This article was
originally published in 2009 on another website. It’s now being reprinted here
and polished up a little bit:
With the decade nearly over, and the fact that we can get a
sense of who is committed to which projects through the end of 2009, we can
safely evaluate the actresses of the 2000s. The reason I'm picking actresses
instead of actors, is partially because actresses are easier to compare to each
other since they get the same roles (romantic interests, daughters, sisters,
mothers, feminist activists, monarchs named Elizabeth, etc.), and because
actresses tend to be at the peak of their careers for shorter time periods (for
example, the actresses of the 90's, Meg Ryan, Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer are
not really stars at all today).
The criteria:
-Being prolific, as in doing a lot of movies. If you have a
number of hits and some misses along the way, you still get more exposure than
someone who's been in very few movies and has won Academy Awards for two of
them like Hillary Swank
-Being in good movies. The actress might not be the one to
get the major awards bling from the movie but they might be part of great works
-Having Oscar nominations, nominations by other major awards
bodies, or generally highly praised performances
-Being a bankable movie star with blockbuster potential,
bonus points for helming a major franchise
-Being present the whole decade. If you've only been hot
since 2005 or 2006 like Amy Adams or Ellen Page, that's not really dominating
the decade but rather 3 or 4 years.
The list
1. Nicole Kidman
Kidman is one of the most prolific and visible actresses in
Hollywood and if she has had any misfires, one has to credit her for taking so
many chances and diving into them headfirst: She tackled romantic comedy with
one of the most innovative writers in the genre with Nora Ephron, she immersed
herself into the glitz and glamour of Baz Luhrmann, she teamed up with Sean
Penn and Sidney Pollack to make a classic thriller, and took a chance with a
controversial innovator in Lars von Trier even if she didn’t like it enough to
stick around for the sequel. Some of Kidman's less-remembered roles this
decade, such as that a trouble janitor who enters into May-December romance
with a professor in The Human Stain or a UN translator in Sidney Pollack's
thriller The Interpreter, are roles that might have been career highlights for
other stars on this list.
Dossier
Nationality: Australian
Best Role: Ada Monroe, Cold Mountain (highly subjective
personal opinion on the part of the author)
Other Highlights: The Others, The Hours, The Cold Mountain,
Dogville, Interpreter, Birth, Margot at the Wedding
2000s Hardware: 1 win, 2 Oscar noms, 4 Golden Globe Noms
Blockbuster/Tent pole Credentials: Golden Compass if it
spawns a sequel [Ed note: It didn't], voice work in Happy Feet
Directorial Portfolio: Anthony Minghella, Baz Luhrmann,
Stephen Daldry, Nora Ephron, Sidney Pollack, Lars von Trier
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| Credit: Rebloggy |
Known primarily for playing Queen Elizabeth in the last
decade, Blanchett never has exhibited much of a star persona but, like Kidman,
she has been highly prolific and immersed herself in a tremendous variety of
work. In the last three years alone, she appeared in seven wide release
pictures, she has earned Oscar nominations for three of them. In addition, she
has propelled two others to Oscar nominations for Best Picture. She also has a
penchant for the quirky and experimental as shown through her willingness to
embrace projects like Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic and Steve Soderbergh's The
Good German.
Dossier
Nationality: Australia
Best Role: Bob Dylan, I'm Not There
Other highlights: Veronica Guerin, Aviator, Life Aquatic
with Steve Zassou, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (she’s
arguably the only person acting in the film), Notes on a Scandal, Babel, Good
German
The decade in hardware: 1 Oscar win, 4 Oscar noms, 6 Golden
Globes Nods
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Lord of the Rings, Indiana
Jones
Directorial Portfolio: Steve Soderbergh, Steve Spielberg,
Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Ron Howard, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Peter
Jackson, Todd Haynes, Shekhar Kapur, David Fincher, Barry Levinson
3. Meryl Streep- The preeminent actress of our era. Twelve
nominations into her career, Streep is still capable of surprising audiences
with new facets of herself, which is simply amazing. This decade, she's
transformed into a stoic uberboss, a quaint country singer, and a sexually
adventurous middle-aged writer.
Dossier
Nationality-American
Best Role: Susan Orlean, Adaptation
Other Highlights: Devil Wears Prada, Prairie Home Companion,
Prime, It’s Complicated, Doubt, Manchurian Candidate
The decade in hardware: 4 Oscar noms, 7 Golden Globe noms
Blockbuster Credentials: Adventures of Lemony Snicket
Directorial Portfolio: Johnathan Demme, Rob Altman, Tom
Daldry, Spike Jonze, Robert Redford
4. Kate Winslet
Winslet was in the biggest blockbuster of
all time, and has done an excellent job in the 2000s of making audiences forget
the name Rose Bukater and remember the name Kate Winslet instead. Her effusive
personality and her able handling of Saturday Night Live the week after Ashlee
Simpson was busted for lip-synching has done wonders for her public persona but
it’s largely been about the acting talent with Winslet and the breadth of
films. She became the youngest actress to earn 5 nominations by 2007, and
finally goaded the Academy into giving her an Oscar through sheer perseverance
with her role of Hannah Schmidt in “The Reader.” Interestingly enough, she
predicted on a 2005 episode of “Extras” that it would take a Holocaust movie
for her to win.
Dossier
Nationality: British
Best Role: April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road
Other Highlights: Secret Life of David Gale, Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The
Reader
The Decade in Hardware:
Oscar Wins: 1, Oscar Noms: 4, Golden Globe Noms: 5
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Winslet isn't exclusively
high-brow, but she doesn't have any big blockbusters to her name this decade.
Notable Directors: Michel Gondry, Sam Mendes (her
then-husband), Todd Field, Marc Forster
5. Rene Zellweger
Ideal in romantic comedies or as a dramatic love interest,
Zellweger has also expanded to roles of independent women with roles in Miss
Potter, Cold Mountain and Bridget Jones. She scored three successive Oscar
nominations with Bridget Jones, Chicago, and Cold Mountain, and with her
performances in Cinderella Man and Miss Potter, was a a threat to be present in
the Oscar race pretty much every year she had a major film.
Dossier
Nationality: American
Best Role: Roxie Hart, Chicago
Other highlights: Nurse Betty, Cold Mountain, Miss Potter
The Decade in Hardware: Oscars: 1, Oscar Noms 3, Golden
Globe Noms: 6
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Bee Movie, Bridget Jones
spurned a sequel
Directorial Portfolio: Rob Marshall, Anthony Minghella, Ron
Howard, Neil LaBute, George Clooney
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| Source: DRWL Wordpress |
6. Reese Witherspoon
Her output is more limited than some of the ladies on the
list but she has been America's sweetheart since breaking out in Legally Blonde
and following up with favorable romantic comedy Sweet Home in Alabama. She also
is in high demand judging by the 15 million dollar paycheck she's been
commanding. Most importantly, she took her sweetheart charm and turned it into
a nuanced performance in one of the best performances of the decade in Walk the
Line.
Dossier
Nationality: American
Best Role: June Carter Cash, Walk the Line
Other highlights: Legally Blonde, Just Like Heaven
The Decade in Hardware: Walk the Line earned her a win at
the Oscars and was her sole nomination at Globes or Oscars
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Legally Blonde spawned a
sequel
Directorial Portfolio: James Mangold, Mira Nair
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| Source: IMDB |
7. Judi Dench
Proving that old age and the bob weave are not barriers, Dench continues to corner the market on
juicy veteran roles and has managed to score four Oscar nominations this
decade. While none of her Oscar-nominated roles were popular films at the box office,
she gets exposure through playing M in the James Bond series. She also appeared
in the critically acclaimed Pride and Prejudice.
Dossier
Nationality: British
Best Role: Barbara Covet, Notes on a Scandal
Other Notable Roles: Iris, The Shipping News, Mrs Henderson
Presents, Casino Royale, Pride and Prejudice
The Decade in Hardware: 4 Oscar noms, 3 Golden Globe noms
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: James Bond, the less
successful Chronicles of Riddick
Directorial Portfolio: Stephen Frears, Martin Campbell,
Lasse Hollstrom, Joe Wright, Rob Marshall
8. Scarlett Johansson
It is hard to even fathom how only five years after breaking
out in Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johannson has amassed a lifetime of great
performances to date. She's been in The Prestige, The Other Boleyn Girls, Match
Point, Girl with a Pearl Earring, a Love Song for Bobby Long, and has even had
time left over for a hearty romantic comedy like In Good Company or a sci-fi
thriller like The Island. Even before breaking out in Lost in Translation, she
managed to steal scenes in films like Man who Wasn't There and Ghost World. Due
to category confusion (was she supporting or lead for Lost in Translation?),
that career-affirming Oscar nomination eludes her but she's got plenty of time
to accumulate more accolades. She also has a BAFTA (British version of the
Oscars) to her name for Lost in Translation.
Dossier
Nationality: USA
Best Role: Charlotte, Lost in Translation
Other notable roles: Ghost World, Girl with a Pearl Earring,
Love Song for Bobby Long, Match Point
Notable Hardware: Some Golden Globe nominations but no Oscar nods in a cruel twist of fate
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: She was in Home Alone 3,
Prestige made quite a bit of money and she will be added to the Iron Man sequel
next summer
Directorial Portfolio: Paul & Chris Weicz, Woody Allen,
Sofia Coppola, Christopher Nolan, Brian de Palma, Joel & Ethan Coen, Frank
Miller, Phillip Noyce
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| Source: Product Placement Blog dot com |
9. Julia Roberts
The biggest starlet in Hollywood last decade has slowed down
a little bit this decade but still isn’t enough to stop and say. She's
considered herself semi-retired and usually enters into projects because of her
friendships with Brad Pitt, Steve Soderbergh, Mike Nichols or George Clooney,
which doesn't make her particularly bankable as a star any more. At the same
time, she's still Julia Roberts and generates a lot of buzz whenever she does
decide to do a film, such as Charlie Wilson's War a couple years ago
Dossier
Best Role: Erin Brockovich,
Erin Brockovich
Other notable roles: Closer,
Ocean’s 12, Charlie Wilson’s War, Duplicity
Nationality: American
The decade in hardware: One Oscar,
one Oscar nom and 3 Golden Globe noms
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Ocean's 11 series (though she was weaned out by part 3)
Directors: Stephen Soderbergh, George Clooney, Mike
Nicholls, Gore Verbinski,
10. Julianne Moore
Moore is usually attracted to only the classiest material,
and sometimes these films, like Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio and Freedomland,
are films that the general movie going public is rarely even aware of. In some
case, however, like Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men and the Oscar-nominated
The Hours, magic has struck and her profile has been upped significantly as a
result. Breaks into more lightweight material such as Laws of Attraction or
Next have also helped as well.
Dossier
Nationality: American
Best Role: Cathy Whitaker, Far From Heaven
Other Notable Roles: Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio, Laws of
Attraction, Children of Men, The Hours, A Single Man, Shipping News
The Decade in Hardware: Two Oscar noms, two Golden Globe
Nods
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Hannibal, Next
Directors: Todd Haynes, Ridley Scott, Stephen Daldry, Alfonso
Cuaron
11. Naomi Watts
With her ability to slip into and out of accents and an
on/off switch with which she can bring out intensity, Watts is simply too
talented to be anything but an A-list actor for long. Her performance in
Mullholland Drive was one of the most notorious Oscar snubs of the decade. Two
years later, she earned a well-deserved nomination in 21 Grams and a couple
years later, she turned a role that nearly derailed Jessica Lange's career in a
third-time remake into Oscar bait, with the role of Ane Darrow in King Kong.
She often adds a lot to films in supporting roles like Eastern Promises or I
Heart Huckabees and more often than not, her work goes unnoticed.
Dossier
Nationality: Australian
Best Role: Betty, Mullholland Drive,
Other Notable Roles: 21 Grams, The Ring, King Kong, Eastern
Promises
Oscar Hardware: 1 Oscar Nom, surprisingly zero Golden Globe
nods
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: King Kong, The Ring
Directorial Portfolio: Ron Howard, David Lynch, Alejandro
Gonzalez Inarritu, David Cronenberg, Peter Jackson, Gore Verbinski, Woody
Allen, James Ivory
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| Source: North Country Charlize Theron-The Wrap |
The Charlize Theron story is a dream come true for every B
and C-lister out there with hopes of turning into an A-lister overnight. With
Monster (2003), she landed that one juicy role and turned it into the
performance of a lifetime. The Academy treats the best actress race like a
coronation of Tinseltown's homecoming queen and more than in any other race,
there is a hesitancy to give it to someone who hasn't paid her dues, but Theron
was too good to deny. She later proved that she wasn't a one-hit wonder by
scoring another Oscar nod in North Country and has picked up parts in Paul Haggis'
In the Valley of Elah and attempted action roles in Aeon Flux and Hancock (the
10th highest grossing film of 2008). Neither showed sequel potential
but a kick-ass heroine is always marketable.
Dossier
Best Film Role: Aileen, Monster
Other Notable Roles: Aeon Flux, North Country, Curse of the
Jaded Scorpion
Nationality: South Africa
The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar win, 2 Oscar nominations, 1
Golden Globe Nomination
Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: An unsuccessful attempt
with Aeon Flux, Hancock had a decent opening weekend but fell off
Directors: Robert Redford, Nikki Cairo, Woody Allen, Paul
Haggis, John Frankenheimmer
13. Helen Mirren- The first woman over the age of 40 to win
a best actress Oscar since Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren had a big career hit
with her role in The Queen and won a second Golden Globe for playing Queen
Elizabeth I in the same year. In addition, she had Oscar nods for Godsford Park,
The Last Station, and made respectable Oscar bait in Calendar Girls. Well into
her 60s, she continues to exude an odd sex appeal and youthfulness. With the
exception of her Oscar-nominated role for The Madness of King George, the
actress was more visible onstage and in the British miniseries Prime
Suspect.
Best Role: Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen
Other Notable Roles: Gosford Park, Calendar Girls, The Last
Station
Nationality: British through and through
The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar win, 3 Oscar noms, 4 Golden
Globe noms
Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: National Treasure 2
Directorial Portfolio: Stephen Frears, Rob Altman, Taylor
Hackford, Sean Penn
14. Keira Knightley
When she was cast in Pirates of the Carribean, little-known
Keira Knightley might have been destined to be the female love interest in a
swashbuckling epic, but as she held her own against Orlando Bloom and Jonny
Depp, she gradually became the center of the story herself (and for that
matter, the only remotely interesting character onscreen in the disastrous
third installment of the trilogy). Rather than ride the kind of fame that one
gets from being in a billion dollar trilogy into a string of roles in romantic
comedies, Knightly went for more high-brow material, scoring a nod for Pride
and Prejudice and starring in an Oscar-nominated film with Atonement.
Dossier
Best Role: Jules, Bend it Like Beckham
Other Notable Roles: Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Atonement, Domino, The Edge of Love
Nationality: English
The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar nom, 2 Golden Globe noms
Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: Pirates of the Caribbean
Directorial Portfolio: Joe Wright, Gore Verbinski, Tony Scott
15. Jennifer Connelly- Like Watts, Connelly is so talented
that it was only a matter of time before she became an A-list actress, won an
Oscar or both. Her Oscar for A Beautiful Mind could have just as well been for
House of Sand and Fog, and she regularly appears in highly respected films such
as Requiem for a Dream, Little Children, and Blood Diamond and even her
unremarkable genre films like Open Water and Ang Lee's Hulk are capable of
drawing attention solely because her name is on the marquee.
Best Role: Kathy, House of Sand and Fog
Nationality: American
Other Notable Roles: Beautiful Mind, Blood Diamond, Little
Children, Requiem for a Dream, Open Water
The Decade in Hardware: One Oscar win, one Oscar nom, one
Golden Globe nom
Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: A failed attempt at The
Hulk, a commercially successful but critically panned Day the Earth Stood Still
Directors: Ron Howard, Ed Zwick, Todd Fields, Ang Lee,
Darren Aronofsky, Terry George
And the rest of the top 25 (All deleted from the internet forever, except 25):
16. Natalie Portman 17. Laura Linney 18. Maggie Smith 19. Catherine Zeta-Jones 20. Kirsten Dunst 21. Joan Allen 22. Halle Berry 23. Maggie Gyllenhaal 24. Cameron Diaz 25. Angelina Jolie
16. Natalie Portman 17. Laura Linney 18. Maggie Smith 19. Catherine Zeta-Jones 20. Kirsten Dunst 21. Joan Allen 22. Halle Berry 23. Maggie Gyllenhaal 24. Cameron Diaz 25. Angelina Jolie
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