10 Actors Who Just Smashed It Out Of NOWHERE
5. Justice Smith - I Saw the TV Glow
Justice Smith seriously levelled up with his stellar performance in Jane Schoenbrun's unforgettable horror-drama I Saw the TV Glow.
As protagonist Owen, Smith is charged with playing a high-schooler for the majority of the movie despite being almost 30 years old - a gambit that could've gone so horribly wrong, and yet, per the film's surreal tone and central themes of identity and arrested development, it totally works.
Smith, who hasn't had too many opportunities to truly showcase the extent of his acting abilities, gives a devastatingly nuanced performance here, turning in a portrayal of trauma that's almost too real to bear.
A meltdown scene near the end of the movie is all the proof you need that Smith is a seriously talented actor, even if he's not been given the arena to showcase it often enough.
It just goes to show that no actor is above surprising us all when cast in a role they're perfectly suited to play.