Best Actress Rankings 1993-2017
Article by Paul Douglas Moomjean
The past 25 years has seen many of the best performances in this category. Yet there have been two women I think who had set the standard completely. Frances McDormand and Hilary Swank have been revelations.
Here are my rankings for the best Best Actress winners of the past 25 years.
1996: Frances McDormand (Fargo)
A very pregnant police detective in a very special Coen Brothers classic.
1995: Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking)
Her kind nun who helps Sean Penn’s death row inmate come to a place of peace is phenomenal in every sense.
2017: Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Her performance was fiery and wild. Her speeches were even better.
2010: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
The fear in her eyes in the second half still haunts me.
1999: Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry)
While Annette Bening was the front runner, Swank’s quiet performance as a transgender boy made her a star.
2004: Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
Clint Eastwood directed her to a second Oscar. Even lying in a hospital bed, she was a miracle.
2012: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Everything about this performance is fantastic. Her wild spirit and chemistry with Bradley Cooper is like old Hollywood magic.
2003: Charlize Theron (Monster)
Many actors and actresses play down their looks to win an Oscar, but Theron created a complex murder with a wit not seen in previous work.
1993: Holly Hunter (The Piano)
Holly Hunter has been one of our greatest actresses for decades, and this performance was made just for her.
2013: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Woody Allen has written more women Oscar winning roles, and this was Cate Blanchett’s second Oscar.
1998: Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love)
She smiled. We melted. It’s that simple.
2011: Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
A surprise win for the most loved actress in Oscar history. She gave a controversial woman a heart Hollywood never saw before.
2015: Brie Larson (Room)
The film was not a personal favorite, but her heartbreaking turn of a kidnapped woman with her child was too powerful to ignore.
2014: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
This was a great performance, but more of an apology for not giving her one earlier.
2006: Helen Mirren (The Queen)
Mirren is one of a handful of British actresses we can always count on.
2008: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Harvey Weinstein made sure she won for her strong work in a relatively slow film.
2001: Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball)
Like Charlize Thereon, she didn’t let her beauty overtake her brilliant work.
2016: Emma Stone (La La Land)
She’s absolutely adorable and funny and talented in a film I hated. But her work was fantastic.
2009: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
This was a bit of a head scratcher then and an even bigger one now.
2007: Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose)
I’ll be honest. I never saw this one. But I saw the others below, and the trailer was better than those.
2002: Nicole Kidman (The Hours)
Her performance was fine. I guess. In a performance that felt more like a supporting role.
1994: Jessica Lange (Blue Sky)
She played a drunk. But was it better than than anything else that year? No.
1997: Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets)
It wasn’t a strong year, but she didn’t drown going head to head with Jack Nicholson.
2005: Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)
No one understands why she won. It was a bland part in an otherwise decent film.
2000: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich)
And the winner for best chest in a role…
