10 Actors Who Recently Nailed Great TV Performances
6. Rosamund Pike - The Wheel Of Time (Amazon Prime)
Like The Lord Of The Rings, The Wheel Of Time, adapted from Robert Jordan's best-selling epic fantasy series (epic in length as well as narrative scope) is one of those creations that relies upon a certain po-faced solemnity to carry its drama. Where Game Of Thrones was all loaded quips, brooding atmospherics and gratuitous sex and violence, Amazon's newest pretender to the throne demands patience as it slowly, carefully and above all earnestly builds the world about it.
That fussy, detailed approach to storytelling pays off in the second half of the first season in spades. It's to Rosamund Pike's endless credit that for the slower first half, she holds the story together through sheer force of performance, just as her character Moraine Damodred holds the stroppy party of young protagonists together through sheer force of will.
The Gandalf of this particular epic fantasy world, Moraine is an Aes Sedai, is a witch wielding a formidable amount of both magical power and political influence. Chasing the outcome of a prophecy - the Dragon, a legend of colossal power, has been reincarnated to either break the world once again or save it from the Dark One - Moraine will do anything, sacrifice anything, to bend that prophecy to her bidding...
Beset by dangers within and without her circle, Moraine cannot let the mask of icy competence slip for a moment, but Pike still manages to express more with a flicker of an eyelid or a murmur than most actors would accomplish with a scenery-chewing speech. It's a masterclass in restraint, poise and nuance, and she's nothing short of mesmerising.