Dane DeHaan Performances Ranked from Roadie to Apex Predator

It's been an absolute pleasure to revisit Dane DeHaan's filmography, comprising some 30-plus roles on the big and small screens over the last 20 years. And I'm not just saying that because we both happen to be from the Lehigh Valley originally (though it doesn't hurt; I love to see an Eastern PA kid do well). DeHaan has checked a bunch of boxes with his roles over the last decade -- creepy characters on Law & Order: SVU and in two TV movies; a recurring role on True Blood; a music video or two for world-famous bands; supporting roles in films from cinematic masters like John Sayles and Steven Spielberg to name but two; and major roles in biopics, original thrillers, dramatic period pieces, and indie flicks aplenty -- but he always brings an compelling energy and charisma to his work that makes every picture a pleasure.

However, not all roles are created equally and not all performances can be better than the rest. It's with that in mind, and in honor of DeHaan's starring role opposite Maika Monroe on Quibi's episodic thriller The Stranger, that we took at look at all of DeHaan's roles to date in order to pick the best of the best. Sure, some of them will include titles that he earned awards recognition for, while others you may never have even heard of; I certainly hadn't before I watched some of these. But it's a testament to DeHaan's acting ability that each and every once of these performances was engaging, regardless of how compelling (or not) the rest of the narrative was around him.

So what follows is our subjective ranking of the 10 Best Performances of Dane DeHaan, not necessarily the 10 best movies or TV shows he's been in. But even his early roles are worth a watch, like 2010's Amigo, John Sayles' movie in which, even though DeHaan didn't get a name-check by the late RogerEbert in his review, his performance left an impression: "One of [the soldiers] has an awkwardly goofy flirtation with a local girl that I first thought was just plain dopey, but to which I eventually softened." Yup, that's DeHaan, all right. You should also pop in to see his part to play in Lincoln, Devil's Knot, his voice work in the English-language release of Ballerina (later retitled Leap! in the U.S. release where Nat Wolff replaced him for some reason; Hollywood is weird, man), and even as the lovably naive and relatively innocent Cricket Pate in the gritty, bloody, and amoral Lawless from John Hillcoat. It goes to show that DeHaan can make the most out of any material he's given, but it's the following 10 performances that really let his talent shine.

10. Metallica Through the Never

Were you expecting us to kick things off with a TV show or movie? While technically a cinematic concert experience, Metallica Through the Never certainly has the visual effects, soundtrack, and even the runtime (at 93 minutes) of a traditional theatrical release. Add in DeHaan as the protagonist Trip, a young roadie for Metallica who is sent on an urgent and mysterious mission during the band's show, and you've got a unique experience like no other.

What makes it a standout for DeHaan is the fact that he's got to sell Trip's increasingly insane adventure through his body language and facial expressions alone. That's a tough task. DeHaan (and, obviously, his stunt doubles if we're being completely honest) is up to it. Metallica Through the Never is absolutely a love letter to Metallica fans in all sorts of ways, but it's also a reminder that DeHaan is up to the physical task of a balls-to-the-wall action-adventure movie while also conveying the emotion necessary to bring sympathy to Trip's perilous plight.

And even if you consider this to be just a glorified music video, it's still a better performance from DeHaan than whatever is going on in this Imagine Dragons bit:

But don't take it from me. Here's DeHaan himself talking about how much he enjoyed a role that didn't require one spoken word from him:

9. The Stranger

While DeHaan's title character doesn't say much more in The Stranger than he did in Metallica Through the Never, when he does speak, it's rather menacing. What starts out as an innocent enough rideshare trip soon turns into a harrowing journey as The Stranger proves to be mysterious, resourceful, and quite dangerous. What exactly is his plan? And how could he possibly hope to pull it off?

That story is played out over the 13 episodes of The Stranger, taking place over a roughly 12-hour window but playing out in Quibi's signature "quick bites" of around 10 minutes each. DeHaan's antagonist doesn't play coy; he gets right to the heart of his mission. He's relentless in his physical pursuit and psychological torment of Clare (Monroe), his rideshare driver who's fresh out of Kansas and already lost in the urban maze of Los Angeles in more ways than one. DeHaan's threatening demeanor as The Stranger will have you peeking around every corner and checking every locked door as you watch. But you'll have to tune in to see how the hunt becomes more than a cat-and-mouse game, including twists and turns you definitely won't see coming.

8. The Kid

This 2019 Western from writer/director/actor Vincent D'Onofrio is a bit of a mess in all sorts of ways, but one diamond in the rough here is DeHaan's playful portrayal of the infamous Billy the Kid. Part historical drama, part 3:10 to Yuma copy, The Kid is just as much about Billy "The Kid" Bonney as it is the young orphan boy (Jake Schur) who experiences a rather rough-and-tumble coming-of-age story. Thankfully, DeHaan brings an easy charisma (and period-appropriate teeth and costuming) to his portrayal of the outlaw and oft-adapted screen icon.

Oddly enough, DeHaan played two cultural icons at an older age than they were when they died: James Dean (24) and Billy the Kid (21). The veteran actor that he is, DeHaan is able to do a lot with what little he got in this script, making a rather sympathetic character out of the outlaw. The whole movie sets Billy the Kid up to be a misunderstood anti-hero of sorts, a mentor for an orphaned boy, and a figure worthy of remembrance for a small Spanish town. The Kid absolutely takes creative license with the outlaw's story and the lawmen who aim to bring him to justice; DeHaan makes the most of it with a performance that's better than that of everyone around him.

7. The Place Beyond the Pines

One of the few entries in this list that see DeHaan playing a strong role in an ensemble cast is Derek Cianfrance's crime thriller and multi-generational drama. The problem here is that DeHaan has to follow in the footsteps of Ryan Gosling, just as his counterpart Emory Cohen is following up on the groundwork laid down by Bradley Cooper. Big shoes to fill. And while DeHaan and Cohen aren't expected to play up to their older actors and characters' performances, it's tough to outdo their solid setup.

But they don't really have to. The story of Gosling's stunt-driving thief Luke and Cooper's well-meaning policeman Avery sets the stage for DeHaan's Jason and Cohen's A.J. to take the spotlight. It's just that the sins of the father often stain the life of the son well before the child has any say over the matter. The boys are just expected to deal with the harsh realities of the world they've been born into, so it's no surprise that, when push comes to shove, a new generation will repeat the mistakes of the old while ironically trying to avoid doing just that. It's a cyclical tale of human nature, of fathers and sons, of haves and have-nots. If any of that, including DeHaan's sympathetic performance, rings true for you, The Place Beyond the Pines is worth another watch.

6. A Cure for Wellness

If you missed out on Gore Verbinski's psychological thriller back in 2016, it's also worth revisiting for DeHaan's performance alone. While it might not seem like his character Lockhart gets much of an arc over the admittedly long-winded two-and-a-half hour runtime, take a step back to look at the broader themes of the Wall Street lifestyle and the Health & Wellness Industry. Doing so reveals a pair of gargantuan global powerhouses in which the ambitious but broken Lockhart absolutely gets lost; he's literally in over his head no matter which world he sets his feet in.

DeHaan shoulders some heavy-duty requests here. He's basically being asked to channel Jack Nicholson from The Shining, Leonardo DiCaprio from Shutter Island, and classic protagonists from the likes of Frankenstein and Phantom of the Opera; thankfully he's up to the task. His introduction as the manic and Nicorette-chewing stockbroker on the run soon dives deep into the relaxed and rather vacuous depths as an unwitting patient of the Volmer Institute before, blissfully, finding his inner (and outer) fire once more. It's a wild ride, at times lifted by incredible special effects that horror fans should appreciate, but always buoyed by DeHaan's portrayal of a troubled man in a dogged pursuit of the truth. That sounds like something everyone should be able to appreciate these days.

5. Two Lovers and a Bear

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you probably haven't heard of writer/director Kim Nguyen's 2016 romantic adventure drama. I'm gonna go a little further out and risk collapse by saying that you probably haven't seen it either. That's a shame, because this gem, which honestly starts out with a very indie vibe and all the trappings that come with it, slowly unfolds and develops into a story about physical, psychological, and spiritual survival. (Oh, and there's definitely a bear, as you might have guessed from the title, but I guarantee that it's not what you expect.)

DeHaan stars as Roman, a sort of Jack-of-all-trades living in the nearly frozen Canadian north, who has fallen for fellow bright-and-burning soul Lucy (Tatiana Maslany). The pair has an absolutely electric chemistry and I hope we get to see them together on screen again. But that's just half the battle; the other half had to do with the extreme environmental conditions of filming in Nunavut. Not just the cruel realities of life in the frozen north -- like herds of caribou that drown, one after another, while attempting to ford a river -- but the day-to-day necessities for survival. DeHaan and Maslany clearly trained for this shoot long enough to make such movements -- like digging out a snow cave or the many ways to properly use a snowmobile -- seem natural. It's their embodiment of the truly broken and desperate Roman and Lucy that seals the deal on this tragic romance, one that easily, if surprisingly, beat out the pairing of DeHaan and Alicia Vikander in Tulip Fever.

4. Life

I genuinely was not expecting much from this movie. A rather drab title, a post-Twilight Saga Robert Pattinson playing Dennis Stock (a photographer I'd never recognize by name), and DeHaan, known for playing rather creepy characters, attempting to embody that rebellious icon of the big screen, James Dean. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that Life was one of my favorite flicks in DeHaan's filmography and one of his best performances to date.

Granted, it takes a little getting used to DeHaan's take on the late James Dean; it's also a little jarring to see him try to look and sound like the famous disaffected heartthrob. But once Dean and Stock head out of the big cities and off on their road trip, DeHaan's range really starts to shine through.

Their friendship never quite reaches the heights that the movie's marketing might lead you to believe, but DeHaan's Dean is shown as his most vulnerable. There's the naive young actor who gets thrashed by notorious studio boss Jack Warner (Ben Kingsley) just before acting in direct opposition to the blowhard's orders. There's also the heartbroken and jilted lover who realizes too late that the fictionalized Hollywood relationships can still feel real and hurt just the same. And, at his best, DeHaan brings out the country boy in Dean as he and Stock return to the actor's roots in Indiana. That's where Life really shines. So even if the script didn't allow DeHaan a chance to show his take on James Dean as an on-screen movie star or a pop culture icon for teenage rebellion, seeing the subtler side of both actors is a rewarding if unexpected experience here.

3. Zero Zero Zero

Believe it or not, one of DeHaan's best performances is on the small screen. Last year's first season of the Sky Original Series ZeroZeroZero threw DeHaan into a drama that was part Succession and part Scarface. Sounds good, right? But wait, it gets better! While DeHaan's character Chris Lynwood may find himself suddenly tasked with making sure a drug shipment worth millions makes its way around the globe without incident (and rest assured that there are still plenty of incidents), he's battling another enemy on a different front.

Chris is introduced to the audience as a sort of slacker brother to a workaholic sister Emma (Andrea Riseborough) and son to a made man (Gabriel Byrne). Now while this family is only one group in a dynamic collection of ambitious storylines, DeHaan's performance as Chris is the most compelling (and heartbreaking) one. It's soon revealed that Chris has Huntington's disease, an affliction that will soon take control of his body away from him and put him at the mercy of his caretakers. So Chris has a choice: Continue to act as a bit of a layabout and just basically wait to die like their mother did, or take the opportunity to stand up for his sister, the last remaining member of his immediate family ... and the family business.

While much of the drama plays out between Emma and Chris as we see the older sister put her vulnerable brother in harm's way time and time again, only to seem genuinely relieved when he shows up whole and healthy once more, the more interesting and subtler story here is what's going on in Chris' head as his days on Earth continue to dwindle. DeHaan has a lot of fun with this role, a rich one that lets him show off Chris' aptitude as a capable mechanic and shrewd survivor, but also someone who is innocent enough to be used by his sister as a throwaway pawn. Ultimately, his health starts to decline, but his fate will be up to him. The choices he makes are equally thrilling and tough to watch, but DeHaan's performance throughout makes it all worthwhile.

2. Kill Your Darlings

Unlike Life, Kill Your Darlings has both a fantastic title and a believable cast of characters playing members of the Beat Generation. Out of the whole bunch, Lucien Carr (DeHaan) may be the one you're least familiar with, but after watching DeHaan's performance, he'll be the one you remember most.

John Krokidas' 2013 biopic certainly starts off with a powerful reveal of DeHaan's take on Lucien Carr. His charming and charismatic introduction to Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe) as the rule-breaking sophomore, reciting a passage from Henry Miller's banned book "Tropic of Cancer" before being chased out of the stuffy library by campus security, instantly endears him to Radcliffe's wide-eyed burgeoning poet. That's our core relationship that plays out throughout the telling, even as an unrecognizable Ben Foster as William Burroughs, Jack Huston's unpredictable Jack Kerouac, and Michael C. Hall's ambiguous David Kammerer further complicate things. Radcliffe's Ginsberg is our anchor for this story, but DeHaan's Carr throws pixie dust onto every scene to keep the audience guessing, even if you know the story and where it's headed. This is the performance that showed me the other sides of DeHaan, his charm, his charisma, and his ability to be soul-crushingly vulnerable, traits that he's brought to bear in varying degrees throughout his career.

While Carr's fate may be tragic and ultimately doomed, DeHaan's range as an actor is brought to bear in his full-bodied performance as the late Beat writer.

1. Chronicle

As well-rounded and likeable as DeHaan's Lucien Carr was in Kill Your Darlings, we can't help but love the tragic-soul-turned-supervillain in Josh Trank's superhero standout, Chronicle. It's not only DeHaan's big debut, it's essentially a pricey indie film that was one of the last (and the best) of the "Found Footage" sub-genre. And with 20+ years of superhero movies to look back on, Chronicle remains the best supervillain movie thanks to DeHaan's troubled, misunderstood, and power-mad Andrew Detmer.

Chronicle is often remembered for its found-footage "gimmick", one that manages to hold up even in 2020. Why? Because the fact that Andrew Detmer is a shy, bullied, and scared young man feeds directly into his desire to put a lens between himself and everyone around him. The film actually starts off with just such a warning -- between Andrew and his drunk, belligerent, and abusive father (Michael Kelly) -- and doubles down on it with both Andrew's cousin Matthew (Alex Russell) and friend Steve (Michael B.Jordan) trying to draw him out from behind his camera. But Andrew isn't just the unsure and apprehensive voice of Chronicle, he's the face of it, too, for better or worse.

After Andrew and his friends manage to develop powers, strengthening them over the course of the film, the root of Andrew's troubles is never addressed. His mother is still sick, his father is still an abuser on all levels, and he's still the butt of jokes among his peers, even when they don't mean to be. There's simply too much trauma that's been experienced by this young man to expect him to turn the other cheek now that he has the power to do ... well, just about anything. The only thing standing in his way are his other super-powered pals ... and before long, two of them are reduced to one.

Chronicle remains one of the best, most focused, and refreshingly grounded and realistic depictions of what it would be like to suddenly have superpowers. And in the case of DeHaan's Detmer, it's an example of what would happen when someone who's been held low all his life is suddenly given a chance to change all that. Even as his powers grow, his grasp on civility, on humanity, lessens. The final fights still hold up, even as we watch the two titans clash from afar. DeHaan's primal scream near the movie's end, perhaps as an apex predator in Detmer's mind, is raw, communicating more than any visual effects or dialogue could. It's thanks to Chronicle that DeHaan landed on the radar of so many other filmmakers and casting agents. And it's thanks to DeHaan's #1 best performance that Chronicle was, and remains, a cut above the average superhero movie.

This article is presented by Quibi.

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