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A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Actress.

97 ceremonies, 1929–2025. 80 different winners. The longest run belongs to Luise Rainer, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
Mikey Madison in 2025 for Anora.
Who has won the most?
Katharine Hepburn, 4 wins (1934, 1968, 1969, 1982).
  1. AnoraMikey Madison
  2. Poor ThingsEmma Stone
  3. Everything Everywhere All at OnceMichelle Yeoh
  4. The Eyes of Tammy FayeJessica Chastain
  5. NomadlandFrances McDormand
  6. JudyRenée Zellweger
Years explored
1929–2025
Different winners
80
Category leader
Katharine Hepburn · 4

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19292025

01 / The reigns

23 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited distributor.

  1. 01
    Emma Stone2 wins
  2. 02
    Frances McDormand2 wins
  3. 03
    Hilary Swank2 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. 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

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Searchlight leads the recorded distributor credits with 7 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Searchlight7 wins
The Weinstein Company3 wins
A242 wins
Lionsgate2 wins
Sony2 wins
Warner Bros.2 wins
Wins by distributor
  1. Searchlight727%
  2. The Weinstein Company312%
  3. A2428%
  4. Lionsgate28%
  5. Sony28%
  6. Warner Bros.28%
  7. Other831%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Annette Bening
    4 noms
  2. 02
    Judi Dench
    4 noms
  3. 03
    Carey Mulligan
    3 noms
  4. 04
    Michelle Williams
    3 noms
  5. 05
    Saoirse Ronan
    3 noms
  6. 06
    Cynthia Erivo
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Meryl Streep
    7L · 1W
  2. 02
    Annette Bening
    4L · 0W
  3. 03
    Judi Dench
    4L · 0W
  4. 04
    Carey Mulligan
    3L · 0W
  5. 05
    Cate Blanchett
    3L · 1W
  6. 06
    Michelle Williams
    3L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerDistributor
2025Mikey Madison (Anora)
beat 4 others
  • Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
  • Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)
  • Demi Moore (The Substance)
  • Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here)
Neon
2024Emma 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
2023Michelle 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
2022Jessica 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
2021Frances 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
2020Renée Zellweger (Judy)
beat 4 others
  • Cynthia Erivo (Harriet)
  • Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story)
  • Saoirse Ronan (Little Women)
  • Charlize Theron (Bombshell)
Roadside Attractions
2019Olivia 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
2018Frances 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
2017Emma Stone (La La Land)
beat 4 others
  • Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
  • Ruth Negga (Loving)
  • Natalie Portman (Jackie)
  • Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Lionsgate
2016Brie Larson (Room)
beat 4 others
  • Cate Blanchett (Carol)
  • Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
  • Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
  • Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
A24
2015Julianne 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
2014Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
beat 4 others
  • Amy Adams (American Hustle)
  • Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
  • Judi Dench (Philomena)
  • Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
Sony Pictures Classics
2013Jennifer 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
2012Meryl 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
2011Natalie 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
2010Sandra 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.
2009Kate Winslet (The Reader)
beat 4 others
  • Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
  • Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
  • Melissa Leo (Frozen River)
  • Meryl Streep (Doubt)
The Weinstein Company
2008Marion 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
2007Helen 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
2006Reese 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
2005Hilary 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.
2004Charlize 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
2003Nicole Kidman (The Hours)
beat 4 others
  • Salma Hayek (Frida)
  • Diane Lane (Unfaithful)
  • Julianne Moore (Far from Heaven)
  • Renée Zellweger (Chicago)
Paramount Pictures
2002Halle 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
2001Julia 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
2000Hilary 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