Countdown To Oscar: Best Actress

The Actress category is sort of the polar opposite of the Actor category. While the Actor category tends to favor older actors who have been nominated before, the Actress category is dominated by first time nominee's (39 of the winners) and skews much younger - the average age of Best Actor winners is 44, the average age of Best Actress winners is 36, a number inflated by the fact that Jessica Tandy won at 81 and Katherine Hepburn won three time between the ages of 60 and 75. Unlike the Actor category, a nominees chances of winning Best Actress aren't really affected by whether or not the film she's been nominated for has been recognized in the other big categories (a Picture nod helps, but as far as Director, Screenplay or the other acting categories go, it's nearly 50/50).

This year's nominees:



Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Hathaway truly came into her own as an actress this year, displaying a range that her early Disney films - and the recent Bride Wars - kept firmly under wraps. As family fuck up Kym, Hathaway shines though, it must be said, she has a lot to work with. Hathaway has won a number of awards, including the Critics Choice, but faces fierce competition from both Streep and Winslet. This is her first nomination.



Angelina Jolie, Changeling
I'm not really a fan of this particular performance but since I don't think there's any way Jolie will win, I'm not going to harp about it. Actresses playing mothers tend to fare well in both the leading and supporting categories, but I think there are too many things working against Jolie courtesy of the other four nominees. Jolie already has an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted.



Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Leo has been working steadily as a character actor in both television and films for about 20 years, just waiting for the starring role she so richly deserves. She found it in Courtney Hunt's Frozen River, which has garnered her her first Oscar nomination. Like Richard Jenkins in the Actor category, this is one of those cases where the nomination is the award.



Meryl Streep, Doubt
What can you say about Meryl Streep? She's a legend, she's a star, she's one of the greatest actors of all time. That she would be nominated for Doubt was one of the inevitabilities of this award season long before the film even saw the light of day. She won the Critics Choice Award and the SAG, amongst other critics awards and may very well be the one to steal Winslet's thunder. She has won twice before (as Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice) and been nominated, oh, about a million times (or 15, if you're a stickler for accuracy).



Kate Winslet, The Reader
Though she was campaigned as Supporting Actress, the AMPAS correctly placed her in the leading category, albeit at the expense of her performance in Revolutionary Road. Winslet is wonderful in this role and she's long overdue for a win. I'm pulling for her for two reasons: I think she's great and deserves the win, and I would love for AMPAS to prove Ricky Gervais right - if you want an Oscar, do a Holocaust movie. This is Winslet's 6th nomination in just 13 years.