Top 11 Film Acting Debuts
- CJ Tiernan
- Jun 10
- 6 min read
By CJ Tiernan
With acting, as with most professions, there is typically a ramp-up period. You don’t hit the ground running, and you don’t expect to. You slowly learn and grow to reach your destiny of greatness over time. This is a list designed to honor the exception to the rule. For whatever reason, the following humans managed to blow us out of the water right off the bat (Yikes! That sentence was one idiom short of a Bingo). This is the list of my Top 11 Debuts by Actors in Movies I’ve ever seen, three of which were actually nominated by the Academy for their work.
1. Alan Rickman - Die Hard (1988)
I’m sorry. You mean to tell me that Alan Rickman came in off the street (well, stage, as he was a theater performer before this) and brought to life one of the greatest movie villains of all time? What!? Fun Fact: his ability to speak with an American accent actually led to a script change wherein he pretends to be a hostage when Bruce Willis finds him. From the name “Hans Gruber” to the iconic terror in his eyes as he (Spoiler Alert!) falls to his death, Alan Rickman delivered a winner right out the gates.
2. Natalie Portman - Léon: The Professional (1994)
Natalie Portman was only 12 or 13 when she filmed this movie. The content is a little lot more mature than that. Léon follows a young girl who lost her family to an unhinged Gary Oldman and befriends a hitman in pursuit of revenge. It would be a heartwarming connection if not for the fact that he’s teaching her how to get away with murder (and some really off-limits love radiating off her). Portman’s performance is incredible and the range she shows in this role would be taxing on anyone, let alone someone also trying to survive Junior High.
3. Sharlto Copley - District 9 (2009)
Ok, so I read, and then had to reread that not only was Copley not an actor prior to this movie, but that he improvised a lot of his dialogue. If that’s true, this is one of the greatest castings ever. He is incredible. Now I’m willing to admit that I’m easily swayed by the South African accent, but even putting that aside he is remarkable. He is acting alongside aliens and CGI and green screens and all sorts of violent chaos and he was able to perform the way he did. Incredible! Side quest: watch (or largely hear) him in the movie “Hardcore Henry.” It is a wild, first-person shooter style movie that is a lot of fun (especially if you’re not easily susceptible to motion sickness).
4. Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
This movie is wonderful and absolutely earned the Best Picture Oscar. Dev Patel, as the star and main character, made the movie. While the story was a fun ride, full of fortune and fear, he does a great job of grounding what could otherwise drift toward a fantastical story. If you don’t know the story and haven’t seen the movie, you simply must adjourn to the home theater and take it in. Essentially, an orphan on the Indian (In India, not American Indian) version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” is accused of cheating on the game show, but get a chance to see, through flashbacks, how he actually knows the answers.
5. Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit (2010)
Steinfeld was only 13 years old when True Grit came out (apparently that’s a winning debut age). Believe it or not, that doesn’t crack the Top 11 youngest Oscar nominees (labor laws in Old Hollywood were governed as effectively as sports gambling in college football is today). Nevertheless, she was incredible. She harbors a gravitas and a world-weariness that shouldn’t be possible for someone that young. Also, she had the chops to go toe-to-toe with Jeff Bridges in a Coen Brothers movie. That’s impressive, and that’s not just, like, my opinion man.
6. Zendaya - Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
As MJ, the love interest of Spider-Man alter ego (Spoiler Alert!) Peter Parker, Zendaya offers up perhaps the most understated performance on this list. She is cool, aloof, delightfully sardonic and quick witted. She is the perfect foil to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, who is extremely awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin. Plus, they met on set and are still clinging to a relationship 10 years later. Yay!
7. Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips (2013)
As I recall, Abdi was working as a Minneapolis limo driver before absolutely terrifying audiences (and Tom Hanks) in Captain Phillips. That is quite the jump. While we all remember the line, “Look at me… Look at me… I’m the Captain now…” what you may not know is that the line was improvised. The gumption it takes to put on your improv hat with Tom Hanks in your first movie ever is bonkers. It earned him an Oscar nom.
8. Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins (1964)
Julie Andrews is famous for having one of the most amazing voices in movie history. Between this movie (for which she won an Oscar) and the one with the von Trapps, she really had a run in the mid ‘60s wherein the theaters were alive with the sound of her music. The song and dance elements she and Dick Van Dyke own are really incredible, but I’m blown away by her acting. She (practically perfect in every way) straddles the very fine line between the stern nature to be taken seriously as a nanny and the whimsy of conjuring floor lamps from handbags and dancing with animated penguins whilst singing nonsense words. It does make you wonder what was in that spoonful of sugar.
9. Robin Williams - Popeye (1980)
Robin Williams has a history of being a wild and crazy guy. Indeed, if you’ve ever seen any of his standup, you’ve seen a man sweat, swear, and storm around the stage. He channeled that energy (with a helping hand from a helping of cocaine), into one of the wilder movies you will ever see. He is Popeye (of “the Sailor Man” fame), and has the spinach-induced forearms to prove it. He also talks out of the side of his mouth the entire time. It is an incredible performance that raises the tide, lifting the other boats (the other boats in this instance being the rest of the movie).
10. Bruce Campbell - The Evil Dead (1981)
Bruce Campbell’s autobiography is the masterfully titled “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor.” I give his performance in the Evil Dead series an A. It’s campy and over-the-top but man is it great. And if you’ve ever seen him, you know about that jaw. It’s playing for keeps and taking no prisoners. His work in the reboot/sequel/spinoff series “Ash vs Evil Dead” may have been his best of his career.
11. Warwick Davis - Return of the Jedi (1983)
This is the only actor on my list whom you can’t see in their performance (if you don’t count Robin Williams hiding beneath his forearms). Warwick Davis plays Wicket W. Warrick, an Ewok on the forest moon of Endor. Using rocks and sticks and stuff, he helps the Rebels defeat the Empire. The character is so much fun that he makes the list even though he’s buried in costume and makeup. Clearly, he made an impression, because he wound up being invited back for another 5 or so Star Wars movies, playing several different characters. In a wonderful, full-circle moment, he not only starred in the Harry Potter series with Alan Rickman, but he played the physical role of Marvin the Paranoid Android in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” that was voiced by Rickman.
Final Thoughts
A good performance in a movie will go unnoticed. It wasn’t so bad that it pulled you out of the story, nor was it so good that you felt it’s emotional impact. A good performance is a noble pursuit. These actors managed to surpass that lofty expectation from jump street. Their impact is noticed and perceived and remembered and, in many instances, launched one heck of a career. I hope you enjoyed these performances as much as I did. If not, please let me know who you believe belongs on the list instead. Here’s a list of a few performances that just missed my list. Thanks! Have a great day!
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