Did the Oscars Get It Right? Best Actress

Whoops! I missed my chance to get this done before the Oscars. Oh well. But let's continue my look at whether the acting awards went the right way or not since 2000. Today, I'll look at one of the big ones: Best Actress. a category where big names and narratives might be more important than the nominated performance.

Quick recap: I'm going to look at the five nominees and decide if they got it right or not. The four answers to that question are Yes, Probably, Debatable, and No. What's the difference between Probably and Debatable? I don't know! One last note: I'm not going to deal with performances that got snubbed because then this turns from a fun little exercise into A Thing. And I'm not here to do A Thing. Let's get into it.

2000 Winner: Julia Roberts, Erin Brokovich. Nominees: Joan Allen, The Contender; Juliette Binoche, Chocolat; Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream; Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. You could make a case  for Burstyn to win this award, but this is Roberts' crowning achievement. One of the biggest stars of the '80s and '90s gets her award. 

2001 Winner: Halle Berry, Monster's Ball. Nominees: Jude Dench, Iris; Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge!; Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom; Renee Zellweger, Bridget Jones's Diary.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Probably. On the one hand, no one watches Monster's Ball anymore. It just doesn't have the cultural staying power of Moulin Rouge! or Bridget Jones's Diary. And Berry's career has been very scattershot since her win. However, she is still the only black actress to win lead actress and her performance is a good one. I'm not going to take Berry's Oscar away.

2002 Winner: Nicole Kidman, The Hours. Nominees: Salma Hayek, Frida; Diane Lane, Unfaithful; Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven; Renee Zellweger, Chicago. 

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. Based on the performance, Moore should've won in 2002 rather than having to wait another twelve years to get a statue. Instead Kidman gets the Oscar and a possibly earlier than expected career-achievement win.

2003 Winner: Charlize Theron, Monster. Nominees: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider; Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give; Samantha Morton, In America; Naomi Watts, 21 Grams.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. This was the moment Theron arrived as more than a pretty face. I know some people hold this up as an example of deglamming to win, but Theron has shown over the years that she takes the craft of acting seriously and she deserves the win.

2004 Winner: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby. Nominees: Annette  Bening, Being Julia; Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace; Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake; Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. Ok, so look at the list of women who have won multiple Best Actress Oscars and Hilary Swank is maybe a bit out of her depth. And then you've got Winslet. This is where she should have won. Her not winning here sets up a bigger travesty a few years later.

2005 Winner: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line. Nominees: Judi Dench, Mrs Henderson Presents; Felicity Huffman, Transamerica; Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice; Charlize Theron, North Country.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Probably. Witherspoon is fine as June Carter Cash, and if we're looking at legacy, then Witherspoon does deserve an Oscar at some point, but the luster is kind of off Walk the Line ever since Dewey Cox decided to Walk Hard a few years afterwards. Knightley probably has the biggest gripe about losing in 2005.

2006 Winner: Helen Mirren, The Queen. Nominees: Penelope Cruz, Volver; Jude Dench, Notes on a Scandal; Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada; Kate Winslet, Little Children.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. Helen Mirren being one of the great actors of her generation is taken as gospel. The Queen  might not be the best movie, but her performance is really good.

2007 Winner: Marion Cotillard, Le Vie En Rose. Nominees: Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Julie Christie, Away from Her; Laura Linney, The Savages; Elliot Page, Juno.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Debatable. I always find it fascinating when a performance in a foreign language gets nominated. It's even more fascinating when a foreign language performance wins. So I'll give props to Cotillard for her win, but Page's performance in Juno is the performance from this group that sticks with me the most after all these years. I have no idea how Page feels about his performance at this point in time, but good work is good work.

2008 Winner: Kate Winslet, The Reader Nominees: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married; Angelina Jolie, Changeling; Melissa Leo, Frozen River; Meryl Streep, Doubt.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. 

The Reader/I haven't seen The Reader/I was gonna see it later but I fell behind/My Batmobile took longer than I thought to design. The Reader/I know I need to see the Reader/I even went to down to theater but there was a line/Of all the people watching Iron Man a second time 

This was from Hugh Jackman's opening number at the ceremony. Everyone knew this was a makeup for past mistakes. To pick a winner for this year, I would point to either Streep or Hathaway. I love Doubt, so I may be biased, which is why I gave two options for who should've won.

2009 Winner: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side. Nominees: Helen Mirren, The Last Station; Carey Mulligan, An Education; Gabourey Sidibe, Precious; Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. Ok, we're getting off the rails here. Best case, The Blind Side was simplistic look at life in football-obsessed America. Worst case, it was an outright manipulation. And we now know the story behind the film and book are pretty close to the worst-case scenario. Sandra Bullock got her career-achievement Oscar here, but Carey Mulligan should've won. Mulligan is still chasing her Oscar and is sadly trending towards Glenn Close and Annette Bening territory this rate.

2010 Winner: Natalie Portman, Black Swan. Nominees: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right; Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole; Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone; Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. This is a strong field of nominees and any of them would be a deserving winner. But Portman proved to be a strong center of gravity for the bonkers Black Swan, giving a performance that holds the whole picture together.

2011 Winner: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady. Nominees: Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs; Viola Davis, The Help; Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. Streep seemed to win by default here. Sometimes, I wish they would release the vote totals because I would imagine this was a pretty close race. I think Mara is probably the deserved winner, but Dragon Tattoo was probably too out there for some voters. Her performance wasn't nominated in the SAG awards or BAFTAs that year. Maybe Viola Davis should've won? I don't know, I do know that this is not some of Streep's best work.

2012 Winner: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook. Nominees: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Emmanuelle Riva, Amour; Quvenshane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Naomi Watts, The Impossible.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. Lawrence is so good in Silver Linings Playbook so no complaints here. The thing that stinks is that Chastain is so good in Zero Dark Thirty. This is a case where either win would've been justified.

2013 Winner: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine. Nominees: Amy Adams, American Hustle; Sandra Bullock, Gravity; Judi Dench, Philomena; Meryl Streep, August: Osage County.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Probably. Blanchett is one of the best around and this spin on A Streetcar Named Desire gives Blanchett a lot of great opportunities. Still, I can see alternate universes where Adams, Bullock, or Streep walk away with the win. (Adams needs a win at some point here, people).

2014 Winner: Julianne Moore, Still Alice. Nominees: Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night; Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything; Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl; Reese Witherspoon, Wild.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. Pike should've won for Gone Girl and her performance as Amazing Amy. Instead, the Oscar went to Moore for a career-achievement win. But if she'd won back in 2002, there wouldn't be an obligation to make sure Moore has a win. I know, this is a lot of what-if, but that's what we are doing here.

2015 Winner: Brie Larson, Room. Nominees: Cate Blanchett, Carol; Jennifer Lawrence, Joy; Charlotte, Rampling, 45 Years; Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn. 

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. This was a close call for me, but I ultimately, yes, this win is the right call. Although, Blanchett and Ronan had very strong cases for the win this year.

2016 Winner: Emma Stone, La La Land. Nominees: Isabelle Huppert, Elle; Ruth Negga, Loving; Natalie Portman, Jackie; Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. Emma Stone in La La Land makes so much sense. It's just right. Of the other nominees, Negga got overlooked.

2017 Winner: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Nominees: Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water; Margot Robbie, I, Tonya; Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird; Meryl Streep, The Post.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Debatable. Frances McDormand enters the chat, getting her second Best Actress win (and first in 21 years) for her performance in the polarizing Three Billboards. I've got no problem with the win, but this was a deep field of nominees. I'm partial to Ronan in Lady Bird, but you can make strong cases for each performance. This is debatable in the best kind of way.

2018 Winner: Olivia Colman, The Favourite. Nominees: Yalitza Aparicio, Roma; Glenn Close, The Wife; Lady Gaga, A Star is Born; Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Debatable. Again this is debatable in the good way. Colman gives a great performance in The Favourite (and every actress is telling her agent to get them on Yorgos Lanthimos's radar today, however, Emma Stone is going to fiercely fight to keep them all away, but that's a discussion for later). But what a good field of nominees. Gaga and Close probably came nearest the win, but this was a good, fun race for the Oscar.

2019 Winner: Renee Zellweger, Judy. Nominees: Cynthia Erivo, Harriet; Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story; Saoirse Ronan, Little Women; Charlize Theron, Bombshell.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. Ugh. What a bummer. After two years of stellar winners and nominees, the Academy follows it up with Zellweger winning her second Oscar for Judy? Really?!? Maybe it was a career-achievement win, but Zellweger already has an Oscar at home. Judy is a mess of a movie. I don't know what was going on here. This Oscar should've gone to either ScarJo or Saoirse. ScarJo had a great year, she was also nominated for Jojo Rabbit (speaking of messy movies...) and Ronan capped off a great run of three nominations in five years. Either of them would be a deserving winner.

2020 Winner: Frances McDormand, Nomadland. Nominees: 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.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. Whoa. Frances McDormand becomes the woman with the second-most Lead Actress Oscars behind only someone named Katherine Hepburn. (Anyone ever heard of her?) You can make a strong case for Davis (she did win the SAG award), but it's hard to quibble with McDormand here.

2021 Winner: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Nominees: Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter; Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers; Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos; Kristen Stewart, Spencer.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? No. Jessica Chastain does deserve an Oscar, but for this fairly by the numbers biopic of Tammy Faye Baker? Pass. I think either Colman or Cruz would have been interesting choices here. But at least Chastain makes up for missing out on the 2012 Best Actress prize.

2022 Winner: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once. Nominees: Cate Blanchett, Tar; Ana de Armas, Blonde; Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie; Michelle Williams, The Fablemans.

Did the Oscars Get it Right? Yes. Yeoh finally gets to do all the things that she is capable of in an American film. Blanchett and Williams probably got robbed a bit here, but no one was going to win over Yeoh.

So what did we learn? With eight no's Best Actress has the most confusing decisions of the categories we've looked at so far. This makes sense to an extent because we all have strong opinions about lead performances. With supporting roles, a good role in a less than stellar film can be appreciated or good performance in a great movie can be lifted up. But when you're number one on the call sheet, there are going to be a lot more criticisms. However, I do tally up nine yeses, with three probablies and three debatables. And the debatables all could have been yeses. So it is not like Best Actress has a terrible track record. Next I'll look at Best Actor and then I'll finish up by looking at the this year's winners (which I kind of hinted at by talking about Emma Stone in the 2018 writeup.