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Some of Hollywood’s finest have delivered unforgettable performances that few saw at the time. Join us as we highlight extraordinary acting in overlooked films, featuring Ryan Reynolds’ gritty turn in “Mississippi Grind,” Kristen Stewart’s chilling role in “Personal Shopper,” Jennifer Aniston’s raw emotion in “Cake,” Michael Fassbender’s harrowing portrayal in “Hunger,” and more. Discover hidden cinematic gems and the talent behind them.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the actors whose greatest
00:09work was in movies that nobody showed up for when they were released.
00:30While making his name as a master of snarky self-aware comedy, Ryan Reynolds was also
00:41flexing his acting muscles in a series of offbeat projects. Mississippi Grind sees him as one half
00:47of a gambling duo tearing a path across the United States. It was a huge departure from
00:52Reynolds' rom-com roles of the period. Critics heaped massive amounts of praise onto the
01:06Deadpool actor, with at least one calling it a career-best performance. The movie's limited
01:11run in theaters meant that very few people ever saw it. It grossed under half a million dollars
01:17on a $7 million budget.
01:22No, you're a hero. A new American legend.
01:27Number 9, Kristen Stewart, Personal Shopper.
01:30Sure, I mean, if you could keep your mouth shut, maybe, but you totally dicked me over
01:34the last time I did it.
01:35The Twilight actress's first collaboration with French director Olivier Osias, 2012's
01:40Clouds of Sils Maria earned her a César Award. With their second collaboration, Kristen Stewart
01:46continued to prove she was more than Bella Swan. Personal Shopper is a slippery psychological thriller
01:52about a woman who believes she's made contact with her late brother.
01:55I mean, there are invisible presences around us, always. And whether or not there is the
02:03souls of the dead, I don't know, but…
02:05Stewart's subdued performance pairs nicely with the movie's eerie narrative. Although
02:10it didn't make much money and failed to find a large audience in its original release,
02:15her work stood out with critics. She earned several nominations for Best Actress Awards.
02:20I don't know. I wasn't considering the jewelry at that point. I didn't notice.
02:27Number 8, Jennifer Aniston, Cake.
02:31I'm alive.
02:32I see.
02:33Did that, huh?
02:34Good. You're not dead. I don't have to break in and call the police. Whew. That's
02:39a relief.
02:40As a mother trying to dull her pain in the aftermath of her son's death, the role of Claire
02:45and Cake is about as far from Rachel Green as Aniston could get. She scored nods from
02:51the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards for her work in the film. Aniston gives as real and
02:56vulnerable a performance as any actor known primarily for comedy.
03:00The movie isn't marked by histrionics or big tearful scenes. That's what makes it so remarkable. Cake just
03:17follows her haunted character through the everyday horrors of dealing with massive emotional trauma.
03:22A man hires a hitman to take out his own mother, and things just devolve from there. The hitman
03:30in question is played by Matthew McConaughey in a role far from the laid-back ones he's
03:35most known for. Equal parts terrifying and soulful, Killer Joe Cooper is one of his most complex parts.
03:42A tuna casserole.
03:45Yes.
03:46May I serve?
03:47Please.
03:48There's a lot to chew on.
03:49A man hires a hitman to take out his own mother, and things just devolve from there.
03:52The hitman in question is played by Matthew McConaughey in a role far from the laid-back ones
03:55he's most known for. Equal parts terrifying and soulful, Killer Joe Cooper is one of his most
03:58complex parts.
04:00May I serve?
04:03Please.
04:04There's a lot to chew on with him, and McConaughey makes a meal of the character's cold-blooded
04:09brutality and his weirdly boyish charm. The Motion Picture Association slapped it with a
04:14rare but damning NC-17 rating for its excessive violence and sexual themes, and the film bombed
04:20at the box office.
04:22You've all probably noticed that Dottie and I have been spending an awful lot of time together.
04:28Fact is, we've fallen in love.
04:316.
04:33John Travolta, Blowout
04:35Hey, how about that drink?
04:36Some other time, okay?
04:38Sally, I mean, hey look, I saved your life. I mean, the least you could do is have a drink
04:42with me.
04:43Although his performance as a disco-dancing Lothario in Saturday Night Fever established
04:47him as an icon, John Travolta's best performance may be in this Hitchcockian thriller from 1981.
04:54In Blowout, he plays a sound designer who accidentally records proof that a politician's
04:59fatal car crash was sabotage. An underseen masterpiece of suspense, Blowout gives him
05:04the chance to be an action star, a romantic lead, and a tragic hero all in one go.
05:10He turns in a performance that's not just exciting, but incredibly tragic.
05:15This guy's dead for Christ's sake. None of this shit's gonna do him any good now.
05:18This isn't for him! I know he's dead!
05:21Don't you understand that if they can get away with this and kill McRyan, who's next?
05:25Unfortunately, the movie suffered from bad word of mouth when it was released, and it
05:30took years for it to be rediscovered as an undersung classic.
05:33Your phone is out of order. My phone is not out of order. I've been here all day. I made a phone call.
05:40Here, listen.
05:42Number 5. Michael Fassbender – Hunger
05:45Many actors have put themselves through brutal transformations for a role.
05:56Michael Fassbender's work in Hunger features some of the most extreme measures an actor has
06:01ever taken to play a real-life person. He plays Bobby Sands, the IRA member who died while
06:07leading a massive hunger strike in protest of the conditions at a Northern Irish prison.
06:12The film is definitely not a pleasant experience.
06:19Hunger even inspired walkouts in its initial screening at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
06:25Fassbender's work is a huge reason why it's a must-see.
06:28It's rare to see an actor so committed to a performance with every part of themselves.
06:33I could take the punishment for all our boys. I had the respect of them other boys now, and I knew that.
06:41I could take the punishment.
06:43Number 4. Philip Seymour Hoffman – Synecdoche, New York
06:47And he'll get notes too, and those notes will correspond to the notes I truly receive every day from my God.
06:54Some of this brilliant actor's best work was in small independent movies.
06:59Synecdoche, New York is a prime example. Dazzling, surreal, and high-minded, this movie isn't exactly accessible.
07:06While the film has been called brilliant by some, pretentious by others, and confusing by most, Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance is a standout.
07:21He plays a director whose life and career begin to crumble around him as he takes on an ambitious theatrical production.
07:28Hoffman sculpts the character across space and time, following him through decades of devotion to his work as he loses his grip on his life.
07:35All those thoughts. I never know. That's the truth of it.
07:42Number 3. Scarlett Johansson – Under the Skin
07:46Under the Skin
07:56A science fiction story told on a small scale, Under the Skin sees Scarlett Johansson playing an enigmatic alien whose experience disguising herself as a human slowly transforms her.
08:07Meditative and studied, the movie wouldn't work without her ability to convey humanity and otherworldliness all at once.
08:22She has minimal dialogue, as most of the movie is just her observing people and interacting with them briefly, and she's mesmerizing to watch.
08:29Under the Skin was a critical darling and nabbed plenty of awards attention when it was released.
08:35However, it remains an art house hit rather than a mainstream one.
08:48Number 2. Ashley Judd – Bug
08:51In the mid-2000s, the star of movies like Double Jeopardy and Where the Heart Is was making her mark in indie flicks.
09:08Bug, a thriller adapted from the Tracy Let's Play, might just be her very best work.
09:13The movie has since fallen into obscurity, and it's a shame.
09:17It's a timely piece about conspiracy theories, paranoia, and echo chambers.
09:22I'm just trying to play that devil's advocate thing here, okay?
09:24Okay, okay.
09:25Maybe, maybe, um, you're looking for a connection to the army, so you're just more likely…
09:29No, both ways.
09:30Both ways.
09:31Hear me out!
09:32Judd plays a server living in a motel who slips further and further into paranoid delusions after taking in a Gulf War veteran.
09:38Radra Ebert called her and her co-star Michael Shannon's work frightening.
09:42Judd was praised in nearly every major review of the movie.
09:46I am the super mother bug!
09:51I am the super mother bug! Oh my god!
09:55Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:00Adam Sandler – The Meyerowitz Stories
10:03Sandler plays the ne'er-do-well son in a family of overachievers.
10:07I still hate myself.
10:09That broken arm made you so sad.
10:13There when you shot at the empty end.
10:16Oscar Isaac – A Most Violent Year
10:19Released in the middle of his career come up, this performance got lost in the shuffle.
10:24Is that when it feels scary to jump, Ian, that is exactly when you jump.
10:30Jonah Hill – Don't worry, he won't get far on foot. Even the actor says it's his best work, but blame streamer Amazon for bungling the release.
10:39I do have a lot of piglets at the moment.
10:42What are piglets? I need a sponsor.
10:44My sponsees are piglets.
10:46That's funny.
10:48Jack Black – Bernie
10:50His role as a mild-mannered murderer is a far cry from his usual bombastic characters.
10:56Room service.
10:57Hi, just dropping by again, Mrs. Nugent. Pay my respects. Brought you some soaps and a little bubble bath to soothe you in the tub.
11:04Kate Beckinsale – Love and Friendship
11:07A sharpened version of the Jane Austen drama sees Beckinsale as a matchmaking widow.
11:12What a mistake you made marrying Mr. Johnson. Too old to be governable, too young to die.
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11:341. Robert De Niro – The King of Comedy
11:39Robert De Niro stars as Rupert Pupkin, a wannabe stand-up comic who goes to extreme length to make his delusions of grandeur a reality.
12:01For an actor who's given so many incredible performances, this might be his very best.
12:06I didn't even ask you for money and I can't even pay my rent! What are you talking about? I live in a hovel! And you live in a townhouse! I can't believe this girl!
12:14It doesn't have the iconic dialogue of Taxi Driver, but Pupkin is terrifying in a totally different way than Travis Bickle.
12:21Unfortunately, the film wasn't what audiences expected from a Scorsese-De Niro collaboration.
12:28It was only after four decades of reflection and the movie's influence on Joker that people started giving The King of Comedy the respect it deserves.
12:36Tomorrow you'll know that I wasn't kidding and you'll think I was crazy. But look, I figure it this way. Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime.
12:44What's an underseen performance that you think should have made the list? Tell us in the comments.
12:50I put my name on a list. I waited for my chance and now they finally have a place for me.
12:54You don't know anything about fires. You'll get burned up.
12:56I've been reading about them. I know enough.
12:58You've been reading about them? You've been studying up?
13:01Don't turn my words on me, Gene!
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