Jesse Plemons' 15 best movie and TV roles prove he's fantastic in everything
Jesse Plemons is more Philip Seymour Hoffman than Tom Cruise, more John C. Reilly than Brad Pitt, and that’s why we love him.
One of the best character actors of his generation, Plemons, 36, has become a familiar face – sometimes in lead roles, mainly in smaller parts playing cops, thugs, drug addicts, soldiers and everything in between, but almost always making the thing better.
Case in point: Winning us over forever as comic-relief bookworm/tight end/kicker/Christian rocker Landry Clarke on the 2000s TV football drama "Friday Night Lights" (#Crucifictorious4EVAH). Or his turn opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Power of the Dog,” which earned Plemons his first Oscar nomination for supporting actor. (Though we all know it should have been for “Game Night.”)
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This year alone, Plemons has already killed a small but important role in Alex Garland's dystopian "Civil War" and stars (as three different characters no less) in Yorgos Lanthimos' triptych "Kinds of Kindness" (in theaters now). If you're new to the wonders of Plemons or just need to catch up on his credits, here are his 15 best movie and TV roles, ranked:
15. 'I’m Thinking of Ending Things' (2020)
Charlie Kaufman's extremely weird and horror-tinged meta tale casts Plemons as a young man taking his new girlfriend (Jessie Buckley) home to the family farm to meet the parents. She reconsiders the whole shebang amid a nasty snowstorm, chatty ruminations on musical theater and movie reviews, and one truly awkward dinner.
Where to watch: Netflix
14. 'Fargo' (2015)
Plemons has acted opposite wife Kirsten Dunst several times now but sparks first flew doing the superb second season of Noah Hawley's anthology drama series. They play a gentle butcher's assistant and his selfish hairdresser wife whose lives go sideways when they hit-and-run the son of a criminal matriarch and then try to cover it up.
Where to watch: Hulu
13. 'Jungle Cruise' (2021)
It's difficult to overshadow the gigantic screen presence that is Dwayne Johnson. That said, Plemons goes hard for it, gnawing all the scenery he can find and brandishing a cartoonish German accent in the period action-adventure as a submarine-piloting villain up against a heroic skipper (Johnson) and spirited scientist (Emily Blunt).
Where to watch: Disney+
12. 'Black Mass' (2015)
Johnny Depp ruled the violent 1970s-set crime drama as real-life Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, who becomes an informant for the FBI. Plemons stood out in a deep supporting cast (including Joel Edgerton and Benedict Cumberbatch) as Kevin Weeks, a hardened henchman resembling a Dick Tracy baddie.
Where to watch: Prime Video
11. 'The Irishman' (2019)
Scorsese's gangster epic follows truck driver-turned-Mob enforcer Frank Sheehan (Robert De Niro), Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) and others over several decades. Plemons factors into the film's later stages as Hoffa associate Chuckie O'Brien, whose scene involving a fish left in the back of a car lends needed levity to the crime drama.
Where to watch: Netflix
10. 'Other People' (2016)
One of Plemons' most heartfelt performances comes in this emotional dramedy. He's both hilarious and heartbreaking as a gay New York comedy writer who returns to his California hometown to care for his mom (Molly Shannon) when she receives a cancer diagnosis and reconnect with his family, including a conservative dad (Bradley Whitford).
Where to watch: Peacock, Prime Video
9. 'Friday Night Lights' (2006 to 2011)
The show was always about more than football, and Plemons' character proves that. Nerdy Texas kid Landry Clarke starts out as the scene-stealing best friend of quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) and quickly becomes an integral part of the teen drama, hitting the gridiron himself and also getting involved in a soapy murder story line.
Where to watch: Netflix
8. 'Judas and the Black Messiah' (2021)
In the period thriller, Plemons' FBI character Roy Mitchell recruits small-time Chicago criminal Bill O'Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) to infiltrate the Black Panther Party and take down charismatic leader Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). Bill and Roy's relationship is key to the plot, and neither man chooses the right path out of the morally questionable situation.
Where to watch: Max
7. 'Killers of the Flower Moon' (2023)
Sometimes Plemons acts as the cavalry in a movie, like in the Martin Scorsese period crime drama that explores the real-life 1920s murders in Oklahoma's Osage Nation. After the film cements Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone's characters as the film's emotional core, Plemons arrives late in the proceedings as an ex-Texas Ranger/FBI lawman who tussles with the main antagonist, a powerful cattle rancher (Robert De Niro).
Where to watch: Apple TV
6. 'Black Mirror' (2017)
Plemons channels William Shatner for a fan-favorite, Emmy-winning episode of the Netflix anthology show that rocks 1960s vibes but is extremely modern with its main theme. In "USS Callister," Plemons plays an introverted programmer of an online video game who steals his co-workers' DNA and puts their avatars in a "Star Trek"-like simulation so he can take out his toxic frustrations as the bullying captain of a starship.
Where to watch: Netflix
5. 'Breaking Bad' (2012 to 2013)
The acclaimed crime drama was all about humanity's moral gray areas. But Plemons' character? Dude was straight up evil. Todd Alquist was a young fumigator who debuted in the final season and quickly made an impact, first when he was hired to work for the meth operation of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and then when he became a cold-blooded killer and chief foe of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).
Where to watch: Netflix
4. 'Kinds of Kindness' (2024)
Plemons finds a great scene partner in Emma Stone with this weird trio of tales. She takes the lead in the last story – with Stone and Plemons as cult members seeking a messianic woman – but he’s downright magnetic in the other two. First, he's a businessman fighting to keep his life together after angering his demanding boss (Willem Dafoe), and then he plays a cop who doesn’t recognize his wife (Stone) when she’s rescued after being lost at sea.
Where to watch: In theaters
3. 'Game Night' (2018)
Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams star in the action comedy as a couple whose weekly game night turns into a wild and crazy evening of high jinks and kidnapping. Plemons is weird and sensational as Gary, the socially awkward cop next door, who goes to extreme lengths to finally be part of the fun times.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Amazon, Fandango at Home
2. 'Civil War' (2024)
Of all the intense, visceral aspects of this riveting cautionary tale, Plemons is the most singularly terrifying. Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny play photojournalists on a road trip in an America devastated by turmoil, and Plemons is a racist rogue soldier they meet along the way. “What kind of American are you?” he asks them with ruthless cruelty, in a harrowing situation that unnervingly taps into our own divided society.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Amazon, Fandango at Home
1. 'The Power of the Dog' (2021)
Plemons is the beating heart of Jane Campion's period Western as good-hearted George, weathering all manner of insults and toxic vitriol from his cruel cowboy brother Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch). George weds the widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and moves her to the siblings' Montana ranch, creating a mountain of psychological drama for all three.
Where to watch: Netflix
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jesse Plemons movies and tv shows, ranked: These are his best roles
