The 20 Best Film Debut Performances

Note: this refers specifically to film debuts. 

20. Saoirse Ronan, Atonement 

As 13-year old Briony Tallis, Ronan just about steals the first act of Atonement away from the central leads, giving a quiet, enigmatic portrayal of a naive girl getting into a situation that renders her far out of her depths. She got the first of 4 Oscar nominations (so far) for her sterling work here, and though it was just a small early indication of her present talent it's terrific work from perhaps the best actress working today.

19. Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit 

It's fine that Steinfeld's more well known as a singer nowadays since she's very good at that, but she's an amazing actress too. In her debut she refuses to be overshadowed by Jeff Bridges giving one of his career highlights as Rooster Cogburn, bringing life into the character of the vengeful young Mattie Ross looking to avenge her father and handling the Western dialogue beautifully as one of the highlights of a great film. Also nominated for an Oscar for her work here.

18. Gabourey Sidibe, Precious (warning: very tough watch) 

Another Oscar-nominated debut performance, and I do think it's a bit of a shame that sometimes people let praise for Mo'Nique's magnificent portrayal of an abusive mother overshadow her. Sidibe is great too as the titular character, not just portraying the heartbreaking victimhood of the character but also the complicated state of mind and her tough living situation has led her into. It's strong, honest leading lady work that is tough to watch but remarkable. 

17. Jason Miller, The Exorcist 

Well look here, Miller too got himself an Oscar nod for this debut performance, and we've got to give the Academy sometimes for doing a great job in recognising unknowns. Miller's work is essential to the horror masterpiece that is The Exorcist as he brings a human element to the priest Father Karras struggling to reconcile his faith with a grim world. His work is what helps the finale of the film not just as horrifying but as deeply affecting as it is.

16. Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins 

So Emily Blunt did a lovely job for the role but really, Julie Andrews just IS Mary Poppins (and she should've been Eliza Dolittle as well, but I digress). In the role she was born to play, Andrews' wonderful voice and screen presence was introduced to the world via the titular magical nanny. Rarely have songs come as trippingly off the tongue as Andrews performs the Poppins numbers here, and there should be no surprise at how the film became such a smashing success and how Andrews won an Oscar for her work here (and she did Sound of Music just a year after! What a start to a career).

15. Edward Norton, Primal Fear 

Norton's had quite the interesting career trajectory, starting with his very first onscreen acting role in playing one of the

SPOILER ALERT 

most defining twists to any film. In that the film is mostly pretty standard outside of this twist, and Norton sells it to the max as shy stuttering choir boy Aaron Stampler who reveals an alternate personality, 'Roy'. It's daring, electrifying work that when you rewatch the film you appreciate all the more.

SPOILER ALERT ENDS 

14. Natalie Portman, Leon the Professional 

Portman's work here is unquestionably a star turn, and remains her best performance, all the more impressive considering that she shares so many with veteran actors such as Jean Reno and especially Gary Oldman. Portman avoids so many child actor pitfalls by giving such a powerful depiction of grief and anger at the tragic events that befall her Matilda, and I have to give all the credit in the world for her and Reno sidestepping Luc Besson's questionable intents, to create a more moving father-daughter-esque relationship between her character and Leon.

13. Harold Russell, The Best Years of Our Lives 

WWII veteran Russell played Homer Parrish, an officer readjusting to civilian life postwar and who like Russell, lost both his hands in the war. Russell is the acting highlight of a terrific film, giving a particularly honest depiction of his character's challenges and problems and never once shows a hint of amateurism or mawkishness in a role that could've gone very wrong. It's terrific work that is another element of the film that's just brilliant, and (I feel like I'm repeating myself at this point) won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

12. Marlee Maltin, Children of a Lesser God 

The first and only deaf performer to win an Oscar today, Maltin delivers strong work here as a former pupil at a school for the deaf who's continued on working as a custodian and meets a speech teacher (William Hurt) who takes an interest in her. The film is one which manages the challenge of sidestepping problems to create a thoughtful, if slight, romantic drama and Maltin's poignant work as a very complex character is great: you can see each and every change in her eyes and face and makes her character's emotional journey a very rewarding experience.

11. Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People 

Though he was really more of a Lead than Supporting Actor, Hutton deservedly won an Oscar for this terrific directorial debut from Robert Redford. His devastating portrayal of Conrad, dealing with the PTSD fallout from his older brother's death and his own suicidal attempt, it is one of the great performances of its kind. It's an incredibly convincing portrayal of depression and recovery of this young man, and moreover Hutton's chemistry (or anti-chemistry) with his onscreen parents (the equally spectacular Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore) helps create some classic, unflinchingly realistic scenes of a family in utter emotional collapse.

10. Eva Marie Saint, On the Waterfront 

I mean, On the Waterfront is magnificent showcase for Marlon Brando, but one should never sleep on that amazing supporting cast that amplifies the impact of his work. Saint's work as Edie, sister to one of the victims of corruption and burgeoning love interest to Brando's Terry Malloy, is a phenomenal turn that stands out as not just simple angel of conscience to Terry to do the right hing but a real, well-rounded character. Saint's performance adds greatness to an already great film and she won a Best Supporting Actress for her efforts here.

9. Sharlto Copley, District 9 

Copley's performance here is interesting to examine as it really is not an indication of where he'd go as an actor. Nowadays he's known best for his flamboyant performances that make use of his colourful South African accent. But his debut performance was an incredibly underrated turn in this terrific sci-fi social commentary on xenophobia and segregation through the allegory of aliens 'settling' in Johannesburg slums. Copley's portrayal of an ignorant office bureaucrat who gets stuck into a terrifying situation is an underrated but essential element to the film, and singlehandedly elevates it from a solid sci-fi action thriller into a moving portrait of a man's desperation to survive and overcoming his own prejudices (the scene above is legitimately one of the best acting scenes of recent years).

8. Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips 

A performance that defines 'ageing like fine wine' for me. It's incredible how in a Tom Hanks acting showcase (he is undeniably great) the standout came in a complete unknown Somalian limo driver cast as the titular Phillips' main 'adversary', Abduwali Muse. Abdi is intimidating and menacing as the ringleader of the ship hijacking but what I love about the performance is that there's so much more to this character. He makes you understand and allows you to make your own judgements about the character's poor decisions, his impoverished life back home, and his longing for a dream which rapidly decreases away. It's a hard task to make a character like this have the capacity for sympathy but Abdi does an amazing job in doing so.

7. Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon 

Though it's unfortunate to read about how their real-life relationship was strained and deteriorated throughout the years, Paper Moon remains a classic comedy and Tatum's chemistry with her real-life father Ryan O'Neal is the highlight of it. As street-smart newly orphaned 9 year old Addie, who teams up the older O'Neal playing sly talking conman Moses Pray, the two actors have incredible comedic chemistry with each of their bickering scenes. She sells every punchline so naturally with fantastic timing, lights up the screen every time she's on, and what takes it a step further is she is genuinely quite moving in showing her affection for her offscreen (and possibly onscreen) father.

6. Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild 

How much one loves this performance is entirely dependant on how much one buys into the film. As I have stated many times before this is one of my favourite films of all-time, and fittingly this is a performance I adore. The film is one that embraces a communal affinity with nature, and Wallis' performance, who Roger Ebert described as one with 'miraculous' reserves of defiance, bravery and a 'force of nature', is beautifully attuned to every surreal yet realistic touch of the film. She is onscreen practically the entire narrative at the tender age of 7, and though the term is often used in exaggeration this is a performance that lives and breathes through the film, much in the same way the film's exemplary qualities all live and breathe through her performance.

5. Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves 

A film I need to re-evaluate at some point, as after watching Dancer in the Dark and loving it I wonder whether I'd be more attuned to Lars von Trier's style. As for the performance itself though, the quality of it is undeniable that even Mark Kermode who despises the film had to acknowledge its brilliance. Her Bess is a heartbreaking portrayal of a young Scottish woman who defines herself almost entirely by love for her husband (Stellan Skarsgard), and is so steadfast in that, and captures the right balance between her mental downwards spiral as tragedy occurs. Though I had problems with the nature of the film's violence and its portrayal of misery, Watson's harrowing yet strangely inspirational work is phenomenal and with a rewatch could easily move up the list.

4. Alan Rickman, Die Hard 

This is one which mindfucked me when I discovered it. Rickman had obviously acted extensively in theatre before this, but this was his cinematic debut. And what an explosive beginning to his career, acting in perhaps the greatest pure action film of all-time, opposite the greatest action hero of all-time John McClane, as the greatest action villain of all-time Hans Gruber.  Rickman sinks his teeth into delicious role of Gruber with a performance that has everything. Menace? He delivers that in spades and is genuinely terrifying. Humour? His deadpan reactions to the antics going on around him caused by McClane are priceless. He switches on a dial from fun to serious on a dime - and even combines the two in scenes like him pretending to be a meek American hostage - and gives an outstanding performance in every regard.

3. Emmanuelle Riva, Hiroshima Mon Amour 

An example of French New Wave cinema experimentation working to perfection, this non-linear, stream of consciousness narrative about two lovers in post-WWII Hiroshima is a great directorial achievement by Alain Resnais, a strong showcase for actor Eiji Okada (particularly as he's acting in a language he learned phonetically) as a married Japanes businessman, but above all features one of the all-time great performances by Emmanuelle Riva as his French actress lover. Her performance stands as both attuned and powerfully contrasted to the dreamy quality of the film's approach in realising her character's predicament. The passion and lust of the affair suggested so well by both actors but also reflecting the horrible nature of the times they live in that draw them apart. Whether she's narrating, or silently emoting, you feel the weight of the film's increasingly poignant tone rest upon her and her character's shoulders, and despite being nameless you really get to know her. It's simply one of the best performances in any medium.

2. Haing S. Ngor, The Killing Fields 

1984 is one of those interesting years for film where there were so many masterpieces, yet of the sort that seem like they could've only happened then and there. This harrowing depiction of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge is a horrifying, troubling cinematic experience, to say the least, and brought to life by some excellent direction, writing, and Ngor who was himself a survivor of Cambodian prison camps playing refugee Dith Pran. Pran's life story, and Ngor's, were marked by tragedy after tragedy, and which undeniably lends a layer of authenticity to the performance as we follow Pran through the vicious totalitarian regime. Beyond that though, this is just a sensational performance as we get to know Pran before he is a victim - kindly, generous doctor determined to help American reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterson) with his task in covering the regime, and in the second half a terrified yet resilient survivalist who guides us through the titular horrors.

1. Elizabeth Hartman, A Patch of Blue 

Sadly, both of my top 2 led troubled lives which ended in tragedy. The underrated and incredibly talented Hartman gave my favourite debut performance of all-time is for a character that could be seen as deceptively simple. Hartman's Selina is a blind girl living in an impoverished environment with an abusive mother, but the brilliance of this performance and the film is this is all unfolded slowly and coaxed gently through the performance. It is perhaps the most sensitively drawn portrayal of suffering as we are presented with this luminous, kind, almost angelic being and through her being introduced to Sidney Poitier's Gordon Ralfe, get more and more insight into her unfortunate plight. Though Hartman rarely raises her voice she conveys so much through how expressive and unassumingly powerful her performance is as Selina. It's a performance that along with the excellent and unfortunately very underrated film makes an unfortunate plight so resonant and the figure who deals with it inspirational in her own way.