Western cinema has long been an essential pillar of the film industry, dating as far back as the silent era with tales of violence, justice, and American history transpiring against the backdrop of the 19th century. While there are many who, quite understandably, view a stern squint, mean scowl, and speaking through gritted teeth to be the pinnacle of acting in the genre, the fact is Western films are littered with many exceptional performances.
Spanning back to the genre’s heyday in the 50s and 60s right up to the more contemplative and confronting revisionist Westerns of more recent decades, these 10 performances are among the most compelling, committed, and iconic in film history. From vicious villains to ambiguous antiheroes, and even to some of the most beloved side characters cinema has ever seen, the greatest performances in Western film are defined by their grit and complexity.
10 Gary Cooper as Will Kane
'High Noon' (1952)
Image via United Artists/MGM
Regarded by many to be the first true revisionist Western ever made, High Noon transpires in real time as the retiring U.S. Marshal Will Kane (Gary Cooper) tries to rally a posse to stand against a ruthless criminal who will arrive in town on the noon train to take revenge for being arrested years earlier. While Kane’s new wife implores him to leave the town, Kane insists he must stay, though he is surprised when none of the townsfolk respond to his call to arms.
The film dismantles ideas of heroism and camaraderie in the Old West with exceptional punch. Cooper is rigid in his staunch sense of duty and honor, which is in stark contrast to everyone around him. By the end of the film, Kane is an emotionally wounded and conflicted man duty-bound to protect the townspeople he no longer values. The role won Cooper his second Academy Award and remains a pivotal performance in the context of Western cinema.
The Good, the Bad and the Uglyrightfully stands as one of the most famous movies of all time. The sweeping spaghetti Western follows an ambitious search for Confederate gold and the scheming of the men in pursuit of it as they try to outwit each other to take the prize for themselves. Clint Eastwood is as brilliantly coarse as ever while Lee van Cleef’s villainous turn is sinister and striking, but it is Eli Wallach’s crude and conniving Tuco that lends the film much of its brilliance.
Starting the film in an uneasy alliance with “Blondie” (Eastwood), before trying to kill him, only to find himself back in an uneasy alliance with him again, Tuco is delightfully deceitful in everything he does. Wallach imbues the role with a huge amount of comedic vibrancy, making him a scene-stealing figure defined by his magnetic entertainment value and his complete amorality.
With gunslingers, law enforcers, cowboys, and bounty hunters, the Western is one of the most male-centric genres there is. However, there have been a handful of women who have been able to make their mark on the genre, with Hailee Steinfeld’s performance in the Coen Brothers’ remake of True Grita tremendous example of tough and resilient femininity in the Old West. She stars as Mattie Ross, a teenager who enlists the help of a U.S. Marshal to exact revenge on the outlaw who murdered her father.
Despite the fact that she was just 13 years old during production, Steinfeld puts in a commanding central performance, presenting Mattie’s resolve, burning desperation for justice, and her concealed fear with exceptional skill. She received an Oscar nomination for the performance despite it being her debut outing in a feature film. It remains one of the best performances by a child star in cinematic history.
There is no actor who has embodied the Old West quite like John Wayne, one of Hollywood’s greatest ever movie stars who dominated Western cinema through the 40s, 50s, and 60s. While he was typically known for his stiff and uncompromising heroes defined by their grit, courage, and old-fashioned decency, his intriguing lead role in The Searchersis undoubtedly his best and most compelling performance.
He stars as Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran who embarks on a quest to rescue his kidnapped niece from the Native American tribe that abducted her and slaughtered several others. He receives help from the girl’s adopted brother. Wayne makes Edwards a bitter and resentful man, one plagued by obsession, ire, and loneliness. His performance, and the film itself, helped introduce a new vision of the West to mainstream audiences, one defined by its bleak ambivalence and its jaded, coarse characters.
Inarguably the most influential film in the context of the seismic resurgence of audience interest in Western cinema and the intriguing yet bleak revisionist turn the genre has taken in recent decades, Unforgivendisplays director-star Clint Eastwood at his absolute best. The film follows two aging gunfighters and a boastful young bounty hunter as they set out to claim the bounty on a cowboy who slashed a prostitute’s face.
It is made timelessly outstanding with its intrinsic deconstruction of the myth the Western presents, tearing down notions of courageous and noble heroes with a violent and hostile world. Eastwood is the perfect actor for the part, a man whose ruthless past has become an idolized legend. His portrayal of a changed man haunted by his past self yet forced to take up arms again is the most compelling performance of his career and one of the most engrossing that Western cinema has seen. While he earned an Oscar nomination for his performance, he did win awards for Best Director and Best Picture.
'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' (2007)
Image via Warner Bros.
While Western movies are defined by their gunslinging heroes, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Fordfinds a powerhouse lead performance in the form of Casey Affleck’s portrayal of the titular Robert Ford. The biographical epic explores the final months of the life of Jesse James (Brad Pitt) as well as Ford’s induction to the outlaw’s gang. As James’ paranoia intensifies, Ford’s adoration for the notorious criminal descends to envy and spite.
Amid a slow-burn, poetic character-study of celebrity and violence in America, Affleck is able to carry the 160-minute film with compelling intrigue despite being a largely contemptible character. While he is selfish and undignified, Affleck is able to give Ford some genuine pathos as audiences see Ford's starry-eyed admiration dissipate and warp. It is an excellent performance of a fascinating true story that marks one of the most underrated Western movies ever made.
A cherished fan-favorite of old-school bravado and justice, Tombstone is one of the more famous Western titles from the 1990s. It sees Kurt Russell star as legendary lawman Wyatt Earp, covering his and his brothers’ time in Tombstone, Arizona, and their bloody feud with a band of ruthless cowboys. While the film’s cast contains many brilliant actors, it is undeniably Val Kilmer who shines brightest, stealing every scene he is in as the ailing alcoholic, Doc Holliday.
There’s a striking sense of doom to the sickly gunslinger, one that Kilmer not only revels in displaying, but further bolsters with an endearing loyalty to the Earp brothers and a resolute dry wit in the face of his antagonists. Nothing short of legendary, Kilmer’s efforts make for the quintessential saloon cowboy – warts and all – that balances a reckless tenacity with underlying pathos. It remains astounding that he was not nominated by the Academy for his performance.
It is thoroughly entertaining, deliciously rewarding, and completely shocking (often all at once), but Django Unchainedis perhaps most often celebrated as being a divine showpiece of the talents of its cast. Leonardo DiCaprio is sublime as the bitterly evil Calvin Candie, while Jamie Foxx’s Django is one of the best protagonists of the century, but it is impossible to go past Christoph Waltz’s dazzling performance as Dr. King Schultz as one of the greatest the genre has seen.
He balances a comedic quirkiness with strong convictions and a unique brand of gun-toting glory to be the most magnetic figure in the film, which is a considerable achievement given how understated he is compared to his character in Quentin Tarantino’s previous film, Inglourious Basterds. He brings a profoundly human touch to the picture as he agrees to help Django rescue his wife from Calvin’s plantation, and his Oscar win for the role was well deserved.
One of the most intimidating villainous performances of all time,Javier Bardem’s depiction of cartel hitman Anton Chigurh is instrumental in making No Country for Old Menone of the most scintillating thrillers ever made. The Coen Brothers’ neo-Western sees Texas hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) come into the possession of cartel money when he stumbles upon the scene of a shootout. He finds himself in a desperate and tense fight for survival when the psychotic Chigurh begins hunting him down.
Ice cold and completely devoid of empathy and emotion, Chigurh is the perfect movie psychopath, a chilling antagonist who haunts every frame he appears in. Bardem excels with everything from his physical demeanor to his monotone speech, and especially to the sadistic twinkle he sometimes gets in his eye. It is an almighty and terrifying performance that rightfully earned him an Academy Award and marks the single greatest antagonist Western cinema has ever seen.
It would not be hyperbolic to describe Daniel Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Bloodas the greatest acting performance of all time. The Paul Thomas Anderson film follows the ambitious and greedy miner as he relocates to the West Coast after hearing of an oil reservoir beneath a small California town. When he arrives, he finds himself entrenched in a rivalry with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), the local preacher who is just as manipulative and conniving as Daniel.
Described by some as the embodiment of capitalist greed, Day-Lewis makes Plainview a terrifying, primitive entity of obsession and want that will stop at nothing to snatch the wealth and power he craves. With Dano’s performance as his co-star no less exceptional, There Will Be Blood is a stunning showpiece for both actors that features some of the best acted scenes ever put on film.
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