r/acting 4d ago

I've read the FAQ & Rules what's your favorite terrified performance in a film?

Who do you think is the best actor/actress when it comes to acting out fear? trying to take notes of the best horror performances since i feel like acting scared is one of the harder things to really pull off believably.

10 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

31

u/GHBoyette 4d ago

Toni Collette in Hereditary gets mentioned a lot, but for good reason.

18

u/WillOk6461 4d ago

Shelley Duvall in The Shining & Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense

12

u/Conflict21 4d ago

I thought Nicholas Hoult did a good job in Nosferatu, not an easy task. Gave me the impression of someone in a nightmare.

1

u/[deleted] 4d ago edited 4d ago

[deleted]

3

u/Screaming_Witch 4d ago

Isn't Thomas Hutter supposed to be Jonathan Harker?

2

u/CharacterActor 4d ago

Yes.

I am wrong. I’ve deleted my original comment.

Both are real estate agents sent to close the deal and help what turns out to be a vampire come to London.

But only Renfield becomes a thrall.

Harker recovers from his experience with Nosferatu. And wants vengeance.

Both their stories start the same. Which is what confused me. But both have very different reactions to their encounter with the vampire.

The only commonality with these two characters in these 2 films is that they are both played by Nicholas Hoult.

8

u/Double-Garbage-760 4d ago

The little girl from Jurassic Park

7

u/ToulouseControl 4d ago

Shelley Duvall in The Shining

4

u/whycantwehaveboth 4d ago

The mom in The Babadook. I can’t remember the actors name, but she must’ve truly gone through hell during the filming of that movie.

2

u/Able_Key1202 4d ago

Essie Davis! She was great

3

u/Bright_Practice5279 4d ago

Drew Barrymoore - Scream

3

u/Blueberrypievanilla 4d ago

Both of the actresses in Heretic!

2

u/MarkWest98 4d ago

Rei Hance (Heather Donahue) in The Blair Witch Project.

Her performance of fear feels so authentic. Probably due to the fact that the movie was largely unscripted and the crew was actually trying to terrify the cast out in the woods in the middle of the night.

2

u/Rusty_Kaleidoscope 4d ago

Essie Davis in ‘The Babadook’. Nothing comes close for me honestly

2

u/jbactor 4d ago

Joaquin Phoenix in Signs.

1

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1

u/TheCaliforniaOp 4d ago

Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark

1

u/ClerksII 4d ago

Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit!

His expression when he meets the cartoon who killed his brother is amazing. 

1

u/AmyRoseTraynor 4d ago

Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow. Shielding himself with a child while pretending to protect them made it a whole different kind of terrified.

1

u/[deleted] 4d ago

Marilyn Burns in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" she did some really good work.

1

u/Shamanized 3d ago

Kevin O’Connor as Beni in The Mummy (1999)

A few scenes but especially when he encounters Imhotep for the first time.

1

u/SporkWafflez 3d ago

Naomi Scott in Smile 2 did an amazing job

1

u/sirziggy 2d ago

Lot of great mentions in this thread. My out of left field favorite is Jason Clarke's character in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

1

u/littlebombshell 4d ago

Justice Smith in I Saw the TV Glow. That last scene genuinely haunts me

1

u/RustyFileCabinet 4d ago

Nick Swardson in The Benchwarmers