If you’re looking for the next great character actor to stand alongside ‘90s favorites like John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, or Steve Zahn, look no further than Ben Mendelsohn. In the past decade, Mendelsohn has transitioned from being one of those “that guys” to being one of the most consistently versatile actors in the industry. He’s easy to look over because he’s simply everywhere; Mendelsohn is popping up all over the place in a wild multitude of genres and formats.

Mendelsohn first rose to prominence thanks to his television roles. Sadly many character actors are never granted a film career, and Mendelsohn showed the emotional range he could bring to a character with his Emmy Award winning work on the Netflix series Bloodline. Mendelsohn’s move to the big screen was epitomized by his scene stealing villains. Although broad audiences may recognize him as the viscous antagonist of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Ready Player One, or even Robin Hood, he's shown a greater depth in the broader extent of his filmography.

Mendelsohn is chewing the scenery again in the upcoming musical Cyrano. In support of this brilliant performer, make sure to check out these brilliant Ben Mendelsohn performances.

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The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

Ben Mendelsohn The Place Beyond the Pines
Image via Focus Features

Derek Cianfrance is among the most emotionally insightful writer/directors working today, and Cianfrance typically centers on large casts. Cianfrance’s 2012 crime thriller The Place Beyond the Pines is a true ensemble piece, as it tells a story of generational conflict across three time periods. The epic scale required each actor to give a memorable performance in order to flesh out the mythology, and Mendelsohn is critical to setting up the stakes of the inciting incident that sets off the conflict between two families.

Ryan Gosling stars as the stunt motorcyclist Luke Glaton, who robs banks as a means of providing for his pregnant ex-wife Romina Gutierrez (Eva Mendes). Mendelssohn appears as Luke’s employer Robin Van Der Hook, who introduces him to the criminal world and first suggests that Luke’s dangerous riding tactics are perfectly suited for pulling off a daring heist. Mendelsohn is convincing as a world-weary career criminal who can offer Luke an option, but even he is ruffled by the desperate father’s reckless behavior. Mendelsohn is tear-jerking in a heartbreaking moment towards the end of the film in which he explains his misdeeds to Luke’s adult son Jason (Dane DeHaan).

Killing Them Softly (2012)

Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy in Gangster Film Killing Them Softly
Image via The Weinstein Company

Killing Them Softly is an odd paradox of genres. Although the screenplay is strategic, similar to a great stage play, in the way that it deconstructs the ripple effects of the 2008 financial crisis, writer/director Andrew Dominik explores the seediest sides of the criminal underworld. It shows the versatility of economic disparity through the impact on both powerful and low-level criminals. Mendelsohn’s character certainly falls in the second category.

Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy (another underrated character actor) play the dim street hustlers Russell and Frankie, who decide to stage a heist at a poker game operated by the mafia. The game is run by the mobster Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), who is in hot water with the upper mob bosses after he faked a hit on a different poker match years ago. Markie can’t risk being accused of another crime, and Russell and Frankie have no idea the danger that’s coming. Mendelsohn and McNairy have amusing comedic banter, but their buffoonish nature leads to devastating consequences.

Starred Up (2013)

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Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures

The highly underrated British independent thriller Starred Up shows the dehumanizing impacts of modern prison culture, and how systemic indifference doesn’t actually help troubled young men break from their habits. At the center of David Mackenzie’s provocative film is a breakout performance by Jack O’Connell, who plays the teenage juvenile Eric Love. Eric is “starred up” from Youth Offender Institution to the general federal penitentiary, where his antics cross paths with the dangerous men who’ve spent their entire lives in the system.

One of those career criminals serving a life sentence Eric encounters is none other than his father Neville (Mendelsohn), who is renowned within the prison culture and has his own gang. Neville is instantly provoked by his son as Eric attempts to start fights in order to prove himself. The heartbreaking story develops as Eric begins to make actual progress and must leave his father behind. Mendelsohn captures a rugged tenderness within Neville; he doesn’t think he has the capacity to change, but he wants to protect his son’s life.

Mississippi Grind (2015)

mississippi grind ben mendelsohn
Image via A24

Mendelsohn is one of the definitive “that guys” of his generation, but Mississippi Grind is his one true movie star level performance. Mississippi Grind is obviously inspired by the Robert Altman gambling classic California Split, but replaces the two-hander of George Segal and Elliot Gould with Mendelsohn and Ryan Reynolds. Mendelsohn stars as Gerry, a serial card player whose “one more hand” approach has sunk him to new lows. He sees a potential new ally in Reynold’s charismatic card shark Curtis.

There’s no reason why someone with Curtis’s winning streak should waste their time with Gerry, but Mendelsohn shows a complexity in the penniless gambling addict that Reynolds grows fascinated with. Gerry has actual goals in mind, and seeks to make amends with his ex-wife and daughter. He’s been humbled in a way Curtis never has, and their partnership leads both men to reassess their goals. It's some of the best work of Reynold’s career as well, and their excellent chemistry is reminiscent of ‘70s Hollywood star vehicles in a way modern films rarely reach.

Slow West (2015)

slow west ben mendelsohn
Image via Lionsgate

The same year Mendelsohn delivered his definitive “movie star” performance in Mississippi Grind, he also delivered his most eccentric character role. The highly idiosyncratic western Slow West centers on a doomed romantic journey by the young immigrant traveler Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) throughout the American West. Jay is accompanied by the bounty hunter Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender), a strange mentor of sorts who is deceptive with his intentions. The odd pair are met with many dangers, and figures from Silas’s line of work begin to hunt them down.

Among them is Mendelsohn’s Payne, a western gangster who leads Silas’s former gang. Payne carries himself with a hilarious haughty arrogance, wearing lavish jackets and speaking in vague pseudo-poetic phrases. He’s also completely ruthless and has no issue torturing and murdering to get simple answers. It's an absolutely hilarious performance that would fit perfectly within a Coen Brothers classic, and it fits the unique fable-like tone that director John Maclean is emulating. Slow West is framed almost like a fable, and Mendelsohn is doing a version of the Big Bad Wolf in human form.

Darkest Hour (2017)

darkest hour ben mendelsohn
Image via Focus Features

Darkest Hour approaches the early stages of World War II without showing much wartime combat. Rather than focusing on the critical battlefields, the biopic shows the political mechanics that Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman in his Oscar winning performance) went through in order to keep the nation together. Churchill is a contemporaneous figure who ruffles the feathers of many politicians, including none other than King George VI (Mendelsohn) himself.

During their initial introduction, the King is put off by Churchill’s lack of dignity and indifference to party traditions. Churchill had stepped into his new position by replacing the King’s longtime friend, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup). However, during Churchill’s campaign to stage the Dunkirk defense, they realize their goals of fighting fascism are the same. In a rare moment of royal humility, Mendelsohn shows the King’s begrudging respect for the quirky Churchill; they may not agree on everything, but Churchill can strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler.

Babyteeth (2019)

babyteeth Ben Mendelsohn
Image via Universal Pictures

Anyone who thinks that Mendelsohn is nothing more than a mustache-twirling bad guy should check out his performance as a troubled, grieving father in Babyteeth. Babyteeth is far more eccentric than what you would expect from a “cancer movie,” but despite some of the comedic swings it is a serious story about a family coping with the unimaginable. Mendelsohn stars as the wealthy psychiatrist Henry Finlay, whose teenage daughter Milla (Eliza Scanlen) is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The family finds untraditional ways of keeping their spirits high during Milla’s final months. Henry and his wife Anna (Essie Davis) are uncomfortable with their daughter’s relationship with an older stoner named Moses (Toby Wallace), who seeks a sexual relationship with Milla. How much agency should Henry give his daughter, and what are his fatherly duties when she’s facing her own mortality? Mendelsohn shows these complexities with a hilarious and heartbreaking performance in this criminally lesser-seen gem. He also has one of all-time great movie mustaches.