LaKeith Stanfield's 10 Best Movies And TV Shows, Ranked

LaKeith Stanfield made his feature debut just over a decade ago, but in the years since, he's put together a career that would be notable for an actor working in Hollywood twice as long. He's made a name for himself on both television and the big screen, working in a variety of different genres and with exciting up-and-coming directors. With his penetrating stare and off-kilter sense of humor, Stanfield is an undeniably distinctive screen presence, and he's becoming one of the most fascinating actors of his generation. Over the course of his career, he's also gathered a collection of accolades, including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2021 for his work in "Judas and the Black Messiah."

Although almost all of his performances are noteworthy in one way or another, there are a few that stand out as the best of the best. Here, we've assembled the most interesting and impressive roles in movie and TV shows that Stanfield has taken on — and in an acting career like the one he's had so for, that's saying something.

At the beginning of "The Incredible Jessica Jones," our lead character — played by Jessica Williams — is in an all-too-relatable position. She's recently broke up with Damon (LaKeith Stanfield) and struggling to navigate the terrifying prospect of being single again. It doesn't help matters when she runs into Damon while he's out with his new girlfriend, forcing her to pretend to have a much more successful love life than she does or risk losing the breakup.

LaKeith Stanfield often plays off-kilter characters, but in "The Incredible Jessica Jones," he reminds audiences that he's fully capable of being charming as well. Although most critics' reviews of the film highlight the lead performance of Jessica Williams, there's plenty of praise to go around for its strong ensemble cast, in which Stanfield plays a prominent role as the one who got away. For Stanfield, "The Incredible Jessica Jones" represents a step into a more conventional cinematic world — and proof that if he ever needs to take on some lighter fare, he is more than up to the task.

In the long history of the Hollywood Western, it's rare that we get an outing that features a predominantly Black ensemble cast. That's exactly what "The Harder They Fall," a stylish and fun Western from Netflix, has to offer. Regina King stars as Trudy Smith, a member of an old West gang attempting to rescue her associate Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) from a prison car. But what none of them count on is the reappearance of Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), who is on a 20-year quest for revenge against Buck for murdering his parents when he was a child. Chaos, thy name is "The Harder They Fall."

LaKeith Stanfield stars opposite Regina King as Cherokee Bill, her second-in-command throughout these misadventures. Although he's widely considered to be the best shot in the West, he seems almost bored by violence and doesn't relish the kill as much as some of his compatriots in the Rufus Buck Gang. Does this make him even more dangerous? Perhaps. But either way, it's a very different sort of role for Stanfield, who rarely displays this brand of menace in his film roles.

Hollywood is no stranger to music biopics, and "Straight Outta Compton," a film that explores the rise of N.W.A. when they first came on the hip hop scene in the late 1980s, is one of the best. It stars O'Shea Jackson Jr., in his film debut, playing Ice Cube (his own father), as well as Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Neil Brown Jr. as DJ Yella, and Aldis Hodge as MC Ren. Although "Straight Outta Compton" primarily focuses on the members of N.W.A., it also features depictions of other hip hop stars who were coming of age at the same time — including Snoop Dogg, played by LaKeith Stanfield. Here, Snoop Dogg represents the new guard, who Dr. Dre begins working with as he becomes personally and artistically distanced from the other members of N.W.A.

Although the role isn't one of Stanfield's most prominent, it required a lot of work to perfect. "Wherever he went, you couldn't help but be a bit high by his energy," Stanfield said of Snoop Dogg in an interview with Variety. "I saw that in him and tried to channel that into the character. I did have to change up my voice to fit his, go into a higher register. I rap in the film as Snoop as well, so I had to try really hard to get down all of his mannerisms." The work pays off, as he creates an interpretation of the rapper that is recognizable but not merely an imitation.

The brain child of Donald Glover, the FX Series "Atlanta" is an often bizarre comedy that sent shockwaves through the TV world, creating a surreal vision of the city of Atlanta through the eyes of a disillusioned underachiever (Glover) attempting to manage his cousin Paper Boi's (Brian Tyree Henry) burgeoning rap career. Over the show's four seasons, it netted its star and creator two Emmy Awards. Although a great deal of the show's success can be chalked up to Glover's unique voice as an artist, we also can't understate the role of its cast of performers. 

LaKeith Stanfield, in particular, deserves a lot of credit for his work in the role of Darius, the right-hand man of Paper Boi, who rarely seems to exist on the same plane of existence as any of the other characters on the show. It may be an over-used cliche to say this, but it genuinely doesn't seem like there's any other actor who could have played Darius, or at least brought as much to the role as he does. He seizes the opportunity to embrace the bizarre with Darius, and his performance adds so much texture to the almost otherworldly landscape of "Atlanta."

Under ordinary circumstances, LaKeith Stanfield is a dominant presence on screen, forcing the camera to take notice of him. But in "Knives Out," he's willing to fade into the background, ceding the spotlight to the much more flamboyant Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) and easily stepping into the role of straight man. After famed novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dies under mysterious circumstances, the police are sent out to investigate the events of his death, and Lieutenant Elliott (Stanfield) considers it extremely likely that Thrombey died by suicide. 

But his investigation is almost immediately trampled on when Blanc dramatically shows up, announcing that he has been hired to dig a little deeper into the case, believing that foul play — possibly among members of the large and dysfunctional Thrombey family — may be involved. In the all-star ensemble cast, Stanfield is the drummer — he takes a backseat to the theatrics of the other actors, but remains a stable, down-to-earth presence that prevents the film from flying off into complete chaos. Thanks to the combined power of its starry lineup, "Knives Out" became an unexpected success, taking home over $312 million at the box office on a budget of just $40 million — proving that mid-budget movies still have a place in theaters — and earning director Rian Johnson an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay.

Hey, have you ever had a really bad anxiety attack? That's kind of what watching "Uncut Gems" by the Safdie Brothers feels like. Adam Sandler stars as Howard Ratner, a jewelry store owner and gambling addict perpetually teetering on the edge of ruin. He's normally able to manage his tenuous affairs through blind luck, but when he comes into possession of a priceless opal, things take a turn for the worse. As much as Ratner is the architect of his own misfortune, Demany (LaKeith Stanfield) also plays a key role in his downfall. 

Demany is a middle man, finding wealthy clients to buy some of Ratner's most extravagant jewelry in exchange for the cut of the profits. But when he brings Kevin Garnett around to the shop, and Garnett becomes obsessed with the opal as a totem of good luck, Demany sees the potential for even greater profit. Stanfield's performances normally have a great deal of humanity to them, even if it's lurking under the surface and disguised by his quirks. Demany, by contrast, is a pure opportunist who seems apathetic to the destruction he causes.

"Get Out" begins and ends with a star-making turn from Daniel Kaluuya in the lead role, but that doesn't mean that LaKeith Stanfield doesn't immediately captivate audiences even with his limited screentime. When Chris (Kaluuya) visits his white girlfriend's family for the first time, he's slightly wary but cautiously optimistic about the encounter. As it turns out, he should have his guard way up since, despite their purportedly liberal leanings (after all, the father played by Bradley Whitford insists that he would have voted for Obama three times if he could have), they're actually harvesting Black bodies to sell to their elderly friends and relations as new vessels for their mind. The fountain of youth is real, it would seem, and predictably, it relies on exploiting people of color.

Stanfield takes on the small but vital role of Andre/Logan King, who has already fallen into the clutches of the Armitage family's scheme. At first, he seems like merely an odd addition to the family gathering, but when a camera flash momentarily undoes his hypnosis, we learn that his body has been taken over by a wealthy white man, while the real Andre is trapped beneath the surface. It's a deeply unnerving performance, one that helped put Stanfield on the map. Largely thanks to the strength of the ensemble cast and director Jordan Peele's unique vision, "Get Out" became a massive success, winning an Academy Award for best original screenplay and earning $255 million at the box office — an incredibly impressive accomplishment, considering it cost under $5 million to make.

When "Short Term 12" first came out in 2013, it was little more than a well-received, low-budget indie film about a group of teenagers living in a residential facility and the counsellor who tries to help them without drowning in her own residual trauma. But looking back a decade later, it's a veritable who's who of the next generation of Hollywood stars. You've got Brie Larson, Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever, Stephanie Beatriz, and LaKeith Stanfield in the main cast — and those are just a few of the names attached to the film that won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW that year.

Stanfield stars as Marcus, an aspiring young rapper who is about to turn 18 and age out of the system, leaving him in an incredibly vulnerable position. The depth and nuance that Stanfield is able to bring to the role, especially considering that "Short Term 12" was his feature debut, speaks to the caliber of actor that he would eventually grow to become. In addition, he shows off the rapping skills that he would get a chance to build on later when he was cast in "Straight Outta Compton."

There's nothing like a good, old-fashioned two-hander. "Judas and the Black Messiah" tells the true story of Black Panther Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya, who won an Academy Award for his performance here) and his own personal Judas: William O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), who works as an informant for the FBI in exchange for having his criminal charges dropped. While Kaluuya has the more powerful and showy role as one of the most charismatic and engaging leaders of the Black Panther Party, Stanfield's performance is no less fascinating, as we watch the character struggle with his choices as he grows closer to the magnetic Hampton. Stanfield plays this as a master class of understatement, only revealing O'Neal's overwhelming feelings of guilt in quieter moments. 

For Stanfield, this role was one of his most challenging, knowing that O'Neal played a key role in Fred Hampton's murder. "I was very nervous about playing someone who was a traitor," he explained in an interview with W Magazine. "I didn't know if I could connect to the character, and I didn't know if I could show him in an authentic light. I struggled with that throughout the shoot." Despite his misgivings, his work paid off — "Judas and the Black Messiah" netted Stanfield an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.

"Sorry to Bother You" is such a wild ride from beginning to end that you can't help but look at it in awe and wonder how a movie as unabashedly bold as this even got made at all. LaKeith Stanfield plays Cash Green, a young man who takes on a telemarketing gig to make rent, and quickly learns how to utilize a "white voice" (dubbed by David Cross) to better appeal to customers. But as he rises through the ranks, he learns about his company's connection to the WorryFree megacorporation, which offers housing for people in exchange for a lifetime contract of unpaid labor, and some of their even more insidious business practices. 

Simon Childs of New Statesman summed up the film and its socio-political instincts perfectly, writing that "While Sorry to Bother You is off-the-wall and hilariously bizarre, its message is firmly grounded in the recognisable injustice of a system whose decadence is seeing it teetering on the edge of collapse." For Stanfield's part, he completely embraces the inherent strangeness of the production, throwing himself into the character with reckless abandon and, as a result, making "Sorry to Bother You" one of the most interesting productions to come out of Hollywood in the past few decades.