Year in Review: Actors with amazing chemistry
Saturday, December 28, 2019 at 10:21AM by Nathaniel R
Remember all those years ago when the Mystic River (2003) team was trying to fight Lord of the Rings for the Oscar and trying a variation of “actors are the best special effects” as its campaign angle? That’s always been true even though those Hobbits deserved the win (if you think those movies would have been half as good without Elijah Wood’s purity and awe or Viggo’s resigned gravitas or Sir Ian’s commanding wit think again). In 2019 Avengers Endgame wouldn’t have obsessed the world so much if the core group of actors hadn’t spent the last decade building-up the love and squabbles of this superpowered chosen family. Similarly Captain Marvel benefitted early in the year from a fun chemistry between Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson, the actress bringing out a new, or at least revived, energy in Jackson’s umpteenth return to Nick Fury. Sometimes animosity is its own kind of chemistry, setting off dangerous sparks. Don’t you wish there were more scenes of Al Pacino and Stephen Graham as mouthy rivals in The Irishman, ice cream sundaes and all?
Chemistry is the magic and impossible-to-fake ingredient that elevates any human interaction to its most evolved form, including the fictional ones. Our “best onscreen chemistry” list begins with fascinatingly lop-sided relationships...
FAVOURITE EXAMPLES OF CO-STAR CHEMISTRY THIS YEAR
Honorable Mention: Even imbalanced relationships required a true connection between the actors to sell them well. They have to read as connected but with a layer of intangible remove, one side either too romanticized, enigmatic, or unresponsive to the other...Constance Wu’s idolization of mentor Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers, or even Matthew Rhys’s vague disbelief to slow conversion to Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. are good examples but our favourite in the lopsided sweepstakes is...
09 Sophie Okonedo & Jessie Buckley in Wild Rose (employer-friend / employee-narcissist)
What an intricate dance this was between the actors with a wealthy bored wife playing patron/employer/fan to her very own project-employee-lost-cause. Between this and the streaming series Wanderlust we're beginning to think that Sophie Okonedo can do anything with complex but mysterious bonds between people. (Of course it helps if the other actor is also brilliant as was the case with Toni Collette previously and Jessie Buckley here.)
08 Florence Pugh & Jack Reynor in MidSommar (lovers, trainwreck division)
Would MidSommar’s true nightmare-fuel topic (toxic relationships) have been half as effective if you couldn’t totally believe that Dani & Christian had a) been a couple for a few years but had b) always been wrong for each other and c) never been in love and d) were both too immature, lethargic, or unstable to move on? That’s a rhetorical question because the answer is "hell no". Their perfect anti-chemistry is chemistry in a neat subversion.
06 [TIE] Brad Pitt & Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood / Jimmie Fails & Jonathan Majors in Last Black Man in San Francisco (buddies)
Melancholy 'end of an era' moods eventually weigh down both of these onscreen friendships though one leans towards comedy and the other to sobering drama. Both pairs of actors impress as extremely different friends who are nonetheless exceptionally comfortable and/or comforted by each other's presence.
05 Carol Duarte & Julia Stockler in Invisible Life (sisters)
Invisible Life’s moving melodrama of endlessly separated sisters wouldn’t wring as many tears if Duarte and Stockler didn’t spend the first act making such a convincing case that Euridice and Guida were sisters with disparate temperaments but true devotion to one another.
04 Antonio Banderas and Leonardo Sbaraglia in Pain & Glory (former lovers)
That scene, my god.
03 Kaitlyn Dever & Beanie Feldstein in Booksmart (best friends)
A private shared-joke delight from our first glimpse to the finish, they're their own perfect party for two.
02 Adèle Haenel & Noémie Merlant in Portrait of a Lady on Fire (lovers, meant-to-be division)
The fire is evident from that very first meeting, chilly wind whipping around them at the cliff. It only burns hotter from there.
01 Awkwafina & Zhao Shuzhen in The Farewell (granddaughter & grandmother)
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Which examples from this list really did it for you? Who else do you think deserves to be on such a list?
Previously on our 'Year in Review' Celebration:
- Filmmaker Interviews
- 10 Style Icons
- 7 Stocking Stuffers
- 10 Best Horror Performances
- Mainstream Box Office Hits
- 50 Biggest Documentary Hits
- 11 Awesome Animals
Reader Comments (28)
A lovely article. It has made me misty-eyed at my computer this afternoon! And your number one - totally agree! No amount of hearts is enough! I so hope they both get nominated, but even if they don't, thank you 2019 for The Farewell!
The top 3! What a great day to be an actresssexual.
Great list but not mentioning the chemistry between both soairse ronan & Florence pugh with timothee chalamet surprised me
I'm not the biggest Dolor y gloria fan but the Banderas v. Sbaraglia and Banderas v. Julieta Serrano scenes KILLED ME.
Also, Mary Kay Place and Andrea Martin in Diane. Totally believable friendship.
Dafoe / Pattinson
I believe you missed #9? But great list regardless - although Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez's chemistry was the not so secret weapon of Hustlers.
Chemistry on film is really important specially in love stories or bromances like the perfect duo or Pitt and DeCaprio
Number one is a great choice. Lu Hong as Little Nai Nai had great chemistry with Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen as well.
My favourite kind of discussion! Thank you, Nathaniel.
“Us”. Lupita Nyong’o and Shahadi Wright Joseph.
Shahadi goes full body into partnership with Lupita with movement hat is wild, exquisite, and scary. Together they reinforce the idea that there are lots of Them and They are everywhere.
“Knives Out”. Christopher Plummer and Ana de Armas.
In their scenes together, de Armas is able to establish her core character, unwavering and resilient. Plummer gives her energy and encouragement and demonstrates the energy level and pace needed for the film.
“Black and Blue”. Naomie Harris and Tyrese Gibson.
In a movie so full of action and incipient violence, Harris and Gibson ground the story by reminding you that it is about the people at the heart of it, and how they stand together.
“Motherless Brooklyn”. Edward Norton and Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton and Alec Baldwin.
You both relax and wake up when these actors are together onscreen, knowing that the scene can go anywhere and convey all kinds of provocative ideas.
The classics:
“Frozen 2”. Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell.
Voice work, but the two are in perfect sync and on the same wavelength. Sisters indeed.
“Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker”. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver.
Valiantly providing depth and connection in an ensemble where the characters skitter all over the surface.
Where the hell is Ronan/Pugh/Chalamet on this list?!
JLo and Constance Wu
Pattinson and Dafoe
Pitt and DiCaprio
Griffin Davis and Mackenzie
iI ove reading these articles every year because in a weird magical way, we can all agree when we are in the presence of great chemistry, even if we cant exactly explain what makes it so.
The rapport between Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever was easily the most memorable part of that cute movie. You just can't fake that.
Julianne Moore and John Turturro in Gloria Bell
The two leads in The Souvenir (though I was not fond of the film)
Adam Driver and everybody in Marriage Story
Noah Jupe / Shia LaBeouf - HONEY BOY
Sterling K. Brown / Kelvin Harrison Jr. - WAVES
August Diehl / Valerie Pachner - A HIDDEN LIFE
All of which are totally heartbreaking!
Bening/Driver in The Report two professionals committed to the same job at different levels in their careers but with the same level of respect.
Sienna Miller and Amy Madigan a difficult dynamic for sure with undertones of love,the way Madigan goes in for a hug then retreats says lots about the relationships,an overlooked gem.
Love this list and would certainly echo many of the choices. I’ll add one more into the mix: Elisabeth Moss and Agyness Deyn in Her Smell. I actually would nominate both for Oscars (Moss would win).
Here for #2, 5 and 6. As for the rest, I haven't seen the movies yet or not really seeing the chemistry.
For me, here's whose chemistry sparkles/coagulates/coalesces
Huppert/Tomei in Frankie
Marianne Jean-Baptiste/Fatma Mohamed in In Fabric
Pryce/Hopkins in The Two Popes
Bates/Hauser in Richard Jewell
Miroshnichenko/Perelygina in Beanpole
Peggy, I'm so glad you keep mentioning Diane in the comments. With a little money, it could have gone places.
I love the chemistry between Sienna Miller and Christina Hendricks in American Woman. Totally believable as sisters; there are instances and gestures in that movie that makes me believe they know each other so well.
Good call out on Brie and Sam Jackson. THAT chemistry elevated that film (or more specifically their scenes) immensely.
Your #3 is probably my #1 for the year, but this is a great list.
And I know you disagree, but I thought Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott had sizzling chemistry in ALADDIN. Honestly felt like they would've ripped each other's clothes off if it weren't a Disney movie. And Will Smith/Mena Massoud was also a great comedic pairing.
I also felt the chemistry between Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith in QUEEN & SLIM.
Also, how are we all forgetting Taron Egerton and Jamie Bell in ROCKETMAN?
Ramona -- Agree! It has made me appreciate way more what they did with The Wife and Glenn Close. They did their best.
I second @markgordonuk about THE REPORT.
Annette Bening's imperious but motherly Senator Dianne Feinstein and Adam Driver's determined but increasingly fraying staffer have to push and pull through the entire movie against the backdrop of political urgency.
It's a professional tension that drives the movie in two ways: they have to fight the system and get out the Truth against a stonewalling bureaucracy, and they have to do a kind of boss-employee/mother-son tango that lies mostly under the surface, in very confined spaces. It's not "chemistry" the way a romance/bromance is, but it's definitely a thrilling actor-to-actor chemistry.
Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen were fun and sexy in "Long Shot", a movie that even advertised how unlikely these two were as a couple.
Yes on Long Shot! Charlize’s way better movie this year lmao
Scarlett and Julie Hagerty and Meritt Wever are perfection in MS
@Ryan T: Yes! Jamie Bell played the friend we all dream of having, and love and appreciate so much when we do. Amazingly difficult to play, but Bell made it look easy.
Great list! I would like to add Bale/Damon in Ford vs Ferrari!
Adam Diver and Daisy Ridley (even though the movie is trash they are the best part of it)