2. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (John Blake)
Among the many talented actors that made up the cast of The Dark Knight Rises, Gordon-Levitt's role is surprising from the perspective of how significant the character is to the film's plot. Assuming a character's importance prior to viewing the film is separate in comparison with seeing the role the character plays in the movie as it progresses. In other words, it could be suggested that Gordon-Levitt's character would play an important part to the film but audiences didn't know how or why until seeing the movie. Not only does Gordon-Levitt excel in his role as John Blake but the character is a successful, unexpected surprise in how the character gels with the rest of the characters and the film. Blake represents the idealist that the characters of Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon used to be and the character's presence proves to be influential to Bruce in terms of breaking him from the depressive state he has been in for sometime at the beginning of the film. Gordon-Levitt's performance as John Blake is remarkable because of how the character fits into the plot of the film and it is an excellent portrayal on its own aside from that detail.