RANKED: The 20 best acting performances on 'Game of Thrones'

"Game of Thrones" is known for its shocking deaths, gruesome violence, gratuitous nudity, dragons, and a lot of other things. At awards shows it's often nominated for best drama, best directing, best writing, and other behind-the-scenes work.

But the actors on the show aren't usually recognized for their performances.

To pull off a character believably on a show of this scale, in such a crazy world, is no small feat. In most cases, you never know what a character is truly up to - and there are so many layers to these characters.

These actors deserve some recognition, so we put together a list of what we think are the best performances on the show so far.

Here's the 20 best performances on "Game of Thrones," ranked: