Top 25 Performances of the Decade So Far (2010-2014) – March 2015

Picking the 50 best films of the decade so far was incredibly hard, but this was far more difficult. Every year there is a ton of very strong work to choose from – some performances are just incredible, and those are the easy ones to pick, but for the most part there are a lot of performances that just as easily could have made this list. I have put an “*” next to my favorite performance from each year. Anyway, here are my picks:

2010

Christian Bale, a supporting role in The Fighter*

Claire Danes, a leading role in Temple Grandin

Tom Hardy, a supporting performance in Inception

Natalie Portman, a leading Role in Black Swan

2011

Kirsten Dunst, a leading performance in Melancholia

Michael Fassbender, a leading performance in Shame

Rooney Mara, a leading performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*

Carey Mulligan, a supporting performance in Shame

2012

Jessica Chastain, a leading performance in Zero Dark Thirty

Daniel Day-Lewis, a leading performance in Lincoln

Jennifer Lawrence, a leading performance in Silver Linings Playbook

Joaquin Phoenix, a leading performance in The Master*

2013

Cate Blanchett, a leading performance in Blue Jasmine*

Leonardo DiCaprio, a leading performance in The Wolf of Wall Street

Chiwetel Ejiofor, a leading performance in 12 Years a Slave

Adele Exarchopoulos, a leading performance in Blue is the Warmest Color

Michael Fassbender, a supporting performance in 12 Years a Slave

Brie Larson, a leading performance in Short Term 12

Mads Mikkelsen, a leading performance in The Hunt

Lupita Nyong’o, a supporting performance in 12 Years a Slave

2014

Ralph Fiennes, a leading performance in The Grand Budapest Hotel

Edward Norton, a supporting performance in Birdman

Rosamnd Pike, a leading performance in Gone Girl*

Eddie Redmayne, a leading performance in The Theory of Everything

Mark Ruffalo, a supporting performance in Foxcatcher