Top 10 Best Voice Acting Performances of the Last Decade

Instead of being a brawny and savage viking, Hiccup is a lanky, witty and shrewd inventor. His sharp intellect more than makes up for his lack of physical talent. Hiccup’s vocals have that nasally voice you'd expect from this archetype. However, Jay Baruchels also brings extra dimension to Hiccup with just the right amount of cockiness and frustration. As the character grew up in the sequels, his tone matured with a new sense of strength and wisdom. It’s hard to sound commanding and dignified when playing such a nerdy character. But Jay Baruchel made it look easy.

The wrestler turned actor is quite familiar playing characters who have huge egos. So, it’s no wonder that he absolutely killed it as a demigod who loves to brag about his greatness. But The Rock had to do more than just play the insufferable jerk we first meet in “Moana”. He was tasked with making Maui look as if he uses showboating to hide his fear of failure. And given Johnson’s over the top delivery, it’s incredible he was able to take the character to such vulnerable places. By the end he proves that he can be every bit as subtle and serious as he is boastful and arrogant.

Getting us to root for a guy that wants to be seen as outright despicable is a tall ask. But if anyone was gonna prove us wrong, it'd be the guy who played the silly Michael Scott. Initially, Gru struggles to suppress his evil instincts and heinous ways. Even when he’s being really selfish, Carell's cartoonish accent and exaggerated line readings make him hard not to love. Couple that with a softer delivery in the film's quieter moments, and you get a ten out of ten vocal performance. It’s hard to believe that he only gets more ridiculous and endearing with each of his subsequent performances.

In this bizarre stop-motion film, motivational speaker Michael Stone sees and hears everyone in the same way. And that’s not hyperbole. Everyone from his point of view literally has identical faces and voices. But one day, he comes across a young woman named Lisa who is the only one he seems to truly hear as an individual. With vocals provided by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lisa comes across as shy and soft spoken. But we soon learn to appreciate her earnestness and emotional depth. And that’s due in no small part to her actress’s poignant and tender performance.

Although Rocket is a CG creation, he always feels real each time he appears thanks to a nuanced vocal performance from Bradley Cooper. And as a talking raccoon no less. There are many layers to his role as the bounty hunter turned hero. He likes to present himself as a rowdy, snarling know-it-all. But over time, we see that he’s a deeply caring friend who has trouble opening up to others. Bradley Cooper effortlessly captures all these sides of him. Vin Diesel’s work as Groot is also excellent. He’s somehow able to bring heart and innocence to the character with just three words. However, since Cooper gets a lot more unique dialogue and time to shine, he’s the guardian we had to highlight.

By the time the first “Spider-Verse” was released, we’d already seen a few great versions of the wall crawler on the big screen. Rapper and actor Shameik Moore had a lot to live up to. But we can safely say that his energetic performance definitely lived up to the Spider-Man name.Moore brings his own touches to the awkward, yet confident superhero who Miles eventually succeeds. He doesn’t feel like any iteration of the wall crawler we’ve ever seen due to his unique inflections and smooth delivery. He also is a contender for one of the most comedic Spider-Men. Most impressively of all, he’s convinced us that Miles has grown so much across the span of just two performances.

Disney’s had plenty of protagonists in the past ten years. In a bit of irony, one its most “normal” characters became extraordinarily special thanks to Stephanie Beatriz. She plays the quirky and responsible Mirabel Madrigal. Although she doesn’t have a magical gift like most of the members of her family, she still does everything in her power to keep them together. Mirabel makes sarcastic jokes without ever sounding too mean. And Beatriz does a good job of hiding the character’s pain beneath a sunny personality. On top of that, we’d be remiss not to mention her impressive singing ability. Beatriz gives 100 percent to a role that fans will absolutely talk about for decades to come.

This franchise does have its stellar performances from Idina Menzel. And we all know Kristen Bell brought her A-game to play Anna. However, we just can't get the films’ sidekick out of our heads. On paper, the bright-eyed snowman could easily come off as annoying. He talks people's heads off and is blissfully ignorant of the world around him. But Josh Gad's cheery voice and innocent delivery made Olaf perfect comic relief. But the actor did more than just play a funny mascot. In the scenes with more dramatic weight, he brought a gravitas to the character that we didn’t see coming. And did we mention that he absolutely nailed the solo numbers? Yeah, Olaf steals just about every scene he's in.

When the cast of the long awaited "Mario" movie was announced, fans were a little more than skeptical. But many predicted that Jack Black would end up being one of the best parts of the film. And we all collectively found that to be the case once we saw Bowser's piano solo. While we’re expecting Jack Black to be hilarious, we had no idea he could be so intimidating. He perfectly captured the villain’s ferocious sides whenever he got fired up. When Illumination greenlights the inevitable sequel, we expect him to come back and play Bowser again. Hopefully, he has a new song ready to go too.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps, “Zootopia” (2016)
An Ambitious Small-Town Rabbit You Just Have To Root For

Kelly Marie Tran as Raya, “Raya and the Last Dragon” (2021)
This Warrior Princess Is Played With Outstanding Power

Taron Egerton as Johnny, “Sing” (2016)
The Performance That Probably Got Him Cast In “Rocketman”

Scarlett Johansson as Samantha, “Her” (2013)
She Made Us Believe That An AI Could Love

Will Arnett as Lego Batman, "Lego Movie" franchise (2014-)
The Funniest Interpretation of the Dark Knight Yet

In the 2015 Pixar film, Joy is a hyperactive emotion who goes the extra mile to try and keep herself and everyone happy. But Poehler manages to make what should be an unbearable character into someone with complexity and tons of endearing qualities. Similarly, Phyliss Smith’s Sadness managed to be multidimensional and the heart of the story. Her exaggerated self-loathing even stole the show from Joy a few times. However, Amy Poehler’s enthusiasm and bubbly personality are just plain infectious. And her journey to accepting other emotions absolutely tugged on the heartstrings. Although we’re not surprised that the SNL star pulled off the comedy, we just can’t picture anyone else giving us such an incredible performance.