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Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Letter From the Editor
Dear film lovers,
In this age of theater vs. at-home movie watching, one thing is for sure: Nothing can dull the performances delivered by this year’s incredible crop of female actors.
The size of your screen has no effect on Taylour Paige’s ability to take you on an emotional journey in “Zola,” or Lady Gaga’s already-famous accent as Patrizia Reggiani in “House of Gucci.” Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball in “Being the Ricardos” will floor you from the theater’s front row or your couch. Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga as two Black women living very different lives in 1920s New York City will break you in “Passing.” Perhaps, for some, the big-screen experience is unmatched, but we would argue these performances are transcendent whether you watch them on your smartphone or the big screen.
The Backstage team is honored to spotlight the abundance of female film talent this year, just in time for the SAG Awards. Readers will get a special peek behind the awards curtain with our rundown of eligible performers primed for the spotlight on Pages 6 and 22. Ever wonder why so many winning actors exclaim, “Wow, this thing is heavy!” upon accepting their award? That’s because it is! Page 37 will tell you everything you need to know about the Actor® statuette. We’ve also spoken to some actors to find out which performances have inspired them.
We’re all still facing a fractured moviegoing experience, but whether on the big or small screen, these are the performances you’ll want to remember.
No matter where you are, happy watching!
Briana Rodriguez
Editor-in-Chief
MILLICENT SIMMONDS AND EMILY BLUNT IN “A QUIET PLACE PART II”
FYC: Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
AS HOLLYWOOD PREPARES FOR AN AWARDS
season honoring a flood of films that have been delayed due to COVID-19, Screen Actors Guild Award film nominators have their work cut out for them. It’s a particularly competitive year for leading ladies. So without further ado, here are the lead film actress contenders of 2021!
Halle Berry
“Bruised”
Given her three decades in Hollywood, it’s amazing how many surprises Berry still has up her sleeve. In her directorial debut, she stars as a disgraced MMA fighter seeking redemption both in the ring and in motherhood. The Oscar winner brings compelling nuance to a character who’s equally tragic and fierce, making clear that, for a middle-aged Black woman, getting another chance is something worth fighting for.
Emily Blunt
“A Quiet Place Part II”
Reprising her SAG Award–winning turn as Evelyn, the matriarch of a family on the run from vicious extraterrestrial sound-seekers, Blunt proves she’s as adept at minimalist horror as she is at pretty much every other genre. She lends vivid specificity to a woman doing what she must to protect her family while barely speaking a word. Sometimes all a star of this caliber needs is a silent closeup.
Jessica Chastain
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
Chastain puts in as much effort as we’ve ever seen to play famed televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. Her portrayal, however, is in no way a caricature—a risk a lesser performer could have
MAREN EGGERT IN “I’M YOUR MAN (ICH BIN DEIN MENSCH)”
How I Got My SAG Card:
Anna Kendrick
Beanie Feldstein
“The Humans”
It’s easy to imagine Feldstein’s Brigid in “The Humans” as an older version of her “Lady Bird” breakout Julie. She’s warm and bubbly—with dashes of neuroticism and self-loathing— as an artist on the cusp of adulthood who settles in New York alongside her boyfriend (Steven Yeun). Hosting Thanksgiving in her shoddy apartment while frenetically doing her best not to disappoint her overbearing family, Feldstein is the heart of the film.
Isabelle Fuhrman
“The Novice”
Watching this tale of a competitive college freshman falling obsessively in love with, of all things, rowing, you’ll feel Fuhrman’s leading performance in your gut. Even during Alex’s substantial stretches of silence, the actor’s intensity is electric; her real accomplishment is starting at a 10 and somehow ramping up from there. Talk about sweat, blood, and tears!
YLLKA GASHI IN “HIVE (ZGJOI)”
Jamie Lee Curtis
“Halloween Kills”
No past, present, or future scream queen will ever be as beloved and legendary as Curtis. Sorry, we don’t make the rules! Revisiting genre icon Laurie Strode with director David Gordon Green for a decades-in-the-making follow-up, Curtis is all feminist grit and survival instinct as she faces off against the murderous, seemingly impenetrable Michael Myers.
Maren Eggert
“I’m Your Man (Ich Bin Dein Mensch)”
This not-quite-romantic comedy asks: What if a robot designed to be the perfect lover were paired with the ultimate skeptic? Eggert, whose portrayal of scientist Alma earned this year’s Berlin International Film Festival prize, embodies the symbolic battle between head and heart. Does intellectualism or romantic abandon win in the end? The actor brilliantly keeps the question open.
Yllka Gashi
“Hive (Zgjoi)”
The stakes of this story of resilience, based on real-life tales of women persevering in a wartorn Kosovo village, rests squarely on Gashi’s weary shoulders. As her Fahrije unites neighbors to start a business (making beautiful red ajvar, a Balkan red pepper sauce), she never lets us forget that she’s waiting to hear the fate of her missing husband. Gashi is understated but magnetic, and you’ll find yourself bristling at everything and everyone standing in her way.
Alana Haim
“Licorice Pizza”
Some people simply get all the
JENNIFER HUDSON AND MARY J. BLIGE IN “RESPECT”
talent, don’t they? Already a prodigious rocker in HAIM, the band she started with her sisters, the performer makes her feature film debut directed by none other than Paul Thomas Anderson; and what a debut it is. Tapping into the contradictions, longing, and heartache of young, unconventional love, she plays her character Alana Kane with painstaking sincerity. We’ll certainly be seeing her onscreen again.
Patti Harrison
“Together Together”
No, Harrison’s Anna and Ed Helms’ Matt are not “together together,” but thanks to the profound chemistry between these co-stars, you’ll be rooting for them as if it’s one of cinema’s best rom-coms. Harrison stuns as a 20-something barista who becomes Matt’s surrogate. As she navigates their tricky relationship, she brilliantly balances laugh-outloud moments with soul-bearing vulnerability that, delivered by a less intuitive actor, would come across as saccharine.
Jennifer Hudson
“Respect”
Everyone knows that Hudson can sing, and she does so to the rafters and beyond as the late Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. But what’s most surprising about this Oscar winner’s return to the ballot is her speaking voice and posture. So calculated and precise is her character work that it will undoubtedly go down as one of the best biopic performances of the last decade.
Emilia Jones
“CODA”
This story about a Child of Deaf Adults, or CODA, hinges on its lead performance, and Jones does not disappoint. In this comingof-age tale, her character Ruby finds herself torn between loyalty to her family’s fishing business and her burgeoning dream of going to college for singing. Jones more than meets the challenge of endearing us to her predicament; her performance of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” must be heard—and of course, seen—to be believed.
Nicole Kidman
“Being the Ricardos”
To see Kidman recreating classic sitcom bits while done up in Lucille Ball’s era-defining “I Love Lucy” makeup and costumes is to witness one of the most impressive biopic illusions since Renée Zellweger’s equally iconic Judy Garland. And as with that Oscar-winning performance, Kidman imbues Ball with complexity while dramatizing a performer at a personal and professional crossroads.
MELISSA MCCARTHY IN “THE STARLING”
Lady Gaga
“House of Gucci”
“Father, son, and House of Gucci.” Gaga is following up her Oscarwinning “A Star Is Born” success by going in a diametrically opposite direction, giving the notorious Patrizia Reggiani (aka Lady Gucci, aka the Black Widow) the much-needed Hollywood biopic treatment. She embodies ’80s extravagance as only a true diva can, making every line and gesture look effortless.
Jennifer Lawrence
“Don’t Look Up”
Not only is Lawrence making what feels like a grand return to the big screen, she’s doing so with a filmmaker who seems like a perfect fit. Adam McKay’s star-studded satire, about two astronomers (Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio) who must warn the world about a disastrous comet collision, finds the actor’s comedic sweet spot. Rocking blunt,
TAYLOUR PAIGE IN “ZOLA”
punk-lite bangs and a distinct deadpan delivery, Lawrence reminds us that she’s inimitable.
Melissa McCarthy
“The Starling”
McCarthy has become one of the best actors around when it comes to making audiences both laugh and cry. In this tale of a mother turning grief into solace with the help of a pesky bird, she’s not forcing any such emotions; there’s an everyday grace to the way she moves through the story, as if McCarthy were inviting us along on a stroll through her character arc.
Frances McDormand
“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
At this point, McDormand’s on-camera skills could be considered supernatural; she should be studied by scientists— and actors, of course. Her Lady Macbeth in Joel Coen’s eyepopping adaptation is a lesson in restrained menace, and another noteworthy installment in the Oscar winner’s filmography. Shakespeare’s “Out, damned
spot!” monologue, uttered by so many legends of stage and screen, somehow feels fresh when McDormand whispers it.
THOMASIN MCKENZIE IN “LAST NIGHT IN SOHO”
Thomasin McKenzie
“Last Night in Soho”
Rarely do we come across a natural talent like McKenzie. Her ability to play just about every feeling in any genre or circumstance has caught the notice of today’s most prominent filmmakers. Her latest feat is with Edgar Wright; she impressively steers “Last Night in Soho” from a black sheep coming-of-ager to a terrifying ghost story of sexual assault, trauma, and revenge.
Taylour Paige
“Zola”
Paige is the gravitational pull that keeps Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris’ roller-coaster ride from going off the rails. The actor lends an unflappable narrative voice to this adaptation of a viral Twitter thread about two strippers’ trip to Miami. As the stakes fly sky-high, we watch the fearless Paige play all of Zola’s dawning realizations—and the self-preserving bravado that follows—with crystal clarity.
Dylan Penn
“Flag Day”
Freedom is very much on filmmaker-star Sean Penn’s mind in this story of a conman father and his wandering daughter (presumably portraying a relationship that’s quite different from the two stars’ real-life familial bond). Dylan Penn captures that theme in her riveting closeups as Jennifer; in America, we equate freedom with joy, but certain things, like family, keep us bound. She is an actor who understands how to harness tension and release.
Noomi Rapace
“Lamb”
Is “Lamb” a Brothers Grimm–esque fairy tale about conservation and animal
RACHEL SENNOTT IN “SHIVA BABY”
EMMA STONE IN “CRUELLA”
cruelty? Is it about the charms of motherhood and the ties that bind? Or is it about grief and unimaginable loss? Thanks to Rapace’s performance as Maria, a farmer who adopts a halfhuman, half-lamb child, the film is all of this and more. “Lamb” is one of A24’s more beguiling genre projects, and it marks one of Rapace’s most morally and emotionally complex screen performances to date.
Rachel Sennott
“Shiva Baby”
You likely haven’t heard Sennott’s name before this year, but that’s about to change thanks to her breakout performance in indie comedy “Shiva Baby,” in which she plays a bisexual woman caught between her ex-girlfriend and her current sugar daddy at a shiva. Sennott expertly balances bone-dry humor with deep pathos, making us feel for a character who could easily come off as despicable.
Kristen Stewart
“Spencer”
Stewart should start making room on her mantle for accolades recognizing her emotionally fraught embodiment of the late Princess Diana. As he did for First Lady Jackie Kennedy in 2016’s “Jackie,” Pablo Larraín peels back the public and private layers of a figure we thought we knew, painting a portrait that’s made all the more devastating by Spencer’s untimely death. Stewart is transcendent.
Emma Stone
“Cruella”
Cruella de Vil is such a notoriously outrageous and over-the-top villain that to play her is to play with fire. Even the most skilled actors risk losing the emotional truth that lies behind her runaway-train actions. Stone, however, is a conductor like no other, playing up the camp of a menacing fashionista with a hatred of spotted puppies while also giving her guiding notes of loss. As in the best origin stories, we feel like we’re meeting an icon anew.
FOR YOUR SAG AWARDS® CONSIDERATION
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE BRADLEY COOPER
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE ROONEY MARA
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE WILLEM DAFOE RICHARD JENKINS RON PERLMAN DAVID STRATHAIRN
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE CATE BLANCHETT TONI COLLETTE MARY STEENBURGEN
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
BRADLEY COOPER CATE BLANCHETT TONI COLLETTE WILLEM DAFOE RICHARD JENKINS ROONEY MARA RON PERLMAN MARY STEENBURGEN DAVID STRATHAIRN
RUTH NEGGA AND TESSA THOMPSON IN “PASSING”
How I Got My SAG Card:
Judy Greer
Tessa Thompson
“Passing”
At this point, it’s a fact: Thompson can generate chemistry with any co-star. Under Rebecca Hall’s direction, she inhabits 1920s Harlem housewife Irene so deeply that we can chart the character’s existential unraveling based on the actor’s subtlest clues. Opposite Ruth Negga as an old friend who storms back into her life, Thompson is in complete command, playing the complex subtext surrounding race, homoeroticism, and the expectations facing women.
Odessa Young
“Mothering Sunday”
Young makes an evocative impression in this Eva Husson and Alice Birch adaptation of Graham Swift’s novel about a Mothering Sunday in post–World War I England. She embodies maid-turned-writer Jane Fairchild at many different ages— first as a carefree, curious young adult, and later as a hardened, cynical woman. Without the clarity of her performance, we might get lost in the film’s dreamy, gorgeous glimpses of the past and future.
