The Unforgettables

(Photo: Courtesy of Oscilloscope Pictures (Williams) Courtesy of Victor Bello/Weinstein Co. (Cruz); Eric Liebowitz/Sony BMG (Wright); IFC Films (Amalric); Andrew Schwartz/Miramax Films (Davis); Phil Bray/Focus Features (Penn); Darren Michaels/Columbia Pictures (Franco); Francois Duhamel/Dreamworks (Shannon); Thierry Valletoux/Sony Pictures Classics (Thomas) )

Clockwise From Top Left

Michelle Williams
Heartbreaking and restrained, her quiet desperation in Wendy and Lucy is as powerful as it is still.

Penélope Cruz
Woody Allen found his smokin’-est muse for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. (Sorry, Scarlett.)

Jeffrey Wright
As the erotically ambivalent Muddy Waters, he rocks the Hoochie Coochie.

Mathieu Amalric
A kooky Bond baddie. A weirdo black-sheep in A Christmas Tale. We’ll now see this guy in anything.

Viola Davis
Her breathtaking combo of strength and weakness in Doubt? Accomplished in just five minutes.

Sean Penn
Joyful, sexy, goofy. That’s right, Sean Penn! His Harvey Milk is a spot-on celebration.

James Franco
The studliest stoner since Pitt, he wasn’t just a dealer in Pineapple Express—he was an aspiring civil engineer.

Mickey Rourke
As a washed-up wrestler and deli-counter dude, he gets the role of a career—and the comeback of the year.

Michael Shannon
His creepy, dreamy schizophrenic in Revolutionary Road nearly steals the film.

Kristin Scott Thomas
Underrated no more after a taut, crushing performance (in French, no less) in I’ve Loved You So Long.

Related:

• Archive: “Movie Features”
• Table of Contents: Dec 15, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!