Best of 2023: Performances

Best of 2023: Performances features spoilers for various shows. Please be advised if there’s something you don’t want to know.

Year after year, performances continue to get better and expand the world of television in a way that nothing else could. Sometimes, the performer is so good they’re the sole reason you’re sticking around. And sometimes, the performer isn’t given the proper credit they deserve because prestigious academies continue to disregard genre television.

For the Best of 2023 performances, each person in this category did something unforgettable, something indescribable, and left us in awe more on more than one occasion. And in a year where the SAG AFTRA strike happened, we’re even more honored to acknowledge them.

For more end-of-the-year coverage, be sure to check out our Best of 2023: Romance Novels, the Best of 2023: Romantic Scenes, the Best of 2023: Found Families, the Best of 2023: Scene Stealers, the Best of 2023: Romantic Relationships, and the Best of 2023: TV Episodes.

Hannah Waddingham
Ted Lasso

The world is a better place for Hannah Waddingham’s talent gracing our screens every year, and if Season 3 is truly the end for Ted Lasso, then we were blessed with one of the best adventures of our lives with Rebecca Welton’s story and Waddingham’s embodiment of her. From the moment she steps onto the screen, she commands the room like no other, but the third season also throws wrenches in her path and solidifies that the road ahead will be far from easy. How Waddingham takes the words on the page and adds incomparable layers to Rebecca’s emotions is no small feat. Waddingham understands every layer of Rebecca Welton’s beating heart, and the fact becomes abundantly more evident through every episode. She rises to challenges in a way that I’ve not seen an actress do in many years, adding the kind of insurmountable depth that should result in bountiful character studies.

As Rebecca permits herself to let loose amid the stressful high stakes before she comes to the understanding that it’s a beautiful game regardless of wins or losses, Waddingham shows the audience every bit of the progression, allowing us to consistently pinpoint every moment where something cracks and heals and stirs inside of her. Few actors can make us cry when they cry, and Waddingham is one of them because it’s in those raw moments where you can clearly see that she’s carrying so much of the character’s weight with her. It’s easy to love Rebecca Welton for how layered and complex she is, but it’s even easier to understand her because Waddingham does so with an abundance of care and consideration that heightens every emotion.

Sarah Snook
Succession

The actors on Succession have each had the kind of year that doesn’t happen too often in television, and it’s a large part of why our Best of 2023 Performances list is so hard to construct. Yet, in every way, Sarah Snook stepped up as Shiv Roy, taking her from one of my least favorite characters (whose performances were still excellent, always) to someone whose pain becomes achingly palpable. Snook delivers on the side of Shiv tucked behind narcissism, greed, and cruelty, making her look and feel so small in an episode like “Connor’s Wedding,” making it even more excruciating to watch. For a moment, Shiv Roy isn’t a grown adult capable of taking an empire—she’s a little girl suffocating with disbelief and unsure how to deal with the colossal pain engulfing her.

Snook’s range as Shiv Roy has been inimitable from the beginning, but what she brings to the final season is a tour-de-force in every way—a wide array of paralyzing feelings and uncertainties that could’ve easily been overdone. In the final season, nearly every beat is more natural than the one before, momentarily making the Roy family feel a little too real. To go from a grieving woman to one who learns she’s pregnant without an ounce of a clue of how to cope with it all requires a skill set that’s hard to come by. And in the show’s final moments, Snook’s expressiveness tells us stories beyond the words on the page, hurling a plethora of emotions onto the screen with chilling silence.

Amita Suman
Shadow and Bone

At any given point in Shadow and Bone Season 2, Amita Suman shows viewers far more than the words Inej Ghafa speaks aloud. With this, she invariably proves that she is perfectly cast as the Wraith and an actress whose journey is only beginning. We said it back in 2021, but what Suman embodies is something that takes many stars years and various roles to master. Suman’s performances have been a gift since the first season, but everything she does in Season 2 takes it up multiple notches, giving us quiet insights into Inej’s heart and trauma. Suman understands the colossal burdens the character carries better than anyone else, exhibiting them subtly to the audience before she is ready to voice them.

She shows us the enormous heart within the character, the love brimming for all her friends, and she ensures that the trust she showcases is inarguable. How she fights and breaks through the chains within her, enabling our heartaches to come to the forefront as we watch her, is utterly brilliant. She was born to play the character, bringing her to life in a way that’s wholeheartedly rare in book-to-screen adaptations. It’s why we need the show to be renewed, to see everything else that Suman can show us when we finally get the Six of Crows spinoff that’ll dive into her backstory. Nothing in her performance is overdone; everything feels raw and real and so incredibly sensational that, if nothing else, it’s all been a gift.

Brie Larson
Lessons in Chemistry

Lessons in Chemistry isn’t always easy to watch after the second episode, but Brie Larson brings some of her best performances since Room to the small screen, and she does so seamlessly. Elizabeth Zott is a character who’s always thinking, always planning, and always feeling and with this, Larson unfailingly ensures that her expressions fill in all the blank spaces. The screenplay is rich because of the novel, but the performances anchor the series in such a way that the character becomes enamoring to all kinds of viewers. We don’t always have to understand Elizabeth to know that she’s trying to do her best, adding layers and complexity to a woman who’s more guarded than anything else.

There’s an edge in the character that almost makes her intimidating at first, yet episode by episode, Larson softens up when she begins to trust someone, allowing her to feel even more layered and real. Through this, the character never changes herself, but while trust strengthens, the audience’s understanding grows deeper as her walls come down. In the hands of another actress, Elizabeth Zott could’ve been too much of one thing, yet Larson boldly exhibits her complexities by consistently showing us everything we should know about the character.

Christina Chong
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ anthology format relies on characters selling the story and, by extension, the actors bringing them to life in noteworthy ways. There’s not a single lackluster performer on the series, making each episode that focuses on someone that much more special. But in Strange New Worlds Season 2, there’s something deeply haunting about Christina Chong’s performances as La’an Noonien-Singh that’s hard to forget, making her an inevitable choice for our Best of 2023 performances. She carries the weight of her ancestors and last name like a cross, but more than that, it’s the depth in which she allows her to feel.

With this vast history, there’s a lot riding on Chong’s back to bring the character’s acute awareness and cloaked heartaches to life. Season 2 gives La’an moments of respite, but simultaneously, it forces her to crack open her walls, letting someone in, only to lose them again. It puts her through one tumultuous wringer after another, giving Chong ample material to show her chops. She does exceptionally in each episode, no matter which character she’s with, but in Season 2, much of this comes to life especially well with Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk. Or, crying alone in her bedroom, which we still can’t stop thinking about.

Quinta Brunson
Abbott Elementary

Every performer in Abbott Elementary belongs on this list because, since the show’s premiere, they’ve all been bringing their A-game in wonderfully thoughtful ways, layering the characters we know and love with the kind of embodiment that makes the show far more appealing than an average mockumentary. On a show like Abbott Elementary, a lot is also riding on its main character, and in the same way that Amy Poehler consistently grew and perfected her performances as Leslie Knope, Quinta Brunson does the same, both on paper as a writer and executive producer and in her scenes on-screen.

Janine Teagues goes through a great deal of changes from the moment we meet her in the first episode, but she’s tested most in Season 2, allowing Brunson to dig into her past to show us why she is the way that she is today. Brunson imbues the character with a plethora of heart, compassion, and depth, permitting us to understand that there’s far more brewing within the character’s shining optimism. There’s a woman wanting to burst forward and continue to make everyone’s day better, and in the hands of a lesser-skilled actress, a character like Janine could maybe fall into shadows and feel too cheesy and unrealistic. However, Brunson brings her layers out subtly, consistently showcasing why characters like her matter and why they’re worth paying attention to. Much of this is especially true when we meet Janine’s mom and understand all the layers within her that Brunson only shows us silence.

Tom Hiddleston
Loki

Since 2011, Tom Hiddleston has been bringing some of the finest work to the MCU as Loki, taking him from a ruthless villain to a chaotic god out for his own glory and then thrusting him toward the most rewarding hero’s journey. The writing has always been fantastic for Loki, but what Tom Hiddleston does with the character is genuinely indescribable. One look into his eyes and eons of heartaches cascade through, showing us everything he can’t say aloud. So much of his vulnerability starts to become more explicit in Thor: Ragnarok, but everything he does in Loki the series ups the dial. As a performer, Hiddleston’s range is otherworldly—he knows the character inside out, and with everything he does, he tries to ensure that the audience understands him, too.

There’s much we’re in the dark about, but when we look closely at what Hiddleston’s showing us, Loki’s heart comes to the surface every single time. And it’s because Hiddleston hints at what the character is trying to unravel that when we do get to heartbreaking confessions and moments of profound vulnerability, they hit like shards of glass straight to the face. Loki’s journey is about understanding the fact that vulnerability isn’t a weakness but it’s a strength. Softness isn’t bad or something to laugh at, but softness takes immense bravery and heart. It’s easier to take the darker path that’ll lead to chaos and death, but it’s so achingly hard to choose to be alone because it’s what’s necessary to protect those we love. Hiddleston was born to play Loki, and the full range of emotions he delivers in every scene makes the character’s journey infinitely better. He’s a character who’ll be remembered for a long time, associated rightfully with all those who care about him deeply.

Kieran Culkin
Succession

Like his scene partners Sarah Snook and Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin stepped up his game in Succession’s final season, delivering some of the most gut-wrenching TV performances to date. We knew he’d be in our Best of 2023 performances list from the show’s opening episode, but the emotional collapse he exhibits in the penultimate “Church and State” certifies our beliefs. In the same way that Snook accomplishes making Shiv feel so small for a beat, Culkin touches on some of the most perilous parts of grief when he realizes mid-speech what’s happening. In our scene breakdown of the episode, I said: “Grief doesn’t care if you have to give a eulogy or if everyone’s watching—it comes quickly, and it impales you in such a lamentable manner that all you can do is feel the pain gushing out of you. That’s what happens to Roman as he starts to grasp that his father is not only gone, but he’s lying in a closed casket from where there’s no way out.”

And it’s through Culkin’s performance that these emotions come to life far too realistically, portraying what it truly looks like to drown in a sea of sorrow there’s no way to prepare for. Roman isn’t a likable character—none of them are, quite frankly, yet the actors make us care about the damaging factors eating them alive. And they do so, particularly well in moments like this where the emotions are so human, there’s no perceptive way to describe the rawness. Season 4 marks Culkin’s best performance to date, and if there’s one person we’re rooting for during awards season, it’s him.

Pedro Pascal
The Last of Us

Many non-gamers turned to The Last of Us because of Pedro Pascal, and he once again proved that there’s nothing he can’t do and no role he can’t admirably disappear into. Some actors, no matter how great they are, stay in the role they’re best known for, but Pascal transforms so effortlessly that you have to wonder how such raw talent exists. There are similarities between Joel and other characters he’s played, yet every beat feels refreshing, intriguing, and wholly nuanced without taking from elsewhere.

Pascal’s performances and the on-screen chemistry he shares with his co-stars make the show easy to watch, even when it’s not a viewer’s general cup of tea. When he grieves, we grieve right alongside him. When he allows himself a moment of reprieve, we feel that burden lifting off of our shoulders too. Pedro Pascal is an enamoring performer in every way, but especially in how he manages to layer gruffness with a fragility that feels incredibly believable. He brings something inherently comforting to the screen, even when situations are bleak, which adds the necessary heart to the dark property to make it palatable.

Phil Dunster
Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso’s setup of character journeys is one of the show’s most inimitable strengths, and Jamie Tartt’s is inarguably at the top of the list. What Phil Dunster ultimately accomplishes at the end of the show’s run is bringing every minuscule beat to fruition with the kind of character growth we rarely see on television. Jamie is a uniquely nuanced character who would’ve fumbled in the hands of a lesser skilled actor, but Dunster could take him from someone saying “poop-eh” to confessing his doubts and insecurities to his mom with the most effortlessly heart-pounding transition.

For three years, we’ve been building up to him becoming a team player—something Dunster has always been off-screen, so to see it translate on our television screens made for some of the most incredible spectacles in the show’s history. There’s also every little detail he brings to life in “Sunflowers,” allowing the character to shine in a carefully vulnerable way to exhibit why he is the way he is. Through every beat, big or small, in Ted Lasso’s third season, Phil Dunster does something undeniably exquisite every time he’s on screen, whether he’s apologizing to Keeley, cracking jokes, confessing some of his heartaches, or playing the game, there are bountiful ways to excavate the astoundingly satisfying character journey we experience alongside him. He’s long overdue for an Emmy, too, so while he brings one of our Best of 2023 performances, we firmly believe he needs every accolade out there.

Jeremy Strong
Succession

Kendall Roy will always be my number one boy, largely due to Jeremy Strong’s magnificent performances. On paper, Kendall is unlikeable, hypocritical, and, at times, very cringe-worthy. On screen, Strong is more than capable of depicting those elements in such a way that may make viewers physically recoil. So then, why root for Kendall Roy with such fierceness? Strong has the unique talent of not only shining during Kendall’s worst moments but leaping during the secondborn’s best. This dual range is amplified by Stong’s ability to bring a sense of humility. Whatever the scene—Kendall is a complex character, and Strong’s prowess shows that he is someone who has spent his entire life being kicked down by the man he’s trying to please the most.

One of the highlights of Strong’s performance is how much emotion he exudes in silence. What frequently comes to mind is Kendall’s relationship with water, which viewers know often reflects his headspace at the time. What frequently comes to mind is Kendall’s relationship with water, which viewers know often reflects his headspace at the time, and two scenes from Season 4 stand out in this regard: the beach scene and the final scene of the series of Kendall staring out to the water. The beach scene is Kendall at is prime, but if someone ever required an image demonstrating loss and defeat, all one needs is a screenshot of those final seconds in the series. There is not one word of dialogue for Strong to utter as he makes the slow walk toward the water with a pained expression on his face. And yet, the viewer understands that at that moment, Kendall Roy is processing and mourning what he considered the purpose of his life. [BY: Alice Sarkisyan]

Freddy Carter
Shadow and Bone

So much of what we get in Shadow and Bone Season 1 relies on Freddy Carter to show us what isn’t apparent about Kaz Brekker’s backstory. In Season 2, we finally get to deep dive straight into the character’s mind to probe apart the corridors he doesn’t show a single soul, and in every way, Carter consistently brings his A-game, delivering heartaches and terrors too big for Dirtyhands to carry. When he needs to be vicious and cruel, Carter plays him with no light or remorse, but when he needs to crack open his walls, we get glimpses into the small flicker of light still residing inside of him.

It’s so easy to overdo a villain arc or to showcase too much rage, but the right balance is often tricky to nail down. Yet, Carter does this throughout the seasons, amplifying every emotion necessary to exhibit to viewers everything he feels and withholds. What we get during the confrontation with Pekka Rollins alone is riveting on all fronts entirely because of the actor’s full range of emotions. Carter holds nothing back while simultaneously maintaining the level of control necessary for the character’s mannerisms to continue shining through that. In the same way that Amita Suman was born to play Inej Ghafa, the same can be said about Freddy Carter, who brings emotions to life in ways that feel like we’re getting the book’s inner monologue simply by looking into the expressions he wears.

Honorable Mentions: Jonathan Bailey (Fellow Travelers), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Blindspotting), Riley Keough (Daisy Jones and the Six), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building), Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us).