Female Actor In a Leading Role

5. Keira Knightley, “Anna Karenina”

Knightley’s two previous collaborations with director Joe Wright, “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement,” earned her critical accolades and her first Oscar nomination. The pair have teamed up for another period piece, this time with Knightley playing the tortured Russian heroine of Leo Tolstoy’s novel. Torn between two men, Anna is beautiful in her suffering, and Knightley perfectly embodies the passion, paranoia, and tragedy of a love affair that shatters her life.