Performer Of The Year: The 20 Finalists

We tried to put it off, but we've unfortunately reached one of the more painful parts of our 2021 in Review: choosing a Performer of the Year... somehow.

All year long, Team TVLine has recognized the small screen's most captivating work via our Performer of the Week column, honoring actors from broadcast, cable and streaming series as they've made us weep with sadness or laughter. (Sometimes both!) But now, we're tasked with naming a Performer of the Year after another tremendous 12 months of television.

To start, we've narrowed down the extremely crowded field to 20 finalists, named alphabetically in the list below, which doubles as a "ballot" of sorts. (Note: As usual, any contenders comprised of multiple co-stars — in this case, The Other Two's Heléne Yorke and Drew Tarver — compete as and will be considered one finalist.)

On Friday, Dec. 17, we will crown one of the nominees (and only one!) our 2021 Performer of the Year, dethroning the 2020 victor, I May Destroy You's Michaela Coel. And while our esteemed panel of judges won't necessarily be swayed by the Comments section, we're itching to see if our 20 finalists line up with your favorite performances of the year.

Scroll through the list below to see who's in the running from this year's shows, then drop a comment with your thoughts on who might be named Performer of the Year 2021.Still ahead in TVLine's 2021 in Review: TV's Biggest Controversies, Dumb Things TV Did, Coolest Scenes, The Year's TV Weddings, Ranked and much more!

The showbiz veteran wowed us with a virtuoso performance that deftly tiptoed between two extremes: an outrageous comedy dynamo and an intensely sympathetic portrait of grief and loneliness. As lovably loopy socialite Tanya McQuoid, Coolidge fired off a barrage of hilarious quips, but she also let us see the intense pain buried deep in Tanya's heart, most notably in a mesmerizingly unhinged eulogy to her late mother. The White Lotus was stacked with great acting turns, but Coolidge was definitely the VIP.

Few of this year's TV episodes have wrecked us emotionally in the way that The Resident's Season 5 outing "The Long and Winding Road" did, and Czuchry's heart-rending performance contributed to that hour's strength. Suddenly confronted with the unexpected loss of wife Nic, Czuchry's Conrad has shown vulnerability and softness in ways we hadn't previously seen. And though Czuchry's full-blown sobs in Episode 3 were deeply affecting, as Conrad said goodbye to his longtime love, it's been the subtleties of Czuchry's performance in subsequent weeks — the humor and heart he brings to Conrad's relationship with daughter Gigi, or the overwhelmed look in his eyes as Conrad first faced the prospect of dating someone new — that have moved us even more.

The physical transformation the Patriot vet underwent in the Apple TV+ drama's second season — he gained and then shed 40 lbs. as his character Gordo struggled with depression — was in and of itself award-worthy. But it was the depth, complexity, humor, heroism and humanity that Dorman brought to what could've been a rote antihero role that cemented our love for the astronaut. The actor's commitment to his craft and his ability to make us empathize with and root for Gordo only made the Season 2 ender even more heartbreaking.

As former '90s girl group diva Wickie, Goldsberry delivered a string of wickedly clever bon mots with such sharpness and comedic timing that we were doubled over in laughter every time Wickie said... well, anything. Episode 6 of the Peacock musical comedy was a particular standout for the actress, with Goldsberry going for outrageousness with gusto during her character's time in the absurd Maskical: The Musical, while adding delightful inflections to Wickie's dialogue ("How dare you, mon frère!"). Like her '90s pop star alter ego, Goldsberry is a diva worthy of worship.

It was on NBC's The Good Place that we first noticed Harper possessed the sort of charisma needed to carry a romantic comedy, in scenes opposite love interest Kristen Bell. But little did we know that the Artist Formerly Known as "Chidi Anna... Kendrick" would wind up succeeding the actual Anna Kendrick as star of HBO Max's sorely underrated anthology. Throughout Season 2, we watched as recently divorced book editor Marcus Watkins navigated the dating scene in the Big Apple, which included an on-again/off-again relationship with Jessica Williams' Mia — and while it wasn't always easy to root for (or even like) Marcus, we remained enchanted by Harper's carefully crafted, emotional portrayal.

Herbers, excellent all season, was on a holy roll in the sophomore finale. As Kristen's guilt about committing murder crested, Herbers had Kristen fall apart in gorgeous fashion during confession with the newly minted Father David. Her voice climbed an octave as she forced out her painful admission, her breath hitching in giant sobs. She doubled over in shame. And then, just when we thought the scene couldn't get any more intense, Herbers successfully eased Kristen through a gigantic transition, making the impassioned kiss between her and Mike Colter's David seem intensely believable. In a word? Heavenly.

This undeniably talented London native took his character Franklin to all new heights in Season 4 of FX's gangster drama. It was a turn that allowed Idris to use both physical vulnerabilities, such as the limp and cane Franklin had (and eventually ditched) after surviving a shooting, as well as the internal ones marked by the simmering grimaces that surfaced whenever his authority got tested. It was the season finale, however, that exposed Franklin's softer side, tears soaking Idris' face when Franklin said a heartfelt "goodbye for now" to his closest and most trusted confidant, his mother.

We can pinpoint the exact moment Matafeo (mentally, at least) made our list of the year's top performers: a little less than halfway through Starstruck's first episode, when Matafeo's Jessie silently realizes that she just had a one-night stand with a famous actor. Matafeo hardly says a word as the realization dawns on Jessie, but her wide-eyed expression and hushed freakout make the scene one of Starstruck's most memorable. The New Zealand actress brought that seemingly effortless comedic skill — and some lovely, introspective dramatic work, too — to nearly every frame of the HBO Max freshman, elevating it to a series we simply couldn't stop watching until our binge was complete.

The endless longing of Mbedu's soulful eyes immediately drew you into her character, Cora, with the same alluring power of a young Ruby Dee. Every pain and triumph lingered on her youthful face, compelling you to study the South African native. Cora was a woman who had experienced great loss but, in Barry Jenkins' Prime Video limited series, Mbedu's malleable countenance also showed how her alter ego tried her damnedest to hold on to joy, no matter how fleeting.

As a woman on the run from her abusive husband and his virtual reality simulator, Milioti lightened the mood of this dystopian hellscape with frantic physical comedy and impeccable timing. With a story that bordered on absurdism, the actress delivered her dialogue with precision, eliciting oodles of humor despite the show's dramatic lean. And while her funny bone was undeniable, Hazel's complicated emotions pushed Milioti to deliver a layered performance filled with just as much fortitude as there was farce.

Miller commanded every scene she was in as Raquel Thomas, the titular character's drug queenpin of a mother. Never was this more apparent than when Miller's Raq dispensed of a rapey city inspector, who choked and punched her. Raq had offered him cash, but he chose violence, and she reciprocated by seamlessly knocking him unconscious with a hammer, binding his hands and serving him up to her older brother Marvin to murder. Because if there's one thing Raq didn't tolerate, it was men who bullied women — and Miller made us believe every bit of that.

After previously stunning us with Facebook Watch's Sorry for Your Loss, Olsen proved with WandaVision that her range is even more expansive and formidable than we previously thought. The actress gave a fearlessly committed comedic performance as WandaVision hurtled through the history of sitcoms, channeling funny ladies like Mary Tyler Moore and Julie Bowen with remarkable ease. And later in the show's run, her dramatic work was equally moving, imploring us all to feel the heavy weight of Wanda's seemingly bottomless grief.

Rodriguez has been the steadily beating heart of FX's ballroom drama from the beginning, and the third and final season gave her a well-deserved chance to shine. Her character Blanca got a boyfriend, allowing us to see her tender, sexy side, but Blanca's main role remained as endlessly supportive house mother to her kids, while also bolstering Pray Tell through his battle with AIDS. No wonder Rodriguez scored a historic Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Drama.

Few actresses can make a zinger sting quite like Smart. As formerly disgraced stand-up comedian Deborah Vance, Smart embodied strength and chutzpah as her character delivered laughs on stage and spat fiery insults at everyone around her. While Deborah's tough exterior felt unshakable to start, Smart expertly infused Deb with ample heart and undying tenacity. It may not have been the actress' first rodeo in the comedy world, but it was certainly one of her best.

Snipes exuded gravitas, from his sigh-laden acceptance that everyone in Kid's inner circle looked at his character Carlton as a loser, to his duplicitous stoicism while pretending to protect his younger brother, whom he hated as much as he loved. However, nothing captured the actor's next-level turn like the moment Kid (Kevin Hart) confronted Carlton about his lies. Snipes' Carlton was smugly snacking on chips when Kid dropped his word bomb, and suddenly, the synapses between the older brother's brain, hand and mouth broke down, and he just couldn't get that last chip in his mouth.

As things get worse for Kendall Roy, Strong's devastating lead performance just gets better. Season 3 of HBO's corporate drama got off to a good start for Kendall, with Strong exuding a manic energy as Kendall went on the offensive against his father Logan. But as Kendall's hopes for victory began to dim, Strong methodically peeled away those layers of false bravado, revealing the wounded child within. We don't enjoy watching Kendall suffer... but we do enjoy watching every moment of Strong's exemplary work.

No one was more well-suited than Tudyk to play Harry Vanderspeigle, an alien hellbent on destroying the earth who experienced a Grinch-like transformation of heart. Not only did the actor's physical comedy accentuate the show's brand of sci-fi silliness, but he also elevated the character's quieter, dramatic moments as Harry befriended the town's inhabitants and explored the inner depths of humanity, his own included. Tudyk's love for his craft was palpable, and the fun he had on screen week after week was beyond contagious.

One needn't look further than Season 2's "No Weddings and a Funeral" to know why Waddingham belongs on this list. Over the course of 45 emotionally captivating minutes, the Emmy winner got to be romantic (while Rebecca was cuddling in bed with Sam), comedic (for instance, when Rebecca dryly congratulated her mum for "fat-shaming a baby to tears") and dramatic (when she recounted the teenage horror of walking in on her late father with another woman). She also got to show Rebecca at her most conflicted, as she struggled to find the words, then the lyrics, to memorialize her dad. We may never get Rickrolled without tearing up again, but at least we'll always be reminded of Waddingham's finest hour.

Forget the accent: Winslet quickly proved that her portrayal of tough-as-nails detective Mare Sheehan in HBO's crime drama wasn't just a small-town caricature. The Oscar winner dazzled us with the wide array of tones she brought to Mare's personality, from dogged investigator to grieving mother to prolific hoagie-eater. And when the shock from the murder mystery's twists and turns wore off, Winslet provided the sturdy emotional backbone that made Mare way more than a simple whodunit.

Some actors bare their souls, others their holes. Yorke and Tarver did both in the second season of HBO Max's The Other Two, during which their characters fought to make names for themselves without losing sight of what really matters in life. The comedic pacing on this show is fast and furious, and Yorke and Tarver handled it like a couple of Vin Diesels. Individually brilliant and even better together, Brooke and Cary might be TV's funniest siblings. But don't tell them we said that — their egos are big enough already.