19 Great Performances by Women Playing Love Interests

Thandie Newton in Mission: Impossible II (2000), screenshot courtesy of Paramount Pictures

10. Thandie Newton (Mission: Impossible II)

The role: Nyah Nordoff-Hall is a petty thief who gets recruited for an undercover assignment by Tom Cruise’s IMF agent, Ethan Hunt. The two promptly fall for each other.

Why she’s great: The Mission: Impossible series has a spotty record when it comes to female characters, hitting low points with the first and third installments before peaking with Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust in Rogue Nation. Nyaha is not particularly well-developed; she’s a pawn in a game played by men, fulfilling whatever function the plot requires of her at a given moment. Nonetheless, Newton gives a performance of surprising nuance. She rejects the nebulous “Strong Female Character” ideal, emphasizing Nyah’s trepidation – and, by extension, the danger of her situation – using minute facial cues and body language. In a movie that borders on incoherent, with a hero borders on invincible, she injects a welcome dose of humanity.

Standout moment: You’d be forgiven for groaning at Nyah’s decision to infect herself with a deadly virus. Why introduce this woman as a savvy, opportunistic survivor, only to reduce her to a lovestruck martyr? Yet Newton lends her a semblance of agency. Every move, from her initial hesitancy to her triumphant smile, seems calculated. And, for at least those few seconds, as Hans Zimmer’s score soars in the background, her self-sacrifice seems like an act of courage.