Performer of the Year: The 20 Finalists
They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results.
But we have a different definition for the word: attempting to select TVLine’s Performer of the Year, after witnessing 12 months of stunning work on the small screen.
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It’s a ludicrous task, to be sure, but we’re going to attempt it anyway — and to make the choice slightly easier, we’ve narrowed down the field to the 20 finalists below (named alphabetically), a list of nominees that doubles as a ballot of sorts. (Note: As is TVLine tradition, any contenders comprised of multiple co-stars — for example, Monsters’ Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch — compete as and will be considered one finalist.)
On Thursday, Dec. 19, we will crown one of the nominees (and only one!) our 2024 Performer of the Year, dethroning the 2023 victor, Succession‘s Sarah Snook. And while our esteemed panel of judges won’t necessarily be swayed by the Comments section, we’re itching to see if our 20 finalists line up with your favorite performances of the year.
Keep scrolling to see who’s in the running from this year’s shows, then drop a comment with your thoughts on who might be named Performer of the Year 2024.
Marisa Abela, Industry
Abela captivated us with her portrayal of the rich and spoiled Yasmin in Season 3. Sure, the character is manipulative, out of touch with reality and attempts to act morally superior when she’s essentially a trust-fund kid — but despite all that, transfixing us with Yas’ daddy drama and ever-growing turmoil became the actress’ superpower. Abela unleashed a spit-fire rage in a delicious brawl with Harper and shocked us to our core with a romantic heel-turn that left us just as gutted as Robert. But the fact that we cared so deeply about such a frustrating and immature character is all due to Abela’s finely nuanced turn. — Nick Caruso
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This
When you cast TV’s Veronica Mars and Seth Cohen in a rom-com, it’s a given that we’re going to be rooting for them. But we were completely swept off our feet when we actually watched the Netflix series, in which the duo exuded so much shared chemistry, charisma and emotional vulnerability that we fell head over heels in love right along with them. Bell and Brody are talented and terrifically appealing actors on their own, but together, they were pure magic. — Vlada Gelman
Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Cooper Koch, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
In Season 2 of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix anthology series, Chavez and Koch delivered what were arguably the breakout performances of the year. In fact, so wrenching was the tag team’s rendering of the aftershocks of the abuse the brothers suffered at the hands of their father, the show was often hard to watch. Yet we couldn’t look away, lest we miss a single nuanced second of the way Chavez and Koch sketched their haunting portraits of real-life ruination. — Charlie Mason
Olivia Cooke, House of the Dragon
Cooke does her best storytelling when she isn’t saying a word, and her ability to communicate Alicent’s inner monologue with little more than a glance served her well in the HBO drama’s second season. As Alicent realized how surrounded she was by immature, power-hungry young men — and how frequently her counsel was falling on deaf ears — the character’s weariness was etched all over Cooke’s face, bringing new complexity to a woman both desperate to protect her loved ones and eager to end an ill-advised war. Plus, in two exquisite scenes opposite Emma D’Arcy, Cooke beautifully laid bare the heartache and regret that fueled so many of Alicent’s Season 2 choices. — Rebecca Iannucci
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Watching Einbinder blossom from year to year has been a treat, all of which led to her series-best work (so far) in Season 3. The comedian brought her A-game all season long, from Ava’s hysterical bout of golf caddying to her attempts at explaining pronouns to her out-of-touch boss. Yes, the actress’ physical comedy and timing were on point, but she nailed the show’s heavier dramatic elements, as well. In a shocking finale that was full of deception and blackmail, Einbinder unleashed all her talents, putting Ava’s chutzpah on full display. Talk about a total package. — N.C.
Bridget Everett, Somebody Somewhere
Everett exuded pure joy as Sam, a Kansan wing-woman and support system that anyone would want in his or her corner. But over the course of the HBO comedy’s final season, Everett peeled back the character’s deepest fears and insecurities, as she finally took the tiniest of baby steps toward living her life more fully. While Sam continued to struggle with loving herself and finding her place in the world (breaking our hearts a few times in the process), the actress simultaneously infused her with quiet sadness and optimism, painting a slice of Midwestern life that felt real and wildly relatable. — N.C.
Harrison Ford, Shrinking
The veteran actor once again imbued the curmudgeonly Paul with a unique charm that had us chuckling with every “woof.” Whether the character was bellowing to be left alone or arguing with a colleague over “Jimmying,” Ford’s gruff responses consistently brought smiles to our faces. But the actor was vulnerable in all the right moments, too, wearing his heart on his sleeve when it really counted. His exquisite chemistry with Wendie Malick was magic to witness, and his upcoming finale monologue (no spoilers!) may wreck you. Ford’s been on our screens for decades and yet, we still can’t get enough of the man. — N.C.
Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country
HBO’s gritty crime anthology always knows how to dig up a great performance, and Foster delivered in this year’s chilly installment as Alaska police chief Liz Danvers. She was a tough nut to crack, always snapping at co-workers and keeping everyone at arm’s length, but Foster artfully revealed the layers of pain buried beneath Danvers’ hard outer shell as the case began to hit home. Once the ice around her heart started to melt, we couldn’t help but warm up to her. — Dave Nemetz
Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer
Gadd’s heartbreaking and transformative performance in the Netflix limited series is even more impressive when you consider that the art imitated his own life. Throughout Baby Reindeer’s seven autobiographical episodes, we watched as Gadd (and his alter ego, Donny) slowly, agonizingly reckoned with the inner demons that had been awakened by a stalker. The spiral culminated in the penultimate episode via a gut-wrenching, 11-minute emotional exorcism, every complex beat of which Gadd delivered with stunning, aching beauty. — Michael Ausiello
Betty Gilpin, Three Women
Gilpin brought her sex-crazed Lina to life with the right balance of delusion and hope, making us fall in love with the beloved book character all over again. She made us acutely aware of all that is at odds within Lina: the strong, sexy aloofness of the woman she wishes she were, and the weak, childish melancholia of the girl that she is. While perfectly toeing that Lina line, Gilpin never made her doe-eyed housewife come off as downright pathetic. In fact, Gilpin clearly took an affectionate approach, injecting the Starz adaptation with a twinkly quality that perfectly countered the tragedy of Lina’s circumstances. — Claire Franken
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Girls5eva
Comedy hit a high note each and every time Goldsberry graced our TV screens with her regal presence as self-obsessed diva Wickie on Netflix’s girl-group comedy. Even though the Girls5eva girls are strictly D-list, Wickie always carried herself like an A-lister, ordering strangers around like underlings and offering hilariously unsolicited advice to her friends. Plus, Goldsberry was surprisingly vulnerable as Wickie wrestled with long-buried childhood issues — and blessed us with her golden pipes, too, of course. — D.N.
Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along
We thought we’d seen the full spectrum of Hahn’s talents when she first portrayed Agatha Harkness — but, of course, the actress outdid herself when it came time to lead her own spinoff. And we’re not just talking about Hahn’s comedy chops, though her line readings and physical choices elevated every episode. Rather, we were most struck by Agatha’s delicate moments: her hints of genuine longing for Rio; the glimpses of grief over her son’s death; and her surprising — ill-advised, even! — protectiveness over Teen. Without some vulnerability from Agatha, we’d hardly be invested in her Witches’ Road journey; Hahn understood those stakes, thus conjuring one of the MCU’s most indelible performances. — R.I.
Cristin Milioti, The Penguin
Anyone who’d seen Milioti in projects like How I Met Your Mother, Fargo or Palm Springs knew she was wonderfully talented, yet it was still amazing how captivating she was in The Penguin. As mob daughter Sofia Falcone, Milioti had to take her character on a journey that ran the gamut from unsettling to caring to distraught to dangerous and beyond. She pulled off every move with incredible skill and emotion, always drawing the audience to Sofia and her story. Who knew we could still empathize after seeing someone kill off nearly their entire family? — Eric Goldman
Ruth Negga, Presumed Innocent
As Rusty Sabich was tried for murder, wife Barbara’s patience was tried — and then some. Negga in this role was handed a two-fold challenge, to act the hell out of her scenes while keeping us guessing about what was really driving each word and every emotion. We felt Barbara’s festering pain as an oft-betrayed wife, we admired her fortitude as a mother, we appreciated her need to be wanted (albeit extramaritally). And to the very end, we absolutely wondered if she had offed her rival. No spoilers here, but Negga slayed us with her performance. — Matt Webb Mitovich
Eddie Redmayne, The Day of the Jackal
As the highly skilled assassin at the center of Peacock’s pulse-pounding thriller, Redmayne hid behind a series of elaborate masks and disguises, and the Jackal kept his emotional cards very close to his chest. But Redmayne still let us know there was a conflicted human soul underneath all those disguises, infusing the Jackal with a palpable guilt and regret while also effortlessly pulling off the show’s high-wire action sequences. The result? A performance that hit us straight in the heart. — D.N.
Ramón Rodríguez, Will Trent
Rodríguez, who was already delivering one of network television’s most carefully crafted performances in Season 1, reached new heights in Season 2 as Will worked through a long-dormant childhood trauma. When the titular Special Agent recalled his hand in a violent episode that culminated in his foster mother’s death, and years of pent-up guilt came pouring out of him, we were as riveted as we were devastated by the emotional breakdown that played out before us. That was only rivaled by Rodríguez’s beautifully understated work in the Season 2 finale, as Will placed one true love Angie under arrest and reckoned with the happily-ever-after he’d just forfeited as a result. — Ryan Schwartz
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
Russell packed a lot of performance into The Diplomat’s criminally abbreviated second season as her titular character, Kate Wyler, navigated crises both international and at home. But it was her work opposite TV hubby Rufus Sewell (Hal) that landed her on this list. Of note: the epic “cost of doing business” marital skirmish in Episode 2, in which Russell delivered a veritable tour-de-force, nailing fluctuating emotional beats both comedic and dramatic with pinpoint accuracy. — M.A.
Anna Sawai, Shōgun
An Emmy and TCA Award winner and newly minted Golden Globe nominee for her portrayal of Mariko on the highly acclaimed FX saga, Sawai’s work speaks for itself, loudly. Whether a genial (if judgey) translator, a trusted attaché, a pariah stowing a complicated past behind an eight-fold fence, a secret lover, or a fierce warrior ready to make the ultimate sacrifice, Sawai rose to the acting challenge every step of the way. — M.W.M.
Antony Starr, The Boys
At this point, we’re starting to run out of superlatives to describe Starr’s chillingly memorable performance as one of TV’s best villains ever. In Season 4, the actor took Homelander to frightening and revelatory new depths as the supe desperately tried to play father to son Ryan in his own extremely effed-up way. As Homelander fought against his own need for love and approval, Starr delivered one of the season’s most frightening scenes when Homelander took pleasure in tormenting the workers at the Vought lab where he was raised. His maniacal laughter is still ringing in our ears. — V.G.
Bitsie Tulloch, Superman & Lois
The Man of Steel wasn’t the only one who had his heart ripped out during Superman & Lois’ final season. The CW drama’s viewers also experienced an emotional gutting — several, actually — courtesy of Tulloch, the show’s other superhero. For Lois, this was a season of both tremendous loss and unwavering hope, the ultimate test of her resilience as a journalist, wife, mother, daughter and hero in her own right. And boy, did she make us feel every bit of it. Tulloch’s remarkable balance of intense vulnerability and fierce determination resulted in a season of incredible performances, infusing an iconic character with more depth than we ever expected (and will never forget). — Andy Swift
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