As another year comes to an end, Academy voters will be looking back on the best performances the silver screen had to offer. Backstage chose a handful of leading female actors who are especially deserving of nominations. Now it’s time to round up the remaining contenders: the actors who surprised us, who delighted us, who made us cry. Some gave the latest in a long line of impressive performances; others seemed to come out of nowhere. Don’t be surprised to hear some of the following names among the Oscar nominations announced Jan. 24.
Amy Adams, “Arrival” (Paramount Pictures)
We wouldn’t be surprised if director Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival” nabs Adams her sixth (much-deserved) Oscar nomination. She gives yet another powerhouse performance as Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist tasked with translating messages from Earth-landed aliens. Adams embarks on the task by grounding this sci-fi offering with quietly devastating emotional precision. Without her, “Arrival” could have been another genre film; she elevates it to something else entirely.
Annette Bening, “20th Century Women” (A24)
Dorothea Fields may be based on writer-director Mike Mills’ own mother, but it’s Bening who brings her gloriously to life. Beneath Dorothea’s sheen of optimism is a complex, struggling, Depression Era-born single mother failing to do right by her teenage son—to both comedic and painful effect. Mills’ script crackles with memorable quips, but Bening says even more with a raised eyebrow or pursed lip. No other actor could do the role like her.
READ: “Why Annette Bening Uses ‘Talismans’ in Her Character Work”
Jessica Chastain, “Miss Sloane” (EuropaCorp)
What a delicious addition to Chastain’s acting oeuvre “Miss Sloane” is. Playing a frosty, formidable, pill-popping lobbyist with the guts to tackle immeasurable odds—the Second Amendment—she somehow manages to chew scenery while maintaining her steely features. The character could so easily become a bitchy caricature, but Chastain is too empathetic a performer to allow it.
Marion Cotillard, “Allied” (Paramount Pictures)
Cotillard always brings a regal gravitas to her screen work, and we’re confident that “Allied” from director Robert Zemeckis will prove no different. Starring alongside Brad Pitt as a French resistance fighter during World War II, Cotillard’s Marianne Beausejour is just the kind of role that will get awards pundits talking. The actor is guaranteed to dazzle.
Rebecca Hall, “Christine” (The Orchard and Curzon Artificial Eye)
On July 15, 1974, Sarasota, Florida-based newscaster Christine Chubbuck committed suicide by shooting herself in the head live on air. The story of her death and the days preceding it have been the subject of whispered lore for decades, but “Christine” and its star bring a gripping immediacy to the tragic woman like never before. Hall holds nothing back, and it’s the performance of her career—so far.
Taraji P. Henson, “Hidden Figures” (20th Century Fox)
Henson has a knack for portraying women who are told they can’t, and then prove everyone wrong. Such is the case with her Cookie Lyon on “Empire.” But her brassy physicist-mathematician Katherine Johnson will rank among her finest work to date. In an industry in dire need of strong roles for women of color, Henson is scooping them up one by one. Now she can count a NASA scientist among them.
READ: “How ‘Hidden Figures’ Cast its 3 Knockout Leads”
Sasha Lane, “American Honey” (A24)
Playing the lead in this Jury Prize–winning feature out of Cannes Film Festival, Lane is a revelation as a young teen swept up by love, rebellion, and lawlessness in the Midwest. The actor, who was discovered on a beach in Panama City, proves she’s one to watch with a breakout role that showcases her knack for delivering raw, unbridled energy.
Natalie Portman, “Jackie” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Director Pablo Larraín recently told Backstage that he’d agreed to helm “Jackie” if and only if Portman was on board to star. It was a tough order, but one well worth making. Portman’s take on widowed FLOTUS Jackie Kennedy in the hours and days following her husband’s assassination is all-inhabiting and marvelous—sure to go down in the pantheon of great biographical performances.
Emma Stone, “La La Land” (Lionsgate)
Working actors everywhere are likely to name Stone’s turn in “La La Land” their favorite performance of the year because she captures the plight of the struggling auditioner with painful accuracy; with every humiliating callback, we see Mia’s determination to become a Hollywood star eroding. But in the film’s luminous musical sequences, Stone blossoms, her grace and hope proving infectious. In an exceptionally competitive year for leading female actors, Stone has twirled her way to frontrunner status.
READ: “Emma Stone Speaks on the Movie Musical of the Decade”
Rachel Weisz, “The Lobster” (A24)
In a single year, Weisz gave a series of wildly varied performances; “Denial,” “Complete Unknown,” and “The Light Between Oceans” each proved the actor is at the peak of her skills. It’s Yorgos Lanthimos’ bizarrely stylized satire, though, that lingers in our minds. As the Short-Sighted Woman, Weisz turns her own face into a tragicomic arsenal, her still features providing the film its most iconic—not to mention disturbing—images.
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