26 Actors Who Were Only In, Like, ONE Scene But 100% Stole The Entire Movie
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We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which actors completely stole the entire movie even though they were barely in it. Here are the unforgettable results.
1.Evan Peters (as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver), who's responsible for one of the coolest movie scenes ever, despite only being on screen for 5 minutes and 15 seconds in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
"Evan Peters stole the movie with that slow-motion scene. He's too good."
You can watch the performance here:
2.Molly Shannon (as Tracy), who only had one scene but should have EGOT'd anyway for her three-minute performance in The Santa Clause 2.
"It's been 20 years, but I still can't get over how freaking good Molly Shannon's only scene is in this movie. It's the most perfectly unhinged performance, and despite only being on screen for three minutes, I'm still mad she didn't get an Oscar nomination. In just one scene, she manages to give us an EGOT-worthy song and dance before delivering an iconic speech about self-worth. Truly iconic!"
You can watch the performance here:
3.Drew Barrymore (as Casey), who only appeared in the first 12 minutes of Scream.
"Not only did she do a great job in that 12-minute opening sequence, but she was top-billed, and the film was marketed as her movie."
You can watch the performance here:
4.Viola Davis (as Mrs. Miller), who was nominated for an Oscar after appearing in only one scene in Doubt.
"Viola Davis only appeared in one scene — literally less than eight minutes long — acting opposite Meryl Streep, and it earned her her first Oscar nomination. She's so perfect and heartbreaking in the movie. With each tear, you can see the pain on her character's face as she tries to convince herself that she's doing the right thing, even though she knows that either side is a losing battle. There's a reason Viola is the best, and this scene proves why."
You can watch the performance here:
5.Jonathan Groff (as King George III), who received an Emmy nomination after appearing in less than 10 minutes of the stage recording of Hamilton.
"He was only on stage for a total of nine minutes, yet he was nominated for a Tony and an Emmy for the performance. But let's be serious...it's Jonathan Groff, so he's worth it."
You can watch the performance here:
6.Anthony Hopkins (as Hannibal Lecter), who won the Best Actor Oscar despite being on screen for only 24 minutes of The Silence of the Lambs.
"The fact that one of the most legendary characters in modern film was only in the movie for 24 minutes will never not impress me! Goes to show how strong Anthony Hopkins’ performance was." —alicebraz
If you're curious, David Niven is the only Best Actor winner to be on screen for a shorter length of time, winning the Oscar for appearing in just 23 minutes and 39 seconds in 1958's Separate Tables.
You can watch the performance here:
7.Rooney Mara (as Erica Albright), who only had about five minutes of total screen time in The Social Network.
"Technically she appears three times in the movie, but her second two appearances are really small, especially in comparison to the first scene. Jesse Eisenberg has huge command of the screen as Zuckerberg (he got an Oscar nom for the performance), but Mara is right there with him the entire time. That opener is almost like a verbal boxing match, and I would argue that she wins it."
You can watch the performance here:
8.Kimberly Adair Clark (as Honey, Frozone's wife), who was so iconic even though she only had a couple lines in The Incredibles.
"Kimberly Adair Clark plays Honey, Frozone's wife. She only has a couple lines in both movies and isn't even visible in them, but she totally steals the show. There's a reason why people ALWAYS quote her scenes, and it's all thanks to her. This list would be incomplete without giving her the rightful credit she deserves."
You can watch the performance here:
9.Donnie Wahlberg (as Vincent Grey), who was soooo incredibly haunting, despite only appearing on screen for about three minutes in The Sixth Sense.
"I was so shocked to see Donnie Wahlberg in the movie, and the fact that he ended up playing the guy who killed Bruce Willis’ character??? His performance has stayed with me all these years."
You can watch the performance here (it's unfortunately not available as an embed).
10.Bill Murray (as himself), who was somehow only in about five minutes of Zombieland.
"Bill Murray played himself in Zombieland, and it was the best 'cameo' ever."
You can watch the performance here:
11.Vanessa Redgrave (as Old Briony), who was so deserving of an Oscar nomination (but somehow didn't get it) after her single monologue at the end of Atonement.
"Vanessa Redgrave plays Old Briony and only appears at the end of the movie in a 5-minute scene. She's the reason it all comes together — the keyboard clacking, the supercuts of those key scenes, everything being shown from different perspectives. I was blown away. It was done so well, and it was also incredibly subtle. Her acting is just incredible. I remember staring at my computer screen, mouth open, for several minutes after it was over."
You can watch the performance here:
12.Denis Ménochet (as Perrier LaPadite), who was only on screen during the opening sequence in the 153-minute Inglourious Basterds.
"Denis Ménochet's performance in this scene brings me to tears every single time. He doesn't overplay the gravity of the historic reality that the scene is illustrating, and I think that’s exactly the point. He brings us uncomfortably close to the bottomless humanity and grief of a commonly overlooked character in fiction or history: a nameless, true hero whose full-hearted objective ended in tragedy and death, not triumph. I can’t imagine any actor being able to be better than him in that scene."
You can watch the performance here:
13.Anne Hathaway (as Fantine), who won an Oscar after appearing in less than 15 minutes of the 158-minute Les Misérables.
"Just look at her incredible performance of 'I Dreamed a Dream.' I think a lot of people expected the vocally powerful anthem version, but what they got was Anne exploring the emotions and nuances that Fantine would actually feel in that moment. It isn't a pretty song, but she's not singing it to hit every note perfectly. She's an emotionally broken woman who's barely hanging on, trying to sing. That's why it's brilliant." —bigskinny
"Part of the reason her performance is so ridiculously good is because everyone in the movie is singing live (as opposed to lip-synching to a recording that was made in a studio), so she's in the setting, acting out all the awful things that happened to her. Because of that she emotes in a totally raw way that you just don't get with pre-recorded tracks." —promising.young.woman
You can watch the performance here:
14.Harry Belafonte (as Jerome Taylor), who made such a lasting impression from just one monologue in BlacKkKlansman.
"Harry Belafonte is only in one scene in the entire movie, but it'll stay with you forever. In it, his character visits a local Black student union to discuss the real-life lynching of Jesse Washington. The scene intercuts between a KKK initiation and Belafonte's harrowing monologue about the mutilation of Washington, along with his explanation of how the 1915 film The Birth of a Nation impacted the US. It then culminates into chants from both groups for 'Black power' and 'white power.' Belafonte came out of retirement to film this scene, and the whole thing will give you chills."
You can watch the performance here:
15.Julia Butters (as Trudi Fraser), who was in less than 10 minutes of the 161-minute Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
You can watch the performance here:
16.Matthew McConaughey (as Mark Hanna), who was physically on screen for only about five minutes of the three-hours-long Wolf of Wall Street.
"McConaughey is barely in two scenes of the movie, but when Leo DiCaprio stares at him and tries not to laugh while he pounds his chest, it's too hysterical. Truly unforgettable."
You can watch the performance here:
17.Mariah Carey (as Ms. Weiss), who was only in a few short scenes in Precious.
"Mariah only had a few minutes of screen time, but she totally surprised me. I was so impressed with her. Now people can never speak of the burning dumpster fire known as Glitter again."
You can watch the performance here:
18.Gene Jones (as the gas station proprietor), who only appeared in a single four-minute scene in No Country for Old Men.
"The writing in the movie — but especially this scene — is so sharp and specific, and Javier Bardem's quiet, haunting performance will send chills down your spine. But wow, we don't talk enough about how great the shopkeeper is too. He's just as fantastic as Bardem (who won the Oscar for his performance), and he deserves the credit."
—Elena Baldisseri, Facebook
You can watch the performance here:
19.Michelle Williams (as Randi Chandler), who got an Oscar nomination after appearing in less than 10 minutes of Manchester by the Sea.
"Williams is briefly in a couple flashback scenes, but in the present-day one she's absolutely devastating. To give any context to her conversation with Casey Affleck’s character would give spoilers to the movie, but suffice to say, she makes you weep in the 10-or-so minutes she’s onscreen. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars that year for this scene, and she definitely deserved it."
You can watch the performance here:
20.Alfred Molina (as Rahad Jackson), who was so chaotic and fantastic in a single scene of the 155-minute Boogie Nights.
"Alfred Molina in Boogie Nights is equal parts hilarious and terrifying. His acting was so great in it, and he made the scene (which was only about eight minutes long) so stressful. The whole thing was chaotic and perfect."
—rachaelcparry and loulabelson
You can watch the performance here:
21.Kenneth Tigar (as the old man), who was soooo memorable, even though he literally only had two lines in The Avengers.
"In this scene, Tigar plays an old man who refuses to kneel to Loki after Loki demands that everyone bows at his feet. The old man, speaking with a German accent, is the only one who stands up to him. There's an ambiguous double meaning here, implying that the old man is a Holocaust survivor."
You can watch the performance here:
22.Thelma Ritter (as an uncredited Macy's shopper), who was so iconic in her first onscreen role, despite only being featured in two minutes of the original Miracle on 34th Street.
"I think about Thelma Ritter's uncredited performance in Miracle on 34th Street SO often, even though it's her first-ever role and she's only in the movie for, like, two minutes. She plays a disgruntled Macy's patron who's upset that Santa just promised her son an impossible-to-find toy, and when Kris Kringle explains she can get the toy at another store, she's in disbelief.
There's an Old Hollywood rumor that Darryl F. Zanuck, the then-head of 20th Century Fox, was so impressed with Ritter while she filmed this movie that he demanded they expand her role into two scenes. Ritter went on to receive six Oscar nominations in just 12 years, becoming one of the most-nominated actors to never win."
You can watch the performance here:
23.Robert Englund (as Freddy Krueger), who's somehow only on screen for seven minutes, despite literally being the antagonist of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
"I was shocked when I learned this."
You can watch the performance here:
24.William Hurt (as Richie Cusack), who got an Oscar nomination after being featured on screen for only nine minutes in A History of Violence.
"He was only there for nine minutes but literally got nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Not including him in this article would be a glaring omission."
You can watch the performance here:
25.Judi Dench (as Queen Elizabeth), who won an Oscar after being on screen for only eight minutes of Shakespeare in Love.
"Judi Dench played Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare In Love, and she was only in the movie for about eight minutes. Still, she was so commanding and incredible that she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for it."
You can watch the performance here:
26.And Alan Rickman (as Professor Snape), who was only on screen for 1 minute and 15 seconds in the first Deathly Hallows movie, accumulating only 43 minutes of total screen time for all eight Harry Potter films.
"Alan Rickman as Snape will always make my heart stop for a second." —kantsrache
Here's a total breakdown of screen time per movie:
1. Sorcerer's Stone (2001): 4 minutes
2. Chamber of Secrets (2002): 4 minutes and 30 seconds
3. Prisoner of Azkaban (2004): 5 minutes and 45 seconds
4. Goblet of Fire (2005): 4 minutes and 45 seconds
5. Order of the Phoenix (2007): 4 minutes
6. Half-Blood Prince (2009): 9 minutes and 15 seconds
7. Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010): 1 minutes and 15 seconds
8. Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011): 9 minutes and 45 seconds
You can watch the performance here:
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.
