10. Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan in “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace”
He makes enormously popular shows, has pioneered new sub-genres (the TV show musical with “Glee“) and formats (the anthology series with “American Horror Story“) and is essentially a one-man television empire now, but still the oeuvre of Ryan Murphy divides The Playlist ranks along “love it!”/”brings me out in hives!” lines. As a result it’s been easy for us to overlook some of the stars that have risen through the ranks of his shows, especially as they often tend to matriculate from one to the other in the self-sustaining ecosystem of the Murphy Televisual Universe. But though this was indeed the case for Darren Criss, whose prior big break was as a series regular on “Glee,” even we couldn’t ignore the exceptional job he did with Murphy’s latest hit. Criss is truly revelatory as Versace’s eventual murderer Andrew Cunanan, delivering a riveting portrait of a Tom Ripley-esque slick fabulist and social climber, whose pathological resentment, ego and sense of entitlement ultimately combine to forge a spree killer. Even when the show’s uneven pacing and overwrought flashback-heavy structure works against it, Criss is completely compelling. It will be interesting to see him on presumably far more straightforwardly heroic form on the big screen next year in Roland Emmerich‘s retelling of one of the key battles of WWII, “Midway,” but at the moment he’s still doing the victory rounds for ‘Versace’; having picked up an Emmy for his performance, he’s quite well fancied to convert today’s Golden Globe nomination into a win too.
9. Jodie Comer as Villanelle in “Killing Eve”
The sweet-faced, wide-eyed Jodie Comer has been a frequent presence on British TV for some time now, building up to a starring role in miniseries “The White Princess” in 2017, in which she played Elizabeth of York, Queen of England and wife of Henry VII. But though playing Queens called Elizabeth has been a surefire breakout for many a starlet before her, it’s been Phoebe Waller-Bridge‘s adaptation of Luke Jennings‘ ‘Villanelle” novels that has really given Comer her shot at the big time, and she has grabbed it with both hands and throttled it into submission. To be fair, the cold-blooded, sociopathically merciless, chameleonic assassin Villanelle is an absolute gift of a part for an actress wanting to show her versatility, as Villanelle herself is such an accomplished actress, easily able to make people believe whichever mask she’s wearing that day. But though she gets to turn from innocent and vulnerable to sly and contemptuous on a dime, it’s the long-term character consistency Comer brings to the mercurial, mischievous murderess that gives “Killing Eve,” for all its twisty plotting, an added dimension of interest. More chilling than all the bloodletting, menacing and scheming that Villanelle does throughout “Killing Eve” is the oceanic darkness hinted to lie beneath her glib, friendly-neighborhood-psychopath surface. Bring on season 2, stat.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlWB28PDV3g/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
8. Helena Howard as Madeline in “Madeline’s Madeline”
Josephine Decker‘s “Madeline’s Madeline” is either a sui generis masterpiece, or a pretentious, borderline unwatchable mess, or — like for this writer — both, in every moment. But wherever you land on it — and the spectrum of opinion is vast — it is an inarguable fact that newcomer Helena Howard turns in one of the most astonishing performances of the year. Raw, nakedly vulnerable, often ferociously unlikable but never less than riveting, whether Madeline is doing a (very good) impression of her cat, verbally castigating her helpless, uncomprehending mother (a terrific Miranda July) or demanding more than her fair share of attention from theater director and svengali Evangeline (an equally fantastic Molly Parker), she is an absolute force of nature — the eye of the film’s whirlwind. The film is so attuned to the peculiar rhythms of her performance in fact, that it is difficult right now to imagine Howard outside its framework, but we shouldn’t have too long to wait, as she’s landed a role as one of the teenaged castaways in the very promising-sounding Amazon TV pilot “The Wilds.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrBlpUvnmMY
7. John David Washington as Det. Ron Stallworth in “BlacKkKlansman” and Dennis Williams in “Monsters & Men”
Having moved quietly into acting after the end of his football career with HBO’s “Ballers,” John David Washington has now finally fulfilled what might be seen as his paternal destiny and moved onto the big screen in a big way — 2018 saw the release of no fewer than four movies starring the 34-year-old son of Denzel. Sundance premiere “Monster” and David Lowery’s “The Old Man and the Gun” book-ended his year, but the meatier roles were both as conflicted cops, caught between loyalty to their vocation and their community. In Reinaldo Marcus Green’s “Monsters and Men” he brings a weary, wary sobriety to his character’s desperately difficult situation, as a proud police officer who has to deal with the fallout when a colleague shoots a black man dead. And in Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” he gets to play an even broader range of notes, with the based-in-truth story of a black officer in the 1970s posing as a white guy in order to infiltrate the KKK, being mined by Lee for all sort of offbeat jags of comedy and drama. What’s most surprising about Washington, however, and perhaps it’s a factor of his coming to acting at a more mature stage, is that despite the long shadow of his father, he has arrived fully formed and very much his own man as an actor, bringing a singular quality of laid-back but observant intensity to each of his roles. If he wants it, superstardom seems his for the taking, at least partly because he understands the value of always holding a little something in reserve, and always leaving the audience wanting more.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlWFhStnHDG/
6. Letitia Wright as Shuri in “Black Panther”
One of the things that the now highest-grossing solo comic superhero film of all time understands so much better than many of its peers, is that the hero arc itself is only interesting if embellished with memorable and idiosyncratic supporting characters. “Black Panther” took unusual care not just with its complex, charismatic, and let’s just say it, facemeltingly hot villain, played by Michael B. Jordan, but also with the lieutenants, family, friends and allies of Prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman). And in amongst all those no character was more spritely, spirited and delightful than Shuri (Letitia Wright) T’Challa’s genius scientist little sister, source of most of the film’s best lines and quite of few of its best facial expressions too. The Guyanese-British actress also had a couple of other small 2018 roles in Jaume Collet-Serra‘s “The Commuter” and Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” but it’s her turn as Shuri, with her quick, merry wit and effortless sisterly chemistry with her Kingly bro (who could otherwise be a rather stolid character) that has catapulted her to the front ranks of young Black Hollywood. As if to confirm just that, she will appear in Hiro Murai’s “Guava Island” alongside Donald Glover and Rihanna, a project that definitely would have made our Most Anticipated 2019 list if only we knew exactly what it was.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeYZdnUnu6i