In a time like no other comes an awards season filled with drama – though not all of it the welcome sort. Uncertainty hovers over the film industry, release schedules continue to wobble, and the look and feel of the imminent BAFTA and Oscar nights – pushed back to April this year – remain in soft focus. And then there are our frequently shuttered cinemas. It’s so hard not to miss them, isn’t it? Friday night, lights going down, the hot new film, a buzz in the air – and then, wonder of wonders, it turns out the hype was spot on. Tears are stolen. Hearts are broken. Minds are changed.
Not that 2021 hasn’t brought its own markers of excellence. With streaming services putting out more traditional cinema fare, we have all come to appreciate the rise of the “phone dropper” – performances so electric, so important, that they have the power to wrest your gaze from the global drama unfolding on the tiny screen in your hand.
The best ones did not let it go. Frances McDormand as a woman lost and found on the fabled highways of America; Viola Davis as the “Mother of the Blues” making her first recordings as the world flits between loving and loathing her power; Steven Yeun as a young father risking it all on Arkansan soil; an unforgettable 24-minute single take of Vanessa Kirby set during a home birth; and 23 more exquisite, poignant and hilarious performances celebrated by Vogue.
The film industry is wounded badly, but its stories continue to nourish, heal and offer escape, even hope. So see them all, on whatever screen you can, while we wait for those cinema lights to fade to magic once again.
Kate Winslet
Who is your Hollywood icon?
“Jodie Foster, because she is always entirely, authentically true to herself.”
Who was your childhood movie crush?
“This is so easy: Guy Pearce. I was in love with him from the age of 11. We share the same birthday. I think I’ve still got a bit of a crush on him, if I’m being completely honest.”
Ciara Bravo
Kentucky-born Ciara Bravo’s first paid acting job was to kiss a frog in a commercial. The soon-to-be 24-year-old has come a long way since then, as evidenced by her breakout film performance in Cherry, for which she plays the long-suffering girlfriend of a young war veteran (Tom Holland) desperately struggling with addiction.
Which film did you return to in lockdown?
“Every single movie featuring Elliot Page.”
Riz Ahmed
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“You’re meant to be here. Don’t let that voice in your head tell you you’re not. I spent a long time leaving part of myself at the door, but now I’m embracing bringing all of me to projects and relationships, and not having to edit myself.”
Who is your favourite party plus-one?
“Probably my mum, because you never know what random stuff she’s going to come up with. She’s a good wild card.”
Dominique Fishback
At 29-years-old, Dominique Fishback’s mesmerising turn as Deborah Johnson, the fiancée of American activist Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya) in the 1960s-set Black Panther drama Judas and the Black Messiah, heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.
Who is your Hollywood icon?
“Meryl Streep. When I was in school, I thought, ‘If I perfect my craft, then it doesn’t matter if somebody doesn’t like the type of movie I choose to do, they’ll always be able to say “That girl can act.”’ And that’s what it’s like for Meryl. Nobody can say she can’t act. She’s the best.”
Zendaya
Last year, at the height of the pandemic, what did one of the hardest working Gen Z actors in Hollywood do? She pivoted, of course. Filmed in California during lockdown, Malcolm & Marie’s tiny cast and crew quarantined together to make a chamber piece in the mode of John Cassavetes, a taut two-hander about what happens when a hotshot director mines his girlfriend’s life for material, then forgets to thank her at the premiere. Over the course of the 16-night shoot, Zendaya – fractured, tender, but above all real – revealed herself to be among the most exciting players in the business.
Maria Bakalova
Making her Hollywood debut as the teenage daughter of Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen), 24-year-old Bulgarian actor Maria Bakalova drew international headlines for that scene featuring former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. It immediately put her on the map – and squarely among the year’s best performances.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“To be crazier. I was too disciplined as a child. I wanted to be an adult too early.”
Frances McDormand
In director Chloé Zhao’s moving film about a generation of Americans whose lives have been shattered by the 2008 recession, two-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand gives the performance of her career. With spellbinding understatement, she plays Fern, a widow forced from her devastated Nevada mining town on to the road, where she lives an itinerant, often precarious, existence in her van. The result is a deeply affecting, quietly breathtaking portrait of a woman confronting her past, future and what makes a meaningful life.
Rashida Jones
Who is your Hollywood icon?
“My dad, Quincy Jones. I know it’s biased, but he is an icon and an important part of Hollywood history. He scored about 40 films, and he was the first Black person to be the musical director and conductor at the Oscars.”
What’s your tip for looking red-carpet ready on Zoom?
“Lighting is everything. In these dark times, find your light! I mean that in every sense of the word.”
Eddie Redmayne
How do you deal with nerves?
“I’ve tried everything: meditation, CBD oil, drinking, but then I get paranoid that my semi-drunkenness is affecting the work, and that sends me into even more of a spin.“
What would you be doing if you weren’t an actor?
“Making greetings cards.”
Viola Davis
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“You’re beautiful, you’re worth it, you’re absolutely right exactly as God made you. Because I spent too many years thinking I was worthless and not pretty enough, good enough or anything enough.”
Who is your favourite party plus-one?
“My husband, Julius Tennon. I know he has my back, I know he’s not a plus-one just because he wants to get to the party, and he makes me laugh. I sort of love him, you know?”
Tom Holland
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“It’s a trick that my first-ever director, Nick Evans, taught me, which is basically to turn your nerves into excitement. Throughout my career, whenever I’ve been nervous for something, I just kind of trick myself into thinking that I’m really excited, and it means that I enjoy everything so much more.”
Olivia Colman
Having slipped effortlessly into the role of awards juggernaut, thanks to her board-sweeping turn as Queen Anne in The Favourite three years ago, it is a thrill to see Olivia Colman return her expertise to modern domestic character work in Florian Zeller’s The Father. Colman plays daughter to Anthony Hopkins, as reality shifts and personalities mingle within the confines of a London flat, as the cruel hand of dementia takes hold. A masterclass in naturalism, Colman’s spare, understated performance lingers long in the mind.
Sacha Baron Cohen
Last year was one of distinct surprises from Sacha Baron Cohen. First, he made an unannounced return as Borat – lampooning a whole new set of political ghouls in the run-up to the US election (see Maria Bakalova’s entry). Then he turned up in courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7. Sure, as 1960s political activist Abbie Hoffman he has plenty of fun, but it was a revelation to see the Ali G performer in serious mode, and delivering Aaron Sorkin dialogue to boot.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Who is your Hollywood icon?
“Sophia Loren. I love her. She reminds me of me, working in two different countries and two different languages.”
What would you be doing if you weren’t an actor?
“I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer, because I was super-fascinated by planes. I love science, I love math, I’m really fond of physics.”
Amanda Seyfried
What’s the most fun you’ve ever had at an awards show?
“At the Oscars, if I’m giving an award out. I just hang out in the green room the entire ceremony, eat the food and watch people come in and out with their Oscars. It’s not sitting in the auditorium that’s fun, it’s backstage.”
Who is your Hollywood icon?
“Judy Garland for The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland because she was a singer. Judy Garland for every reason.”
Anya Taylor-Joy
What do you love most about acting?
“The fact you get to explore – yourself, other people, new countries.”
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“Not to be too hard on yourself, because you don’t get Brownie points for suffering.”
Steven Yeun
The story of a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm, the much-loved Minari could see 37-year-old Steven Yeun make history as the first Asian American to land an Oscar nomination for best actor.
What was the first film you saw at the cinema?
“Terminator 2 with my mum. We’d probably only been in America two or three years, and she didn’t know what she was watching, and I didn’t know what I was watching, but it was pretty gangbusters.”
Carey Mulligan
This year has already seen two wildly different performances from Carey Mulligan. In the charming British film The Dig, the actor plays Edith Pretty, a wealthy Suffolk landowner who is sitting on buried treasure. But it is Emerald Fennell’s revenge thriller Promising Young Woman that could catapult Mulligan into the Oscars race. As Cassie, a sweet-looking barista hiding a sinister life behind candy-coloured clothing, Mulligan reveals a deliciously dark side we seldom get to see, one that freshly illuminates a serious talent.
Helena Zengel
Helena Zengel was just 11-years-old when she auditioned for director Paul Greengrass to star alongside Tom Hanks in the western News of the World. The young actor plays Johanna Leonberger, a girl on an epic journey across the Texan plains in mid-19th century America, and has wowed critics with her steely performance and ability to go toe-to-toe with Oscar-heavyweight Hanks.
Who is your Hollywood icon?
“I’m only a 12-year-old German girl, so I don’t know so many. But I think I really like Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.”
LaKeith Stanfield
What film did you return to in lockdown?
“Tales from the Hood. Coming from a poor background, dealing with a lot of violence, it is a good reminder that there are beautiful stories that can blossom out of this.”
How do you deal with nerves?
“How you breathe and take your time is important. A lot of it is cerebral, it’s really not that deep if you take time to slow down and realise everything’s fine.”
Jodie Foster
Who was your childhood movie crush?
“Robert Redford. I had every picture of him. I used to draw pictures of him everywhere, especially when he had a moustache. Every time I drew him, he had a little moustache.”
Who is your favourite party plus-one?
“Hmmm, I’ve got to think now. Is it just that I don’t know any fun people? It’s possible.”
Daniel Kaluuya
Londoner Daniel Kaluuya brings so much charisma to the role of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Black Panther Party’s Illinois chapter in Judas and the Black Messiah, that it’s hard to take your eyes off him. From hypnotic political speeches delivered with Shakespearean verve (Kaluuya worked with an opera coach to maximise their effect), to the complexities of love and betrayal against a backdrop of the civil rights movement, it is a career-defining moment.
Andra Day
Grammy-nominated singer Andra Day, 36, embodies the late, great Billie Holiday in Lee Daniels’s visually stunning biopic, revealing an acting talent as rare and powerful as her voice.
What would you be doing if you weren’t an actor?
“When I was a kid, I told my parents I wanted to be a palaeontologist. They were like, ‘Yeah, you should probably stick to acting.’”
James Corden
Name the last film that made you cry?
“Soul. I found that quite a profound experience. It was just a light tear as I sat with my kids and considered my own mortality.”
What’s your tip for looking red-carpet ready on Zoom?
“Distracting things – a nice photo, a few books, sculpture. Divert the eyes. That’s why my wife is the best plus-one.”
Vanessa Kirby
Performances as raw and affecting as Vanessa Kirby’s in Pieces of a Woman do not come around often. In Kornél Mundruczó and Kata Wéber’s film, Kirby, 32, plays Martha: a woman whose baby dies in traumatic circumstances moments after she gives birth. Alongside her work in The World to Come – playing a 19th-century frontierswoman caught up in a lesbian affair – Kirby has proven she is capable of incredible things.
Kingsley Ben-Adir
Kingsley Ben-Adir, 35, dazzles as Malcolm X in Regina King’s directorial debut, One Night in Miami. Now enjoying Oscar buzz, could the north Londoner, who not long ago was a series regular in ITV’s Vera, become our next great acting export?
Name the last film that made you cry.
“I re-watched The Remains of the Day in lockdown. Emma Thompson at the end… she got me all choked up.”
Sophia Loren
What was the hardest thing about being a creative in 2020?
“The lack of human connection. Not being able to embrace people. How can you connect artistically if you can’t connect emotionally?”
Who is your Hollywood icon?
“I love Rita Hayworth. Her beauty, her sassiness, her class and those legs… Mamma mia!”
Digital artwork: DTouch London. Los Angeles production: Rhianna Rule. Los Angeles. Remote photo production: Hubble Studios. With thanks to Jill Demling, Vogue entertainment director-at-large, and Amy Wiggin.
More from British Vogue:
