Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn has been acting since 1984, but most people got to know him in Animal Kingdom in 2010. Since then, he’s been one of the biggest villains in many franchises, creating characters that we love to hate (or just hate to hate). Here are Ben Mendelsohn’s best performances, ranked.
9/9 Ready Player One (2018)
Based on the novel by Ernest Cline and directed by Steven Spielberg, Ready Player One tells the story of Wade (Tye Sheridan) and his adventures in the virtual reality game OASIS. After his death, the creator of the system (Mark Rylance) left behind a hidden “easter egg challenge” that will give ownership of the entire system to whoever finds it. Mendelsohn plays Sorrento, the leader of the greedy company that wants to keep OASIS in order to make a profit for itself. Mendelsohn’s character is the personification of greed; he is a villain with a capital V, because he will do anything (even kill children) to keep the virtual system and make millions in profit. The character doesn’t have many gray areas, yet you respect the Australian actor’s dedication to being the worst person ever.
8/9 Captain Marvel (2019)
Captain Marvel comes back to Earth and discovers her past as she tries to unravel the mystery of the Skrulls and what they do on our planet. This movie is one of Brie Larson’s best performances and has a great cast. She is surrounded by Jude Law, Samuel L. Jackson, Annette Bening, Lashana Lynch and Mendelsohn; he takes advantage of his continuous casting as the villain to give us a surprising twist during the film. Mendelsohn plays Talos’ both sides; at first he is intimidating and evil, but once Captain Marvel knows the truth, he becomes noble, smart and even funny. Playing all those emotions while wearing all that makeup shows Mendelsohn’s incredible talent.
7/9 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
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In Rogue One, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and his gang of misfits must steal the Death Star’s plans to aid the rebellion. Mendelsohn plays Orson Krennic in what has to be his vilest role ever (and that’s saying something). Krennic is an ambitious bureaucrat who will stop at nothing if it helps him keep climbing the evil corporate ladder. He is arrogant, sinister, cruel and a little incompetent. The fact that he likes how the Death Star can destroy an entire city shows us just how far this guy can go in one of the best Star Wars movies ever.
6/9 Killing Them Softly (2012)
A professional enforcer named Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) is called in to solve what happened during a robbery at a mafia-protected poker game. Mendelsohn’s role in Kill them gently isn’t that great, but it’s memorable, as he plays a waste of a human; greasy, incompetent, drug-addicted dude, who gets the ball rolling in the movie by stealing from that poker game with his friend Frankie (Scoot McNairy). Mendelsohn’s character is always high and repulsive, both abducting dogs and having unhinged sexual encounters with fake bravado, and will do anything to get his next fix. Not an easy role, but Mendelsohn nails this disgusting character.
5/9 Animal Kingdom (2010)
When J’s mother (James Frecheville) dies of an overdose, he moves in with his grandmother Janine “Smurf” Cody (Jacki Weaver) and his sons, who are all part of a crime family. In Animal Kingdom, Mendelsohn plays Andrew “Pope” Cody, the eldest son of “Smurf” in the show that made him stand out (and land many villainous roles). Mendelsohn excels as the creepy, aloof Pope, who will do anything to protect his family (even overdose an innocent, underage girl) and has no moral code. The best thing Mendelsohn does with this role is give menacing, evil vibes, while doing almost nothing. Just how he looks and talks to the other characters makes us feel like he’s unpredictable and could explode at any moment. And there is nothing scarier and more dangerous than that. Animal Kingdom is one of the best Australian films and has also been a launch pad for Weaver (who was nominated for an Oscar for the role), Mendelsohn, Sullivan Stapleton and Joel Edgerton.
4/9 Mississippi Gravel (2015)
Gerry (Mendelsohn) is an alcoholic, sad player who bets everything on a poker game and never wins anything. When he meets Curtis (Ryan Reynolds), he thinks his luck will change when they both travel south to a high-stakes poker game in New Orleans. In Mississippi Grind, Mendelsohn plays a charming loser whose only concern is how to get money to keep gambling, as the only thing that keeps him going is the feeling of “this time I might win”. The Australian actor puts on a fun, relaxed performance and has great chemistry with Reynolds (in one of his best performances ever) in this entertaining film.
3/9 Starred (2013)
Star up tells the story of Eric (Jack O’Connell), who has just become a star: he is transferred to a high-security adult prison from the juvenile detention center he was in. There he finds his father, Neville (Mendelsohn), serving a life sentence. Mendelsohn’s achievements are incredible. He must be tough and sensitive at the same time, sad but practical; smart but vulnerable; rough but wistful. He must have all those emotions while no one discovers that he is trying to help his son navigate the prison world while trying to hide from the guards and other inmates.
2/9 The Land of Fixed Habits (2018)
Anders Harris (Mendelsohn) feels his life is suffocating him, so he leaves his wife and job to find what makes him happy. The answers aren’t as fun or pretty as he might have thought in the beginning. In The land of fixed habits, Mendelsohn plays a normal man with a midlife crisis, and he knows how lost and searching for answers he really is as he searches for redemption. Director Nicole Holofcener told Slant Magazine why he casts Mendelsohn: “It’s because I like casting actors who haven’t done exactly what I ask of them. It’s so much more interesting to find someone who hasn’t already done this.”
1/9 Bloodline (2015-2017)
The Rayburn family has many secrets that they have managed to hide over the years. When black sheep brother Danny (Mendelsohn) comes back to town, the whole family begins to unravel. bloodline Mendelsohn won his first Emmy because his performance was magnetic. His character had many self-destructive tendencies, which could be menacing and scary, but he also loved his family and felt incredibly guilty for the tragedy he helped cause in the past. He had the biggest role in the first season, but his character and performance were so impressive that even after his presence reverberated throughout the show. About the production, Mendelsohn told Entertainment Weekly: “There was room for a lot of stuff. Sure, Kyle and I would sit on the floor, do it left and right, and stuff and stuff. We would try not to leave too much unchecked in the way we tried to do the scenes.