13 Bravest Acting Performances Of 2014

6. Scarlett Johansson As The Female - Under The Skin

Though not technically a 2014 film, it wasn't until last year that most audiences got to see Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin, and it's a performance of such staggering brilliance that it needed to land on this list. In Jonathan Glazer's enigmatic sci-fi thriller, Johansson completely owns the screen as an alien creature who uses the disguise of a beautiful female woman to lure and feed on hapless men in a particularly bleak area of Scotland. Far more than "the film where Scar-Jo gets naked", Under the Skin examines how bizarre humanity would seem to an outsider, and it's largely because of Johansson's understated work that this actually works. While her character could easily have been something of a blank slate, there's a deeply entrenched tragedy to the nature of her character, murderous though she is, as she struggles with various concepts of blending in with the rest of the human race. Sure, baring herself entirely certainly adds to the bravery of the part, but what's really surprising here is how much the actress does with seemingly so little, given the minimalist nature of the script and what's left for the audience to interpret.