Chris Hemsworth returns to the role of Tyler Rake in Extraction 2 this week. With that in mind, we figured it was the perfect time for the Bitesize crew to put their brains together to compile Bitesize Breakdown's consensus Top Five Performances from the Original Avengers excluding all MCU performances.
Each writer ranks his or her top 15 actors in the category. Those lists are then weighted on a reverse point system. After all the points are tallied up, the entries with the most total points make up the Bitesize Top Five.
5. SCARLETT JOHANSSON - SAMANTHA (HER)
It is a rare echelon of quality that successful non-visual performances find themselves in when paired with live-action storytelling, and nowhere is this more apparent than Scarlett Johansson’s heartbreaking vocal turn in Spike Jonze's Her. Johansson’s performance, by my view, is the closest a purely vocal turn has come to being a main category nominee (Best Actress or Supporting Actress), and perhaps it should have been. There are few voice performances so integral to their film’s storytelling, and even fewer still who can manage to both endear and devastate you in the same breath as Johansson does here. - Jacob
4. SCARLETT JOHANSSON - ROSIE (JOJO RABBIT)
Jojo Rabbit contains some of the best work of Scarlett Johansson's career, and her performance as the resilient mother of young Johannes (Roman Griffin Davis) is the glue that holds the film together. She brings an enormously endearing quality to Rosie, a character that responds to all situations with an eye on love whether the scene is humourous or heartbreaking. There are a lot of moments in this performance that stick out, but none quite as loudly as the now iconic dinner scene. - Nick
3. JEREMY RENNER - JAMES COUGHLIN (THE TOWN)
Damn right Jeremy Renner’s performance in The Town made the cut! As a born and bred Boston girl myself, what Renner is able to capture as a Southie criminal is remarkable. He hits the nail on the head with this performance while mastering the Boston accent exceptionally well. He completely inhabits this role, and makes his character, Jem, feel real and lived in; not to mention he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work in this wicked awesome film. - Paige
2. ROBERT DOWNEY JR. - KIRK LAZARUS (TROPIC THUNDER)
Even though there are some small circles buzzing online about canceling Robert Downey Jr. because of the blackface of it all, the fact of the matter is that those people probably just don’t get the satire at play here. That aside, RDJ’s Academy Award-, BAFTA-, SAG-, and Golden Globe-nominated performance is flat-out terrific, not only as Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus, but also as SSG Lincoln Osiris. I mean, name another Avenger that could realistically pull off the role of “a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude” with so much humor, intelligence, and nuance. You can’t do it. - Quentin
1. SAMUEL L. JACKSON - JULES WINNFIELD (PULP FICTION)
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers, and you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” What the fuck else do I need to say? - Amarú
HONORABLE MENTIONS
SAMUEL L. JACKSON - STEPHEN (DJANGO UNCHAINED)
JEREMY RENNER - IAN DONNELLY (ARRIVAL)
SCARLETT JOHANSSON - NICOLE BARBER (MARRIAGE STORY)
CHRIS HEMSWORTH - BILLY LEE (BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE)
MARK RUFFALO - DAVID TOSCHI (ZODIAC)
Photo Credits: Photo 1, 3 - Warner Bros.; Photo 2 - Fox Searchlight Pictures; Photo 4 - Paramount Pictures Photo 5 - Miramax Films