10 Actors Who Gave The Best Performance Of Their Careers In 2020

“Viola Davis acts well in this movie” is perhaps one of the most redundant statements out there. Of course, she does. She has an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony for a reason.

And that’s because she puts the work in, pushing herself in everything she does until she gets the best out of her performance. She’s done it a million times before and her role as jazz singer Ma Rainey is no different.

The film releases on Netflix on December 18th but some were lucky enough to catch it during its limited cinema release. Based on August Wilson’s award-winning play, it takes place on one hot summer’s day in 1927 as Ma Rainey and her band attempt to record a new album. The simmering racial tensions soon rise to the top and threaten to spill over, with the late, great Chadwick Boseman playing a particularly hot-headed trumpet player in the band.

Davis’s Ma Rainey is a brash figure, but she never falls into being just an antagonist for Boseman. She has her own goals, ambitions, and ideas, even if she doesn’t voice every single one of them.

This triumphant turn, one of her best to date, is yet another hot contender for Best Supporting Actress or even Lead Actress at next year's Academy Awards ceremony.