Runners-Up: In addition to the
top 10, I considered the following performances as well. Rachel McAdams in
Spotlight who doesn’t get the bigger moments as Ruffalo and
Keaton, but exudes sympathy throughout. Fatma Mohamed in The Duke of Burgundy who is wonderful in her one scene, as an artisan of very specific
things. Cynthia Nixon in James White is
wonderful as a woman slowly dying of cancer. Sarah Paulson in Carol delivers her every line perfectly – and
creates a full character out of someone who only has a few scenes. Jada Pinkett-Smith in Magic Mike XXL presides
over the movie with unapologetic sexuality – and I think had more fun than just
about anyone else this year doing so. Tessa
Thompson in Creed takes what could have been a thankless “girlfriend” role,
and gives it a life of its own.
Top 10
10. Kristen Wiig in The Diary of a Teenage Girl
After having a huge hit with Bridesmaids, Kristen
Wiig has smartly done mostly indies – doing one interesting performance after
another – sometimes with comedic elements, sometimes not. She is quietly
building an impressive resume. Her performance in The Diary of a Teenage Girl
is perhaps her best to date – she plays a woman in the 1970s, who has just got
divorced, and decides she wants to let loose – she gets a hunky boyfriend, and
starts drinking more, doing pot, and having parties – and essentially ignoring
her teenage daughter – that is unless she is outright competing with her. Wiig
does a brilliant job with this woman – who she never tries to soften, and
portrays her as an often selfish woman, while still showing her with a little
bit of sympathy. Wiig has quietly become one of the most interesting actresses
around – and this is some of her best work.
9. Jane Fonda in Youth
Since making her return to acting 10 years ago
(after 15 years away), two-time Oscar winner Fonda hasn’t really found any
movie roles that match her immense talent – that is until Paolo Sorrentino’s
Youth, where Fonda delivers a one scene performance that is probably the best
thing in the entire movie. In the film, she plays an aging movie star, best
known for her roles in the films by Harvey Keitel’s director – who shows up to
tell him to his face that she will not be in his new movie, and how terrible
she thinks it will be. It’s a big, bold, brassy performance, and Fonda rips
into it and stops the movie cold. It shows just how good Fonda can still be.
Now it’s time for someone to give her a bigger role, to make full use of her
talent.
8. Joan Allen in Room
It’s been a while since the great Joan Allen got a
great movie role – but her work in Room ranks among her best. It is a quiet,
subtle performance – she plays Brie Larson’s mother, who had accepted years ago
that her daughter was probably dead – and now has to deal not only with her
return, but also the grandson she never knew she had. Allen plays this
wonderfully quietly – showing support to both, and subtlety bringing Jack out
of his shell a little bit. Her work in Room never calls attention to itself –
which is probably why she has mostly been overlooked this awards season,
despite the huzzahs the movie has received. But it’s perfect work for the film,
and the character, and a welcome return to form for one of the best actresses
around.
7. Katherine Waterston in Queen of Earth
Katherine Waterston has had a tremendous year –
starting late in 2014, when she delivered a stunning performance in Paul Thomas
Anderson’s Inherent Vice (as the enigmatic Shasta Fay Hepworth), and continuing
through this year where she was solid in Steve Jobs (as the mother of his
child) – and exceptional in Alex Ross Perry’s Queen of Earth. Here she plays a
woman – half of a female friendship with Elisabeth Moss – as the movie takes
place over two summers, one where she needed Moss, and is angered that she
brought her boyfriend to her country home, and the next year when Moss needs
her and she slyly, subtlety enacts her revenge (how purposefully is open for
debate). Waterston doesn’t have the showcase role that Moss has – she doesn’t
get to break down into tears, and edge into insanity, but her role is in many
ways even more difficult – and she does it brilliantly. In less than a year, I
have gone from not knowing who she is, to not being too able to wait to see
what she does next.
6. Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs
It is inarguably true, that once again writer Aaron
Sorkin has created a female character to be the voice of reason in one of his
projects – much like Sports Night, The West Wing and The Newsroom before it.
It’s also true, that as clichéd as this role may be, that Kate Winslet plays
the role perfectly – having to keep up with Sorkin’s mile a minute dialogue
(often while walking of course), and find an emotional core to a film that is
in many ways purposefully chilly. True, Winslet’s accent comes and goes at
times (strangely, it becomes more prominent the longer the movie goes on) – but
that’s a minor quibble with yet another great performance by one of our
greatest actresses. 
5. Elizabeth Banks in Love & Mercy
One of the most annoying tropes in biopics is the
ever supportive wife of the “great man”, who is there just to say supportive
things, and often absorb a lot of abuse, when the genius inevitably becomes an
asshole – but often comes out the other side. It’s annoying, and many great
actresses have been stuck in this role in the past. But the role that Elizabeth
Banks in Love & Mercy is more than that. Yes, she is the supportive “better
half”, and does help Brian Wilson through tough times. But she isn’t meek, and
doesn’t fade into the background. In fact, she almost takes over the half of
the movie that has John Cusack as Wilson – who is at times almost catatonic,
and under the abusive thumb of Paul Giamatti. Banks’ shows strength throughout
the film, and draws Wilson back from over the brink of insanity – but is a
character in her own right, not just in relation to Wilson. Banks has been
doing fine work for a while now – but this is probably her best performance to date
– and deserving of more love than she has received this awards season.
4. Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight
One of the most interesting things about Leigh’s
Daisy in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight is how she begins as the most
obviously hateful character in the movie – Leigh’s big, bold, brassy
performance makes no secret of her racism, and she seems crash and cruel. But
throughout the movie, as the rest of the reveal just how bad they are, Daisy
becomes less hateful as a result – so much so, that by the end, she is perhaps
the least hateful of them. Leigh, who has always been a terrific actress, is
doing some of the best work of her career here – Tarantino doesn’t do subtle,
and Leigh goes whole hog into it. But she does provide some quieter moments –
moments where she is thinking through precisely what her next move is. Daisy is
– next to Samuel L. Jackson’s Marquis Warren – the most complex character in
the film, even if it doesn’t appear like that at the beginning. And Leigh does
it all wonderfully.
3. Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina
Alicia Vikander had a terrific year – being the
best part of both The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Danish Girl – two films I
didn’t really like (and I didn’t even see Burnt or Testament of Youth or
Seventh Son). But the performance that should make her a star is her work as
Ava in Ex Machina – and robot with artificial intelligence, created by an
ego-maniac, who has to be put through the Turing Test by one of his underlings.
Her performance is immensely sympathetic from the get-go – someone we believe
has real feelings, and truly does care about her interviewer. Then, things get
interesting. Vikander’s performance is brilliant – she gives her vocal
inflection and facial expressions an artificiality, but doesn’t overdo it. She
is the most interesting character here – because she’s the hardest character to
get a grasp on, and she navigates the changes brilliantly. We’ll be seeing
Vikander for a long time to come.
2. Jennifer Jason Leigh in Anomalisa
In most years, an actress would not be able to top
the performance that Jennifer Jason Leigh gave in Quentin Tarantino’s The
Hateful Eight – but this year, Leigh did just that – and using only her voice.
Her work in Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s Anomalisa, as Lisa, is
heartfelt, gentle, subtle – and ultimately hopeful. She plays a woman lacking
in any real confidence – until she meets the main character, who falls for her,
and gives her confidence. The great thing about the movie is that although the
main character in the movie is ultimately a jerk – a man who cannot imagine
anyone’s else’s inner lives, the movie isn’t like that – and actually does get
to know, and love, Lisa in a way the main character is not capable of. Much of
this is because of Leigh’s wonderful performance, which makes her much more
human that she otherwise would be. Even something that sounds as silly and
stupid as her singing an acapella version of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
becomes one of the best moments of the year in her hands. I usually do not put
voice over performances on these lists – but I had to make an exception here.
Leigh does perhaps the best work of her great career here. 
1. Kristen Stewart in Clouds of Sils Maria
Before Kristen Stewart became a movie star with
the Twilight series, she was one of the best young actresses in Hollywood –
often taking on interesting roles in indie movies. She wasn’t good in the
Twilight movies – which is why many pick on her – although I will say that I
think she does the best job she possibly could in an impossibly bad role. Since
Twilight ended however, she has returned to what she was doing before – doing
great work in smaller movies. Easily the best performance she has ever given is
here – in Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria – playing the assistant to a
movie star (Juliette Binoche), who helps her boss prepare for a role – which is
about a powerful woman, and her assistant. There are several levels to
Stewart’s Clouds of Sils Maria – as there are several levels of performance to
her character as well. It’s a fascinating performance in a movie that
deliberately pays homage to Ingmar Bergman – something like Persona, where two
women become incredibly close. Stewart is wonderful navigating the different
paths her character takes – even going so far as delivering a speech defending
big, Hollywood movies that Binoche is badmouthing. Her enigmatic final scenes
work, in large part because of what Stewart has done before now. It’s a
testament to how great I feel Stewart’s performance is here that even in a year
this strong, I never considered anyone else for the top spot. This is a
brilliant performance in a film far too people saw.
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