Why: As abused slave Patsey, Nyong’o turned in a truly luminescent performance that captured the pain and torment of Patsey’s daily existence, exploring the physical, mental and emotional toll that slavery took on her during her time as a slave of the sadistic Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). Expect Nyong’o to be the name on everybody’s lips at this year’s Oscar ceremony. The actress came out of nowhere (12 Years A Slave was her first film after graduating from the Yale School of Drama) to turn in the most gut-wrenching and deeply human performance of the year.
What’s Next: Nyong’o has a supporting role in the upcoming Liam Neeson thriller Non-Stop, about an air marshal attempting to prevent someone from murdering passengers on board an international flight.
[h2]Taylor Schilling – Orange is the New Black (Netflix)[/h2]
Why: After starring in sleepy melodrama The Lucky One, Schilling needed something huge to break away from the pretty-face mold. Luckily for her (and for us), she found Netflix’s excellent prison dramedy Orange is the New Black. As the upper middle-class homemaker Piper Chapman, who’s sentenced to 15 months in a women’s federal prison for transporting drug money during her rebellious college years, Schilling is sympathetic, hilarious and thoroughly believable.
In a program that’s home to an all-around terrific ensemble (it was tough to leave Laverne Cox and Uzo Aduba off this list), Schilling is a terrific and capable anchor, as well as the show’s beating heart.
What’s Next: Sometime early next year, Schilling will star in the drama Stay, about a young woman rocked by an unexpected pregnancy during her romance with a disgraced professor (Aidan Quinn). She’ll also return for the second season of Orange is the New Black, which is set to premiere on Netflix in the first half of 2014.
Published: Dec 23, 2013 04:52 pm