Dec. 26, 2025, 5:24 p.m. ET
As we look back at the year in entertainment, we want to take a moment to recognize the best performances. Not the absolute best TV shows, best movies or best Broadway shows of 2025. We’re talking about standalone performances within those movies, shows or stage productions. Brilliant acting that brings complex characters to life, sheds light on fundamental truths, or just straight-up sticks with us. From explosive TV characters to fascinating movie roles to profound plays, these are the best performances of 2025.
Josh O’Connor in ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’
“Knives Out” murder mysteries are mainly Benoit Blanc movies but “Wake Up Dead Man” is straight up also a Father Jud movie. Josh O’Connor is sensational as a feisty but good-hearted young priest faced with being a pariah in his own church when accused of killing the place’s toxic monsignor. Amid this whodunit exploring faith, forgiveness and cult of personality, O’Connor superbly wields a mighty sense of warmth and empathy that makes us believe we can all be a little bit better about caring for others and giving each other grace. — Brian Truitt
Billy Bob Thornton in ‘Landman’
The Big Oil series was blowing up when Season 1 ended in January and kicked off Season 2 in November as the current hot show in the Taylor Sheridan universe. Sure, “Landman” benefits from Hollywood star power from Jon Hamm (RIP in Season 1), Demi Moore and the year’s best cameo from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Yet what makes “Landman” a gusher is saggy-jeaned Thornton, who can summon more bark than a West Texas coyote, inspire fear with no physical right and bring laughter with just his eyes. Billy Bob is back, and TV is better for it. — Bryan Alexander
Jimmy Kimmel monologues on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
Giving a late-night monologue isn’t traditional acting, but standing in front of an audience to deliver a show-opening speech is a performance. Kimmel’s seminal 2025 monologues – his return to the show after being suspended following comments about Charlie Kirk’s murder and the tribute to his late band leader Cleto Escobedo – were so much more than completing a task so we could get to the next news cycle. Instead, Kimmel showed us how to be human. How to stand up for your beliefs by connecting to others, not by being cruel. How to celebrate a friend and colleague while also mourning all the moments and jokes that will be forever lost. Through a few tears and jokes, the late-night star made us all stop scrolling and pay attention. Isn’t that the greatest thing entertainment can do? — Wendy Naugle
Nicholas Hoult in ‘Superman’
To paraphrase Elphaba Thropp in “Wicked”, we needed Nicholas Hoult to be villainous so David Corenswet could be super. Yes, Corenswet was pitch perfect as the Man of Steel, but let’s not overlook how well Hoult understood the assignment with a magnificently hateable Lex Luthor. We couldn’t take our eyes off his performance as a dangerously insecure bully bursting with rage, which skillfully approached the line of over-the-top without ever crossing it. Had Hoult been less compelling, the moment Lex gets his comeuppance and is brutalized by Krypto wouldn’t be so deeply satisfying. In our book, he gets a A+. — Brendan Morrow
Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart in ‘Hacks’
“Hacks” Season 4 suffered from too much vindictiveness between stand-up maven Deborah Vance (Smart) and her sardonic Gen-Z writer Ava Daniels (Einbinder). But in Episode 4, Deborah’s vulnerabilities emerge she suffers a panic attack during the dress rehearsal of her new late-night talk show. In a chance meeting with Carol Burnett – reason enough to love this episode – she suggests Deborah try the old trick of focusing on one person in the room to mitigate her stage fright. Deborah and Ava have been slinging vitriol at each other for weeks, but as Deborah begins her monologue and starts to spiral, she gazes toward the studio audience to find Ava. It’s always Ava. The pair, so adept at eye rolls and snark, share an unspoken moment of tenderness that exhibits why they can’t ever quit each other. — Melissa Ruggieri
Miles Heizer in ‘Boots’
Netflix’s comedy “Boots,” about a young gay man stuck in the closet while he tries to survive Marine Corps Boot Camp in 1990, was one of the most surprisingly heartfelt stories told on TV this year. At its center was Miles Heizer, who you may know from his bratty teen performance on NBC’s 2010-2015 family drama, “Parenthood.” As flailing cadet Cameron, Heizer is magnetic and affable, the kind of underdog hero who we want to root for episode after episode. The best scenes in the show are the literal internal dialogues his character has, between himself and a fantasy version of himself that has all the confidence, strength and wry wit he desires. The scenes could be corny, but Heizer pulls them off easily. — Kelly Lawler
Kaitlyn Dever in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’
The biting satire of Netflix’s ripped-from-the headlines drama about the dangers of the so-called “wellness” industry didn’t break through the glut of headlines and chaos of the early part of 2025. It’s a darn shame because the superb show, and Dever’s even more exquisite performance, were seriously overlooked. The actress, who is already known for homeruns in every role she takes on, is almost giddily evil and delusional as influencer Belle, who fakes cancer and then fakes a cure in order to scam millions off followers just trying to live healthy lives. With a convincing Australian accent and a slew of fake smiles, Dever’s Belle was fun to hate and horrifying to behold. — Lawler
Mariam Afshari in ‘It Was Just An Accident’
There are plenty of supporting players who deserve more shine this awards season, including Kirsten Dunst (“Roofman”), David Jonsson (“The Long Walk”) and Son Ye-jin (“No Other Choice”). But the performance we return to most belongs to Afshari’s wedding photog Shiva, who for much of the movie, is the voice of reason as a group of Iranian dissidents plot revenge against a man they believe to be their former torturer. Afshari keeps Shiva’s rage and pain humming just below the surface, until it all comes spilling out in a harrowing climactic confrontation that will stun you into silence. Iranian director Jafar Panahi shifts between subversive slapstick and moral thriller with preternatural ease, but Afshari is the glue that holds this dark fable all together. — Patrick Ryan
Sarah Snook in ‘All Her Fault’
Did you strap in for the heart-pounding rollercoaster that is Peacock’s limited series “All Her Fault”? For those who haven’t hopped aboard, I’ll spare you spoilers. But the gist is Marissa Irvine (Snook) discovers her and husband Peter’s (Jake Lacy) child is missing after she goes to pick him up from a playdate. Then the twists and turns amp up from there. All along on this winding, nail-biting ride Snook acts as the ride operator, bringing a captivated audience with her. — Erin Jensen
Amy Madigan in ‘Weapons’
Madigan delivers a mic-drop of a performance as Gladys that navigates a tricky tonal balance between darkly funny and legitimately creepy. She takes some big swings, and they work in the context of a character lowering victims’ guard by making them believe she’s off-putting in an eccentric way, not a child kidnapper way. Gladys is like a funhouse mirror version of what a weird relative looks like from a kid’s perspective, and when she shifts to more overtly sinister, it’s horrifying. Whether Madigan wins the Oscar, Gladys will live on via Halloween costumes for years to come. — Morrow
Sadie Sink and Amalia Yoo in ‘John Proctor is the Villain’
When I saw a filmed clip of Sadie Sink and Amalia Yoo dancing to Lorde’s “Green Light” at the end of “John Proctor is the Villain,” it made me laugh. It looked like something I would’ve choreographed with my neighbor to convince my mom to let us have a sleepover. Then when I saw it live on Broadway, I cried. This play gets dark quickly. Classroom lessons are overshadowed by abuse, grooming, trauma and broken friendships. Despite that, characters end the show flailing their arms in “Crucible” bonnets, dancing to Lorde like kids. Yoo’s character delivers a powerful closer: “One day, maybe the new world we were promised will actually be new.” Their uninhibited dance gives each other, and us, permission to be girls just a little bit longer. — Clare Mulroy
Jinkx Monsoon in ‘Oh, Mary!’
“Oh, Mary!” was the gift that kept on giving in 2025, as a bevy of comedy all-stars slipped into the bratty curls of Cole Escola’s demented first lady Mary Todd Lincoln. It was a joy to see Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess, Hannah Solow and Betty Gilpin all put their spins on the delusional cabaret dame, but Monsoon made the role sublimely her own: hysterically capturing Mary’s brass and exasperation, but also moving us to tears with her palpable longing for one “truly great day.” It’s the perfect marriage of actress and character, as the two-time “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner continues to reveal glorious new shades of her boundless talent. — Ryan