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”