Academy Award for Best Actress (1990-2008)

1990s

• 1990 Kathy Bates - Misery as Annie Wilkes
  • Anjelica Huston - The Grifters as Lilly Dillon
  • Julia Roberts - Pretty Woman as Vivian Ward
  • Meryl Streep - Postcards from the Edge as Suzanne Vale
  • Joanne Woodward - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge as India Bridge

• 1991 Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs as Clarice Starling
  • Geena Davis - Thelma & Louise as Thelma Dickinson
  • Laura Dern - Rambling Rose as Rose
  • Bette Midler - For the Boys as Dixie Leonard
  • Susan Sarandon - Thelma & Louise as Louise Sawyer

• 1992 Emma Thompson - Howards End as Margaret J. 'Meg' Schlegel
  • Catherine Deneuve - Indochine as Eliane
  • Mary McDonnell - Passion Fish as May-Alice Culhane
  • Michelle Pfeiffer - Love Field as Lurene Hallett
  • Susan Sarandon - Lorenzo's Oil as Michaela Odone

• 1993 Holly Hunter - The Piano as Ada McGrath
  • Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do with It as Tina Turner
  • Stockard Channing - Six Degrees of Separation as Louisa Kittredge
  • Emma Thompson - The Remains of the Day as Mary Kenton
  • Debra Winger - Shadowlands as Joy Gresham

• 1994 Jessica Lange - Blue Sky as Carly Marshall
  • Jodie Foster - Nell as Nell Kellty
  • Miranda Richardson - Tom & Viv as Vivienne Haigh-Wood
  • Winona Ryder - Little Women as Jo March
  • Susan Sarandon - The Client as Reggie Love

• 1995 Susan Sarandon - Dead Man Walking as Helen Prejean
  • Elisabeth Shue - Leaving Las Vegas as Sera
  • Sharon Stone - Casino as Ginger McKenna
  • Meryl Streep - The Bridges of Madison County as Francesca Johnson
  • Emma Thompson - Sense and Sensibility as Elinor Dashwood

• 1996 Frances McDormand - Fargo as Marge Olmstead-Gunderson
  • Brenda Blethyn - Secrets & Lies as Cynthia Rose Purley
  • Diane Keaton - Marvin's Room as Bessie
  • Kristin Scott Thomas - The English Patient as Katharine Clifton
  • Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves as Bess McNeill

• 1997 Helen Hunt - As Good as It Gets as Carol Connelly
  • Helena Bonham Carter - The Wings of the Dove as Kate Croy
  • Julie Christie - Afterglow as Phyllis Mann
  • Judi Dench - Mrs. Brown as Queen Victoria
  • Kate Winslet - Titanic as Rose DeWitt Bukater

• 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare in Love as Viola De Lesseps
  • Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth as Elizabeth I
  • Fernanda Montenegro - Central do Brasil as Dora
  • Meryl Streep - One True Thing as Kate Gulden
  • Emily Watson - Hilary and Jackie as Jacqueline du Pré

• 1999 Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry as Brandon Teena
  • Annette Bening - American Beauty as Carolyn Burnham
  • Janet McTeer - Tumbleweeds as Mary Jo Walker
  • Julianne Moore - The End of the Affair as Sarah Miles
  • Meryl Streep - Music of the Heart as Roberta Guaspari

[edit] 2000s

• 2000 Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich as Erin Brockovich
  • Joan Allen - The Contender as Sen. Laine Hanson
  • Juliette Binoche - Chocolat as Vianne Rocher
  • Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream as Sara Goldfarb
  • Laura Linney - You Can Count on Me as Samantha 'Sammy' Prescott

• 2001 Halle Berry - Monster's Ball as Leticia Musgrove
  • Judi Dench - Iris as Iris Murdoch
  • Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge! as Satine
  • Sissy Spacek - In the Bedroom as Ruth Fowler
  • Renée Zellweger - Bridget Jones's Diary as Bridget Jones

• 2002 Nicole Kidman - The Hours as Virginia Woolf
  • Salma Hayek - Frida as Frida Kahlo
  • Diane Lane - Unfaithful as Connie Sumner
  • Julianne Moore - Far from Heaven as Cathy Whitaker
  • Renée Zellweger - Chicago as Roxie Hart

• 2003 Charlize Theron - Monster as Aileen Wuornos
  • Keisha Castle-Hughes - Whale Rider as Paikea Apirana
  • Diane Keaton - Something's Gotta Give as Erica Barry
  • Samantha Morton - In America as Sarah
  • Naomi Watts - 21 Grams as Cristina Peck

• 2004 Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby as Maggie Fitzgerald
  • Annette Bening - Being Julia as Julia Lambert
  • Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace as María Álvarez
  • Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake as Vera Drake
  • Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as Clementine Kruczynski

• 2005 Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line as June Carter
  • Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents as Laura Henderson
  • Felicity Huffman - Transamerica as Bree
  • Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice as Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Bennet
  • Charlize Theron - North Country as Josey Aimes

• 2006 Helen Mirren - The Queen as Queen Elizabeth II
  • Penélope Cruz – Volver as Raimunda
  • Judi Dench – Notes on a Scandal as Barbara Covett
  • Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada as Miranda Priestly
  • Kate Winslet – Little Children as Sarah Pierce

• 2007 Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose as Edith Piaf
  • Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age as Queen Elizabeth I
  • Julie Christie – Away from Her as Fiona Anderson
  • Laura Linney – The Savages as Wendy Savage
  • Ellen Page – Juno as Juno MacGuff

• 2008 Kate Winslet – The Reader as Hanna Schmitz
  • Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married as Kym Buchman
  • Angelina Jolie – Changeling as Christine Collins
  • Melissa Leo – Frozen River as Ray Eddy
  • Meryl Streep – Doubt as Sister Aloysius Beauvier