It’s been a long time since a comedy really hit the zeitgeist like Mean Girls or Superbad in the 2000s. Thanks to innovators like Judd Apatow, Adam McKay, and Edgar Wright, the ‘00s brought some of the funniest comedies ever made and gave the genre a good swansong before it died a death in the 2010s.

RELATED: The 5 Best (& 5 Worst) Dramatic Performances By Comedic Actors

Filmmakers have learned all the wrong lessons from the Apatow/McKay era and comedy movies have devolved into brightly lit, lightly edited improv that drags on as actors playing themselves under a different name riff on generic subjects. The 2000s brought the last wave of truly great comedy movie performances.

Rachel McAdams As Regina George In Mean Girls

Regina at the cafeteria in Mean Girls

It’s not often that the villain of a comedy movie strikes a chord with audiences – Shooter McGavin and Wes Mantooth spring to mind – but Mean Girls’ Regina George ranks among cinema’s most memorable antagonists.

Rachel McAdams’ performance encapsulates every popular high schooler who ruthlessly takes down anyone who threatens their place at the top of the food chain.

Jack Black As Dewey Finn In School Of Rock

Richard Linklater usually makes cult movies like Dazed and Confused and sobering dramas like Boyhood, so one would think that mainstream family comedy School of Rock stands out on his filmography. But it’s just as great as any of his other movies.

Jack Black anchors the movie in the role he was born to play, a struggling rock musician who steals his friend’s identity to make some quick cash as a substitute teacher and subsequently starts a band with his students.

Paul Giamatti As Miles Raymond In Sideways

Paul Giamatti in Sideways

No one doubted Paul Giamatti’s dramatic chops before he appeared in Alexander Payne’s Sideways, but he proved he also had enviable comic talents in the role of a bitter alcoholic unpublished author embarking on a road trip across wine country for his best friend’s bachelor party.

RELATED: Sideways: 5 Scenes That Made Us Laugh Out Loud (& 5 That Hit Us In The Feels)

Whether he’s chugging regurgitated wine from a spit bucket or fleeing from an angry naked man, Giamatti makes every absurd situation in the film feel hilariously real.

Zach Galifianakis As Alan Garner In The Hangover

The unprecedented success of The Hangover can largely be attributed to Zach Galifianakis’ star-making turn as breakout character Alan Garner, delivering the lion’s share of the movie’s quotable lines.

The sequels overused Alan, which became too much of a good thing, but he’s in the first one just the right amount and Galifianakis gives the performance of a lifetime.

Ralph Fiennes As Harry Waters In In Bruges

Ralph Fiennes in In Bruges

In Martin McDonagh’s directorial debut In Bruges, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson both give terrific performances as hitmen hiding out in the titular Belgian city following a botched job, at turns hysterical and emotionally resonant.

But the movie’s funniest performance arrives courtesy of Ralph Fiennes as the duo’s foul-mouthed, hot-tempered boss Harry Waters.

Will Ferrell As Ron Burgundy In Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

After honing his particular brand of absurdist comedy on Saturday Night Live, Will Ferrell teamed up with Adam McKay to make Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, one of the funniest comedies ever made.

By channeling Mort Crim, Ferrell brought his jazz flute-playing ‘70s newsman to life in hilarious fashion, throwing himself wholeheartedly into every scene and overacting in the best way.

Simon Pegg As Shaun In Shaun Of The Dead

Shaun

Simon Pegg is underrated as an actor. A lot of audiences acknowledge that he’s funny, but don’t realize the depth of his performances. The title character in Shaun of the Dead is written (by Pegg himself along with director Edgar Wright) as a relatable everyman, but Pegg brings that everyman to life.

RELATED: Edgar Wright: 5 Reasons Why Shaun Of The Dead Is His Best Genre Riff (& 5 Why Hot Fuzz Is A Close Second)

Not only does Pegg nail every comic line delivery; he nails the dramatic moments, too. In his final scene with Ed in the basement, as he sheds a tear, the emotions really resonate.

Ellen Page As Juno MacGuff In Juno

It’s not easy for comedy-dramas to balance their two sides. Often, they can find a bland middle ground between comedy and drama and fail at both. Jason Reitman’s Juno is a perfect example of a comedy-drama that veers deftly between laugh-out-loud funny and hit-you-in-the-feels emotional.

A lot of this tonal balance can be credited to Ellen Page’s incredible performance in the title role. She plays Juno’s sardonic wit as a defense mechanism and beautifully captures the fears and insecurities of a teen pregnancy.

Robert Downey, Jr. As Kirk Lazarus In Tropic Thunder

Robert Downey, Jr.’s role in Tropic Thunder could’ve gone horribly wrong, but the actor played it so well that he scored an Oscar nomination for it. Kirk Lazarus is a white method actor who’s so method that he has the pigments of his skin changed to play an African-American solider.

The tragic layer that Downey brought to a man who can only express himself through characters elevated what could’ve been an offensive, one-note role. Plus, he gets bonus points for keeping Kirk’s promise not to break character until he’s done the DVD commentary.

Sacha Baron Cohen As Borat Sagdiyev In Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan

Borat

If the definition of acting is to convince an audience that you’re someone you’re not, then Sacha Baron Cohen is, without a doubt, one of the greatest actors in the world. In his mockumentaries, the pinnacle of which is Borat, he truly convinces his interview subjects that he’s someone he’s not.

Cohen disappears into the role of Kazakh reporter Borat, rounding out the character from Da Ali G Show and authentically creating some of the funniest scenes in movie history out of real situations.

NEXT: The 5 Best (& 5 Worst) 2000s Comedies