Ever since delivering a breakout performance in the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man in 2009, Michael Stuhlbarg has become one of the most ubiquitous actors in Hollywood. Not only has Stuhlbarg amassed more than 30 credits over the past decade, but he's also appeared in some of the most well-regarded movies released during that span. Whether leading man or bit player, indie or blockbuster, TV or film, Stuhlbarg has done it all.
Up next for Stuhlbarg is Gore, a biopic about American writer Gore Vidal. Stuhlbarg also has a new TV series entitled Your Honor in the works costarring Bryan Cranston. In anticipation of both projects, here are Michael Stuhlbarg's 10 Best Movies, According to Rotten Tomatoes.
Steve Jobs (2015) 86%
Scripted by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Danny Boyle, Steve Jobs centers on three key Apple product launches that helped shape the marketing pioneer's illustrious career. Michael Fassbender plays Jobs in the film, while Stuhlbarg plays his main software engineer Andy Hertzfeld.
The three main events take place in 1984, 1988, and 1998 as Jobs introduces the world to Apple II computer, NeXT computer, and the iMac. Fassbender and Kate Winslet earned Oscar nominations for their performances.
Shirley (2020) 87%
The warped mind of real-life horror scribe Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) is put on display in Shirley, a fictional biopic helmed by Josephine Decker. Stuhlbarg plays Shirley's enabling husband and English professor, Stanley Hyman.
Stricken by writer's block, Shirley finds inspiration for her new horror novel when a young couple arrives to stay with them. Rose (Odessa Young) and Fred Nemser (Logan Lerman) are idealistic youngsters looking to help Hyman, but Shirley's eroding mental health gets in the way at every turn.
The Post (2017) 88%
In his second time working with Steven Spielberg, Stuhlbarg played real-life American journalist Abe Rosenthal in The Post. The film recounts the Washington Post's handling of the Pentagon Papers scandal during the 1970s.
Meryl Streep stars as Kay Graham, the first female news publisher who breaks the story of a longheld government coverup that spanned four presidencies. Along with The Post editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks), Graham goes public with the story despite massive blowback. Streep earned her 21st Academy Award nomination for her performance.
Doctor Strange (2016) 89%
Stulhbarg threw himself into the MCU as Dr. Nicodemus West in Doctor Strange, Scott Derrickson's trippy take on the titular neurosurgeon-turned dark-arts superhero.
Following a devastating car crash, Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) suddenly awakes to learn he has newfound superhuman powers. With the guidance of The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), Doctor Strange is able to open portals to otherworldly dimensions where he must face the villainous Dormammu (Jonathan Adams). As Dr. West, Stuhlbarg is the one who performs surgery on Strange, allowing him to access his new abilities.
Lincoln (2012) 89%
In Steven Spielberg's star-studded Lincoln, Stuhlbarg plays real-life U.S. Representative from Kentucky George Yeaman. Despite hailing from the south, Yeaman cast one of the deciding votes to ratify the 13th amendment outlawing slavery in the U.S.
Daniel Day-Lewis won his third career Oscar Award for his performance as the 16th President of the United States in the film. Lincoln also earned an Oscar for Best Production Design to go along with 10 additional nominations.
A Serious Man (2009) 90%
Stuhlbarg landed his first leading role in the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man, for which he earned the lone Golden Globe nomination of his career thus far.
The tragic-comedy follows staid midwestern Jewish physics professor Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg) who suffers a serious midlife meltdown when a series of mishaps occur in 1967. As Gopnik treads water in the attempt to keep his personal and professional life intact, he falls deeper into the existential abyss.
The Shape Of Water (2017) 92%
In Guillermo del Toro's Best Picture-winning The Shape of Water, Stuhlbarg plays a duplicitous doctor with a hidden agenda during a decade of Cold-War paranoia and espionage.
When lonely janitor Elisa (Sally Hawkins) forges a strange romance with a mutated Amphibian Man (Doug Jones) held in a secret lab, she vows to do whatever necessary to protect the creature from harm. However, Dr. Hoffstetler (Stuhlbarg) has nefarious plans of his own as a Soviet spy collecting as much data on the creature as he can. In addition to Best Picture, the film won Oscars for Best Director, Production Design, and Original Score.
Hugo (2011) 93%
Based on Brian Selznick's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Martin Scorsese's Hugo is both a coming-of-age tell as well as a celebration of the dawn of cinema and the contributions made by French filmmaker George Melies (Sir Ben Kingsley). The film follows a young orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the shadows of a Paris train station.
When the boy stumbles on a mysterious automaton, he sets out to find the truth about his deceased father. The film won five Oscars in total, including wins for Best Cinematography, Art Direction, and Visual Effects.
Arrival (2016) 94%
In Denis Villeneuve's big-budget sci-fi spectacle Arrival, linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is tasked with attempting to communicate with two mysterious alien entities visiting Earth. When she makes a breakthrough and learns the aliens are present to offer a weapon, a Chinese mistranslation leads to international escalation.
Stuhlbarg plays CIA Agent Halpern in the film, whose satellite phone Banks steals in order to talk the Chinese down from the brink of war. The film earned eight Oscar nods and won win for Best Sound Editing.
Call Me By Your Name (2016) 95%
The highest-rated movie of Stuhlbarg's career thus far, per Rotten Tomatoes, belongs to Luca Guadagnino's coming-of-age romance Call Me By Your Name. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including a victory for 89-year-old writer James Ivory.
The story traces young American Elio's (Timothee Chalamet) summer vacation in Italy in 1983. When Elio meets his father's (Stuhlarg's) new teaching assistant Oliver (Armie Hammer), the two form a fast friendship that turns into a romantic relationship. With the summer waning, Elio and Oliver must face the prospect of parting while enjoying their special time with one another.