One of my favourite animals to appear in cinema is the monkey from Raiders of the Lost Ark. As far as Nazis go, he’s not the worst, but he really put on a show to convince us that he was working for the Führer. When he gets poisoned and plays dead, his performance is so convincing that I almost believe he could understand his role.
Continuing with the monkey theme, Crystal the Capuchin has not just one appearance, but a whole filmography. Her most notable role is Dexter from the Night at the Museum franchise who really lives up to the cheeky monkey stereotype. The primate also made appearances in The Hangover II, American Pie, and thirty other films and TV shows where she embodies the mischief of her characters. Perhaps it’s the childlike mischief or the fact that they are so closely related to humans that make monkeys a fan favourite in films.
2026 marked a milestone in film awards with Indy the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever from Good Boy being awarded Best Performance in a Horror/Thriller Feature at the Astra Film Awards. I haven’t actually got round to watching Good Boy yet, but I've heard great things, and to win an award gives testament to that.
There are hundreds more stars who deserve a place on this list such as Terry the Cairn Terrier who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz. Animals continue to charm audiences worldwide and offer performances that transcend the nuance of spoken language, and with recent events, we could be seeing more of our furry friends winning awards.