10 Great Crime TV Shows With A-List Actors

Summary

• Top-tier movie stars like Gary Oldman and Al Pacino have taken on roles in crime shows.
• The influx of A-list stars has resulted in outstanding crime shows with a wide array of top-quality content, from murder mysteries to gangster dramas.
• Streaming platforms have been successful in attracting big-name talent to their crime dramas, ensuring that these shows continue to stand out.

As the lines between TV and movies continue to blur, several A-list movie stars have been attracted to crime shows. Actors who exclusively work in movies, including Gary Oldman and Al Pacino, have recently made exceptions for crime dramas. Streaming platforms have been especially adept at attracting big-name talent to their shows, ensuring that their crime dramas cut through.

Unsurprisingly, the influx of top-tier talent has led to the creation of some outstanding shows. From murder mysteries to gangster shows, the crime genre has never had such a wide array of top-quality shows. This isn’t all down to the addition of more A-list stars, but compelling performances certainly help. If nothing else, it’s always interesting to see movie stars stepping out of their comfort zones.

10 Fargo

Billy Bob Thornton, Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman, Ewan McGregor, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons

Fargo is an anthology show, so the cast changes each season, but there is always a handful of A-list stars. The first season started off strong with Martin Freeman playing a timid salesman and Billy Bob Thornton playing a sociopathic assassin. Since then, the cast has included actors as varied as Chris Rock, Ewan McGregor and Kirsten Dunst. The latest season stars Jon Hamm as a corrupt county sheriff.

Fargo
provides an opportunity to see an assortment of A-list actors trying to put on a Midwestern accent, with varying levels of success.

Each season of Fargo has its own strengths and weaknesses. They are united by the same darkly comic tone which the Coen brothers used in the 1996 movie that inspired the show, but they are set in different time periods. One thing that remains constant is the strength of the acting. Fargo provides an opportunity to see an assortment of A-list actors trying to put on a Midwestern accent, with varying levels of success.

9 Only Murders In The Building

Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Paul Rudd

Steve Martin and Martin Short have been friends and collaborators for decades. They have worked together on stage and screen, including sold-out comedy tours together and in the hit comedy Three Amigos. Selena Gomez didn’t seem like an obvious choice to join the duo, but her inclusion has shaken up their dynamic, and it has also injected some youth into Only Murders in the Building.

Season 3 added even more A-list star power, with Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep joining the cast.

The crime comedy show is the ideal showcase for Steve Martin and Martin Short’s hilarious chemistry, but it’s also just as compelling and addicting as a murder mystery should be. Season 3 added even more A-list star power, with Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep joining the cast. Only Murders in the Building season 4 will bring Streep back, and Eva Longoria and Kumail Nanjiani are also making their first appearances.

8 True Detective

Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey, Jodie Foster, Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell, Mahershala Ali, Rachel McAdams

Although True Detective‘s best season is still season 1, the crime anthology show has taken some interesting twists and turns. Season 4, subtitled Night Country, broke the mold, refusing to provide too many clear-cut answers and hinting at some supernatural elements. Season 5, whenever it arrives, can now step out from the long shadow of the show’s first season, but it will all begin with casting.

Jodie Foster’s role as a detective in season 4 is reminiscent of one of her most famous performances: Clarice Starling in
The Silence of the Lambs.

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson made an unforgettable team in season 1, with McConaughey as a philosophical detective and Harrelson playing his more pragmatic, down-to-Earth partner. The difficult sophomore season starred Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams, while season 3 recruited Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali. Jodie Foster’s role as a detective in season 4 is reminiscent of one of her most famous performances: Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.

7 Eric

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch made a name for himself as the star of the BBC crime drama Sherlock, so returning to the genre in 2024 has shown just how far his star has risen since then. Cumberbatch was relatively unknown when he made his debut as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective, but he starred in Eric having already played Doctor Strange in the MCU for years, and having received two Oscar nominations.

Cumberbatch was relatively unknown when he made his debut as Sherlock Holmes, but he starred in
Eric
having already played Doctor Strange and received two Oscar nominations.

Eric is an intriguing psychological drama set in 1980s New York City. Cumberbatch plays a puppeteer with his own children’s TV show, clearly modeled after Jim Henson, who searches for his missing son. He also voices the enormous blue puppet, Eric, who exists as a manifestation of his various psychoses. Eric‘s supporting cast is superb, but the show is a platform for Cumberbatch. He mixes drama with surreal humor to perfection.

6 Sugar

Colin Farrell

Sugar is set in the modern day, but it’s a throwback to a different style of crime drama. Colin Farrell stars as an enigmatic private investigator rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood elite. The show’s slow pacing and gorgeous style evoke classic film noir detective thrillers. Farrell’s character often talks about his love of classic cinema, and it’s easy to see him being played by Humphrey Bogart back in the 1940s.

The show’s slow pacing and gorgeous style evoke classic film noir detective thrillers.

The Apple TV show is more than just style, however, as Farrell’s endearing performance highlights Sugar‘s interesting approach to character development. Sugar season 1’s ending provides answers to some of the show’s intriguing mysteries, but it sets up many more questions that need answers in season 2. Farrell is also set to star in another crime show, as his character from The Batman gets his own spinoff. The Penguin will premiere in September.

5 Hannibal

Mads Mikkelsen

After 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs, it seemed inconceivable that any actor could top Anthony Hopkins’ Oscar-winning portrayal of the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. Mads Mikkelsen’s performance in Hannibal is just as chilling and hard to forget, but what’s most impressive is that he makes the character his own. Rather than imitating Hopkins or trying whatever he can to be distinct, his performance seems natural.

Mikkelsen has always excelled at playing villains, and he is at his best in
Hannibal.

Hannibal is set years before the events of The Silence of the Lambs and other movies with Hannibal Lecter, like Michael Mann’s Manhunter. This shows Hannibal before he becomes some ghoul living in a perspex box. He is an affable and even generous member of high society who delights in cooking for his guests. Mikkelsen has always excelled at playing villains, and he is at his best in Hannibal.

4 Hunters

Al Pacino

Prior to his leading role in Amazon Prime Video’s Hunters, Al Pacino had only starred in one other TV show, the 2003 HBO miniseries Angels in America. He had mostly been busy revolutionizing the world of crime movies, bringing life to iconic characters such as Tony Montana and Michael Corleone. Pacino’s casting was a big coup for Hunters, but he isn’t there just as a publicity stunt.

Pacino’s casting was a big coup for
Hunters,
but he isn’t there just as a publicity stunt.

Al Pacino is outstanding in Hunters as the leader of a group of Nazi hunters in 1970s New York City. Meyer Offerman is both a wise, guiding voice and a violent, righteous extremist. The show couldn’t sustain its momentum after killing him off at the end of season 1. Pacino still appears in the second season, but only in flashbacks, so his scenes feel like distractions from the main plot. Jennifer Jason Leigh steps up as season 2’s new big name.

3 Slow Horses

Gary Oldman

Slow Horses is one of a handful of truly great shows that haven’t been able to reach the audience they deserve because they are on Apple TV. Gary Oldman stars as a spy relegated to a department of MI5 where agents are expected to endure paperwork and boredom until they resign out of frustration. Somehow, the spies in Slough House find themselves investigating a series of plots which threaten Britain.

Slow Horses
was Oldman’s first TV appearance in 20 years when it premiered, and it is the only time he has had a starring role in a TV show in his entire career.

Slow Horses was Oldman’s first TV appearance in 20 years when it premiered, and it is the only time he has had a starring role in a TV show in his entire career. Each season adapts a different novel in Mick Herron’s award-winning series of the same name. Slow Horses has already produced three seasons in the last two years, and the fourth is set to premiere in September.

2 Peaky Blinders

Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Adrien Brody, Anya Taylor-Joy

The role of Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders helped propel Cillian Murphy to stardom. He had already had some notable roles in Hollywood prior to Peaky Blinders season 1 in 2013, but none came close to the impact of the British gangster show. Tommy Shelby is the leader of the Peaky Blinders, a street gang operating in Birmingham in the years between the first and second World Wars.

The role of Tommy Shelby in
Peaky Blinders
helped propel Cillian Murphy to stardom.

Murphy isn’t the only A-list actor in Peaky Blinders. Mad Max star Tom Hardy joins the cast in season 2 as the leader of a London gang. Adrien Brody and Anya Taylor-Joy also have important roles in later seasons. The show drew to a close in 2022, but Netflix’s Peaky Blinders movie will wrap things up soon. Murphy has confirmed that he is reprising his role, but other cast details are being kept under wraps. One confirmed addition is Dune star Rebecca Ferguson.

1 Big Little Lies

Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep

Based on Liane Moriarty’s popular novel, Big Little Lies tells the story of a group of women whose lives are turned upside-down when they become involved in a murder investigation in their insular community. The investigation uncovers plenty of inconvenient truths in a community obsessed with image and prestige. Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Nicole Kidman star as the wealthy young women in question.

Big Little Lies
tells the story of a group of women whose lives are turned upside-down when they become involved in a murder investigation in their insular community.

Beyond its three main characters, Big Little Lies boasts a cast including Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz and Alexander Skarsgård. Meryl Streep joins the show in season 2. Big Little Lies was originally meant to be a miniseries, but the overwhelming response encouraged the show’s creators to deviate from Moriarty’s novel to make a second season. There have been persistent rumors of a third season for years.