20 More TV Acting Performances That Are Totally Flawless

20. Frances McDormand - Olive Kitteridge

Frances McDormand is one of the best actresses of all time, having recently picked up a third Best Actress Oscar, a record only surpassed by Katharine Hepburn.

Known for her portrayals of simultaneously quirky, witty, headstrong and empowered female characters, one of McDormand's greatest performances isn't in a movie, but in the four-part miniseries Olive Kitteridge, where she plays the title character.

The series follows Olive through years of family discord, depression and tragedy, and in the central role McDormand is on fiery form, giving the otherwise slow-burning drama a heart-pounding, thriller-like quality.

Olive is cruel, incredibly cynical and vitriolic, but also wounded, unsure and vulnerable, a remarkable juggling act that only someone of McDormand's calibre could have pulled-off. In just shy of four hours, McDormand makes you feel every pang of rage, sadness and disdain of a woman stuck in her ways, unable to escape her own frequently self-made destruction.