Mississipi Grind in the lead role. Great actor. He is often typecast as the villain in these big films. But his best work comes in these smaller films.
Thanks for the recommendations, I’ll have to check those out.