Best Male TV Performances Of 2024 (So Far)

While there’s still some time for the end of the year, it’s certainly a good time to start talking about the best male performances we saw on TV (or your nearest device that supports streaming) this year.

2024 has been rather good for men in front of the camera — the year saw some big surprises in the form of familiar names finding their (much-deserved) moment in the sun. For instance, we witnessed the renaissance of Manny Jacinto with The Acolyte. Theo James managed to pull audiences out of The White Lotus hangover with his performance in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen. Then there were trusted names like Ali Fazal and Hiroyuki Sanada who proved why they’re considered the most reliable actors on TV in recent times.

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Best Male TV Performances

While there could be more additions to this list as the remaining part of the year progresses, we’ve picked out some of our favourite performances by male actors in TV and web series in 2024 so far.

Hiroyuki Sanada, Shogun

The FX adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel Shogun easily became one of the best titles of the year by taking all the good parts from shows like Succession, House of Cards and Game of Thrones. Amidst all the scheming, plotting and ritualistic suicides, Hiroyuki Sanada’s performance as the regal and enigmatic Lord Toranaga stands out beautifully. Sanada, who has already won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmys, is the heart of the show, which is poised to dominate the awards season next year.

Theo James, The Gentlemen

After delivering an alarmingly convincing performance as an entitled creep in The White Lotus, Theo James hit another home run with his turn as Eddie Horniman in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen. He stars as a former soldier who inherits his family’s estate, only to discover that it’s home to a massive drug empire. The actor manages to hold his own in the middle of a superlative supporting cast and delivers a performance that is both layered and immensely watchable.

Read: The Best Indian Movies Of 2024

Ali Fazal, Mirzapur Season 3

Amazon Prime India’s crown jewel Mirzapur returned with a third season this year. While the new season didn’t leave the same impact as the previous ones, Ali Fazal’s performance as Guddu, the new self-proclaimed king of Mirzapur, stood out from the rest. The actor conveys the loneliness, anguish and all-consuming anger of his character with ease and takes you along for the journey.

Leo Woodall, One Day

People who had read David Nicholl’s book knew what they were signing up for when they began streaming Netflix’s One Day. Even people who weren’t aware of the book, or the 2011 film adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, could’ve had a fair idea of what they’re in for from the promos. But what nobody expected was the emotionally raw performance by lead actor Leo Woodall in the series. Another The White Lotus alum, Leo’s Dexter made you laugh, cry, swoon and then cry some more.

Hoa Xuande, The Sympathizer

In this adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer, Hoa Xuande’s Captain acts as the unreliable narrator in this complex spy thriller. He plays a half-Vietnamese and half-French communist spy who works for South Vietnam’s secret police in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The actor’s performance carries the show through the many twists and turns it takes across war-torn Vietnam and the United States of America.

Manoj Pahwa, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack

The show might have been the centre of convoluted controversies ever since it dropped on Netflix, but Anubhav Sinha’s docu-drama largely stands out because it basically assembled all the legends of the film industry under one roof. The cast included Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Arvind Swamy, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa and Vijay Varma. While superlative acting performances were to be expected, Manoj Pahwa’s hard-boiled intelligence official, who is tasked with leading the negotiations, remained indelible long after the series had concluded. The negotiation scenes with the terrorists are a masterclass in balancing taut tension with unexpected humour.

Manny Jacinto, The Acolyte

After playing the lovable former Jacksonville resident Jason in The Good Place, Manny Jacinto almost faded to near anonymity before coming back with a vengeance with Disney+’s The Acolyte. Even though his screen time as Qimir, the mysterious Sith lord, was limited, the actor made a firm case as to why he deserves to be cast as the leading man in his own TV series.

Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer

Richard Gadd turned his own traumatic experience with a stalker into gold with the Netflix series Baby Reindeer. The harrowing exploration of the cycle of abuse quickly strayed past the ‘dark comedy’ billing given to it by the OTT platform to deliver a dark and complex thriller about obsession, abuse, trauma and its staying power. Richard Gadd’s performance as Donny Dunn, a struggling comedian who starts getting stalked, rightfully earned him the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor.