The Film Experience

by Nathaniel R

We thought it would be fun to revise the Oscar Acting Hierarchy we last shared when Julianne Moore FINALLY won an Oscar six years back. What follows is a List of Oscar's 36 All Time Favorite Actresses... (you can see the corresponding actor list here) restricted to women with 5 or more nominations (though 4 nominations will get you in the list if you've won twice). Only the acting statistics are accounted for so Emma Thompson, for example, is not ranked. If you included her screenplay win she would have made the list. If you counted non-acting nominations, you'd also see Shirley Maclaine jump a rank as she was nominated for documentary once. Now that virtually every major star is also a producer these types of extra stats will only get murkier so we're opting not to include them and focusing only on what the Academy thinks of them as actors.

🔺 = the actress has moved up the chart or strengthened her placement since the last publication of this list (in February 2015). An explanation of how the rank was determined is at the end of the post.

OSCAR'S HOLY TRINITY
And 33 More Royals

THE HOLY TRINITY

01 🔺 Meryl Streep 21 nominations | 3 wins
02 Katharine Hepburn 12 nominations | 4 wins
03 Bette Davis 10/11 nominations* | 2 wins

* some people count Bette's write-in for Of Human Bondage, some do not

Their leading men in Oscar's heart: Nicholson, Olivier, Tracy, Newman

THE SUPREME GODDESSES

Similarly celebrated men: DeNiro, Hoffman, O'Toole, Daniel Day-Lewis

DEMI-GODDESSES

similarly celebrated men: Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Tom Hanks, Michael Caine

THE REST OF THE POST IS NOT COMPREHENSIVE (SO DON'T TELL US WE MISSED SOMEONE). JUST NAMES THAT COULD THEORETICALLY JOIN THE LIST ABOVE...

Who will be next to join the all time Oscar Actress hierarchy?

Tantalizingly close to list and still acting in movies with 4 nods each
🔺 Kathy Bates, Annette Bening, 🔺 Viola Davis, Jodie Foster, Holly Hunter, Diane Keaton, 🔺 Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence, Helen Mirren, Julia Roberts, 🔺 Saoirse Ronan, Emma Thompson, and 🔺 Michelle Williams

3-Timers that feel possible for a fourth... but can they make it to five? Five is such a small club
🔺 Laura Dern, Michelle Pfeiffer, 🔺 Natalie Portman, 🔺 Octavia Spencer, 🔺 Emma Stone, 🔺 Charlize Theron

2-Timers that feel possible for a third at least...
Jessica Chastain, 🔺 Olivia Colman, Anne Hathaway, 🔺 Sally Hawkins, 🔺 Scarlett Johansson, 🔺 Rooney Mara, 🔺 Melissa McCarthy, 🔺 Carey Mulligan 🔺 Margot Robbie, and 🔺 Rachel Weisz

One nomination only and it was several years ago. Seriously, what is the hold up on a second?
Toni Collette, Lupita Nyong'o, and Tilda Swinton

Current exciting actresses that have never been nominated (for acting) What would it take?
Nina Arianda, Nicole Beharie, Emily Blunt, Rose Byrne, Hong Chau, Carrie Coon, Essie Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Elle Fanning, Kirsten Dunst, Regina Hall, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Elisabeth Moss, Sarah Paulson, Kristen Stewart, Tessa Thompson, Mia Wasikowska, and Kristen Wiig

Comment? You know you wanna.

How the ranks were determined... Number of nominations determines general placement, with wins counting as an extra half nomination each to determine initial rank. Once that is done, wins determine rank. In the event that someone has the same stats in nominations and wins, the tiebreaker factor is that lead counts more than supporting. If the tie stubbornly remains its broken by endurance (how many year the spread of nominations covers). Further mitigating factors: Three wins is so uncommon that it gives the actress a phantom extra full nomination in terms of ranking (thus Ingrid Bergman trumps Geraldine Page). Honorary statues (Oscar or Jean Hersholt) give the actress a phantom extra boost with the same affect as an additional nomination and win (thus Liz Taylor jumps Jessica Lange)... unless she never won a competitive Oscar in which case it only counts as a phantom win or nomination (thus Kerr cannot pole vault up to do battle with Lange or Blanchett) which of those to be determined by the gatekeeper (yours truly).

In the event that someone has multiple wins they may vault over the next immediate rivals if said rivals have never won a competitive Oscar and/or half or more of their nominations are in supporting (thus de Havilland trumps Thelma Ritter despite having less nominations. This also accounts for four women with only 4 nominations entering this 5 nomination only "Most Beloved" ranks.)