Star Wars: 7 Perfect Performances & 7 That Sucked
From the Oscar-nominated, to the career destroying.
It's almost hard to believe at times that there are now eleven live-action feature length Star Wars films when for so many years we were used to only having six. The iconic franchise has been around for over forty years and has delivered some of cinema’s most treasured characters. With so many hours of film, there are actors giving great performances, while others give not so great ones. The range of literally varies from the Oscar-nominated, to the career destroying.
The franchise has a history of turning absolute unknowns into household names, whilst simultaneously managing to get the worst performance possible from an Oscar-winning actor. There always seems to be a huge risk when being cast in Star Wars, as the performance an actor gives could make or break their career (and has on several occasions). For better or worse, there's a long list of actors who will be remembered for the rest of their lives as the character they played in Star Wars.
Actors have managed to elevate the material and truly deliver something special while others are chewed up and spat back out by the franchise. Here's a look at some of the very best and very worst of their performances, ordered from the best to better and the bad to worst.
First, the perfect performances
7 Perfect Star Wars Performances
7. Donald Glover As Lando Calrissian
If the name Baron Landonis Balthazar "Lando" Calrissian III is mentioned, the actor that generally comes to mind is Billy Dee Williams who introduced the character in The Empire Strikes Back. But, he is of course not the only one to play the character, as actor/rapper Donald Glover was cast as a younger version of Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Recasting Billy Dee Williams was no easy feat, but it's fair to say that with Donald Glover they absolutely nailed it. Glover brings all his smooth charm and more to this younger interpretation of the character. Everything down to his delivery, mannerisms and even voice just screamed Lando, while also being able to avoid coming off as a cheap imitation of the famous character.
Glover gave audiences a peek of the Lando in his dashing prime fans have always fantasised about as he travels the galaxy in his immaculate Millennium Falcon playing Sabaac. While the jury is still out for many fans on Alden Ehrenreich's take on Han Solo, it is widely accepted that Donald Glover excelled as Lando Calrissian, giving a performance to make Billy Dee himself proud.