Best Actress
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
As I said when looking at the best supporting actresses, 2012 has been a thin year for female performers, but that does not mean it wasn’t a good one. Just looking at what Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence did in their films, we have two of the great recent female performances, two of modern cinema’s most promising talents realizing their full potential and then some. I give Lawrence the edge because I personally find her character just a tad more compelling, but both would be deserving of the win, and since the real Oscar race will likely come down to one or the other, I think the results of this category will be very pleasing indeed.
For the other three slots, I started with a performance that absolutely floored me earlier this year, albeit one the Oscars are probably not even aware of. Brit Marling’s work in Sound of My Voice is the best exploration into the allure of cults film has provided in recent years – and that includes Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Master – because after five minutes of watching her act, I could easily imagine myself falling under her character’s spell in real life. Meryl Streep, meanwhile, delivered her best and most grounded work in years in the surprisingly powerful Hope Springs; ironically, this is the rare Streep performance the Academy is all but guaranteed to ignore.
There is a chance the Oscars will give a nod to my fifth choice, young Quvenzhané Wallis, and it would be wonderful if they did. What Wallis did in Beasts of the Southern Wild transcends our usual descriptors for child acting. Whether the performance was shaped by the director or merely reflects Wallis’ real-life personality (and having seen her at a Q&A, I can confirm she really is an incredible force of energy), Hushpuppy is unquestionably one of 2012’s great screen characters, and the young lady who brought her to life deserves the Academy’s credit.
Dream Winner: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Tough Omissions: Aubrey Plaza, Safety Not Guaranteed; Leslie Mann, This is 40; Amy Adams, Trouble With The Curve; Rashida Jones, Celeste and Jesse Forever; Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom; Keira Knightley, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
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