| Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress | |
| Awarded For: | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role |
| Presenter: | Broadcast Film Critics Association |
| Location: | Los Angeles, California |
| Holder: | Emma Stone for Poor Things (2023) |
| Website: | www.criticschoice.com |
The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress is an award given out at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The awards are presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), and was first presented in 1995. There were no official nominees announced until 2001. There are currently six nominees annually, and there have been three ties in this category (2008, 2009, 2018). Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Frances McDormand, Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, and Hilary Swank are the only actresses who have received this award more than once, with two wins each.
This is the main Best Actress award for leading performances by an actress. Previously, two other genre-specific categories were presented: Best Actress in a Comedy (from 2012 to 2019); and Best Actress in an Action Movie (from 2012 to 2016).
For the Supporting Actress category, see Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress.
| Year | Actress | Character | Work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicole Kidman | Suzanne Stone-Maretto | To Die For | ||
| Frances McDormand | Marge Gunderson | Fargo | ||
| Helena Bonham Carter | Kate Croy | The Wings of the Dove | ||
| Cate Blanchett | Queen Elizabeth I | Elizabeth | ||
| Hilary Swank | Brandon Teena | Boys Don't Cry |
| Year | Actress | Character | Work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julia Roberts | Erin Brockovich | Erin Brockovich | |
| Sissy Spacek | Ruth Fowler | In the Bedroom | |
| Satine | Moulin Rouge! | ||
| Bridget Jones's Diary | |||
| Julianne Moore | Cathy Whitaker | Far from Heaven | |
| Frida | |||
| The Hours | |||
| Constance "Connie" Sumner | Unfaithful | ||
| Charlize Theron | Aileen Wuornos | Monster | |
| Kathy Nicolo | House of Sand and Fog | ||
| Erica Barry | Something's Gotta Give | ||
| Ada Monroe | Cold Mountain | ||
| Sarah Sullivan | In America | ||
| Cristina "Cris" Peck | 21 Grams | ||
| Hilary Swank | Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald | Million Dollar Baby | |
| Julia Lambert | Being Julia | ||
| María Álvarez | Maria Full of Grace | ||
| Vera Drake | Vera Drake | ||
| Clementine Kruczynski | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | ||
| Reese Witherspoon | June Carter Cash | Walk the Line | |
| Terry Wolfmeyer | The Upside of Anger | ||
| Mrs Henderson Presents | |||
| Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne | Transamerica | ||
| Pride & Prejudice | |||
| Josey Aimes | North Country | ||
| Helen Mirren | Queen Elizabeth II | The Queen | |
| Raimunda | Volver | ||
| Barbara Covett | Notes on a Scandal | ||
| The Devil Wears Prada | |||
| Sarah Pierce | Little Children | ||
| Julie Christie | Fiona Anderson | Away from Her | |
| Princess Giselle | Enchanted | ||
| La Vie en Rose | |||
| A Mighty Heart | |||
| Juno MacGuff | Juno | ||
| Anne Hathaway (TIE) | Kym Buchman | Rachel Getting Married | |
| Meryl Streep (TIE) | Sister Aloysius Beauvier | Doubt | |
| Rachel Armstrong | Nothing but the Truth | ||
| Daisy Fuller (adult) | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | ||
| Changeling | |||
| Ray Eddy | Frozen River | ||
| 2009 [1] | Sandra Bullock (TIE) | Leigh Anne Tuohy | The Blind Side |
| Meryl Streep (TIE) | Julia Child | Julie & Julia | |
| The Young Victoria | |||
| An Education | |||
| Susie Salmon | The Lovely Bones | ||
| Claireece "Precious" Jones | Precious |
| Year | Actress | Character | Work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 [17] [18] | Carey Mulligan | Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas | Promising Young Woman |
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | |||
| The United States vs. Billie Holiday | |||
| Autumn Callahan | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | ||
| Martha Weiss | Pieces of a Woman | ||
| Fern | Nomadland | ||
| Marie Jones | Malcolm & Marie | ||
| 2021 [19] | Jessica Chastain | Tammy Faye Bakker | The Eyes of Tammy Faye |
| Leda Caruso | The Lost Daughter | ||
| House of Gucci | |||
| Alana Kane | Licorice Pizza | ||
| Being the Ricardos | |||
| Spencer | |||
| 2022 [20] | Cate Blanchett | Lydia Tár | Tár |
| General Nanisca | The Woman King | ||
| Till | |||
| Nellie LaRoy | Babylon | ||
| Mitzi Fabelman | The Fabelmans | ||
| Evelyn Wang | Everything Everywhere All at Once | ||
| Emma Stone | Bella Baxter | Poor Things | |
| Killers of the Flower Moon | |||
| Sandra Voyter | Anatomy of a Fall | ||
| Nora Moon | Past Lives | ||
| Maestro | |||
| Barbie | |||