r/movies • u/Fun_Protection_6939 • 1d ago

Discussion What is the single greatest acting performance you have seen?

What is the single greatest acting performance you have seen?

It's got to be Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice for me. Such a heartbreaking and nuanced portrayal of loss and devastation, and doubly impressive because she had to learn two languages fluently and had to speak German with a Polish accent, when neither language was native to her.

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u/Johnny1of3 1d ago

Tom Hanks trying to hold back from crying out loud in Saving Private Ryan.

Might not be the greatest for most people, but that scene still sticks with me.

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u/Zer0nyx 1d ago

Tom Hanks in The Green Mile.

Tom Hanks in Cast Away.

Tom Hanks in anything, really.

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u/ivylass 1d ago

When he asks Jenny if Forrest Jr is smart or like him...that range of hope and shame and fear and shock in less than two seconds. How the hell do actors learn how to do that?

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u/hackyslashy 1d ago

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump:

"Is he smart or like me?"

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u/FairlyInconsistentRa 1d ago

The part where he's taking to the gravestone (will leave names out for spoilers) at the end of the film and sort of just breaks down. Powerful stuff.

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u/DocBEsq 1d ago

Tom Hanks in Big.

Specifically the scene near the end when his girlfriend talks about not wanting to go through her teen years again and he just looks so baffled, but also scared since he is old enough to have a clue about what’s coming. I always believe he’s an adolescent boy in that moment.

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u/5th_Wave 21h ago

The scene that immediately came to mind when I read the title was the look of pure bliss on Tom Hanks' face when he's peeing in The Green Mile

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u/Fit-Ad8597 5h ago

Agreed, until about 2002 IMO. Road to Perdition was the last thing he did I was blown away by. His character choices seemed to change, and I assume he just began putting more of his energy into his family and less into work, but that could be totally off base.

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u/CameronCrowe 1d ago

Similarly, Tom Hanks breaking down in shock at the end of Captain Phillips.

Top 3 Tom Hanks performance for me.

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u/Exact3 22h ago

Just re-watched the scene and instantly cried, what a performance..

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u/Vitaminpk 1d ago

Giovanni Ribisi’s death scene is one of the most convincing acting scenes I’ve ever witnessed. It effected me more than any acting in that movie, or any movies for that matter.

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u/Gravybucket1 1d ago

Yes. Profound scene, so powerful on me I avoided a full rewatch for years.

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u/Kraftrad 1d ago

I‘m totally with you … having not watched SPR for at least 10 years and having lost quite a few friends and relatives in that years, it was so relatable, when I revisited the movie last month.

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u/SteakandTrach 1d ago

I’m never not impressed when he asks Jenny if his child is smart or…like him. It’s absolutely PERFECT acting. Like maybe the greatest 5 seconds I’ve ever seen. He conveys so much information with so little. The viewer knows EXACTLY his thoughts and emotions with just the little verklempt pause he makes in the delivery.