8 Performances Better Than What The Actor Won An Oscar For

3. Anthony Hopkins

Won For: The Silence of the Lambs, Best Actor in a Leading Role. Better In: Nixon. Sir Anthony Hopkins' performance in The Silence of the Lambs is much vaunted, and it's certainly a famous, effective portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. It really is a supporting role, though, with Hopkins only appearing in a handful of scenes, amounting to roughly around sixteen minutes of screen time. Taken as a supporting role, Hopkins' Lecter would've been one of cinema's great supporting turns, but, as it is, it feels a tad light, and it's certainly easier to shine in a few iconic scenes than it is to carry a film in every frame for the entirety of its runtime. That's what Hopkins does in Nixon, mind, Oliver Stone's three hour+ opus about the life and times of 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon. Despite looking little like Nixon (see above) - and not really sounding like him either - Hopkins delivers a forceful, manic performance as the President who resigned before he could be impeached, and he's never been better, before or since. Hopkins is in virtually every scene of Nixon (bar the ones where he is depicted as a child), taking the president through everything from The Bay of Pigs to Watergate. It's a masterful portrayal, and Hopkins somehow manages to create sympathy for Nixon, an idea absolutely unimaginable to some.