Not all the good ones win Oscars.
The Academy Awards race is shaping up, and Jessie Buckley (for “Hamnet”) and Leonardo DiCaprio (for “One Battle After Another”) are rightfully earning praise for turning in some of the year’s best movie work in some of the year’s best movies.
But outside that awards bubble, there are plenty of other under-the-radar performances worthy of note, and we’re taking the time to celebrate them here. We don’t have any gold statues to give out, so a few words of acknowledgement and a tip of the cap will have to do.
Here are some of the year’s best movie performances that are outside of the Oscars picture, looking in.
Kevin O’Leary, ‘Marty Supreme’
Yes, the guy from “Shark Tank.” O’Leary is menacing in “Marty Supreme,” perfectly pitched as a foil to Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser, at one point introducing himself as a vampire, and he’s so fiercely devilish in the role that you hardly question him for a second. He’s cutthroat on “Shark Tank,” too, but he’s a natural on screen, truly earning his nickname as “Mr. Wonderful.”
Dwayne Johnson, ‘The Smashing Machine’
The film’s anemic box office aside, “The Smashing Machine” is a transformative role for Dwayne Johnson, putting “The Rock” to bed and truly tapping into something internal as UFC fighter Mark Kerr. Johnson loses the suave charm that has become his signature and shows vulnerability, and humanity, like never before. Johnson has always been a star, but “The Smashing Machine” showed his potential as an actor.
Jonathan Majors, ‘Magazine Dreams’
Jonathan Majors in “Magazine Dreams.” (Briarcliff Entertainment/TNS)
Back when “Magazine Dreams” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, Jonathan Majors’ role as a bodybuilder who goes off the deep end was being touted as his Oscar play. Then a lot of other things happened in Majors’ life (he was convicted of charges related to domestic violence) and this movie didn’t see the light of day until a micro release earlier this year, but the work is still scarily effective and deeply powerful, a reminder of his electrifying power on screen.
Sally Hawkins, ‘Bring Her Back’
From “Paddington” to Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky,” Sally Hawkins is a beam of light, illuminating everything and everyone around her with her bright, effervescent charm. In the Philippou brothers’ dark, dastardly “Bring Her Back,” she weaponizes that charm, going full heel as an evil foster mother performing wicked deeds on her adopted children. She’s the stuff of nightmares in the best possible way.
Conner O’Malley, ‘Friendship’
Conner O’Malley has been an unhinged comedy presence since he stole scenes in the first season of Tim Robinson’s “I Think You Should Leave” — he was the “Honk if You’re Horny” guy — and in “Friendship,” he has a volatile one-scene appearance where he takes what is already an unglued story and sends it even further into “WTF?” territory. He’s a fantastic comedy disruptor.
Elle Fanning, ‘Predator: Badlands’
Elle Fanning, left, and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi in “Predator: Badlands.” (20th Century Studios/TNS)
One day I’ll stop talking about how much fun I had watching “Predator: Badlands,” but not today. And one of the reasons for that fun is Elle Fanning, who brings a wholly different energy to “Badlands” than this franchise has ever felt. As an android split at the waist, Fanning — who has a dual role in the film — brings a sense of bubbliness to “Predator” which, it turns out, was exactly what this chapter needed.
Danielle Deadwyler, ‘The Woman in the Yard’ and ’40 Acres’
Danielle Deadwyler, robbed of an Oscar nomination for 2022’s “Till,” gave a pair of sterling performances in two 2025 films that flew under the radar. As a widowed mother with an, er, presence sitting outside her home, she elevates the psychological thriller “The Woman in the Yard,” and in the post-apocalyptic thriller “40 Acres,” she brings grit and determination to a genre exercise. She’ll get that Oscar nomination soon.
Vincent Cassel, ‘The Shrouds’
David Cronenberg’s latest was an icy, pitch-black exercise in grief, and Vincent Cassel perfectly played Karsh, the innovator behind a new technology that lets the living watch their deceased loved ones decompose live via cam. The French actor was also basically playing a stand-in for Cronenberg, and he nailed the filmmaker’s sense of isolated remove, like a visitor among us who’s not quite one of us.
Julian McMahon, ‘The Surfer’
In Nicolas Cage’s latest psychological freakout, Julian McMahon played Scally, the creepily charismatic leader of a local surf clan who won’t let Cage’s unnamed character surf their waves. “Don’t live hee, don’t surf hee,” Scally tells him, in his thick Aussie accent. The “Nip/Tuck” vet is magnetic in a role that would end up being one of his last, as he died over the summer after a bout with cancer at the age of 56.
A$AP Rocky, ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ and ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
After going toe to toe with Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” — the two exchanging bars in the crime thriller’s climactic rap battle scene is ridiculously entertaining — A$AP Rocky turns in a totally charming performance as the hotel neighbor of Rose Byrne’s spiraling mother in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” The rapper’s got a new album due out in 2026, but the screen is where he’s shining brightest.
Archie Madekwe, ‘Lurker’
It’s not easy playing a convincing pop star on screen — just ask John Malkovich, who’s baffling performance as a supposedly charismatic pop megastar in “Opus” is just one of that film’s many problems — but Archie Madekwe’s turn as a rising L.A. pop singer in Alex Russell’s psychological thriller, and the way he wields his aura like a weapon, had viewers totally falling under his spell.
Dylan O’Brien, ‘Twinless’
“Maze Runner” star Dylan O’Brien has been on a hot streak of late, with his turn as Dan Aykroyd in “Saturday Night” grounding him in grown-up fare, and he’s outstanding in a double role as two very different twin brothers in James Sweeney’s dark thriller “Twinless.” The subtleties of his performance pop as you watch him transition between the two parts, and he’s an actor who’s only getting better with age.
Jason Momoa, ‘A Minecraft Movie’
From left, Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Sebastian Hansen in “A Minecraft Movie.” (Warner Bros. Pictures/TNS)
Jason Momoa seems like he’d be a cool dude to hang out with, but his charisma never quite translated to the screen, and he always seemed like he was winking to the audience before having earned the right to do so. As washed-up child video game champion Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison in “A Minecraft Movie,” he finally married the cool dude with the winking persona, and he was delightful in the part.
Jai Courtney, ‘Dangerous Animals’
Australian actor Jai Courtney had roles in the “Terminator” and “Die Hard” franchises — in “A Good Day to Die Hard,” he was John McClane’s son! — but he was always like fitting a square peg into a round hole. But he’s a blast as a psycho boat captain gone mad in this shark thriller, where he chews more scenery than a great white. Turns out the guy just needed some room to go a little bit crazy.
Pamela Anderson, ‘The Naked Gun’
Pamela Anderson as Beth Davenport in “The Naked Gun.” (Frank Masi/Paramount Pictures/TNS)
Pamela Anderson has a softness and a sweetness to her that makes you want to root for her, and as Beth Davenport — aka Miss Cherry Roosevelt Fat Bozo Chowing Spaghetti — in Akiva Schaffer’s “Naked Gun” reboot, Anderson displays her comic chops as well as her willingness to try anything for a laugh. A scene where she scat-raps at a jazz club is one of the funniest bits in a movie packed with hilarious moments.
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