Best Leading Performances in a Movie Comedy Role – Best of 2023

Our selection of Leading comedy performances all tend to lean into the surreal this year, with a whimsical version of a beloved film character, a biopic performance that may be stretching the truth and a doll who learns that not every night needs to be girls’ night.

Here are our picks for the Top 5 Leading Comedy Movie Performances in 2023.

5. Timothee Chalamet – Wonka

Taking on the role made famous by Gene Wilder would be a daunting task for any actor (let’s just forget about Johnny Depp’s version) but Timothee Chalamet gives his all in a whimsical performance. Chalamet plays this version of Wonka as an eternal optimist but very naive, a great fit for this story of the character. While Chalamet is not the best singer or dancer you’ll see, he does bring a lot of heart to performance which more than makes up for any faults.

– Ashley

4. Ayo Edebiri – Bottoms

2023 has been a breakout year for Ayo Edebiri, with the topper being co-leading this surreal, female-led comedy about two unpopular lesbians who start a fight club to get closer to their cheerleading crushes. As the nervous friend in her headlining pairing with Rachel Sennott, Edebiri brings heaps of laughs by regularly pointing out the absurdity of what is going on around her while also delivering on the romantic elements of this weird rom-com. May 2024 bring more or just as much Ayo Edebiri.

– Ashley

3. Daniel Radcliffe – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

I love the wild ride of projects that is Daniel Radcliffe’s career. No one can tell me they’d predict he would play Weird Al Yankovic in a biopic, but here we are. And by biopic, I mean the obviously very true story of how Weird Al wrote Eat It, and Michael Jackson stole the song and renamed it Beat It. Radcliffe kills it as Weird Al in one of the year’s funniest and most likely to be a cult film.

– Dylan

2. Emma Stone – Poor Things

When you watch Poor Things, you just can’t help but be swept up in Bella’s story of self-discovery and of the world at large. Emma Stone is bold and fully committed to this performance which can leave her looking silly or baring more than we expected to see of her, but all of it is in service of bringing Bella’s story to life. A truly stunning performance which should cement Stone‘s place as one of the best currently working actresses.

– Ashley

1. Margot Robbie – Barbie

As both a producing arm and the star, a lot of Barbie’s success belongs to Margot Robbie. Her performance as the titular Barbie, the “stereotypical Barbie”, can be a stereotypical performance, but that’s the point. A lot of the laughs come from this somewhat deadpan delivery and commitment to the Barbie bit. 

– Dylan