Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest acting achievements in film.

SAG Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture
The 2021 recipient: Viola Davis
Awarded for	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
Location	Los Angeles, California
Presented by	SAG-AFTRA
First awarded	Jodie Foster for Nell (1994)
Currently held by	Viola Davis for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
Website	sagawards.org

Winners and nominees

Jodie Foster won her titular performances in Nell (1994).

Susan Sarandon won for portraying Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995).

Frances McDormand won twice for her performances in Fargo (1996) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).

Helen Hunt won for her performance in As Good as It Gets (1997).

Gwyneth Paltrow won for her performance in Shakespeare in Love (1998).

Annette Bening won for her performance in American Beauty (1999).

Julia Roberts won for portraying Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000).

Halle Berry won for her performance in Monster's Ball (2001).

Renée Zellweger won twice for her roles as Roxie Hart and Judy Garland in Chicago (2002) and Judy (2019).

Charlize Theron won for portraying Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003).

Hilary Swank won for her performance in Million Dollar Baby (2004).

Reese Witherspoon won for portraying June Carter Cash in Walk the Line (2005).

Helen Mirren won for portraying Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006).

Julie Christie won for her performance in Away from Her (2007).

Meryl Streep won for her performance in Doubt (2008).

Sandra Bullock won for portraying Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side (2009).

Natalie Portman won for her performance in Black Swan (2010).

Viola Davis won twice for her performances in The Help (2011) and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020).

Jennifer Lawrence won for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook (2012).

Cate Blanchett won for her performance in Blue Jasmine (2013).

Julianne Moore won for her performance in Still Alice (2014).

Brie Larson won for her performance in Room (2015).

Emma Stone won for her performance in La La Land (2016).

Glenn Close won for her performance in The Wife (2019).

Legend:

  indicates the winner.

1990s

Year	Nominee	Film	Role(s)
1994 (1st)	Jodie Foster	Nell	Nell Kellty
	Jessica Lange	Blue Sky	Carly Marshall
	Meg Ryan	When a Man Loves a Woman	Alice Green
	Susan Sarandon	The Client	Reggie Love
	Meryl Streep	The River Wild	Gail Hartman
1995 (2nd)	Susan Sarandon	Dead Man Walking	Sister Helen Prejean
	Joan Allen	Nixon	Pat Nixon
	Elisabeth Shue	Leaving Las Vegas	Sera
	Meryl Streep	The Bridges of Madison County	Francesca Johnson
	Emma Thompson	Sense and Sensibility	Elinor Dashwood
1996 (3rd)	Frances McDormand	Fargo	Marge Gunderson
	Brenda Blethyn	Secrets & Lies	Cynthia Rose Purley
	Diane Keaton	Marvin's Room	Bessie
	Gena Rowlands	Unhook the Stars	Mildred Hawks
	Kristin Scott Thomas	The English Patient	Katharine Clifton
1997 (4th)	Helen Hunt	As Good as It Gets	Carol Connelly
	Helena Bonham Carter	The Wings of the Dove	Kate Croy
	Judi Dench	Mrs Brown	Queen Victoria
	Pam Grier	Jackie Brown	Jackie Brown
	Kate Winslet	Titanic	Rose DeWitt Bukater
	Robin Wright	She's So Lovely	Maureen Murphy Quinn
1998 (5th)	Gwyneth Paltrow	Shakespeare in Love	Viola de Lesseps
	Cate Blanchett	Elizabeth	Queen Elizabeth I
	Jane Horrocks	Little Voice	LV
	Meryl Streep	One True Thing	Kate Gulden
	Emily Watson	Hilary and Jackie	Jacqueline du Pré
1999 (6th)	Annette Bening	American Beauty	Carolyn Burnham
	Janet McTeer	Tumbleweeds	Mary Jo Walker
	Julianne Moore	The End of the Affair	Sarah Miles
	Meryl Streep	Music of the Heart	Roberta Guaspari
	Hilary Swank	Boys Don't Cry	Brandon Teena

2000s

Year	Nominee	Film	Role(s)
2000 (7th)	Julia Roberts	Erin Brockovich	Erin Brockovich
	Joan Allen	The Contender	Laine Hanson
	Juliette Binoche	Chocolat	Vianne Liberato
	Ellen Burstyn	Requiem for a Dream	Sara Goldfarb
	Laura Linney	You Can Count on Me	Sammy Taylor
2001 (8th)	Halle Berry	Monster's Ball	Leticia Musgrove
	Jennifer Connelly	A Beautiful Mind	Alicia Nash
	Judi Dench	Iris	Iris Murdoch
	Sissy Spacek	In the Bedroom	Ruth Fowler
	Renée Zellweger	Bridget Jones's Diary	Bridget Jones
2002 (9th)	Renée Zellweger	Chicago	Roxie Hart
	Salma Hayek	Frida	Frida Kahlo
	Nicole Kidman	The Hours	Virginia Woolf
	Diane Lane	Unfaithful	Connie Sumner
	Julianne Moore	Far from Heaven	Cathy Whitaker
2003 (10th)	Charlize Theron	Monster	Aileen Wuornos
	Patricia Clarkson	The Station Agent	Olivia Harris
	Diane Keaton	Something's Gotta Give	Erica Barry
	Naomi Watts	21 Grams	Cristina Gallagher
	Evan Rachel Wood	Thirteen	Tracy Freeland
2004 (11th)	Hilary Swank	Million Dollar Baby	Maggie Fitzgerald
	Annette Bening	Being Julia	Julia Lambert
	Catalina Sandino Moreno	Maria Full of Grace	Maria Álvarez
	Imelda Staunton	Vera Drake	Vera Drake
	Kate Winslet	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind	Clemetine Kruczynski
2005 (12th)	Reese Witherspoon	Walk the Line	June Carter Cash
	Judi Dench	Mrs Henderson Presents	Laura Henderson
	Felicity Huffman	Transamerica	Bree Hoffman
	Charlize Theron	North Country	Josey Aimes
	Ziyi Zhang	Memoirs of a Geisha	Sayuri Takanasja
2006 (13th)	Helen Mirren	The Queen	Queen Elizabeth II
	Penélope Cruz	Volver	Raimunda
	Judi Dench	Notes on a Scandal	Barbara Covett
	Meryl Streep	The Devil Wears Prada	Miranda Priestly
	Kate Winslet	Little Children	Sarah Pierce
2007 (14th)	Julie Christie	Away from Her	Fiona Anderson
	Cate Blanchett	Elizabeth: The Golden Age	Queen Elizabeth I
	Marion Cotillard	La Vie en Rose (La môme)	Édith Piaf
	Angelina Jolie	A Mighty Heart	Mariane Pearl
	Elliot Page	Juno	Juno MacGuff
2008 (15th)	Meryl Streep	Doubt	Sister Aloysius Beauvier
	Anne Hathaway	Rachel Getting Married	Kym Ryder
	Angelina Jolie	Changeling	Christine Collins
	Melissa Leo	Frozen River	Ray Eddy
	Kate Winslet	Revolutionary Road	April Wheeler
2009 (16th)	Sandra Bullock	The Blind Side	Leigh Anne Tuohy
	Helen Mirren	The Last Station	Sophia Tolstaya
	Carey Mulligan	An Education	Jenny Mellor
	Gabourey Sidibe	Precious	Precious Jones
	Meryl Streep	Julie & Julia	Julia Child

2010s

Year	Nominee	Film	Role(s)
2010 (17th)	Natalie Portman	Black Swan	Nina Sayers
	Annette Bening	The Kids Are All Right	Dr. Nicole "Nic" Allgood
	Nicole Kidman	Rabbit Hole	Becca Corbett
	Jennifer Lawrence	Winter's Bone	Ree Dolly
	Hilary Swank	Conviction	Betty Anne Waters
2011 (18th)	Viola Davis	The Help	Aibileen Clark
	Glenn Close	Albert Nobbs	Albert Nobbs
	Meryl Streep	The Iron Lady	Margaret Thatcher
	Tilda Swinton	We Need to Talk About Kevin	Eva Khatchadourian
	Michelle Williams	My Week with Marilyn	Marilyn Monroe
2012 (19th)	Jennifer Lawrence	Silver Linings Playbook	Tiffany Maxwell
	Jessica Chastain	Zero Dark Thirty	Maya Harris
	Marion Cotillard	Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os)	Stéphanie
	Helen Mirren	Hitchcock	Alma Reville
	Naomi Watts	The Impossible	Maria Bennett
2013 (20th)	Cate Blanchett	Blue Jasmine	Jeanette "Jasmine" Francis
	Sandra Bullock	Gravity	Dr. Ryan Stone
	Judi Dench	Philomena	Philomena Lee
	Meryl Streep	August: Osage County	Violet Weston
	Emma Thompson	Saving Mr. Banks	P. L. Travers
2014 (21st)	Julianne Moore	Still Alice	Dr. Alice Howland
	Jennifer Aniston	Cake	Claire Bennett
	Felicity Jones	The Theory of Everything	Jane Wilde Hawking
	Rosamund Pike	Gone Girl	Amy Elliott-Dunne
	Reese Witherspoon	Wild	Cheryl Strayed
2015 (22nd)	Brie Larson	Room	Joy "Ma" Newsome
	Cate Blanchett	Carol	Carol Aird
	Helen Mirren	Woman in Gold	Maria Altmann
	Saoirse Ronan	Brooklyn	Eilis Lacey
	Sarah Silverman	I Smile Back	Elaine "Laney" Brooks
2016 (23rd)	Emma Stone	La La Land	Mia Dolan
	Amy Adams	Arrival	Dr. Louise Banks
	Emily Blunt	The Girl on the Train	Rachel Watson
	Natalie Portman	Jackie	Jackie Kennedy
	Meryl Streep	Florence Foster Jenkins	Florence Foster Jenkins
2017 (24th)	Frances McDormand	Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	Mildred Hayes
	Judi Dench	Victoria & Abdul	Queen Victoria
	Sally Hawkins	The Shape of Water	Elisa Esposito
	Margot Robbie	I, Tonya	Tonya Harding
	Saoirse Ronan	Lady Bird	Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson
2018 (25th)	Glenn Close	The Wife	Joan Castleman
	Emily Blunt	Mary Poppins Returns	Mary Poppins
	Olivia Colman	The Favourite	Queen Anne
	Lady Gaga	A Star Is Born	Ally Maine
	Melissa McCarthy	Can You Ever Forgive Me?	Lee Israel
2019 (26th)	Renée Zellweger	Judy	Judy Garland
	Cynthia Erivo	Harriet	Harriet Tubman
	Scarlett Johansson	Marriage Story	Nicole Barber
	Lupita Nyong'o	Us	Adelaide Wilson / Red
	Charlize Theron	Bombshell	Megyn Kelly

2020s

Year	Nominee	Film	Role(s)
2020 (27th)	Viola Davis	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	Ma Rainey
	Amy Adams	Hillbilly Elegy	Beverly "Bev" Vance
	Vanessa Kirby	Pieces of a Woman	Martha Weiss
	Frances McDormand	Nomadland	Fern
	Carey Mulligan	Promising Young Woman	Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas

Superlatives

Superlative	Leading Actress		Supporting Actress		Overall
Actress with most awards	Viola Davis, Frances McDormand, Renée Zellweger	2	Kate Winslet	2	Viola Davis, Renée Zellweger	3
Actress with most nominations	Meryl Streep	10	Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet	4	Meryl Streep	11
Actress with most nominations without ever winning	Judi Dench	6	Amy Adams	4	Amy Adams	6
Film with most nominations	—		Almost Famous, Babel, Being John Malkovich, Bombshell, Chicago, Doubt, The Favourite, The Fighter, Forrest Gump, The Help, Up in the Air	2	Bombshell, Chicago, Doubt, The Favourite,The Help	3
Oldest winner	Glenn Close (The Wife, 2019)	71	Gloria Stuart (Titanic, 1998)	87	Gloria Stuart (Titanic, 1998)	87
Oldest nominee	Judi Dench (Victoria & Abdul, 2018)	83
Youngest winner	Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, 2013)	22	Kate Winslet (Sense and Sensibility, 1996)	20	Kate Winslet (Sense and Sensibility, 1996)	20
Youngest nominee	Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen, 2004)	16	Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam, 2002)	7	Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam, 2002)	7

Multiple winners

2 wins

• Viola Davis (The Help (2011), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020))
• Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017))
• Renée Zellweger (Chicago (2002), Judy (2019))

Multiple nominees

Note: Winners are indicated in bold type.

Two nominations

• Amy Adams (Arrival (2016), Hillbilly Elegy (2020))
• Joan Allen (Nixon (1995), The Contender (2000))
• Emily Blunt (The Girl On The Train (2016), Mary Poppins Returns (2018))
• Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side (2009), Gravity (2013))
• Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs (2011), The Wife (2018))
• Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose (2007), Rust and Bone (2012))
• Viola Davis (The Help (2011), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020))
• Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart (2007), Changeling (2008))
• Diane Keaton (Marvin's Room (1996), Something's Gotta Give (2003))
• Nicole Kidman (The Hours (2002), Rabbit Hole (2010))
• Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone (2010), Silver Linings Playbook (2012))
• Carey Mulligan (An Education (2009), Promising Young Woman (2020))
• Natalie Portman (Black Swan (2010), Jackie (2016))
• Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn (2015), Lady Bird (2017))
• Susan Sarandon (The Client (1994), Dead Man Walking (1995))
• Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility (1995), Saving Mr. Banks (2013))
• Naomi Watts (21 Grams (2003), The Impossible (2012))
• Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line (2005), Wild (2014))

Three nominations

• Annette Bening (American Beauty (1999), Being Julia (2004), The Kids Are All Right (2010))
• Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Nomadland (2020))
• Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair (1999), Far from Heaven (2002), Still Alice (2014))
• Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry (1999), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Conviction (2010))
• Charlize Theron (Monster (2003), North Country (2005), Bombshell (2019))
• Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Chicago (2002), Judy (2019))

Four nominations

• Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth (1998), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Blue Jasmine (2013), Carol (2015))
• Helen Mirren (The Queen (2006), The Last Station (2009), Hitchcock (2012), Woman in Gold (2015))
• Kate Winslet (Titanic (1997), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Little Children (2006), Revolutionary Road (2008))

Six nominations

• Judi Dench (Mrs Brown (1997), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Philomena (2013), Victoria & Abdul (2017))

Ten nominations

• Meryl Streep (The River Wild (1994), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), One True Thing (1998), Music of the Heart (1999), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Doubt (2008), Julie & Julia (2009), The Iron Lady (2011), August: Osage County (2013), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016))

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actress
• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical

External links

• SAG Awards official site