From Jaws to Lincoln, Steven Spielberg has elicited magnificent performances from movie stars and character actors alike.
Here’s EW’s list of the best ones from each of his films.
Steven Spielbergis known for a number of unmistakable directorial trademarks.
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She embodies desperation so thoroughly that even her most chaotic actions make a certain amount of sense.
And his fast-paced humor provides momentary relief from the mounting tension without fully disrupting it.
And, more importantly, her high-flying antics are genuinely funny.
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As Marion Ravenwood,Karen Allenoften usurps the spotlight fromHarrison Ford.
and helps him return home.
’s arrival all the more heartwarming.
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It’s an impressively natural performance that grounds a fantastical story in genuine emotion.
If you liked Henry Thomas inE.T.
Later, Winfrey’s nearly unrecognizable when her character becomes quiet and emotionally fragile after enduring decades of abuse.
Melinda Dillon and Cary Guffey in ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’.Everett Collection
), and she delivers in spades.
He’s laughably loyal and unbothered.
If you liked Bob Hoskins inHook, you might also enjoy him in:Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
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It’sBen Kingsley, however, who delivers the film’s most complex work as Itzhak Stern.
Yet his fear and desperation for love seem so genuine that you pity him despite his lack of humanity.
He’s hard to watch, but also makes it hard to look away.
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If you liked Haley Joel Osment inA.I.
Fanning crafts a complex, unpredictable character by combining adult qualities with childish anxiety and fear.
He maintains a constant neutral temperament, oddly unbothered by his arrest and uncertain fate.
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The actor’s naturally deep voice becomes downright thunderous coming from the mouth of an enormous monster.
If you liked Ariana DeBose inWest Side Story, you might also enjoy her in:Schmigadoon!
(2021)
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Sam Neill and Laura Dern in ‘Jurassic Park’ in 1992.SNAP/REX/Shutterstock
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Harrison Ford in ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.'.David James/Lucasfilm
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‘West Side Story’.Niko Tavernise/20th Century Studios
