Wes Anderson has always been a unique director. He knows what he likes, how he likes it, and what kind of performance he needs for his films. He sees the sadness in happy characters and the hope in the saddest ones. He knows exactly how to extract those nuances and powerful performances from all kinds of actors.
He has worked with first-time actors, kids, film legends, up-and-coming actors, stars, and character actors, and, with all of them, Anderson manages to show us something new in their performances. Let’s put on of his marvelous soundtracks and talk about those incredible actors. Here are the most powerful performances in Wes Anderson’s Movies, ranked:
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7 Tony Revolori as Zero - The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Wes Anderson can get great performances from newcomers. He did it with Jason Schwartzman; he did it with Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward (Moonrise Kingdom), and he did it with Tony Revolori. In a movie full of Oscar winners, Revolori is the soul of the film. He’s the eyes of the audience as they enter the world of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and his performance is the perfect balance for Ralph Fiennes’ more optimistic tone.
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Zero doesn’t talk much, but his eyes and mannerisms tell you everything that is going through his head, and since he hasn’t had the easiest of lives, that’s a lot. It’s no surprise that Revolori has been working steadily since this movie, because you spend the movie waiting for his next big moment. And that, in a Wes Anderson cast, is no small feat.
6 Gwyneth Paltrow as Margot Tenenbaum - The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
In Wes Anderson’s movies, female characters are not always the most important. Maybe that’s what makes this character and performance in The Royal Tenenbaums even better. Gwyneth Paltrow conveys the coldness and sadness of a woman who is unsatisfied with her life, but doesn’t know what she wants. Without that change, she’s unable to have intimacy with anyone. Not her husband, not her family, not her adopted brother who has feelings for her. No one. It’s a unique character, and a mystery to everyone around her. Paltrow shows us how Margot has an incredible interior life, but doesn’t want to feel vulnerable and share it, giving her a mystique and closed-up attitude.
During the ten-year reunion panel in Tribeca, Paltrow said that her scene getting out of the bus is the only one in her entire filmography she can watch because her dad was there on set that day. If there’s one movie where she liked her performance, it had to be this one.
5 Owen Wilson as Dignan - Bottle Rocket (1996)
Columbia Pictures
Owen Wilson has been working in Hollywood for almost thirty years, giving all kinds of performances, and this movie was his first, as he co-wrote the movie with Anderson when they were college roommates. Bottle Rocket is the story of three wannabe-robbers with a unique set of skills: they don’t have any skills, other than enthusiasm and big dreams.
Wilson gives Dignan a bit of dog energy: he can’t stop moving; he can’t concentrate; he likes to play and put on a show, and he can’t stop himself from doing things that he knows he will regret later. What gives this performance all the power, is that he can combine all those attributes with a certain sadness, as he wants some of the things his best friend (and real brother Luke Wilson) has for himself, giving this character a lot more layers. Dignan is all contrast, and it shows. Not bad for being his first performance ever.
4 Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum - The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Gene Hackman is an acting legend. Although there are stories that he wasn’t the most fun person to be on set with during this movie, it is undeniable that his performance as Royal Tenenbaum is an incredible achievement. From the start, we know he’s a big part of all the family’s traumas. He cheats, he steals, and he lies. Yet, as the film ends, you want him to succeed in getting welcomed back into the family. He’s the protagonist and the villain at the same time, as he’s the one who changes for the better during this incredible film about a family of kid geniuses.
The role was written with Hackman in mind, and he didn’t want to take it, but it was the last great performance of his career before he retired. When we think of Hackman, we think of The Conversation, The French Connection, and Unforgiven, but also The Royal Tenenbaums.
3 Jason Schwartzman as Max Fisher - Rushmore (1998)
Buena Vista Pictures
In his first movie ever, Jason Schwartzman played the lead character in Anderson’s second feature, Rushmore. It was the first of many collaborations between them as he appears in most of Anderson’s films, and even co-wrote the script for The Darjeeling Limited.
The character of Max Fisher could have been insufferable: he knows he’s a genius, but he could be condescending, prone to anger, and a bit extra. Thanks to Schwartzman’s sweetness and vulnerability, you see the inner child, full of insecurities, who’s trying to act beyond his years to impress the woman he likes. With that duality, we understand why Max is the way he is, and that’s what makes the character work.
2 Bill Murray as Steve Zissou - Life Aquatic (2004)
Bill Murray has had many unique performances in Wes Anderson’s movies. Steve Zissou is still the best of all. As an homage to Jacques Cousteau (they’re both oceanographers and wear red hats), Murray shows all the sadness and regret of a man who’s past his better years, and doesn’t fill well with his life. In a movie where he’s the one who’s always wrong and too stubborn (or egomaniacal) to admit it, it’s impressive how one last trip in his submarine shows us how he really feels.
The story of Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou starts with the idea of revenge, and is very sweet with how everything changes once he sees the unique and beautiful animal he has been searching for the whole film. It’s cathartic, and at that moment he understands that he has made a lot of mistakes, and he knows it. But, at the end of the day, he realizes that his life at sea, friends, and family (a.k.a. his crew) are all he needs, and Murray sells the hell out of it, crying on film for the first time.
Life Aquatic: Wes Anderson’s Most Underrated Movie
1 George Clooney as Mr. Fox - Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
20th Century Fox
A voice performance as the most powerful acting? Yeah, that’s how good George Clooney is as Mr. Fox. Anderson admitted that when he wrote the script, his first casting idea for the protagonist was Cary Grant, so he went for the modern version: George Clooney.
In Fantastic Mr. Fox, Clooney gives a tour de force performance: he’s enthusiastic, fun, feral, and a good father and husband. But, he’s also in a midlife crisis, and wants to be remembered as a legend. His vocal performance shows every moment of self-doubt, self-aggrandizing, fear, boredom, love, charisma, neediness, and bravery, giving us an incredible lead character. We believe in every one of those emotions while looking at a stop-motion fox. If that’s not a powerful performance, we don’t know what it is.
