Best of 2023: Scene-Stealers features spoilers for various shows. Please be advised if there’s something you don’t want to know.
These are the characters you can’t help but be entranced by—the characters you can’t help but be in awe of. And yes, even…when they’re questionable. Like every year, TV wouldn’t be the same without the Best of 2023 scene-stealers.
For more end-of-the-year coverage, be sure to check out our Best of 2023: Romance Novels, the Best of 2023: Performances, the Best of 2023: Found Families, the Best of 2023: Romantic Relationships, the Best of 2023 Romantic Scenes, and the Best of 2023: TV Episodes.
Barbara Howard
Abbott Elementary
From the moment we meet her in Abbott Elementary’s Pilot episode, Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Barbara Howard becomes a fan-favorite character. It was an easy choice to make during Season 1, but it’s challenging to choose between her and her work-wife, Melissa Schemmenti, in Season 2. Still, Barbara Howard defines a scene stealer in every way. Sheryl Lee Ralph layers the characters with phenomenal range, allowing her to be someone who’s both so achingly kind and simultaneously, someone who says it as is. She isn’t sugarcoating anything, nor does she have to. She’s truthful, a little old-fashioned, and undeniably hilarious.
As one of the best performers of 2023 as well, Season 2 showcases Lee Ralph’s gifts impeccably, allowing us to have bountiful character moments that will be remembered for years to come. How she walks, acts, talks, and, most importantly, the compassion she laces in all her sharp quips is where the character stands out, bringing to our screens someone who feels both like a friend and a mentor.
Paul Rhodes
Shrinking
As a series, Shrinking is an outstanding feat in more ways than one, but allowing Harrison Ford to dabble with comedy as Paul Rhodes is its meatiest and most tremendous bonus. As one of the Best of 2023 scene stealers we called early in the year, Ford ensures that Paul is both the voice of reason and the character who simultaneously learns the most. Around the adults, he’s the one calling all the shots, but with Alice, Paul is almost like a giant kid. There’s an innocence to his jokes and a weariness that feels heavy and light at the same time. One minute, you’re laughing at raw dogging, and the next, you’re heartbroken over his strained relationships.
We have entire episodes with unfurling chaos setting the characters, yet Paul Rhodes high at an engagement party makes for one of the year’s most memorable scenes. So much of what we see with Paul Rhodes and Ford’s performances ultimately showcases that only a gifted actor and a well-written character could hold as much weight in relatively simple scenes. While Ford is transcendent when Paul has to exhibit vulnerability, the comedic moments we rarely see him in make the character an undeniable scene stealer.
Agnes van Rhijn
The Gilded Age
Whatever Christine Baranski touches is art, and her role as Agnes van Rhijn in The Gilded Age is no exception. Baranski’s character is quietly gilded in a way that’s so intrinsic new words need to be invented to correctly represent how brilliantly she commands the room and steals the show in a way only she could. Thus, it not only makes her a Best of 2023 scene stealer but maybe (definitely) one of all time. It’s the indescribable charm that comes from her gazes and side eyes and calmly vulnerable moments that touch upon true craftsmanship. If anyone could teach a masterclass on the art, it’d be Baranksi.
Further, what makes Agnes such an astute scene-stealer is that her lavish dealings are brimming with nuances. She’s incredible in the first season, but the second tugs on her heart far more, allowing Baranski to bear some of the most heartfelt apologies and sentiments that leave viewers with their breaths caught in her throat. And in the final few episodes, as she executes everything with all her might to deal with her son’s betrayal, Agnes van Rhijn (and thus Baranski) prove that no one should ever mess with the character’s carefully curated lifestyle.
Trent Crimm
Ted Lasso
Few side characters become regulars by the time a series ends, and there’s a reason for that. Yet, when it comes to Ted Lasso’s Trent Crimm, his status as a series regular was inevitable. James Lance’s character has been a scene stealer from the moment he stood up during the first press conference to his final scene in the series (season?) finale. Hilarious, sharp, and surprisingly warm to the boot, Trent Crimm is a rarity on television who’ll be greatly missed. And while he was an exceptional character from the moment he published his first article in “Trent Crimm, The Independent,” the character steps up admirably in Season 3.
Viewers get to know the former journalist better in the show’s third season when his heart and motives are entirely on display throughout, but especially in “Sunflowers.” While providing a safe space for Colin to be his authentic self, Trent exhibits palpable growth from the journalist we meet who’s maybe in it for himself. He shows the audience that his love for humanity is more prominent than anything else, revealing a character who’ll show up for others. He does all this while dressed better than we ever could, becoming a style icon on top of an A+ fictional human. Many characters on the series deserve their spin-offs, and now, we can confidently add Trent Crimm to the list as well. Concurrently, we can (and should) beg Apple TV+ to release the book he writes at the end. (I volunteer as a tribute to write it.)
Ouroboros aka OB
Loki
Ke Huy Quan is a scene stealer in every role he’s been in, but goodness, he’s something else entirely in Loki as Ouroboros, aka OB. He’s charming, hilarious, lovely, kind, and so significantly wholesome that you find yourself grinning from ear to ear every time he’s on screen. There’s plenty to say about his character throughout the show’s run, but as a Best of 2023 scene stealer, he also shares a moment in the best episode, where his book promo results in some of the funniest yet heartbreaking moments in the MCU.
There’s a glint in his eyes throughout the entire season that brings irreplaceable heart to the series in a way that was missing in its debut, but it’s simultaneously how he represents endurance and hard work that stands out as exceptionally as it does. People like OB are some of the best people around, but they’re also the ones most don’t see the way they should—they disregard them and look down upon them, but still, they stand, doing everything in their power to be a source of joy and sunshine in the world. A scene-stealer is only as great as the actor bringing the character to life, which is why Ke Huy Quan’s performances in the MCU will go down as some of the most memorable additions in recent years.
James T. Kirk
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk is an unbeatable sort of character. There’s much tied to the character’s legacy and the road William Shatner paved, but at the same time, it’s hard to deny that Wesley’s charm plays a role here, too. He waltzes in, and immediately, it’s all eyes on him. In more ways than one, the character exudes the same charm that Ewan McGregor does as Obi-Wan Kenobi, following in Alec Guinesses’ footsteps beautifully. The actors aren’t trying to be like the stars who came before them, but they’re trying to layer the characters in a way that honors the best parts of them. With this in mind, Wesley’s charm brings not only a bit of levity to the series but also a surprising amount of vulnerability that’s necessary in the musical episode “Subspace Rhapsody.“
It’s in the moments when he’s talking to Christina Chong’s La’an that an unexpected amount of his heart is on display. It’s in these quiet beats where Wesley gets to show off his chops, leaving the screen with the prominent space of where he stood. You feel the weight of his character’s absence, and you understand his tremendous importance, whether you know the name Captain Kirk or not. It’s this nuanced performance that shows why he’s perfectly cast for the role and how capable he is of leaving a mark.
Tom Wambsgans
Succession
Matthew Macfadyen’s Tom Wambsgans steals the show both literally and metaphorically in Succession, making it one of the star’s best performances to date. One of the show’s greatest legacies will forever be how it strung us along without an ounce of clue of who’d inherit the company. Until the final moment, we all betted on a Roy sibling when the scene stealer was under our noses all along. Further, Macfadyen was one of last year’s best performers, but everything he does in Succession’s final season is a remarkably contained vessel that deserves to be studied.
The changes in Tom’s character from the first season to the last are so minute—so blink, and you’ll miss it, that it makes Macfadyen’s work even more riveting in the grand scheme of things. He’s plotting all along, securing himself as a top player even while no one sees him as so, and it’s exactly what results in him being such an astounding scene stealer. There aren’t many characters who quietly denote everything we know about them with such gradual ease, but we see it in Tom through remarkable fashion.
Loretta Durkin
Only Murders in the Building
It’s undeniable, given any show that puts Meryl Streep as a guest star will come out with her character as an effortless scene stealer. Loretta Durkin is a worthy addition to Only Murders in the Building for everything Streep brings to the table as the aspiring actress with a big secret waiting to burst. Whether it’s her awkwardly charming singing or her unquestionable love for both Oliver and her son, Loretta is the character who will be remembered on the show’s long list of guest stars. Season 3, casting both Streep and Paul Rudd, is also one of the best choices executives made, which is why Streep takes the crown in our Best of 2023 scene stealers, even when Rudd’s character might be more intriguing. (The choice wasn’t easy to make, but still.)
There’s something deeply organic about how Streep makes Loretta a complex character in a world full of much development occurring on an actual stage. As an actress, a mother, and a lover, Streep imbues Loretta with immense heart, humor, and even a bit of mystery in the early stages, leaving viewers on their toes throughout, even if murder wasn’t a central theme. You aren’t quite sure where you’re headed with her, which is entirely what makes her so fascinating.
Richie Jerimovich
The Bear
From his introduction in The Bear, Richie makes his presence known in whatever room he’s in. Yet, at the beginning of Season 2, Richie struggles to find his place at Carmy and Sydney’s new restaurant. The once cocky, foul-mouthed manager of The Original Beef of Chicagoland is now insecure and purposeless. In the flashback episode, “Fishes,” audiences see that Richie has been pretty stagnant for most of his adult life, making mistake after mistake in the prep work for the opening while his ex-wife is moving forward as he’s trying to hold on to some kind of relationship with her and his daughter. Richie appears to be falling apart; that is, until his centric episode, “Forks.” In its short runtime, something special happens — Richie transforms.
He learns what it means to bet on himself and actually try. His small victories fuel a new drive in him that’s hard to look away from, even winning the respect of the staff and the owner, played by the Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman. By the end of the episode, when Richie is alone in his car jamming to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story (Taylor’s Version), we can’t help but cheer along with him. Afterward, Richie commands a new kind of attention than he used to have. He carries himself with confidence and a new sense of purpose that can’t be ignored. From assisting Sugar in conducting front-of-house interviews to adopting suits as his new uniform, Richie takes ownership and carves a space for himself. It all comes together cathartically when Richie steps up as an expo after Carmy gets trapped in the walk-in refrigerator. Where he used to butt heads with Sydney, now he’s earned her respect and trust. Richie brings Carmy’s kitchen back from the brink, resulting in a victorious moment. In a season filled with all-star cameos and new types of pressure cooker anxiety, Richie rises to the top of the pack as someone the audience can actually root for. [BY: Meredith Loftus]
Nikolai Lantsov
Shadow and Bone
Nikolai Lantsov is the roguish scene stealer in Leigh Bardugo’s books, so it’s only natural that he does the same the moment he steps onto the screen in Shadow and Bone Season 2. While the season is far from perfect, and some arcs remain up in the air, Nikolai’s characterization and, simultaneously, Patrick Gibson’s exceptional performances ensure that the pirate privateer stands out.
Further, it’s not just in sly moments where he declares that people should’ve heard of him or when he corrects the moniker he wears as Sturmhond, but in the exhibition of compassion where he proves that, like many of the heroes on the show, he deserves the attention. A character like Nikolai was always going to be memorable, but Gibson takes it up a notch with performances that are both subtle and tastefully dramatic.
Honorable Mentions: Nick Zhao (With Love), Simone Jackson (Daisy Jones and The Six), Wylan Hendricks (Shadow and Bone), Ivy Woods (Miss Scarlet and the Duke), Logan Roy (Succession).