2009 – Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
The Blind Side is a 2009 American biographical sports film about Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringing, through his years at Wingate Christian School, his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football, then finally becoming a first-round pick of the Ravens.
2010 – Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological horror film about a production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet by the prestigious New York City Ballet company. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which the committed dancer Nina (Natalie Portman) is a perfect fit, as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new arrival Lily (Mila Kunis). Nina is overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the part, causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into a living nightmare.
2011 – Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
The Iron Lady is a 2011 British-French biographical drama film based on the life and career of Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), a British stateswoman and politician who was the first ever female and longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century. Thatcher is portrayed primarily by Meryl Streep and in her formative and early political years, by Alexandra Roach.
2012 – Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Silver Linings Playbook is movie about a man with bipolar disorder who is released from a psychiatric hospital and moves back in with his parents, played by Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. Determined to win back his estranged wife, Pat meets recently widowed Tiffany Maxwell, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, who offers to help him get his wife back if he enters a dance competition with her. The two become closer as they train and Pat, his father, and Tiffany examine their relationships with each other as they cope with their problems.
2013 – Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Blue Jasmine is a 2013 American black comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film tells the story of a formerly rich Manhattan socialite (Cate Blanchett) who falls on hard times and has to move into her working class sister (Sally Hawkins)’s apartment in San Francisco.
2014 – Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Still Alice is a about linguistics professor Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), diagnosed with familial Alzheimer’s disease shortly after her 50th birthday. Alec Baldwin plays her husband, John, and Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish play her children, Lydia, Anna and Tom.
2015 – Brie Larson (Room)
Room is a 2015 independent drama film directed by Lenny Abrahamson and written by Emma Donoghue, based on her 2010 novel of the same name. It stars Brie Larson as a woman who has been held captive for seven years, and whose 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) was born in captivity. Their escape allows the boy to experience the outside world for the first time. The film also stars Joan Allen, Sean Bridgers, and William H. Macy.
