Comingsoon.net is running through their lines to prep for their audition for the best movie monologues. Check out our selections in the gallery below!
As the entertainment industry transitioned from stage productions to big screen spectacles in the early 20th century, a few things survived the switch. For starters, actors never went without a job. But, to be more specific, actors never lost the opportunity to deliver killer monologues.
Across film and television, writers are always giving their characters key monologues—whether they’re used to deliver exposition, characterization, or motivation, these extended bits of dialogue are present in almost every motion picture or TV program. The ones listed below are truly the best of the best.
movie monologues
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Blade Runner (1982)
That ending monologue. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a lot of great things, but this final showdown-turned-speech might be one of the best parts.
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Essentially one long, drawn-out monologue broken up throughout the events of this seminal 80s comedy, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off sees the titular star speaking some really witty dialogue directly to the camera at various points. Maybe the most memorable comes right at the beginning.
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Fight Club (1999)
One of a few movies on this list to come from a book, David Fincher’s Fight Club gives its leading actors plenty of room to show off their monologue abilities. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are incredibly skilled, but Helena Bonham Carter doesn’t get enough love for her role here.
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Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
A gripping drama with an all-star cast, Glengarry Glen Ross is a monologue showcase for the ages. No wonder so many aspiring actors take a page from this David Mamet script.
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Jaws (1975)
A monster movie of a different breed, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws also features some really great performances from its non-shark stars. One prime example is the unforgettable monologue from which many of the film’s most-quoted lines come from.
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Pulp Fiction (1994)
Samuel L. Jackson still appears in plenty of films well into the 2010s, but he was just getting started back in the early 90s. His iconic monologue in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction helped solidify his status as a true movie star.
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The Great Dictator (1940)
Perhaps it was because he was most well-known for his silent comedies, but Charlie Chaplin’s direct address to the camera at the end of The Great Dictator remains incredibly moving to this day. It’s a condemnation of fascism, first and foremost, which is why it also feels relevant even after nearly 80 years.
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The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster are legends. Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs knows this, just like it knows that we’d all be willing to watch the two leads go back and forth in a battle of the wits for hours, delivering monologues to each other endlessly.
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There Will Be Blood (2007)
Unlike Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood has its most iconic monologue arrive right at the end. Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano’s bowling alley face-off is truly unforgettable.
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To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Considering it’s a courtroom drama like Glengarry Glen Ross, Robert Mulligan’s To Kill a Mockingbird also owes its terrific monologues to the fact that it comes from a beloved piece of literature. Atticus Finch is so well-spoken, isn’t he?
