In the days leading up to the 89th Academy Awards, FilmBuffOnline will be offering profiles on all the nominees in the major categories. Some may be well known, others might be new to you, but if you need a refresher on these talented nominees, here is what you need to know your nominees for Best Actress.
Isabelle Huppert
Nominated for: Playing businesswoman who is tracking down her mysterious rapist in Elle.
Other honors for this role:
Huppert has 34 nominations this year for this role, winning 19 awards for it, including the Golden Globe.
Where you might know her from:
Huppert is known for her large body or work over her almost 46 years acting, mostly in France but her English-language films include The Bedroom Window, I Heart Huckabees and Louder Than Bombs.
History with Oscar:
This is Isabelle Huppert’s first Oscar nomination.
Ruth Negga
Nominated for: Playing one-half of an interracial couple arrested because they were married in Loving.
Other honors for this role:
Negga has received 33 nominations from other organizations, tallying up 8 awards.
Where you might know her from:
Negga is perhaps best known for her television work, playing Raina in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tulip in Preacher.
History with Oscar:
This is Ruth Negga’s first Oscar Nomination.
Natalie Portman
Nominated for: Playing a grieving Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie.
Other honors for this role:
Portman has received 45 nominations for this role, with 21 wins.
Where you might know her from:
Portman is one of the few child actors to go onto adult success. Her films include The Professional, Star Wars: Episodes I-III and Garden State.
History with Oscar:
Natalie Portman has been nominated for two other Oscars, winning once.
2011: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Black Swan (Won).
2005: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Closer (Lost to Cate Blanchett, The Aviator)
Emma Stone
Nominated for: Playing an aspiring actress in La La Land.
Other honors for this role:
Rampling has been nominated 37 times for this role in other outlets, winning 16 awards in the process, including the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and BAFTA.
Where you might know her from:
Emma Stone seems poised to compete with Jennifer Lawrence as America’s Sweetheart/Most Popular Movie actress for years to come. She has appeared as Gwen Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man reboot, Easy A, and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
History with Oscar:
This is Emma Stone’s second Oscar nomination.
2015: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Lost to Patricia Arquette, Boyhood)
Meryl Streep
Nominated for: Playing a Wilkes-Barre born socialite who gets to Carnegie Hall through her fortune and not talent in Florence Foster Jenkins.
Other honors for this role:
Streep has been nominated 10 times for this role, and has won one award (from the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards.)
Where you might know her from:
Streep is one of the most decorated actresses in movie history. If you’ve seen an Oscar nominated film in the last thirty years, odds are you’ve seen her in it.
History with Oscar:
Meryl Streep has 19 previous Oscar nominations and three wins. If you need to have a pee break or get a snack, you should probably do so now. Getting through this list is going to take a while.
1979: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The Deer Hunter (lost to Maggie Smith, California Suite).
1980: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Kramer vs. Kramer (Won).
1982: Best Actress in a Leading Role, The French Lieutenant’s Woman (lost to Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond).
1983: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Sophie’s Choice (Won).
1984: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Silkwood (lost to Shirley McLaine, Terms of Endearment).
1986: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Out of Africa (lost to Geraldine Page, A Trip to Bountiful).
1988: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Ironweed (lost to Cher, Moonstruck).
1989: Best Actress in a Leading Role, A Cry in the Dark (lost to Jodie Foster, The Accused).
1991: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Postcards from the Edge (lost to Kathy Bates, Misery).
1996: Best Actress in a Leading Role, The Bridges of Madison County (lost to Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking).
1999: Best Actress in a Leading Role, One True Thing (lost to Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love).
2000: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Music of the Heart (Lost to Hilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry).
2003: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Adaptation (lost to Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago).
2007: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, The Devil Wears Prada (lost to Helen Mirren, The Queen).
2009: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Doubt (lost to Kate Winslet, The Reader).
2010: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Julie & Julia (lost to Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side).
2012: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, The Iron Lady (Won)
2014: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, August: Osage County (Lost to Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine)
2015: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Into The Woods (Lost to Patricia Arquette, Boyhood)
