Every Oscars Best Actress winner

26 ceremonies, 2000–2025. 23 different winners.

Emma Stone ×2Frances McDormand ×2Hilary Swank ×2

One band per year, because no winner here has ever gone back-to-back. Colored by distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.

Hilary Swank'00

Julia Roberts'01

Halle Berry'02

Nicole Kidman'03

Charlize Theron'04

Hilary Swank'05

Reese Witherspoon'06

Helen Mirren'07

Marion Cotillard'08

Kate Winslet'09

Sandra Bullock'10

Natalie Portman'11

Meryl Streep'12

Jennifer Lawrence'13

Cate Blanchett'14

Julianne Moore'15

Brie Larson'16

Emma Stone'17

Frances McDormand'18

Olivia Colman'19

Renée Zellweger'20

Frances McDormand'21

Jessica Chastain'22

Michelle Yeoh'23

Emma Stone'24

Mikey Madison'25

Wins by distributor

Searchlight7The Weinstein Company3A242Lionsgate2Sony2Warner Bros.2Other8

Who kept losing

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won

Annette Bening4 noms
Judi Dench4 noms
Carey Mulligan3 noms
Michelle Williams3 noms
Saoirse Ronan3 noms
Cynthia Erivo2 noms

Most losses

Meryl Streep7L · 1W
Annette Bening4L · 0W
Judi Dench4L · 0W
Carey Mulligan3L · 0W
Cate Blanchett3L · 1W
Michelle Williams3L · 0W

The full list

Year	Winner	Distributor
2025	Mikey Madison (Anora) beat 4 others Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) Demi Moore (The Substance) Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here)	Neon
2024	Emma Stone (Poor Things) beat 4 others Annette Bening (Nyad) Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall) Carey Mulligan (Maestro)	Searchlight Pictures
2023	Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) beat 4 others Cate Blanchett (Tár) Ana de Armas (Blonde) Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie) Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)	A24
2022	Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) beat 4 others Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) Kristen Stewart (Spencer)	Searchlight Pictures
2021	Frances McDormand (Nomadland) beat 4 others Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)	Searchlight Pictures
2020	Renée Zellweger (Judy) beat 4 others Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story) Saoirse Ronan (Little Women) Charlize Theron (Bombshell)	Roadside Attractions
2019	Olivia Colman (The Favourite) beat 4 others Yalitza Aparicio (Roma) Glenn Close (The Wife) Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)	Fox Searchlight Pictures
2018	Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) beat 4 others Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) Meryl Streep (The Post)	Fox Searchlight Pictures
2017	Emma Stone (La La Land) beat 4 others Isabelle Huppert (Elle) Ruth Negga (Loving) Natalie Portman (Jackie) Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)	Lionsgate
2016	Brie Larson (Room) beat 4 others Cate Blanchett (Carol) Jennifer Lawrence (Joy) Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)	A24
2015	Julianne Moore (Still Alice) beat 4 others Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night) Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) Reese Witherspoon (Wild)	Sony Pictures Classics
2014	Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) beat 4 others Amy Adams (American Hustle) Sandra Bullock (Gravity) Judi Dench (Philomena) Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)	Sony Pictures Classics
2013	Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) beat 4 others Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) Naomi Watts (The Impossible)	The Weinstein Company
2012	Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) beat 4 others Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) Viola Davis (The Help) Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)	The Weinstein Company
2011	Natalie Portman (Black Swan) beat 4 others Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)	Fox Searchlight Pictures
2010	Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) beat 4 others Helen Mirren (The Last Station) Carey Mulligan (An Education) Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)	Warner Bros.
2009	Kate Winslet (The Reader) beat 4 others Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) Angelina Jolie (Changeling) Melissa Leo (Frozen River) Meryl Streep (Doubt)	The Weinstein Company
2008	Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) beat 4 others Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) Julie Christie (Away from Her) Laura Linney (The Savages) Elliot Page (Juno)	Picturehouse
2007	Helen Mirren (The Queen) beat 4 others Penélope Cruz (Volver) Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal) Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) Kate Winslet (Little Children)	Miramax
2006	Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) beat 4 others Judi Dench (Mrs Henderson Presents) Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice) Charlize Theron (North Country)	20th Century Fox
2005	Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) beat 4 others Annette Bening (Being Julia) Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace) Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)	Warner Bros.
2004	Charlize Theron (Monster) beat 4 others Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) Diane Keaton (Something's Gotta Give) Samantha Morton (In America) Naomi Watts (21 Grams)	Newmarket Films
2003	Nicole Kidman (The Hours) beat 4 others Salma Hayek (Frida) Diane Lane (Unfaithful) Julianne Moore (Far from Heaven) Renée Zellweger (Chicago)	Paramount Pictures
2002	Halle Berry (Monster's Ball) beat 4 others Judi Dench (Iris) Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!) Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom) Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary)	Lionsgate
2001	Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) beat 4 others Joan Allen (The Contender) Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream) Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me)	Universal Pictures
2000	Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry) beat 4 others Annette Bening (American Beauty) Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair) Meryl Streep (Music of the Heart)	Fox Searchlight Pictures

More Oscars categories

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