What Are the Most Impressive Debut Performances by Actors/Actresses?

Submitted by SherbertEquivalent66 t3_11ah4j1 in movies

Every once in a while, a new actor/actress debuts with a really stunning performance that can't help but grab everyone's attention. Usually, it's the start of a significant career, though sometimes they never seem to reach that height again. What do you feel are some of the most impressive debut performances? A few of my favorites are:

Dustin Hoffman - The Graduate

Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire

Edward Norton - Primal Fear

Sissy Spacek - Badlands

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goemonsan t1_j9s0hyu wrote

Hailee Steinfeld in True Gritt

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butterbean90 t1_j9s0zz7 wrote

Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch, her career exploded after that strong first performance

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Huevos___Rancheros t1_j9s20if wrote

Frankie Corio was excellent in Aftersun

Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber is a great shout as well

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andro_7 t1_j9s2jzy wrote

Sasha Lane in American Honey

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Spankety-wank t1_j9s4pjz wrote

Replying to Huevos___Rancheros (#1,955,599)

Corio was my first thought. It's rare to see a child actor be so natural on camera.

The last child actor I was equally impressed by was Quvenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild, although she seems to be heading for only a decent career rather than superstardom.

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MalignantFanAccount t1_j9s5o2t wrote

The trinity of child actresses in ultra-violent, adult oriented stuff, Natalie Portman in the Professional, Chloe Grace Moretz in Kick-Ass, and Maisie Williams in Game of Thrones.

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Spankety-wank t1_j9s5t53 wrote

Emily Blunt's first proper feature role was very interesting - My Summer of Love.

IIRC she plays someone who is subtly manipulative or duplicitous and does it really well, along with doing all of the straightforwardly dramatic stuff perfectly.

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CTFX84 t1_j9s60bv wrote

Billy Bob Thornton - Sling Blade. This was his directorial debut, he wrote it, and starred in it. I know he was in a few other bit parts before this. But I think this one is equally as important

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Whiteness88 t1_j9s6bzg wrote

In my eyes, nothing can top Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire. He represented a significant shift from the traditional acting style you saw in cinema and it's very obvious once you see the film: everyone else has that style which incorporates a bit of overacting whereas Brando actually feels like a normal person.

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ChrisEvansFan t1_j9sbbb9 wrote

I already asked this just yesterday. Which is odd because it is just yesterday? It is like people dont browse this sub or maybe they do but just rehash the idea - https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/11a35q0/film_acting_debuts_of_actorsactresses_that_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

But yeah Felix Kammerer for All Quiet on the Western Front and Christian Bale for Empire of the Sun.

Also in that thread I found out Ed Norton’s debut is Primal Fear and that is very impressive

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NoirPochette t1_j9scb00 wrote

Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls

She was amazing. I can't think of like any top debuts off the top of my head really.

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DarkReaper90 t1_j9sfqwr wrote

Natalie Portman in Leon the Professional

Edward Norton in Primal Fear

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Looper007 t1_j9smmsf wrote

Replying to Huevos___Rancheros (#1,955,599)

It's going to be tough for young Corio to find anything as great as Aftersun even this early into her career. It's a damn shame she's not got any award buzz. I hope (also with Paul Mescal), they can be in good to great films and produce great performances. It be tougher for Corio as she's still pretty young and she's not going to get the chance straight away to do a bunch of films like Mescal can.

But excellent debut performance for sure.

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TheDaysKing t1_j9strga wrote

Sharlto Copley as Wikus in District 9. Pretty sure he'd only been a producer until then.

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Meagz4 t1_j9t020z wrote

Leonardo di caprio in Gilbert Grape

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RagsTTiger t1_j9t1y66 wrote

Judy Davis and Sam Neill both in My Brilliant Career

Mel Gibson in Mad Max

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FredererPower t1_j9t39qj wrote

Wasn’t Rocky Sylvester Stallone’s first ever performance?

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Mr_Tough_Guy t1_j9t8v6u wrote

Catherine Clinch - An Cailín Ciúin (2022, The Quiet Girl) Best performance of 2022, Really looking forward to seeing more of her.

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Looper007 t1_j9tdpn1 wrote

Replying to RagsTTiger (#1,960,662)

Not his debut to be fair, he did a film called Summer City before Mad Max.

Sam Neill did like 5 or 6 films before My Brilliant Career, also one amazing one in Sleeping Dogs. He's great in the film I give you that but nowhere near his debut.

Not Judy Davis debut either, she did a film two years before that was her debut.

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Looper007 t1_j9u0fle wrote

Replying to Whiteness88 (#1,965,420)

You ain't the only one. I think many assume a lot of actors or actress break through performances on screen are their debuts (I've seen a bunch mentioned here already that think that).

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FoxOntheRun99 t1_j9u1lay wrote

Hmm lately, I was impressed with The Fablemanns Gabriel LaBelle and Jeremy Allen White in The Bear (hes probably done other stuff before, but I've never seen him)

And Emma Stone in Superbad (probably the whole cast tbf, but I just knew she had something)

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alwayssoupy t1_j9vftvf wrote

Two of the earliest I remember people talking about were Tatum ONeal in Paper Moon and Mayim Bialek in Beaches.

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dhriggs t1_j9vglow wrote

Yeah Norton is always the first thing that comes to mind.

Would perhaps add Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone.

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Looper007 t1_j9vgt6s wrote

Replying to FoxOntheRun99 (#1,966,600)

Jeremy Allen White has been acting since 2006 when he was 15 , he was even in that awful film Movie 43 playing Naomi Watts/Liev Schreiber's kid in their segment.

And even before the Bear he was in Shameless for years. Guys got a ton of experience under him.

It was indeed Emma's first film. She done a lot of TV before that.

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HumberBumummumum t1_j9vqao9 wrote

Not sure if it’s his first role, but remember seeing an unknown Ben Wishaw in a film called “My brother Ben” or “my friend Ben” YEARS ago on tv late at night. Remembered his name for years in case he went on to do anything more or any theatre I could see. He was magnetic and super intense, really standout performance.

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TheDaysKing t1_j9wjc9v wrote

Replying to Derkanator (#1,970,826)

Yeah, he's a standout actor in pretty much everything I've seen him in. But his first major performance in District 9 was Oscar-worthy, in my opinion. And for movies like Elysium or that stupid Oldboy remake, I'd say he's half the reason either of those are worth watching.

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jonah379 t1_j9wnjti wrote

Haven’t seen The Piano yet but Anna Paquin won the Oscar for it and was like 10 years old, pretty crazy

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