Russian directorKonstantin Stansivlavskifamously said, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” While there have been definite exceptions, a select group of acting leviathans have cemented minuscule characters into the annals of cinema. It is no small feat to cast an imprint on the audience’s hearts and minds. A more extraordinary feat is when the time afforded to the actor is less than the amount of time it takes to boil an egg.
Some actors sit in hair and makeup all day, fully transforming themselves for less than five minutes of cinematic glory. Others get a call for a quick cameo and float in and off of the set like a cool breeze. And sometimes, impossibly small roles reveal giants. A lot can happen in ten minutes.
10Matthew McConaughey in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013)
Performance Time: 8 minutes
Matthew McConaugheyenters and exits in the first 15 minutes of this three-hourMartin Scorcese-directedWall Street film based on actual events. Within that span, he delivers a primarily improvised, eight-minute cocaine-sniffing crash course on the rules of broker engagement toLeonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jordan Belfort. One piece of this famous scene is borrowed from a real-life pre-performance ritual of McConaughey’s –a chest-thumping meditative chant.
McConaughey’s film catalogis an unexpected buffet of genres, characters, and wardrobes. He could have made a fortune in shirtless rom-com roles, but he chose to bare more than his chest through complex characters like Rust Cole fromTrue Detectiveand Ron Woodruff fromDallas Buyers Club. The Texas native has charm and watchability that transcends labels. For this reason, he can walk onto a set and thump his chest while waxing on the definition of “Fugazi,” and audiences will hunger for more.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Watch on Netflix
9Alfred Molina in ‘Boogie Nights’ (1997)
Performance Time: 9 minutes, 50 seconds
In the film world of directorPaul Thomas Anderson, possibilities abound. InBoogie Nights,Alfred Molinaproved that it is possible to deliver lines without flinching in a scene where fireworks are going off all around him…while wearing bikini underwear and a satin robe. As unhinged drug dealer Rahad Jackson, Molina showed the world how to command an audience on a minute budget.
Nearly ten sweat-drenched minutes are rife with nervous energy due mainly in part to the drugsinand around the characters in the room – intensified by living room fireworks, Rahad’s mixtape enthusiasm, and a bit of Russian Roulette. Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg) and his Funky Bunch (John C. ReillyandThomas Jane) add to the tension as they anxiously wait, unsure if their baking soda-cocaine switcharoo will work, but it’s Molina’s party. When things inevitably take a turn, Rahad pairs a shotgun with his robe and underwear for a pump action jaunt down his neighborhood, firing at will.
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a comedy/drama that follows a young high-school dropout named Eddie Adams in the ’70s who stumbles into the porn industry after a fortuitous meeting with a filmmaker. The film chronicles his career and life, illuminating the problematic stigmas and troubles facing the sector heading into the 1980s.
Watch on Showtime
8Amy Poehler in ‘Mean Girls’ (2004)
Runtime: > 5 minutes
In a movie where multipleSaturday Night Livealums contribute comedy and noteworthy performances, Amy Poehler’s “Cool Mom” stands out. As head Plastic, Regina George’s (Rachel McAdams) mother, Poehler sashayed onto the scene clad in a pink athleisure jumpsuit, youthfully inquiring about the “hot goss.” Armed with a pocket-sized (nipple-chewing) chihuahua and a tray of mocktails, she revealed herself to the teen-filled scene, the audience, and, ultimately, to the comedy criterion collection in cinema.
Incredibly, with minimal lines and less than 5 minutes on screen, Poehler’s June George is memorable because she fosters self-expression without condemnation. At the center of this “Cool Mom” is genuine concern and thoughtfulness for her children. She grapples with her fading youth and tries to ensure her children have a safe space to learn and grow. Poehler’s portrayal of a slang-versed, condom-dispensing mother with “Juicy” written across her bum is celebrated because she is funny, sure. She’s also a mom some viewers wish they’d had.
Mean Girls
Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
7Billy Crystal and Carol Kane in ‘The Princess Bride’ (1987)
Performance Time: 4 minutes
The specific pronunciation of “true love” (“tchwoooo wuuv”) is synonymous with a classic movie scene inThe Princess Bride, delivered by a “mostly dead” lovelorn man,Cary Elwes. Elwes' Westley requires resuscitation via miracle, andBilly CrystalandCarol Kaneendured hours of prosthetic makeup to make this wish a reality. The pair of comedy stalwarts are an integral part of this beloved movie, from their exaggerated facial features to their hilarious marital bickering.
Various scenes and characters from the movie have become crucial threads in the pop culture tapestry since its release in 1987.Wallace Shawnwill forever be associated with the word “inconceivable!“Mandy Patinkin’s vengeance will live in infamy, and Rodents Of Unusual Sizemightstill exist. However, Crystal’s Miracle Max and Kane’s Valerie succinctly gifted bespoke performances in one short scene. The audience never saw them again – but knew where to find them, viewing after repeated viewing.
The Princess Bride
Watch on Disney+
6Donnie Wahlberg in ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)
Performance Time: 3 minutes
For his breakout three-minute performance inM. Night Shyamalan’s mega-hitThe Sixth Sense,Donnie Wahlbergwas determined to get into the mind of the character Vincent Grey, a former child patient of Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist. Now a grown man with illegal access to Willis' personal residence via breaking and entering, Grey has come to air his grievances with the doctor.
To physically commune with the role, Wahlberg reportedly withdrew from his family and starved himself, losing 43 pounds in the process. His dedication to the work proved fruitful. Although Vincent was only on-screen for a few minutes, his haunting figure and profound sadness were fully realized, andWahlberg’s shocking performancehandily conveyed this.
The Sixth Sense
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense is a psychological thriller about a young boy who can see and communicate with ghosts. Bruce Willis as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who tries to help Cole, played by Haley Joel Osment, while grappling with his own personal demons. The movie features a twist ending that has become iconic in pop culture.
Rent on Amazon
5Frances McDormand in ‘Raising Arizona’ (1987)
Performance Time: 2 minutes
In the kidnapping cult classic,Raising Arizona,Frances McDormand’sopinionated, multi-child mother, Dot, barrels onto the scene like a dust devil, pushing past Nicolas Cage’s H.I. and Holly Hunter’s Ed and into their desert home. Although Dot is a hands-off absentee parent of an innumerable number of offspring (throughout the scene, feral, dirty, bandaged children run around unsupervised), she is bursting with frenetic enthusiasm to meet H.I. and Ed’s child.
McDormand (outrageously) delivers hundreds of words a minute at a breakneck clip, most declarative statements that prevent interjection from other characters. She informs Ed rather than asks when she says, “He’s got to go to Arizona State,” referring to Ed’s kidnapped infant. Her anxiety-inducing vaccination demands and (hilarious) worst-case scenarios overwhelm the new parents. The juxtaposition of the decidedly slower rates of speech from everyone else in the scene adds to the high-stakes level of Dot’s play: Ed replies in tentative stammers, and H.I. stares blankly. Though audiences would eventually findMcDormand in most Coen Brothers films, this appearance would be her most brief – and iconic.
Watch on Hulu
4Philip Seymour Hoffman in ‘Hard Eight’ (1996)
Performance Time: 2 minutes, 55 seconds
Paul Thomas Andersonexperienced a few hiccups during his first directorial feature,Hard Eight. Debates with distributors over artistic license and the film’s final cut threatened to undermine Anderson’s vision. However, one decision made by Anderson would remain; he castPhilip Seymour Hoffmanin the role after seeing him inScent of a Woman.
In under three minutes, Hoffman’s “Angry Craps Player” provides the scene’s tension. He taunts Sydney, played byPhillip Baker Hall(another multi-picture favorite of Anderson’s), repeatedly calling him an “old timer,” daring him to place a bet by the time it takes Hoffman to light a cigarette and roll his dice (the goal being a “hard eight”). Hoffman’s performance was almost entirely improvised,earning Hall’s reported awe. This brief cinematic moment connected Anderson and Hoffman in repeated tour-de-force performances until Hoffman’s untimely death.
Hard Eight
Hard Eight centers on an experienced gambler who takes a young man under his wing, guiding him through the complexities of the Reno casino scene. As the young gambler navigates his volatile relationships with a waitress-turned-hooker and a reckless acquaintance, tensions build, revealing deeper personal stakes.
Rent on Apple TV+
3John Turturro in ‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998)
Performance Time: > 4 minutes
The Coen Brothers are famous for creating quirky charactersin their movies (Frances McDormand’s appearance in this list is a testament to this fact). Enter Jesus Quintana (John Turturro), the trash-talking bowling league opponent of “The Dude” (Jeff Bridges) inThe Big Lebowski. This passionate Latin man with a very long pinky nail is serious about the gameandthe color purple.
To make him even more odd, he refers to himself as “The Jesus,” not pronounced with a Spanish inflection but like a religious icon. Jesus isn’t interested in losing and gives his bowling ball more attention than his manicured goatee. Elaborate ball shining, pre-bowl licking, and signature dances were mere tricks up his purple sleeve. Turturro is effortless in the role. “No one f***s with The Jesus,” indeed.
The Big Lebowski
2Will Ferrell in ‘Wedding Crashers’ (2005)
Performance Time: 4 minutes, 30 seconds
Owen WilsonandVince Vaughnwere workshopping ideas for Wilson’s character John Beckwith’s “rock bottom” inWedding Crashers, when the concept of crashingfuneralscame into play. Off-screen Master Crasher Chazz Reinhold had been referenced by Vaughn’s character but not seen. In a last-minute, uncredited cameo scene,Will Ferrellentered the frame wearing a silk kimono and nunchucks, hungry for meatloaf.
As a middle-aged man living with his mother, Ferrell’s Chazz is “living the dream,” capitalizing on the vulnerability of grief-stricken women, securing dates at funerals. He is eager to instruct Wilson’s character in this practice and is more than willing to share the meatloaf his mother made - if she would stop whatever she’s “doing back there” and bring it to them…Wedding Crashers’is wildly inappropriate and tremendously fun. However, without the addition of Ferrell’s Chazz, viewers would’ve been robbed ofone of the most incredible cameo performancesever.
Wedding Crashers
Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) and John (Owen Wilson) are divorce mediators who spend their free time crashing wedding receptions. For the irrepressible duo, there are few better ways to drink for free and bed vulnerable women. So when Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary (Christopher Walken) announces the wedding of his daughter, the pair make it their mission to crash the high-profile event. But their game hits a bump in the road when John locks eyes with bridesmaid Claire (Rachel McAdams).
1Viola Davis in ‘Doubt’ (2008)
Performance Time: 10 minutes
When her son’s all-white private Catholic school summoned her to discuss a troubling issue involving a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman),Viola Davis' Mrs. Miller had an impassioned exchangewith the school principal, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep). In ten minutes, Davis had to formulate a compelling argument for her son to remain in school, and she convinced Aloysius/Streep and audiences around the world.
As a working mother on a brief break, Davis’s character dealt with a time constraint. But as Viola Davis, the actor standing opposite decorated screen legend Meryl Streep, time ceased to exist. A studio film with wide distribution and gargantuan names attached brought cinema-goers to the box office, but it was a relatively unknown actor that audiences would remember. Irrespective of studio billing, Davis' name is now synonymous with the movieDoubt.
