Donald Glover is a Renaissance Man. He’s an actor, director, writer, producer, and rapper. And he excels at all those things. He’s the brilliant creative mind behind Atlanta, has the charisma of a movie star, and knows how to work a stage as the rapper Childish Gambino. With all those abilities, he could be a “jack of all trades, master of none”, but his performances show a great range. He can be a comic doofus, a suave and sexy space pirate, and also a simple guy just trying to make ends meet.
Additionally, Glover is as comfortable working in Hollywood films and TV shows as in cool indie cinema, be it unique video clips like This is America or Guava Island or a big tentpole movie like Solo: A Star Wars Story. What’s more, he’s becoming one of the greatest voices of our generation while doing incredible work with all kinds of artists, like Hiro Murai, Tina Fey, Dan Harmon, Rihanna, and Ridley Scott. Comedy, afro-surrealism, racial justice, horror, animation, bit-character in big movies, or even Sesame Street, Glover has done work in all genres of films. These are his best performances, ranked.
Related: Atlanta: How Does the Series Fit Into the Modern TV Landscape?

7 30 Rock

30 Rock followed the characters of a fictional sketch show at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The leads were Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and her boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), and the show was based on some experiences Fey had as head writer of Saturday Night Live. This tv series was always funny and had one of the biggest ratios of great jokes per minute ever.
Glover was a writer on the show and made several cameo appearances, contributing his ideas to one of the best sitcoms of the 2000s. Being 25 years old at the time, he could already hold his own with comedy legends like Fey and be part of one of the best writers rooms in the business. It was clear that big things would come from that point on.

6 The Martian

In The Martian, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets stranded on Mars and starts recording himself while trying to survive. To help him, NASA needs to find a way to get him back home. It was the aerodynamicist Rich Purnell (Donald Glover) who had the idea to do it.
The movie directed by Ridley Scott was stacked with great actors, but it was Glover who stole the show in just three scenes. He created a memorable character in his little screen time and gave the movie a different flavor while showing how his character was an aloof genius. His interactions with Jeff Daniels’ character, in particular, while explaining the plan are comedy gold.

5 The Lion King

The Lion King live-action remake had the same story as the original: Simba, a young lion runs away from home when he believes he’s the reason his father has died. With time, he’ll come back to defend his kingdom from his uncle, Scar
Glover had done some voice work for animation, but this movie is still his biggest voicing role. He gives Simba a lot of personality and shows his musical gifts, nailing the songs that were made so popular in the original movie.

4 Mystery Team

This movie was made by Glover and his comedy group Derrick Comedy. Mystery Team is about three kid detectives who, now adults, are emotionally stunted and are laughed at by the whole town. A real detective case might help them get the respect they deserve.
Derrick Comedy had already gotten notoriety in their YouTube comedy sketches, but this was their first movie. Glover co-wrote the film with friends DC Pierson and Dominik Dierkes, and he also composed the music and starred in his first movie role. Mystery Team showed how he could be one of the leads in a movie while also working behind the camera. It wouldn’t be the last time he would juggle multiple roles in one project, of course.
Related: Breakthrough Movie Roles That Turned Actors into Hollywood Stars

3 Solo: A Star Wars Story

This movie was the origin story of the beloved character Han Solo. Alden Ehrenreich played the young version of the character originiated by Harrison Ford, showing how he met his inseparable pal Chewbacca and what he was up to before the Star Wars original trilogy.
In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Glover played Lando Calrissian. Playing a young Billy Dee Williams would be a tough ask for anyone, but Glover nailed it. He commanded every room he entered; he was suave, sexy, and the coolest ever. So cool in fact, that even robots fell in love with him. And you believe it. That’s a next-level movie star skill. Some people think Glover was the best thing about the movie, and it looks like Disney might agree as he will reprise his role in his own Disney+ series, as reported by The Direct.

2 Atlanta

Atlanta tells the story of Earnest “Earn” Marks, a Princeton dropout who goes back to the city and tries to be the manager of his cousin, rapper Paper Boi. But Atlanta is a lot more than that. And is created, written, produced, and directed by Glover. Not bad. Not bad at all.
This show is the best thing Glover has ever done (so far), especially behind the camera, but in front of it, he doesn’t come short either. He nails every changing tone and genre the different episodes ask for, knows how to be the straight man of his show so that every other cast member can shine, and imbues the pathos and desperation that come when you’re trying to make ends meet. Glover works with one of the greatest casts in television and can still be the show’s center. Critics agree as he won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the role.

The show was set at a local community college in Colorado and revolved around a study group led by Jeff Winger (Joel McHale). Glover played Troy Barnes, a former high school football star who, little by little, started showing his nerdy side. His character’s friendship and chemistry with Abed was legendary. If you have a relationship with a friend that is half the one they had, you have a treasure.
This was the role that made most people aware of who Donald Glover was. In Community, he could be funny, heartwarming, histrionic, scared, and vulnerable, and made it all parts of the same character, showing a complete person in the process.

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