10. Angelina Jolie Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Angeline Jolie is perhaps known best today for her for her stunning poutiness, her ability to portray smouldering with little to no effort and most notoriously her many relatively exploits in the tabloid press. Not a terrible performer, not by a long shot, but certainly not the most celebrated either. But rewind to one of the earlier performances, in James Mangolds adaptation of Girl, Interrupted; the book of the same name. Now Im not saying that Girl, Interrupted was a particularly incredible movie. It has its share of weaknesses, one of them actually being that whenever Jolie isnt on-screen, the film starts to fade to beige; when she is on-screen however, wow, what a powerhouse performance. Dominating the film as much as her character, Lisa, dominates her fellow asylum inmates, Jolie is icy and uncaged; her anger seems raw and almost real. But beneath it, Jolie manages to maintain the sense of fearful vulnerability that we know exists in Lisa (which is openly acknowledged during the films final moments). It's a beautifully nuanced turn and there's little surprise that she won the Oscar that year for best supporting actress; she really does carry the entire film on her shoulders.