Jessica Lange is one of the most acclaimed and awarded actors in Hollywood. Lange made her film debut in 1976 when she starred in King Kong, and since then she has become a force on both the big and small screens. She would go on to wow critics with her roles in Frances, Tootsie, and Blue Sky, cementing her place as one of the foremost actors in the film industry.
Lange experienced a resurgence in her career when she appeared on American Horror Story‘s many seasons and, from there, other Ryan Murphy TV series like Feud: Bette and Joan and The Politician. The pair had excellent chemistry and produced some of the best performances of her career. Here’s a look at Jessica Lange’s best performances, ranked.
Related: American Horror Story: Best Performances in the Series, Ranked

8 Music Box

Music Box was released in 1989 and directed by Costa-Gavras. The film landed Lange an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She plays a lawyer named Ann Talbot, who is tasked with defending her father after he is accused of war crimes. As the case deepens, Ann finds herself struggling morally as more layers and secrets to the case are revealed. It’s a perfect example of Lange’s skill set, as her ability to put on thick Hungarian accent makes her unrecognizable.

7 Grey Gardens

The Maysles brother’s 1975 Grey Gardens was a divisive documentary at the time of its release, even though it was, according to The Guardian, one of the most influential documentaries in film history. The story focuses on two women, both called Edith Beale, who are distant relatives of Jackie Kennedy and reside in poverty in a derelict mansion in The Hamptons. The documentary was remade as an HBO film, also called Grey Gardens, in which Lange stars as ‘Big Eadie’ opposite Drew Barrymore, who plays ‘Little Eadie’. Their casting was perfect to tell the story of the eccentric pair, and Lange would go on to win an Emmy for Oustanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.

6 King Kong

Lange’s career had a strong start in 1976 when she appeared in the remake King Kong. She played the role of Dawn, beating out the likes of Meryl Streep (who talked about “not being pretty enough” on The Graham Norton Show) and winning a Golden Globe for Best Debut Performance. It was a strong introduction to the world on an epic scale, and the performance would cement Lange’s among the best actors in Hollywood.

5 Feud: Bette and Joan

Lange would pair up with Ryan Murphy a number of times in her career, and a great example of the pair’s success was her performance as Joan Crawford in Feud: Bette and Joan. The anthology series focused on the highly publicized feud Crawford had with fellow actress Bette Davis while filming What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. The series is campy in tone while exploring the social stigmas that women in the film industry faced, and Lange’s Joan Crawford works perfectly with Susan Sarandon’s Bette Davis. It’s a great example of how Lange perfectly embodies a character, and it’s easy to forget we are not actually watching Joan Crawford.

4 Blue Sky

Lange earned her second Oscar for Best Actress when she portrayed the bored and erratic housewife, Carly Marshall in Blue sky. She embodies this kind of character with an easiness no other actress can really compare to, and fully throws herself into the role. We see Hank Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) who is an engineer that has relocated to Hawaii and struggles with his wife’s behavior. It’s cinema gold and Lange performs her role with jaw-dropping skill.
Related: Here’s Every Best Actress Oscar Snub We’re Still Not Over

3 Tootsie

Lange earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress when she played Julie in Tootsie. The plot focuses on Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman), who is an out-of-work actor that poses as a woman to find work on a soap opera. He then finds himself deeply attracted to his co-star played by Lange, and they share a deep friendship which results in him telling her the truth. Lange and Hoffman both have excellent chemistry and can fully spread their wings in this feel-good film.

2 American Horror Story

American Horror Story premiered in 2011 and represented a shift in Lange’s career trajectory. She played Constance Langdon in Murder House, and her performance was universally acclaimed and presented somewhat of a rebirth of her career. She would continue in the series as a leading actor for a further three seasons and return as a guest for a fourth, with each character being different each time, allowing for her full range to be explored.

1 Frances

In 1982, Lange starred in Frances, for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. She plays the troubled TV host and actress Frances Farmer, and her performance is truly incredible and career-defining. The film chronicles her downfall during a time when mental health was not fully understood, and Lange embodies the role with the perfection that only she can achieve.

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