There’s always been a bit of a snobby view out there that great acting happens on stages and on the big screen, and not on TV. But anybody who knows acting knows that some of the greatest dramatic performances of the last decade have happened on the small screen.

In 2013, Sir Anthony Hopkins penned a now famous letter to Bryan Cranston praising his performance in Breaking Bad, saying: “Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen – ever.”

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Hopkins asked Cranston to pass on his admiration to the rest of the cast: “That kind of work/artistry is rare, and when, once in a while, it occurs, as in this epic work, it restores confidence. You and all the cast are the best actors I’ve ever seen. That may sound like a good lung full of smoke blowing. But it is not.”

Breaking Bad might have finished at the end of 2013, but there’s still plenty of great acting on the small screen. This list is by no means exclusive (obviously we haven’t seen all of the television), but here are some of our favourite actors currently in TV dramas.

Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black

Canadian actor Tatiana Maslany’s performance in Orphan Black is an extraordinary technical achievement. The series follows Sarah Manning, a con artist who discovers that she’s one of many clones.

Maslany plays both Sarah and all her clones, who have wildly different personalities. All of Maslany’s characters are fully fleshed-out and distinguishable from each other.

There are even moments in which she’s required to play one clone pretending to be another — it’s gobsmacking work and she’s rightly been recognised with a series of nominations and awards.

Orphan Black airs on SBS2 in Australia and the first three seasons are available to stream on Stan.

Warning: this scene contains cruse language and disturbing content.

Yael Stone – Orange is the New Black

Australian actor Yael Stone’s performance as Lorna Morello in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black might have been overshadowed by Uzo Aduba’s brilliant turn as Crazy Eyes (who has deservedly won a slew of awards, including two Emmys), but it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate Stone’s work.

With a distinctive Brooklyn-Boston accent, Morello is one of the most vulnerable characters in the series and Stone delivers a performance that’s beautifully exposed.

If Stone delivered this performance in any other series, she’d probably be nominated for plenty of awards. But there are just so many outstanding performances in the series, including Aduba, Kate Mulgrew, Lea DeLaria and Laverne Cox. The first three series are now on Netflix with a fourth coming later this year.

Warning: this scene contains coarse language.

Ben Mendelsohn – Bloodline

Another Australian actor making waves in a Netflix drama is Ben Mendelsohn in Bloodline. Mendelsohn plays Danny Rayburn, the black sheep of a respected family from the Florida Keys, who gets caught up in a criminal underworld, threatening to drag the family down with him. His performance is terrifying, brutal and yet absolutely real, and was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

The first series is now on Netflix with a second series to premiere on May 27 this year. It hasn’t been confirmed just how much of Mendelsohn the audience will get to see in the new series, although fans of the first series know his role will be something quite different this time around.

The series also features great performances from Kyle Chandler, Sissy Spacek and Linda Cardellini.

Constance Zimmer – UnReal

Constance Zimmer has played some interesting TV characters over the last few years, including roles in Entourage, Boston Legal and House of Cards, but her current performance in Unreal is a breakthrough.

The series is set behind the scenes at a Bachelor-esque dating show and Zimmer plays the single-minded, unscrupulous executive producer who will do anything to capture the scenes she needs to make the show a ratings hit. It’s not a satire by any stretch of the imagination — Unreal is bleak and tough viewing, and Zimmer’s performance is at the centre of that.

The first season is available on Stan with a second season coming later this year.

Sarah Paulson – American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson

Daily Review‘s Ben Neutze wrote in his review of the first episodes of American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, “the real star of the series is Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, the head prosecutor in the case who relentlessly pursues justice for the victims. She really is one of America’s great underrated actors and this is such a tenacious performance that she deserves whatever accolades might come her way.”

Her performance has only become more powerful and nuanced over the course of the season as her character undergoes all kinds of personal challenges in the middle of running the most high-profile trial of the century.

Paulson has previously been nominated for four Emmy Awards (one for the telemovie Game Change and three for her appearances in the various iterations of American Horror Story), and this performance might be the one that finally secures her the win. The People v. O.J. Simpson is airing on Channel Ten locally, on Sundays at 8.30pm.

Rami Malek – Mr. Robot

The critically-acclaimed hacker thriller Mr. Robot has been praised for its bold visual style, but at the heart of the series is Rami Malek’s nuanced and powerful performance as Elliot Alderson. In the series, layers of meaning and reality are often hard to discern and Elliot is a compelling if rather unreliable guide through this story of hacktivism and social anxiety.

Malek was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor in a TV Drama and the series won the award for Best TV Drama series. The series airs on Foxtel’s Showcase channel locally and is available to purchase on DVD and digital. A second season is coming this year.

Clive Owen – The Knick

The Knick is a genuinely original TV show, set in a fictionalised version of New York’s Knickerbocker Hospital in 1900. Clive Owen plays Dr. John Thackery, a brilliant surgeon who is at the forefront of medical innovation. He also happens to be a drug addict but forges ahead in his high-pressure job with some daring (and often gruesome) procedures.

The first two seasons are available to purchase on DVD and digital, and a third season looks likely (although its yet to be officially ordered).

Gillian Jacobs – Love

This list was originally meant to include only actors in TV dramas, but Gillian Jacobs’ performance in Netflix’s rom-com Love rates a mention. Jacobs is best known for her performance as Britta Perry in Community, but in Love, she takes on a vastly different role as the sex and alcohol-addicted Mickey.

Starring opposite Paul Rust as the nice guy Gus, Jacobs manages to combine her comedic skills with something far darker and startlingly honest as Mickey. While the series has received some criticism for its long-running episodes, the praise for Jacobs has been more or less unanimous, and she looks set to pick up a slew of nominations come next awards season.

The first 10-episode series is available on Netflix, and a second 12-episode series will be available next year.

Warning: this clip contains coarse language.