By The 2010 film roles that earned Flixist’s consideration for Best Actress are unique in that they are all fictions. It may not seem like much of a novelty, but no less than eight of the last ten Best Actress winners at the Academy Awards were taken for biographical roles, from Julia Roberts’ Erin Brockovich in 2000, to Sandra Bullock’s Leigh Anne Touhy last year. Take a peek at the lead contenders for Best Actor this year, and you know the trend sticks.
Heart and hard-as-nails determination set our favourite actresses apart, not history. Whether fighting for family or for the principal role in a ballet, these actresses proved their grit better than Rooster Cogburn ever did. Five actresses made the cut for the Flixist Awards 2010, but only one can win. Check out who the editors voted for after the break!
The 2010 film roles that earned Flixist’s consideration for Best Actress are unique in that they are all fictions. It may not seem like much of a novelty, but no less than eight of the last ten Best Actress winners at the Academy Awards were taken for biographical roles, from Julia Roberts’ Erin Brockovich in 2000, to Sandra Bullock’s Leigh Anne Touhy last year. Take a peek at the lead contenders for Best Actor this year, and you know the trend sticks.
Heart and hard-as-nails determination set our favourite actresses apart, not history. Whether fighting for family or for the principal role in a ballet, these actresses proved their grit better than Rooster Cogburn ever did. Five actresses made the cut for the Flixist Awards 2010, but only one can win. Check out who the editors voted for after the break!
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Unlike the competitive arena viscerally evoked in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, Natalie Portman’s prima status in the Flixist Best Actress category was barely challenged. Taking 12 of 15 editor votes, it’s unlikely that any category in this year’s awards will be more definitive. The difference between Portman’s performance and the only others to register votes—Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone and Greta Gerwig for Greenberg—is the physical metamorphosis Portman was required to undergo before she faced the psychological challenges of the role. Portman does not merely play a ballerina; she is the ballerina, possible only after months of training that taught her muscles to remember the moves, while she delivered the lines.
There is no mystery to the attraction we have to this role (and don't tell me it's the lesbian sex scene), nor do we wonder how Portman continues to pull one award after another, a pile that now includes the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for Lead Actress. No other actress gave what Portman gave this year; all the work other actresses did to put their characters’s lives back together simply couldn’t compete with the fantastic breakdown that drives Black Swan.
Dare to disagree? Here's the full list of Best Actress nominees and their dismal numbers:
- Natalie Portman (Black Swan) – 12
- Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) – 2
- Greta Gerwig (Greenberg) – 1
- Tilda Swinton (I Am Love) – 0
- Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) – 0