From his stint in Breaking Bad and Friday Night Lights to Emmy-nominated lead performances in Fargo and Black Mirror, Jesse Plemons has established himself as a TV actor. He has also proven his acting prowess as a character actor in several supporting roles in films. With a lead role in Charlie Kaufman’s latest Netflix film I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, he shows great potential to bag more roles in the future.
Even if he has had small roles in certain productions, almost all of his filmography has received rave reviews and multiple awards wins and nominations.
Vice (2018) – 66%
Vice, Adam McKay’s highly unconventional and creatively bizarre biopic of US Vice-President Dick Cheney—played by Christian Bale in top form—details his rise to fame over the ages and his ruthless measures to fight terrorism in a post-9/11 world. While the film leaves a lot to interpret, McKay’s tightly-written screenplay doesn’t glorify Cheney’s life but presents a polarizing picture on the negative excesses of executive power.
Plemons plays an everyday American who narrates the film’s incidents in a non-linear narrative. When his character’s face is finally revealed, he encounters a road accident and his heart is eventually transplanted to Cheney’s body.
Black Mass (2015) – 73%
A crime drama and biopic on a ruthless Boston gangster, Black Mass stars Johnny Depp in one of his heavy-makeup roles as Whitey Bulger. As Bulger faces threats with rival gangs, he plans to turn into an FBI informant leading to tensions with his brother who serves as a US Senator.
Plemons has a supporting role as a gangster called Kevin Weeks who serves as Bulger’s close associate and mob lieutenant. A year before his casting as Weeks, Plemons had also auditioned for the role of Finn in the new Star Wars trilogy, having lost the role to John Boyega.
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things (2020) – 84%
Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, I’m Thinking Of Ending Things functions as a surreal trip that would spark off several interpretations amongst viewers as its credits roll. The film focuses on a man and a woman embarking on a road trip to meet the man’s parents. But, when some strange happenings go down defying all rules of time and existence, the viewers are bewildered at the unpredictability of the premise that changes with every fleeting moment.
While the heroine Jesse Buckley delivered a stand-out performance, Jesse Plemons’ calm and composed lead portrayal of Jake also drew immense praise.
TIE: Other People (2016) – 85%
One of his earliest lead performances, Jesse Plemons stars as an aspiring screenwriter in Other People, a slice-of-life dramedy. His character comes to terms with handling his dysfunctional family as his mother is dying of cancer. Meanwhile, he also deals with his ex-boyfriend while making his homophobic father aware of his sexuality. In the middle of this personal drama, he hopelessly struggles to get his comedy pilots approved by studios.
Other People is a bittersweet look into the never-ending struggles of human life even as Plemons’ sweet, down-on-luck protagonist learns to smile through the pain.
TIE: Game Night (2018) – 85%
Game Night is a highly entertaining dark comedy on a couple (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) and their best friends who have the habit of having weekend get-togethers where they play board games. However, one such game night turns out to be a roller coaster ride of events when they are forced to encounter international criminals, drug deals, and bourgeois fight clubs.
Jesse Plemons has a standout supporting performance playing a lonely, divorced cop who is also the family’s neighbor. Eager to join their game nights, he sneaks up on the friends and has his own shady plans going on to participate in the social circles around him. Initially, viewers might think that his character Gary Kingsbury is just there for comic relief. But, he actually ends up being quite a mastermind as the third act progresses.
TIE: The Master (2012) – 85%
Jesse Plemons’ physical appearance has often been compared to that of late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. In Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, he gets the opportunity to play the role of Hoffman’s son. Hoffman plays an intellectual leader of an ominous organization called The Cause who takes a troubled war veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) as an apprentice.
Plemons plays the spiritualist’s obedient son even though Phoenix, Hoffman, and Amy Adams, who portrays Hoffman’s wife, are the ones who get the maximum scope to shine.
The Post (2017) – 88%
Steven Spielberg’s historical drama The Post deals with Kay Graham (Meryl Streep), the editor of the Washington Post, and how she plans to reveal a government secret pertaining to the Vietnam War that had been covered up for a decade. The film drew immense praise for its attention to detail and its allusion to Richard Nixon’s presidency with other authoritarian regimes.
In terms of acting, critics were in praise of the entire ensemble with special focus on Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Plemons’ Breaking Bad co-star Bob Odenkirk. Plemons plays a supporting character called Roger Clark, a senior litigator for a Washington law firm that counseled the newspaper in the 1970s.
Bridge Of Spies (2015) – 90%
Before The Post, Jesse Plemons’ first collaboration with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg was Bridge Of Spies. The film details a high-profile spy exchange at the height of the Cold War. When American pilot Gary Powers gets caught by Soviet forces, America plans to release an alleged KGB spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). In order to get the Soviet spy safe and sound, lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks) works on proving his innocence. Written by Joel and Ethan Coen, the drama makes for a moving watch that’s informative as well as highly entertaining.
Jesse Plemons shares some screentime as Joe Murphy, a coursemate of Gary Powers who too flew covert missions like him in the enemy territory.
El Camino (2019) – 91%
Jokingly called “Meth Demon” by Breaking Bad fans, Plemons’ psychopathic villain Todd Alquist returns in the highly-anticipated Netflix film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. He captures the series protagonist Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and is also a member of the neo-Nazi group that forces Pinkman to cook meth.
Even the titular car, a Chevrolet El Camino, belongs to Todd Alquist. He mostly appears in flashback sequences, but still forms an integral part of the film. The film also reunites other Breaking Bad stars like Jonathan Banks and Krysten Ritter.
The Irishman (2019) – 96%
Jesse Plemons has had great experience sharing space with star-studded ensembles, and The Irishman is no exception. Even though some viewers criticized the epic mafia drama’s excessive runtime, Martin Scorcese’s Netflix debut drew unanimous praise for its ambitious and humane treatment of the gangster genre.
This time, Plemons plays the role of Chuckie O’Brien, the foster son of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Plemons was in top form as usual in the limited scenes he gets, even if even the real-life Chuckie O’Brien had some issues regarding his portrayal.
