Vanessa Kirby is no less than a phenomenon. She is not an actress; she is a transformer. One moment, she can be a chain-smoking royal drowning in grief, and in the next, she can be outwitting spies or simply giving a stellar performance in an independent movie. She is so powerful that she can be one among the ragile and fierce and still have that charm which makes you see her again and again.
In case you haven’t, just to make things worse, if you ever felt like digging deep into her career (which is what I did), then you must have realised that she has that amazing kind of range which completely mesmerizes you. So why don’t we take a look at her eight most memorable performances that not only showcase her as one of the most fascinating actresses but also affirm that she is the most underrated one of today?
8. The Dresser
Before everyone knew her, Kirby had already started her career with a bang. She plays the lead role of the film “Irene”, a talented young actress trying to make her way in the crazy world of a dying Shakespeare company, in the television version of Ronald Harwood’s play “The Dresser”. Working alongside Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen is definitely a tough challenge, but Kirby doesn’t merely keep her ground. She allows Irene to have so much drive and soft misery that even after the film finishes, the character still stays in one’s mind.
7. Mr. Jones
As a journalist who exposes the famine in Ukraine, Ada Brooks, Kirby, in Agnieszka Holland’s era film, seems to be reporting. Her role is not very significant, but she still manages to draw the viewers’ attention. Ada’s wit and principles shine through the gloom, and in every shot, we can feel Kirby’s vibe. She is making a statement that impact can still be profound even with a small duration of appearance.
6. The Frankenstein Chronicles
The Frankenstein Chronicles is a gothic-tinged mystery series where Kristen Kirby was the one to portray Lady Jemima Hervey, the witty and resourceful aristocratic woman who was somehow connected to the terrifying enigma. It is actually possible to picture the character of Jemima as a background character only, but through the influence of Kirby’s performance, she becomes not only outstanding but also one of the most complex, intellectual, and subtly influential characters of the series. As a matter of fact, she looks like a character that deserves her own spin-off because of her fascinating nature.
5. Great Expectations
At the beginning of the BBC miniseries adaptation of Great Expectations, Kirby reinvented the formerly charming Estella into a resentful one. The Estella that she created was an assortment of mystery, mistreatment, and contradictions, still lovable and unreachable. With her performance, Kirby not only breaks the stereotype but also makes Estella a complicated and tragic character, thereby hinting at the emotional intensity in her future works.
4. The World to Come
In this desolate 19th-century forest story, the film festival’s favorite, she lets Kirby have the role of Tallie, whose brilliance and roguish charm make the dull scenery her theater. Work between the two actresses, Katherine Waterston and Kirby, is so immediate that it is almost non-verbal yet very lively, with Kirby conveying great amounts of affection through brief looks and delicate gestures. It’s a subdued but heartbreaking acting job that truly reveals her skills when she chooses not to speak.
3. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
White Widow is here. As the character Alanna Mitsopolis, a seller of arms, as well as a dazzling and perplexing simp, Kirby is a riddle who remains calm, yet can be quite interruptive of the whole scene. She is the one who refuels the franchise, together with Tom Cruise, and on top of that, she adds her own kind of sophistication to it. By her coming back in the subsequent installments, it is implied that she was not only there for a short period; therefore, she became a fan favorite.
2. Pieces of a Woman
This is the work that left the critics open and for which Kirby was nominated for an Oscar. Aartha, the mother who has just lost her child in a miscarriage, gives an extremely passionate, fragile, and totally fearless performance. The half-hour continuous delivery sequence, especially, is one of those legendary machines of the myth that one usually hears of, yet it is the aftermath, the silent ruins, that make the part more memorable further into the mind.
1. The Crown
Essentially, this was the job that turned Kirby into a star. In the first two seasons of The Crown, as Princess Margaret, she was the iconoclastic royal with charm, intelligence, and tear-inducing frailty. Not only did Kirby perform wholeheartedly, but she inhabited Margare’s character transformation of both the hard humor and the terrible loneliness most vividly and memorably alike. The casting made her win a BAFTA, get an Emmy nomination, and most importantly of all, a worldwide praise as one of the most impressive actresses of her generation.
Vanessa Kirby isn’t the same after a performance; she elevates it. She manages to steal the spotlight even in an ensemble where she has a small part. Or when she has the stage to herself, she effortlessly carries the whole film. As one of the most versatile actresses of today, she constantly shows that. Simply put, if it is a Kirby project, then you’d better not miss it.