Female Actor In a Leading Role

12. Rachel Weisz, “The Deep Blue Sea”

In “The Deep Blue Sea”—set in the 1950s and based on the Terence Rattigan play—Weisz stars as Hester Collyer, the wife of a high court judge, who embarks on a self-destructive affair. Driven to attempt suicide, Hester cannot imagine living without her passionate lover Freddie (Tom Hiddleston) though she knows he will never provide the stability of her husband. Weisz brings a fresh take to the familiar role of a woman caught between two men, and the audience cannot help feeling her struggle.