10 Actors Who Just Recently Did Their Best Work Ever

Over the course of her career thus far, Naomi Scott has been good in a number of projects. She was lovely as Princess Jasmine in 2019's Aladdin remake, and gave a poignant performance as a sexual assault survivor in Netflix's Anatomy of a Scandal, to give a couple of examples. At the same time, nothing she's done before necessarily suggested she was poised for greatness. 

Smile 2, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish. As a traumatized popstar being stalked by a sinister supernatural entity, Scott is completely outstanding and her performance is so raw and intense that it's difficult to watch, yet harder still to look away from. It's a heart-rending depiction of trauma and the dark side of fame, so this is also a performance that feels tragically relevant in an era where so many music artists lose their lives thanks to the pressures of the spotlight. 

This sequel is an accomplished horror in most other departments, too, yet Naomi Scott's work is so completely brilliant that she very much overshadows everything else in the film. In a just world, Scott would be courting awards buzz for this mesmerizing performance, but any serious awards attention seems unlikely. Nevertheless, if she keeps this up, she could easily find herself on an Oscars ballot one day.