Sometimes an actor can carry an entire movie with a performance, while others make a lasting impression in merely one scene of action. We’re going to focus on the latter category today, as we present this list of single scene crushers who took a moment to bring the house down.
Ned Beatty - Network
Even in a big ticket classic like Sidney Lumet’s Network, there’s room for a performer like Ned Beatty to steal the entire movie in one fell swoop. Brought in as a last minute replacement, and with four pages of dialogue to work through, Beatty booms in a scene that nails the core tenets of writer Paddy Chayefsky’s blistering satire.
Drew Barrymore - Scream
Wes Craven’s reinvention of teen slashers kicked off the legendary Scream franchise with a murder no one saw coming. With Drew Barrymore featuring prominently in trailers and promotional art, everyone thought she’d be safe and sound for a good part of the picture. One scene was all it took to shake the audience to its core, and prove that anything can happen in Woodsboro… and it often does.
J.T. Walsh - Outbreak
As if having the late Donald Sutherland didn’t already inject a White House briefing scene with enough gravitas, legendary character actor J.T. Walsh gets a moment to protest an action that could wipe the small town of Cedar Creek off the map. His righteous anger is a lynchpin moment that perfectly sets the stakes for a nail-biting finale.
Viola Davis - Doubt
In just one scene of Doubt’s powerhouse narrative, Viola Davis scored something every actor dreams of: their first Academy Award nomination. A scene of masterful acting between herself and fellow legend Meryl Streep, Davis drives this moment of intense conversation with a gamut of authority and vulnerability. In a cast that also includes Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, Viola Davis should have been credited on the poster, as her moment is that powerful.
Alec Baldwin - Glengarry Glen Ross
People who go to see David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross on stage are probably disappointed that Alec Baldwin’s Blake doesn’t appear in that version of the narrative. Crafted especially for the 1992 film adaptation the man that taught us to “Always Be Closing” sees Baldwin holding court viciously with a room that includes Ed Harris and Jack Lemmon among its ranks. Don’t worry if you forgot that character’s name… he’ll tell you soon enough.
Dame Judi Dench - Shakespeare In Love
Network actor Beatrice Straight is the record holder for the shortest performance to win an Academy Award. In a similar fashion, one scene in Shakespeare In Love was all it took for Dame Judi Dench to win her own golden accolade, playing the role of Elizabeth I. Although this is Dame Dench we’re talking about here, and that performance was certainly worth the hoopla… even if Saving Private Ryan is the film that should have won Best Picture that year.
Alfred Molina - Boogie Nights
You will never listen to “Sister Christian” the same way again after watching Alfred Molina’s single scene performance in Boogie Nights. His portrayal of unstable drug dealer Rahad runs the gamut from hysterical to horrifying, in a scene that only persists in the horrors that unfold to threaten Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) and his friends. Chekov’s Gun is so much more effective when you have firecrackers going off at irregular intervals.
Cate Blanchett - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring
Is anyone absolutely sure Cate Blanchett isn’t really an Elf? The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring made a pretty good case for her actually being an ethereal being, as Galdriel’s one scene with Frodo (Elijah Wood) is an all-time stunner. You probably didn’t need the special effects to enhance the scene, as Blanchett’s actual physical performance in that moment makes you believe that she comes from the pages of J.R.R. Tolkien, and we should all be thankful.
August Diehl - Inglourious Basterds
Never, ever, set a meeting in a basement. Quentin Tarantino taught us that lesson in just one scene of Inglourious Basterds, as what was supposed to be a simple clandestine meeting of Allies became a bloody free-for-all. And it was all thanks to Dieter Hellstrom (August Diehl), the Nazi equivalent of Sherlock Holmes, sniffing out the truth behind Lieutenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) and his team.
Alice Nunn - Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
Children who grew up on the best ‘80s movies will still tell you that the appearance of Large Marge (Alice Nunn) in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure is something that just may have traumatized them. In a moment that’s akin to the ultimate campfire story, Marge’s story is made even more terrifying by her transformation into a horror only Claymation could properly convey.
Dave Bautista - Blade Runner 2049
Dave Bautista has been building an impressive resume through roles in projects like Blade Runner 2049. The eventual fight between his character Sapper and Officer K (Ryan Gosling) isn’t the point of his soft spoken presence, as the moments leading up to that explosion double as a crucial clue to the existential unraveling our protagonist undergoes. It’s a perfect showcase of the former wrestler turned actor’s range at work.
Vanessa Redgrave - Atonement
Atonement is a film that plays with the truth throughout time, through the eyes of its protagonist Briony. In the final incarnation of the character, Vanessa Redgrave devastates the audience by delivering the stone cold truth of what really happened between Robbie (James McAvoy) and Cecilia (Keira Knightley). Turning this romantic drama into a bittersweet tragedy, Redgrave delivers it like an expert.
Marcel Marceau - Silent Movie
Leave it to Mel Brooks to give famed mime Marcel Marceau the only line of dialogue in a film like Silent Movie. As Mel Funn (Brooks) and his pals make an important phone call to try and convince Mr. Marceau to join their motion picture, they get their answer pretty quickly. In a movie replete with cameos, this one takes the cake.
Carol Kane - The Princess Bride
Everybody remembers Billy Crystal’s Miracle Max from The Princess Bride, otherwise “Have fun storming the castle” wouldn’t be a memorable line of dialogue in human culture. But we also need to give Carol Kane’s Valerie an equal amount of credit for the magic, as she and Crystal are the ultimate double act that absolutely crush in just a short span of time.
Donald Sutherland - JFK
Whether you believe in conspiracy theories or not, Donald Sutherland’s appearance in Oliver Stone’s JFK will probably have you nodding your head in agreement throughout his patch of screen time. Commanding authority with his hushed oaken tones through a scene that lays down a lot of ground, it’s no wonder Kevin Costner’s memory of working with Sutherland is so fond.
Gloria Foster - The Matrix
Exposition is nothing new to The Matrix franchise, and neither is the concept of an all seeing character delivering the knowledge we need for the road ahead. And the OG actor that embodied that concept was the late Gloria Foster, playing the original Oracle who put Neo (Keanu Reeves) onto his path to destiny. Succeeded by actor Mary Alice after her untimely passing, Foster’s on-screen wisdom still sings to this day.
Ralph Fiennes - Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
The first appearance of Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) in the Harry Potter movies is a revelation. Set as the ultimate threshold of importance, The Goblet of Fire heads into that point of no return with a scene so atmospheric, you can feel yourself standing in that graveyard. Seeing Fiennes step into the role for the first time is something akin to magic itself.
Edie McClurg - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Working the customer service desk of Marathon Car Rental when Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’ Neal Page (Steve Martin) has an expletive filled breakdown over a portion of his trip from hell, veteran character actor Edie McClurg’s rental agent goes from friendly to fierce as quickly as any luxury car in the fleet; dropping the F-bomb that ties the scene together in its ultimate laugh line.
Christopher Walken - Pulp Fiction
With Quentin Tarantino’s non-linear narrative of cool customers trying to make it through the day in Pulp Fiction, anything can fit if you do it right. And Walken’s single moment of action is, without question, a scene that nails in the importance of one gold watch that you can sympathize with Butch (Bruce Willis) when he decides to risk it all to find it.
Alfre Woodard - 12 Years A Slave
12 Years a Slave writer John Ridley once told Vulture that the toughest scene he wrote for that film was the one where Alfre Woodard’s Mistress Burke tells Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) to “take comfort” that vengeance will eventually visit “the plantation class.” Hearing her alternate between the distant promise of judgment and rationalizing her own lot in life, similar to that of her younger guest, is something that remains as chilling as it was when first heard.
Wilford Brimley - Absence of Malice
In just one scene of Absence of Malice, the legendary Wilford Brimley moves from quips to threats in fast fashion, and the man never fails to compel the audience for his one brief scene. Wasting no time as a character that has none to waste, where Brimley’s Wells cuts to the heart of the entire picture’s mystery and lays out the consequences that will play out, lest anyone involved lose more face than they have to.
Kathy Burke - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Author John le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the antithesis of the pulpy action that Ian Fleming injected into the books that would inspire the James Bond movies. Nowhere is that more present than in Kathy Burke’s monumental scene as Connie Sachs, ally and admirer of spy George Smiley (Gary Oldman). All at once, she goes from hitting on her former colleague to lamenting how the Cold War has left their kind adrift, and the sum total is properly heartbreaking.
Bill Murray - Little Shop of Horrors
Much like Jack Nicholson in Roger Corman’s 1960 original, Bill Murray gave Little Shop of Horrors’ musical movie adaptation a moment where the audience just had to laugh at someone who freaks out even sinister dentist Orin (Steve Martin). Coming in for a brief comedic interlude, Murray’s mania is a welcome pit stop in this tale of horror, Faustian bargains, and horticulture.
Molly Ringwald - Not Another Teen Movie
Not Another Teen Movie is Airplane! for generations who grew up in the presence of She’s All That, and some of the other best ‘90s movies. So having John Hughes alum Molly Ringwald highlighting just how ridiculous Janey (Chyler Leigh) and Jake (Chris Evans) are in their young romance is a late hour punchline that absolutely kills.
Clifton Collins Jr. & Thomas Jane - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Playing something as ridiculous as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’s Vegan Police is something that needs expert timing, as the right amount of menace and lunacy is required to make the gag work. With that in mind, Clifton Collins Jr. and Thomas Jane were just the pair to do it, as director Edgar Wright used their talents to give us a scene where even the threat of finger guns with laser pointers makes you feel something.
Kathleen Freeman - The Blues Brothers
Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman) isn’t called “The Penguin” for nothing. As the inciting character that sends The Blues Brothers’ heroes on their mission from God, her demeanor is as stinging as her ruler. So watch your language, and pray you leave her office standing up.
Brian Tyree Henry - If Beale Street Could Talk
Playing Daniel, an old friend of If Beale Street Could Talk’s Fonny (Stephan James), Brian Tyree Henry briefly holds court in a movie that knows how to simultaneously break and mend its audience’s heart. After James sets the scene up with his character’s own woes, Henry proceeds to build on that foundation with an understated sense of dread and sorrow that only scratches the surface of his talents.
Matt Damon - EuroTrip
What happens when you’re writing a teen sex comedy, and you happen to be friends with Matt Damon? You offer him a role like that of the rocker from EuroTrip, who admits in song that he’s been romancing the girlfriend of our hero. You have to wonder if this was an opportunity Damon took as a break from the intense seriousness of the Bourne movies. Whatever the truth may be, it’s a brief but memorable laugh riot, no matter where you parked your car.
Charlize Theron - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Charlize Theron’s shocking MCU debut in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was the first of a couple big Marvel reveals that still haven’t panned out to something greater. That doesn’t stop her moment in the sun as sorceress Clea from being any less impressive, as she literally shows up, tears a hole of the fabric of dimensions, and invites Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) on an adventure we’d still love to see play out.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson - Reno 911: Miami!
You wouldn’t expect Dwayne Johnson to bite the big one if he were to randomly show up in a movie sporting SWAT tactical gear. And yet, Reno 911!: Miami gave us just that moment brought to hysterical life, thanks to the brave sacrifice of Agent Rick "The Condor" Smith. Ok, maybe “brave” is the wrong term to use, as the man did kind of fumble a live grenade into an unforced error of grave proportions.
Salma Hayek - From Dusk Till Dawn
Having an alluring talent like Salma Hayek in your movie can move things along in a number of ways. Perhaps one of her greatest achievements is when she acted as the literal pivot point of Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, as the gorgeous Santanico Pandemonium. One moment she’s dancing for a crowd of thankful patrons, and the next she’s plunging this delightful genre mashup into horror-comedy hell.
Will Smith - Winter’s Tale
Winter’s Tale is a movie that still has people scratching their heads, thanks to its magical thinking and high fantasy style story. If you match that description of moviegoer, the appearance of Will Smith in a cameo as Lucifer isn’t going to do much to change your mind. However, this rare performance that sees Smith playing the heavy is amazing, as he commands Shakespearian style language with an intense rage that absolutely sells the CGI enhancement that tops it off.
