20 More TV Acting Performances That Are Totally Flawless

Performances so good you can't look away...

I May Destroy You
BBC

There are few things more rewarding than watching a great TV show. Whether it's due to the expansive sets and explosive action of Game of Thrones, or the inner-city complexities of The Wire, television offers audiences a view into a whole new world, and allows fans to understand its stories and characters better than most movies ever could.

With the best TV shows, some things have to be top-rate in order for audiences to stick around and get invested in what's playing out, from the writing, set design, continuity and narrative innovation. But the biggest - or at least the most noticeable - aspect of a great TV show are the performances of its stars.

There are plenty of great TV performances out there we've already covered, but the truth is the medium is so enormous that one list just wouldn't do.

With that in mind, from thrilling miniseries to iconic crime-dramas, and teen fantasy flicks to animated tragicomedies, here are 20 more TV acting performances that are totally flawless.

This article will contain mild spoilers.

20. Frances McDormand - Olive Kitteridge

I May Destroy You
HBO

Frances McDormand is one of the best actresses of all time, having recently picked up a third Best Actress Oscar, a record only surpassed by Katharine Hepburn.

Known for her portrayals of simultaneously quirky, witty, headstrong and empowered female characters, one of McDormand's greatest performances isn't in a movie, but in the four-part miniseries Olive Kitteridge, where she plays the title character.

The series follows Olive through years of family discord, depression and tragedy, and in the central role McDormand is on fiery form, giving the otherwise slow-burning drama a heart-pounding, thriller-like quality.

Olive is cruel, incredibly cynical and vitriolic, but also wounded, unsure and vulnerable, a remarkable juggling act that only someone of McDormand's calibre could have pulled-off. In just shy of four hours, McDormand makes you feel every pang of rage, sadness and disdain of a woman stuck in her ways, unable to escape her own frequently self-made destruction.

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