Best of 2025: Performances features spoilers for various shows. Please be advised if there’s something you don’t want to know.
Every year, the performances are what keep us invested. In the words of Nicole Kidman, we come to this place for magic. We come to this place to discover who we’ll be rooting for come award season, and how we’ll likely follow their careers to the end of time because they’re that good. And in every way, they never disappoint us.
From expected stars to new shows allowing us to discover new talent, the Best of 2025 performances list is stacked.
For more end-of-the-year coverage, be sure to check out our Best of 2025: Romantic Scenes, the Best of 2025: Found Families, the Best of 2025: Romantic Relationships, and the Best of 2025: TV Episodes.
Best of 2025 Performances – Actresses
Dichen Lachman
Severance
It’s not only impossible to pick a single woman performer from Severance, but it’s also impossible to talk about their range. And everything that Dichen Lachman brings to the table still haunts me. How she delivers everything as Gemma in the past, then shifts to Miss Casey and back, is why we single out performances every year. It feels like something that should be easy, yet the challenges are vast, and she delivers perfectly. She makes it look and feel effortless.
Gemma Scout, in general, deserves better. The character goes through too much during the season, but as an actress, Lachman also deserves more hype. Award season came and went, but far too many people slept on her masterful performance. And what she brings to the table isn’t just one of the Best of 2025 performances, but it’s one of the best performances of all time. Something for the books. Something we’ll always want to scream about.
Taylor Dearden
The Pitt
A large part of The Pitt’s success this year is entirely because of the performances actors bring to the emergency room, and none have been more memorable quite like Taylor Dearden’s as Mel King. In fairness, all the performances—especially from the women—are genuinely everything, and while Noah Wyle may be the face of the show, it’s the women I’m personally sticking around for. Mel King and Taylor Dearden, especially as the embodiment of kindness and sensitivity in a way that we haven’t seen in years. But from the moment Mel comes into the frame with her giddy optimism to the instant we leave her in the finale, Dearden delivers something deeply endearing.
Dearden has spoken about how she incorporates her own ADHD into the character, and it’s perhaps what makes her shine so brightly. Mel is the fan favorite character for a reason, and it’s entirely because Dearden’s embodiment relies heavily on understanding everything the character stands for—her goodness, her kindness, her sense of humor, her heart. Dearden understands her motives and all that she values, which in turn allows her to fill every interaction with hints of something more to allow us more insight into the character during the span of a single day.
Carrie Coon
The Gilded Age
Carrie Coon is an undeniable star. She’s the best part of The White Lotus Season 3, which was also released this year, but it’s her performance as Bertha Russell in The Gilded Age Season 3 that brilliantly stands out. Coon is always captivating as she steps into Bertha’s shoes, but the emotional roller coaster that the writing puts her through allows the actress to deliver something tremendous as she deep dives into a place of vulnerability we don’t often see Bertha go through. It’s especially prevalent in the penultimate and finale as George and Larry shut her out, and when we watch her experience the tormenting fear of thinking she’s about to lose her husband. Coon does something extraordinary as she gives us a wide range of emotions within a span of two episodes.
The sheer fact that her face is the last one we see at the end of Season 3 is everything to leave viewers with one of the most haunting shots as a reminder of everything she goes through. Because it’s in that scene and in that moment, where an entire reel of pain and sorrow and happiness plays on Bertha’s face as she watches George ride away moments after Gladys’ news. It’s for that moment alone that Carrie Coon deserves all the awards.
Keri Russell
The Diplomat
If we’re talking about compelling, “flawed” female characters, Kate Wyler absolutely should be on the list. In The Diplomat‘s third season, Russell is downright ferocious. She’s still the messy maverick we’ve come to love, but she’s in so, so much deeper now.
As Kate navigates an unexpected wrench in both her career and her marriage, Russell plays that storm of conflicting emotions perfectly. Kate is a woman of thwarted ambitions – but ambitions even she wouldn’t admit to herself she wants. Combine that with glimpses of a more playful or even romantic side, and it’s a recipe for acting excellence. [BY: Amanda Prahl]
Rhea Seehorn
Pluribus
Rhea Seehorn is one of those generational talents that we keep screaming about because she never got her Emmy flowers for Kim Wexler across Better Call Saul’s run. She’s a captivating performer who always brings a unique level of depth to her roles. Every expression, every line delivery just lands exactly right. Perhaps Seehorn’s greatest achievement yet is making her latest character, Carol Sturka, in Apple TV’s Pluribus, relatable, despite being very unlikable at times.
Carol is one of a handful who don’t assimilate into an alien hive mind that invades the planet through a virus. She’s angry, jaded, grieving, and deeply lonely. Her eruptive anger has consequences; her inquisitive nature blends with her sarcasm as she learns the new rules of life as she knows it, and she struggles to create connections after losing her business/romantic partner. Seehorn takes this complex character and turns her into one of the most compelling protagonists. It’s riveting to discover new layers to Carol as she interacts with Zosia and the hive mind. This series would not work without Seehorn anchoring Carol. Maybe this will be the role that finally awards her. [BY: Meredith Loftus]
Sarah Snook
All Her Fault
Sarah Snook was incredible in Succession, so we all knew what she was capable of, but everything the actress brings to the table in All Her Fault is haunting. Simply too good. From the moment she starts to crumble to the final few moments, Snook delivers a wide range of big emotions that feel grounded and thoroughly thoughtful.
Even if she weren’t the most important character in the series, she’d still stand out as the show’s MVP for how much she can deliver in a single scene. For how every expression isn’t just that of a mother who’s terrified for her son, but one who’s rightfully distrustful of everyone beside her. The way she processes every revelation, big or small, is an achievement alone to showcase what a mother she truly is, allowing the role to be so different from anything she’s done before.
Ayo Edebiri
The Bear
The Bear Season 4 isn’t exactly the show’s strongest, but the performance Ayo Edebiri brings to the last episode is something we moved on too quickly from. The episode is also one that’s worthy of being celebrated this year, but Edebiri’s performance doesn’t miss a single beat in showing us how far Sydney has come. She’s at her wits’ end. Everything is too much. Limits are being crossed, and there are decisions being made that don’t exactly add up, yet she consistently delivers.
It’s also worth pointing out that how the episode is shot makes the performances feel twice as evocative. We’re frustrated alongside these characters. We’re breaking with them. We’re annoyed with them, and when it all ends, their emotions move in the space between us, lingering for days. Edebiri is always one of the most memorable performers in the show, but what we get in Season 4 is something else entirely, and there are few words to describe how incredible it is.
Jenna Ortega
Wednesday
Jenna Ortega continues to shine as the titular Addams in Wednesday, and the show’s sophomore season is further proof of her prowess. Tackling the character’s daily woes at Nevermore Academy is one thing, uncovering long-hidden family secrets is another, and portraying Enid Sinclair stuck in Wednesday’s body is a completely different story.
It’s evident that Ortega has a blast throughout the episode as she embodies a different version of the character, but the emotional pangs that crossover are what make her performance so extraordinary. In the show’s second season, Wednesday is already far more established, but every new layer that Ortega adds to her makes her even more compelling. We said it during the show’s debut season, but the life she breathes into the character is so wholly unique and still so comfortingly familiar, which is a rarity on its own.
Rose McIver
Ghosts
In the past five years, Rose McIver has consistently brought incredible performances to our screens as well as some of the best accent work on TV. But everything we get in “It’s a Wonderful Christmas Carol” made me sure of the fact that I had to rearrange our entire Best of 2025 Performances list to add her name. Because so much of Ghosts relies on McIver, and she rises to every challenge with such admirable nuances and layers that it’s consistently impressive.
The further development we see in the back half of Season 4 and the first few episodes of Season 5 are tremendous to reveal how far Sam’s come and the magnitude of the love she carries in her heart for the ghosts. McIver shows all of this and more, while also doing some incredible work to reveal how much the character is continuously trying to find herself. The mid-season finale is an especially great showcase of her talents as we get new sides of her alongside a new possession that allows her to play with a full range of emotions expertly.
Sadie Laflamme-Snow
The Way Home
The performances in The Way Home continue to be astounding, and this year, it’s Sadie Laflamme-Snow who brings her A-game. Week after week, Laflamme-Snow brilliantly holds her own with her co-stars, delivering compelling performances that not only heighten the emotions in the scene but they make every beat of Alice’s character journey feel raw. It’s not always easy to make a tearful scene feel effective without overdoing it, yet Alice consistently feels real and grounded, making every minute she’s on screen that much more evocative.
Laflamme-Snow is especially brilliant in the Season 3 finale as her character’s journey takes us through to the beginning of the show and all the way to the present, where every beat feels like we’re watching a time capsule brought to life. The season concluded in March, and by the end of that final frame, it was obvious that Sadie Laflamme-Snow would have a spot in our Best of 2025 performances list. The vulnerability—the sheer heart with which she embodies Alice with is so captivating, I can’t wait to see how she’ll grow and evolve.
Best of 2025 Performances – Actors
Adam Scott
Severance
We all knew that Severance’s return would result in another inimitable performance from Adam Scott, and it proved to be true from the second episode. Scott is on another level as Mark carefully (and with a plethora of frustration) unravels the truth behind his wife’s “death,” everything that’s taking place at Lumon, his budding feelings for Helly, and the agony that continues to follow him as a human being stuck in a never-ending cycle. Scott’s range is one that most don’t recognize if they haven’t watched countless media properties he’s in, but his precision is everything.
He never plays the same character twice, but more impressively, he ensures that his embodiment is so accurate that, as we’re watching, we don’t think of anyone else but who he is on our screens. Everything that Mark goes through is heightened with Scott’s performances, allowing us to understand so much more in the words unsaid. How he softens himself at some points, exudes rage, breaks down, and also gives us a completely different version of the character we know in the flashback episode, “Chikhai Bardo,” is a worthy accomplishment that continues to show off his incredible chops. He is, after all, the face of Severance, and it’s unquestionably deserved even more so after Season 2. In my book, he’s also the Emmy winner. Sorry, not sorry.
Diego Luna
Andor
Diego Luna’s performance in Andor isn’t just great, it’s legendary. It’s one that I imagine most people will rightfully continue to talk about in the way we address Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill because that’s how significant his character is, too. He’s exceptional—indescribable. And Luna was thoroughly riveting in the first season, but everything he delivers in Andor Season 2 is something else entirely. Sheer perfection.
From the first episode to the last, Luna shows us how the revolution is weighing on him, all while still revealing intense and breathtaking determination tucked behind his eyes. He delivers a painful type of grief that feels so transcendent, we feel the depths of it, too. He gives us hope and belief with every expression that then makes his performance in Rogue One that much more compelling, nuanced, and haunting. As Luna shows us every single one of the crosses that Cassian carries, he ensures that we can feel the weight of them, too. He ensures that this performance is one for the books.
Connor Storrie
Heated Rivalry
The majority of this list was finalized in early December, but the second I watched Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov bare his soul to Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry’s Season 1 penultimate episode, I knew I had to rearrange everything because these actors belong on this list. The type of acting we’re getting from both Storrie and Hudson Williams is that of veteran performers who’ve perfected the art through various roles that’ve allowed them to grow and evolve. But both these boys are at the beginning stages of their careers and already on a distinct level of excellence. Storrie’s accent work especially demands praise. Accents are anything but easy, and having to perfect one that also involves speaking another language is an impossible task for some. It’s painfully obvious when they haven’t worked hard at it, but Storrie sets an inimitable example for how it should be done.
Top off that impressive feat with his emotional range, and we have something truly masterful on our screens. This isn’t just me being giddy about a performance, but it’s genuinely accolade-worthy work. Storrie delivers a full range of emotions with such a magnetic pull that every time the camera’s on him, his expressions and body language brilliantly fill the space with all the unsaid words. He gives us everything that’s buried deep in the character’s mind, and that’s a tremendous accomplishment in every way to take note of. Every tear he tries to hold onto, every breath he takes, every slight shift in his body, it’s all so impressive that there are very few words to describe the artistry of it all.
Noah Wyle
The Pitt
From the moment he steps onto our screens, headphones in, head down, it’s clear that Noah Wyle is about to deliver. There’s something indescribably powerful about that first shot and how it kickstarts the downfall from The Pitt’s “7:00 A.M.” to Dr. Robby’s breakdown in “7:00 P.M.” As the kids say, he’s locked in. This role is undoubtedly special for Wyle, and the passion he brings to our screens is unmistakable. (The Academy agrees, as he’s now an Emmy winner.) There’s plenty to highlight about Wyle’s work this season, and his breakdown likely is one of the biggest reasons he’s so highly revered, but what sticks out even more is how brilliantly he exhibits believable compassion.
It’s always admirable when actors bring down their respective characters’ walls and show us what’s behind the armor they wear, but Wyle does an especially gripping job of offering us the gentleness tucked behind his edges and frustrations. We all love watching him go off on anti-vax parents, but it’s the innate goodness he brings that makes his role feel comforting. He’s how a doctor and leader should be. He’s how goodness should come across organically. And every part of the performance sticks the landing because no part of it feels forced.
Hudson Williams
Heated Rivalry
Hudson Williams doesn’t have the accent work like his scene partner, but my God, how he matches beat for beat with greatness in a way that’s otherworldly. Every single time Shane reacts to something or holds something in, Williams devastates me to the point of no return. His reactions evoke something so visceral and dizzying that it’s almost maddening how sensational he is. How his every expression holds a thousand and one words. How he moves with such careful precision. How he matches the book character’s mannerisms every step of the way. It’s all unreal.
Everything about Williams’ work is deeply moving in a manner that can leave us here discussing scenes beat by beat for days, analyzing every shot frame by frame, especially in Episodes 4 and 5. Hudson Williams is on his way toward greatness, and again, the fact that this is just the beginning is such a gift to witness—a monumental moment to be sure, on all fronts. It’s been an especially strong year for performances, and they deserve to be on every list that exists.
Tramell Tillman
Severance
Tramell Tillman was an instant scene stealer the moment he stepped onto the screen in Severance Season 1, but everything is gloriously doubled in Season 2 while he delivers one of the strongest performances of the year. How he manages to be so indescribably sinister and terrifying in one moment, while in the next we’re losing it because he’s leading a marching band, is no small feat. It’s perfect. Period. There’s no other word to describe the magnetism he exudes.
It’s also so impossible to talk about—to even attempt to put into words just how unique and breathtaking his body of work is as a showcase of artistry that really touches on talent that goes beyond what we’re used to. What Tramell Tillman delivers in Severance Season 2 isn’t something we’re going to see for another few years. It’s masterful. It’s art. It’s thoughtful in every way. It’s proof that he’s in a league of his own, and the Emmy Award-winning actor deserves all his flowers.
Stephen Graham
Adolesence
Between Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper, Adolescence is a tour de force in performances. Heartbreaking, unbearable to watch at times, dark, and raw, the series shines because of its stars, and there’s a reason they’re both Emmy winners now. And what Graham does in the role is nearly impossible to define. From the first episode to the last, we get a masterclass that not only emphasizes the passage of time but also the deep-rooted aches that’ll never leave him.
With the narrative shifts in the show’s short run, it’s the performances that illuminate the wounds that’ll forever haunt the Miller family. From the second he appears on our screens to the very last scene, Graham delivers something that’s utterly harrowing. The kind of scene-stealing greatness that’s so hard to watch after everything else throughout the season.
John Cena
Peacemaker
Everything about Peacemaker felt like something that wouldn’t work for my taste, but the second I heard people raving about John Cena’s performance, I knew I had to hop aboard and give it a chance. And I’m thankful I did because Cena not only delivers one of the best performances in 2025, but he delivers one of the strongest performances in the genre. He’s crass and deliberately dismissive most of the time, but the moment the waves of grief wash over him in something snaps in a deeply admirable way. Everything starts to feel more layered.
And Cena especially delivers an unforgettable performance in the Season 2 penultimate, “Like a Keith in the Night,” when his character faces yet another loss that could’ve maybe been prevented. Every emotion is doubled then and comes across so organically that it sticks the landing in a way that’s genuinely indescribable—earned, in every way.
William Zabka
Cobra Kai
From the moment Cobra Kai Season 6 resumes, I had an inkling that William Zabka would be the one to deliver the most unforgettable performance of the season. (And it’s one that’s hard to choose, too, in an arc that’s thoroughly engrossing!) As mentioned in my review, “Award season seldom acknowledges shows like Cobra Kai, but if it were up to me, I’d crown Zabka as the season’s MVP. If you’d told me back in Season 1 that I’d be crying this much for Johnny Lawrence in the final season, I wouldn’t have believed you. Yet everything he brings to the mat is nothing short of exceptional, raw, and overflowing with a full range of emotions that honor the character’s legacy.”
Zabka is especially astounding in the penultimate and the series finale. In many ways, in the same way that the win is riding on Johnny’s shoulders, the performance is on Zabka and everything he brings to the mat. The moment he breaks down with Kreese to the very last scene at the diner with Daniel, Zabka embodies a character who’s worthy of pages and pages full of praise. What could have easily been overdone is instead unquestionably masterful, brilliant, and fully evocative.
Asher Grodman
Ghosts
Asher Grodman and the whole cast are always incredible on Ghosts, but the back half of Season 4 and the first few episodes of Season 5 give him plenty of rich material to continue evolving the character for the better. With the reveal that he has a daughter, there are moments of such tremendous depth woven with wild comedy that only Grodman can now master so effectively since he’s played the character for five seasons. It’s thrilling to watch him navigate the wide range of emotions to continue exhibiting how layered Trevor really is.
It’s something I say often while writing about the show, but if you’d told me back when I first started watching that at some point, the finance bro would make me cry the most, I wouldn’t have believed you. Yet, everything we get with the writing and Grodman’s performance makes Trevor one of the most brilliant characters in any comedy series. His layers are endless, and everything Grodman delivers ensures that every moment in Trevor’s journey feels earned and thoroughly captivating.
Honorable Mentions: Denée Benton (The Gilded Age), Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), Britt Lower (Severance), Domhnall Gleeson (The Paper), Leah Sava Jeffries (Percy Jackson and The Olympians).
Who were your favorite performers of the year? Let us know in the comments below.