The Oscar fever is back in season, which is already taking us back on a journey of all the best Oscar winning performances of the last decade. Many actors finally earned their due by winning their first ever Academy Award at the ceremony after what seemed like a never-ending wait. However, for today’s curation, we’ve only chosen to list below 10 such gritty and stellar acting deliveries that still have a hold over us. Here’s to looking back to all the talent held within the film industry, and to also set up the stage for the upcoming season of the highly anticipated event.
Best Oscar Winning Performances of the Last Decade
Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck in Joker (2020)
While the majority of the superhero sagas that have been churned out these past years have focussed on a rather direct and expected route of an action-packed trajectory, Phoenix’s Joker had a lot to say about the overall social and political construct of one’s society. Representing the inherent flaws of the normative hierarchy, and its apparent impact on an individual is what fires up the the super-villain we’ve longed feared.
Winning this round in the Best Actor Category of the 92nd Oscars, Phoenix’s volition fuels the newest rendition of the character with an agency and freedom that translates onscreen even in the way he carries his bodies. Starting off as a rather harmless personality, soon transformed by his surroundings into someone that dives into a murderous rampage, this performance stays on as an unforgettable feat.
Viola Davis as in Fences (2017)
Taking the lead as the Best Supporting Actress at the 89th Academy Awards, Viola Davis plays the role of Rose, i.e. Troy Maxson’s (Denzel Washington) wife in the historical drama. Delivering on of her best performances to date, her character carries her marriage on her bare back while her husband can’t emerge past his series of resentments, that eventually branch out to his family too. You already know what’s coming next.
Davis, or even the movie itself doesn’t seek to make a grand cinematic gesture, and therein lies the charm of Viola’s delivery in it. The widely applauded “I’ve been standing with you” scene is probably one of the strongest takeaways of the film, and it’s all thanks to the actress’ brilliance.
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight (2017)
Sweeping the Best Supporting Actor category at the 89th Oscars, Mahershala Ali was accorded with a worthy prize to celebrate his performance as Juan, the drug dealer with whom young Chiron found a safe place. The movie itself was a big winner that year, and for all the right reasons as Ali claimed that “he was blown away by seeing characters from my own life and people that I recognized on the page.”
With a screentime as short as 20 minutes under his wing, Ali sealed a deal in the given timeframe, which most people aren’t able to secure even with an entire movie’s span at their hand. He’s a class apart, and his performance as Juan is a living and breathing testament to this claim.
Olivia Colman – The Favourite (2019)
Regarded as best among the best, Olivia Colman won the Best Actress category at the 91st Oscars for her performance in the period dark comedy, The Favourite. Although, if perceived as per the rules of the book, Colman’s role of Queen Anne was mean to be a supporting guide to Emma Stone’s lead in the film. However, the distinguished actress’ posh was too overpowering for the Academy and she took away the grand prize of the night.
Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour (2018)
There’s only so much prosthetics can achieve. While for this particular persona of Winston Churchill adopted by Oldman, the actor went to great lengths to settle into his physical transformation, which rendered him unrecognisable. His version of the real-life personality required a an in-depth study of the man himself and Oldman took it upon himself to walk in his shoes to such an extent that he was ultimately applauded by everyone, and rightly so.
Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave (2014)
Best Supporting Actress
J.K. Simmons for Whiplash (2015)
Best Supporting Actor
Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (2014)
Best Actress
Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea (2017)
Best Actor
Julianne Moore for Still Alice (2015)
What a year this was! There seemed no way out of this healthy tussle, especially when the likes of Felicity Jones, Marion Cotillard, Reese Witherspoon, Rosamund Pike and Juliane Moore were up for the same crown, with each of them deserving to win equally. In the end, Moore finally took away her first Oscar at the 87th edition of the ceremony for her role as Dr. Alice Howland in Still Alice.
Portraying the persona of a university professor, who’s eventually diagnosed with the Alzheimer’s disease, Moore’s performance turned this small budget venture into a star-studded affair demanding everyone’s attention.
Still can’t believe how quickly time is racing us by, and that we’re not living in the same decade as when Natalie Portman won the Best Actress award for her role in Black Swan. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of talent that still needs to be dug up and celebrated on the big stage. Here’s to hoping that all those worthy of the acclaim get nominated and present with an award this season.
Which of these Oscar-winning moments is your favourite? Is there any particular win that had you all fired up (maybe, Leonardo DiCaprio’s)? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.