Devin Jacobs
Taking a role in a TV show is one thing, but making people want to watch you again, either in the same show or another, is something you should be celebrated for. The film industry has these talented actresses who execute their roles exceptionally well and keep us glued to the screen.
Viola Davis
Can we talk about Viola Davis without mentioning that she has achieved an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award? No! How to Get Away With Murder shows Davis at her best. In it, she plays a lawyer who picks outstanding students to assist her with her work.
Gillian Anderson
Anyone who watched Sex Education should remember Jean Milburn, Otis’s mother. That’s Gillian Anderson. But that’s not the only show where she made a character good on screen. She did it with X-Files as Dana Scully and The Fall as Stella Gibson and killed her role each time.
Elisabeth Moss
Moss has been making us proud since her TV acting career kicked off in 1990, but we’ll be doing her a disservice if we talk about her without mentioning her role as Peggy Olson in Mad Men. For 88 episodes and about eight years, she led the show and has several nods to show for it.
Meryl Streep
We can probably mention more of her films than her TV shows, but she has shone in TV series, too! Is it Holocaust, where she played Inga Weiss, or more recently, Big Little Lies, where she shows up as Mary Wright and came out with an Emmy nomination? Streep is that actress!
Olivia Colman
While Colman may not have led Peep Show, it gave her the platform to shine and opened her to other roles in which she performed well. She has proven her worth as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown in handling lead roles. The Night Manager and the more recent The Bear has proven she has no desire to disappoint her audience.
Claire Danes
Danes was just a teenager when she debuted in Law & Order. Two years later, she was playing a main role in My So-Called Life, a show with multiple awards that also earned her a Golden Globe in 1995. If there were any doubts about her abilities, she cleared them with Homeland.
Tatiana Maslany
We saw Maslany blow our minds by playing over five characters in Orphan Black—which won her many awards—but before this show, she was no stranger to main roles. Earlier, she played Rome Greyson in 2030 CE, and after that, she played Alice McKeegan in Perry Mason.
Sarah Paulson
If there is one thing we know about Paulson, it’s that her versatility is just intimidating. Her career started roughly three decades ago with American Gothic, and American Horror Story aided its advancement. Away from horror, she led the thriller Ratched by playing its titular role.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
In Seinfeld, we are introduced to a sarcastic and intelligent Elaine, the titular character’s ex. Seinfeld is not all the laughs this comedic powerhouse has to offer, though. She also led the sitcom Old Christine and played multiple roles on Saturday Night Live in the ’80s.
Kerry Washington
Appearing in episodes of shows like Boston Legal, NYPD Blue, and The Guardian were the foundation for her hit role—Olivia Pope in Scandal. After displaying her ability to carry a show there, she went on to Little Fires Everywhere, which became Hulu’s most-watched drama in its first 60 days.
Nicole Kidman
Kidman’s acting career has taken her through several TV shows, including the well-rated Top of the Lake and Big Little Lies, which have won many nods for themselves and those who contributed to them. For her roles, she has won a Golden Globe, an Emmy, a Critics Choice Award, and more.
Sandra Oh
We know Oh by multiple roles. Her range is seen in her three biggest TV roles—the dark comedy Arliss, the spy thriller Killing Eve, and the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. Oh’s ten seasons on Grey’s Anatomy as Cristina Yang may just be a phase for her, but it’s a memory for her viewers.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Waller-Bridge gave us the gift of herself in Fleabag and made us laugh hard. Another of her shows, which she also leads, Crashing, is a comedic good time. Being a writer on both shows is proof of her multi-talent.
Rhea Seehorn
Her TV career goes back to Homicide: Life on the Street. Although she seems more focused on voicing roles these days, it’s unfair to forget her performance as Kim Wexler, a friend—and later girlfriend—of Jimmy on Better Call Saul. You can also catch her in Veep, where she plays Michelle York.
Maggie Smith
Perhaps the best way to end this list is with the legend and deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall! It’s Maggie Smith. Now, at 89, she can look back at her years in TV and see magic, not only in Harry Potter but how she interpreted her roles in several shows, including as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey.