1927–1928

  • Janet Gaynor - Seventh Heaven as Diane, Street Angel as Angela, and Sunrise as The Wife - Indre
  • Louise Dresser - A Ship Comes In as Mrs. Pleznik
  • Gloria Swanson - Sadie Thompson as Sadie Thompson

1928–1929

  • Mary Pickford - Coquette as Norma Besant
  • Ruth Chatterton - Madame X as Jacqueline Floriot
  • Betty Compson - The Barker as Carrie
  • Jeanne Eagels - The Letter as Leslie Crosbie (posthumous nomination)
  • Bessie Love - The Broadway Melody as Hank Mahoney

1929–1930

  • Norma Shearer - The Divorcee as Jerry Bernard Martin
  • Nancy Carroll - The Devil's Holiday as Hallie Hobart
  • Ruth Chatterton - Sarah and Son as Sarah Storm
  • Greta Garbo - Anna Christie as Anna Christie and Romance as Madame Rita Cavallini
  • Norma Shearer - Their Own Desire as Lucia 'Lally' Marlett
  • Gloria Swanson - The Trespasser as Marion Donnell

1930–1931

  • Marie Dressler - Min and Bill as Min Divot, Inkeeper
  • Marlene Dietrich - Morocco as Mademoiselle Amy Jolly
  • Irene Dunne - Cimarron as Sabra Cravat
  • Ann Harding - Holiday as Linda Seton
  • Norma Shearer - A Free Soul as Jan Ashe

1931–1932

  • Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet as Madelon Claudet
  • Marie Dressler - Emma as Emma Thatcher Smith
  • Lynn Fontanne - The Guardsman as The Actress

1932–1933

  • Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory as Eva Lovelace
  • May Robson - Lady for a Day as Apple Annie
  • Diana Wynyard - Cavalcade as Jane Marryot

1934

  • Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night as Ellie Andrews
  • Grace Moore - One Night of Love as Mary Barrett
  • Norma Shearer - The Barretts of Wimpole Street as Elizabeth Barrett

1935

  • Bette Davis - Dangerous as Joyce Heath
  • Elisabeth Bergner - Escape Me Never as Gemma Jones
  • Claudette Colbert - Private Worlds as Dr. Jane Everest
  • Katharine Hepburn - Alice Adams as Alice Adams
  • Miriam Hopkins - Becky Sharp as Becky Sharp
  • Merle Oberon - The Dark Angel as Kitty Vane

1936

  • Luise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld as Anna Held
  • Irene Dunne - Theodora Goes Wild as Theodora Lynn
  • Gladys George - Valiant Is the Word for Carrie as Carrie Snyder
  • Carole Lombard - My Man Godfrey as Irene Bullock
  • Norma Shearer - Romeo and Juliet as Juliet - Daughter to Capulet

1937

  • Luise Rainer - The Good Earth as O-Lan
  • Irene Dunne - The Awful Truth as Lucy Warriner
  • Greta Garbo - Camille as Marguerite Gautier
  • Janet Gaynor - A Star Is Born as Esther Victoria Blodgett, aka Vicki Lester
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas as Stella Martin 'Stell' Dallas

1938

  • Bette Davis - Jezebel as Julie Marsden
  • Fay Bainter - White Banners as Hannah Parmalee
  • Wendy Hiller - Pygmalion as Eliza Doolittle
  • Norma Shearer - Marie Antoinette as Marie Antoinette
  • Margaret Sullavan - Three Comrades as Patricia 'Pat' Hollmann

1939

  • Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind as Scarlett O'Hara
  • Bette Davis - Dark Victory as Judith Traherne
  • Irene Dunne - Love Affair as Terry McKay
  • Greta Garbo - Ninotchka as Nina Yakushova 'Ninotchka' Ivanoff
  • Greer Garson - Goodbye, Mr. Chips as Katherine

1940

  • Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle as Kitty Foyle
  • Bette Davis - The Letter as Leslie Crosbie
  • Joan Fontaine - Rebecca as The Second Mrs. de Winter
  • Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story as Tracy Lord
  • Martha Scott - Our Town as Emily Webb

1941

  • Joan Fontaine - Suspicion as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth
  • Bette Davis - The Little Foxes as Regina Giddens
  • Olivia de Havilland - Hold Back the Dawn as Emmy Brown
  • Greer Garson - Blossoms in the Dust as Edna Kahly Gladney
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Ball of Fire as Katherine 'Sugarpuss' O'Shea

1942

  • Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver as Mrs. Miniver
  • Bette Davis - Now, Voyager as Charlotte Vale
  • Katharine Hepburn - Woman of the Year as Tess Harding
  • Rosalind Russell - My Sister Eileen as Ruth Sherwood
  • Teresa Wright - The Pride of the Yankees as Eleanor Twitchell

1943

  • Jennifer Jones - The Song of Bernadette as Bernadette Soubirous
  • Jean Arthur - The More the Merrier as Constance "Connie" Milligan
  • Ingrid Bergman - For Whom the Bell Tolls as María
  • Joan Fontaine - The Constant Nymph as Tessa Sanger
  • Greer Garson - Madame Curie as Marie Curie

1944

  • Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight as Paula Alquist Anton
  • Claudette Colbert - Since You Went Away as Mrs. Anne Hilton
  • Bette Davis - Mr. Skeffington as Fanny Trellis
  • Greer Garson - Mrs. Parkington as Susie 'Sparrow' Parkington
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity as Phyllis Dietrichson

1945

  • Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce as Mildred Pierce Beragon
  • Ingrid Bergman - The Bells of St. Mary's as Sister Mary Benedict
  • Greer Garson - The Valley of Decision as Mary Rafferty
  • Jennifer Jones - Love Letters as Singleton/Victoria Morland
  • Gene Tierney - Leave Her to Heaven as Ellen Berent Harland

1946

  • Olivia de Havilland - To Each His Own as Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris

Celia Johnson - Brief Encounter as Laura Jesson

  • Jennifer Jones - Duel in the Sun as Pearl Chavez
  • Rosalind Russell - Sister Kenny as Sister Elizabeth Kenny
  • Jane Wyman - The Yearling as Orry Baxter

1947

  • Loretta Young - The Farmer's Daughter as Katrin Holstrom
  • Joan Crawford - Possessed as Louise Howell
  • Susan Hayward - Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman as Angelica 'Angie' / 'Angel' Evans Conway
  • Dorothy McGuire - Gentleman's Agreement as Kathy Lacy
  • Rosalind Russell - Mourning Becomes Electra as Lavinia Mannon

1948

  • Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda as Belinda McDonald
  • Ingrid Bergman - Joan of Arc as Joan of Arc
  • Olivia de Havilland - The Snake Pit as Virginia Stuart Cunningham
  • Irene Dunne - I Remember Mama as Martha 'Mama' Hanson
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Sorry, Wrong Number as Leona Stevenson

1949

  • Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress as Catherine Sloper
  • Jeanne Crain - Pinky as Patricia 'Pinky' Johnson
  • Susan Hayward - My Foolish Heart as Eloise Winters
  • Deborah Kerr - Edward, My Son as Evelyn Boult
  • Loretta Young - Come to the Stable as Sister Margaret

1950

  • Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday as Emma 'Billie' Dawn
  • Anne Baxter - All About Eve as Eve Harrington
  • Bette Davis - All About Eve as Margo Channing
  • Eleanor Parker - Caged as Marie Allen
  • Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard as Norma Desmond

1951

  • Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire as Blanche DuBois
  • Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen as Rose Sayer
  • Eleanor Parker - Detective Story as Mary McLeod
  • Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun as Alice Tripp
  • Jane Wyman - The Blue Veil as Louise Mason

1952

  • Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba as Lola Delaney
  • Joan Crawford - Sudden Fear as Myra Hudson
  • Bette Davis - The Star as Margaret Elliot
  • Julie Harris - The Member of the Wedding as Frances 'Frankie' Addams
  • Susan Hayward - With a Song in My Heart as Jane Froman

1953

  • Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday as Princess Ann
  • Leslie Caron - Lili as Lili Daurier
  • Ava Gardner - Mogambo as Eloise Y. Honey Bear Kelly
  • Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity as Karen Holmes
  • Maggie McNamara - The Moon Is Blue as Patty O'Neill

1954

  • Grace Kelly - The Country Girl as Georgie Elgin
  • Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones as Carmen Jones
  • Judy Garland - A Star Is Born as Vicki Lester (Esther Blodgett)
  • Audrey Hepburn - Sabrina as Sabrina Fairchild
  • Jane Wyman - Magnificent Obsession as Helen Phillips

1955

  • Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo as Serafina Delle Rose
  • Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow as Lillian Roth
  • Katharine Hepburn - Summertime as Jane Hudson
  • Jennifer Jones - Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing as Dr. Han Suyin
  • Eleanor Parker - Interrupted Melody as Marjorie 'Margie' Lawrence

1956

  • Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia as Anna Koreff / Anastasia
  • Carroll Baker - Baby Doll as Baby Doll Meighan
  • Katharine Hepburn - The Rainmaker as Lizzie Curry
  • Nancy Kelly - The Bad Seed as Christine Penmark
  • Deborah Kerr - The King and I as Anna Leonowens

1957

  • Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve as Eve White / Eve Black / Jane
  • Deborah Kerr - Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison as Sister Angela
  • Anna Magnani - Wild Is the Wind as Gioia
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Raintree County as Susanna Drake
  • Lana Turner - Peyton Place as Constance MacKenzie

1958

  • Susan Hayward - I Want to Live! as Barbara Graham
  • Deborah Kerr - Separate Tables as Sibyl Railton-Bell
  • Shirley MacLaine - Some Came Running as Ginnie Moorehead
  • Rosalind Russell - Auntie Mame as Mame Dennis
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Margaret 'Maggie the Cat' Pollitt

1959

  • Simone Signoret - Room at the Top as Alice Aisgill
  • Doris Day - Pillow Talk as Jan Morrow
  • Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story as Sister Luke (Gabrielle van der Mal)
  • Katharine Hepburn - Suddenly, Last Summer as Violet Venable
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Suddenly, Last Summer as Catherine Holly

1960

  • Elizabeth Taylor - Butterfield 8 as Gloria Wandrous
  • Shirley MacLaine - The Apartment as Fran Kubelik
  • Melina Mercouri - Never on Sunday as Ilya
  • Deborah Kerr - The Sundowners as Ida Carmody
  • Greer Garson - Sunrise at Campobello as Eleanor Roosevelt

1961

  • Sophia Loren - Two Women as Cesira
  • Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's as Holly Golightly
  • Piper Laurie - The Hustler as Sarah Packard
  • Geraldine Page - Summer and Smoke as Alma Winemiller
  • Natalie Wood - Splendor in the Grass as Wilma Dean 'Deanie' Loomis

1962

  • Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker as Annie Sullivan
  • Bette Davis - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? as Baby Jane Hudson
  • Katharine Hepburn - Long Day's Journey Into Night as Mary Tyrone
  • Geraldine Page - Sweet Bird of Youth as Alexandra Del Lago
  • Lee Remick - Days of Wine and Roses as Kirsten Arnesen Clay

1963

  • Patricia Neal - Hud as Alma Brown
  • Leslie Caron - The L-Shaped Room as Jane Fossett
  • Shirley MacLaine - Irma la Douce as Irma La Douce
  • Rachel Roberts - This Sporting Life as Margaret Hammond
  • Natalie Wood - Love with the Proper Stranger as Angie Rossini

1964

  • Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins as Mary Poppins
  • Anne Bancroft - The Pumpkin Eater as Jo Armitage
  • Sophia Loren - Marriage Italian Style as Filumena Marturano
  • Debbie Reynolds - The Unsinkable Molly Brown as Molly Brown
  • Kim Stanley - Séance on a Wet Afternoon as Myra Savage

1965

  • Julie Christie - Darling as Diana Scott
  • Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music as Maria von Trapp
  • Samantha Eggar - The Collector as Miranda Grey
  • Elizabeth Hartman - A Patch of Blue as Selina D'Arcy
  • Simone Signoret - Ship of Fools as La Contessa

1966

  • Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Martha
  • Anouk Aimée - A Man and a Woman as Anne Gauthier
  • Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street as Rozalie Lautmann
  • Lynn Redgrave - Georgy Girl as Georgy
  • Vanessa Redgrave - Morgan! as Leonie Delt

1967

  • Katharine Hepburn - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner as Christina Drayton
  • Anne Bancroft - The Graduate as Mrs. Robinson
  • Faye Dunaway - Bonnie and Clyde as Bonnie Parker
  • Edith Evans - The Whisperers as Maggie Ross
  • Audrey Hepburn - Wait Until Dark as Susy Hendrix

1968

  • Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter as Eleanor of Aquitaine (tie with)
  • Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl as Fanny Brice
  • Patricia Neal - The Subject Was Roses as Nettie Cleary
  • Vanessa Redgrave - Isadora as Isadora Duncan
  • Joanne Woodward - Rachel, Rachel as Rachel Cameron

1969

  • Maggie Smith - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie as Jean Brodie
  • Geneviève Bujold - Anne of the Thousand Days as Anne Boleyn
  • Jane Fonda - They Shoot Horses, Don't They? as Gloria Beatty
  • Liza Minnelli - The Sterile Cuckoo as Mary Ann 'Pookie' Adams
  • Jean Simmons - The Happy Ending as Mary Wilson

1970

  • Glenda Jackson - Women in Love as Gudrun Brangwen
  • Jane Alexander - The Great White Hope as Eleanor Backman
  • Ali MacGraw - Love Story as Jennifer Cavalleri
  • Sarah Miles - Ryan's Daughter as Rosy Ryan
  • Carrie Snodgress - Diary of a Mad Housewife as Tina Balser

1971

  • Jane Fonda - Klute as Bree Daniels
  • Julie Christie - McCabe & Mrs. Miller as Constance Miller
  • Glenda Jackson - Sunday Bloody Sunday as Alex Greville
  • Vanessa Redgrave - Mary, Queen of Scots as Mary, Queen of Scots
  • Janet Suzman - Nicholas and Alexandra as Empress Alexandra / Alix of Hesse Darmstadt

1972

  • Liza Minnelli - Cabaret as Sally Bowles
  • Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues as Billie Holiday
  • Maggie Smith - Travels with My Aunt as Augusta Bertram
  • Cicely Tyson - Sounder as Rebecca Morgan
  • Liv Ullmann - The Emigrants as Kristina

1973

  • Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class as Vickie
  • Ellen Burstyn - The Exorcist as Chris MacNeil
  • Marsha Mason - Cinderella Liberty as Maggie Paul
  • Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were as Katie Morosky
  • Joanne Woodward - Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams as Rita Walden

1974

  • Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore as Alice Hyatt
  • Diahann Carroll - Claudine as Claudine
  • Faye Dunaway - Chinatown as Evelyn Cross Mulwray
  • Valerie Perrine - Lenny as Honey Bruce
  • Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence as Mabel Longhetti

1975

  • Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Nurse Ratched
  • Ann-Margret - Tommy as Nora Walker Hobbs
  • Isabelle Adjani - The Story of Adele H. as Adèle Hugo a.k.a. Adèle Lewry
  • Glenda Jackson - Hedda as Hedda Gabler
  • Carol Kane - Hester Street as Gitl

1976

  • Faye Dunaway - Network as Diana Christensen
  • Marie-Christine Barrault - Cousin, cousine as Marthe
  • Talia Shire - Rocky as Adrian Pennino
  • Sissy Spacek - Carrie as Carrie White
  • Liv Ullmann - Face to Face as Dr. Jenny Isaksson

1977

  • Diane Keaton - Annie Hall as Annie Hall
  • Anne Bancroft - The Turning Point as Emma Jacklin
  • Jane Fonda - Julia as Lillian Hellman
  • Shirley MacLaine - The Turning Point as Deedee Rodgers
  • Marsha Mason - The Goodbye Girl as Paula McFadden

1978

  • Jane Fonda - Coming Home as Sally Hyde
  • Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata as Charlotte Andergast
  • Ellen Burstyn - Same Time, Next Year as Doris
  • Jill Clayburgh - An Unmarried Woman as Erica
  • Geraldine Page - Interiors as Eve

1979

  • Sally Field - Norma Rae as Norma Rae Webster
  • Jill Clayburgh - Starting Over as Marilyn Holmberg
  • Jane Fonda - The China Syndrome as Kimberly Wells
  • Marsha Mason - Chapter Two as Jennie MacLaine
  • Bette Midler - The Rose as Mary Rose Foster

1980

  • Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter as Loretta Lynn
  • Ellen Burstyn - Resurrection as Edna Mae McCauley
  • Goldie Hawn - Private Benjamin as Pvt. Judy Benjamin
  • Mary Tyler Moore - Ordinary People as Beth Jarrett
  • Gena Rowlands - Gloria as Gloria Swenson

1981

  • Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond as Ethel Thayer
  • Diane Keaton - Reds as Louise Bryant
  • Marsha Mason - Only When I Laugh as Georgia
  • Susan Sarandon - Atlantic City as Sally Matthews
  • Meryl Streep - The French Lieutenant's Woman as Sarah / Anna

1982

  • Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice as Sophie Zawistowski
  • Julie Andrews - Victor/Victoria as Victoria Grant, aka Count Victor Grezhinski
  • Jessica Lange - Frances as Frances Farmer
  • Sissy Spacek - Missing as Beth Horman
  • Debra Winger - An Officer and a Gentleman as Paula Pokrifki

1983

  • Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment as Aurora Greenway
  • Jane Alexander - Testament as Carol Wetherly
  • Meryl Streep - Silkwood as Karen Silkwood
  • Julie Walters - Educating Rita as Rita
  • Debra Winger - Terms of Endearment as Emma Greenway Horton

1984

  • Sally Field - Places in the Heart as Edna Spalding
  • Judy Davis - A Passage to India as Adela Quested
  • Jessica Lange - Country as Jewell Ivy
  • Vanessa Redgrave - The Bostonians as Olive Chancellor
  • Sissy Spacek - The River as Mae Garvey

1985

  • Geraldine Page - The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts
  • Anne Bancroft - Agnes of God as Mother Miriam Ruth
  • Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple as Celie Johnson
  • Jessica Lange - Sweet Dreams as Patsy Cline
  • Meryl Streep - Out of Africa as Karen Blixen

1986

  • Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God as Sarah Norman
  • Jane Fonda - The Morning After as Alex Sternbergen
  • Sissy Spacek - Crimes of the Heart as Rebecca 'Babe' / 'Becky' Magrath Botrelle
  • Kathleen Turner - Peggy Sue Got Married as Peggy Sue Bodell
  • Sigourney Weaver - Aliens as Ellen Ripley

1987

  • Cher - Moonstruck as Loretta Castorini
  • Glenn Close - Fatal Attraction as Alex Forrest
  • Holly Hunter - Broadcast News as Jane Craig
  • Sally Kirkland - Anna as Anna
  • Meryl Streep - Ironweed as Helen Archer

1988

  • Jodie Foster - The Accused as Sarah Tobias
  • Glenn Close - Dangerous Liaisons as Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil
  • Melanie Griffith - Working Girl as Tess McGill
  • Meryl Streep - A Cry in the Dark as Lindy Chamberlain
  • Sigourney Weaver - Gorillas in the Mist as Dian Fossey

1989

  • Jessica Tandy - Driving Miss Daisy as Daisy Werthan
  • Isabelle Adjani - Camille Claudel as Camille Claudel
  • Pauline Collins - Shirley Valentine as Shirley Valentine-Bradshaw
  • Jessica Lange - Music Box as Ann Talbot
  • Michelle Pfeiffer - The Fabulous Baker Boys as Susie Diamond

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 'Ouisa' 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 Sister 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 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

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
  • 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

2009

  • Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
  • Helen Mirren - The Last Station
  • Carey Mulligan - An Education
  • Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
  • Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

2010

  • Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
  • Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
  • Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”
  • Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”*
  • Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”
apr 21 2009 ∞
dec 19 2011 +