My Favorite Actresses

I am awed by great acting. There are some actors who have wonderful insight into the varied characters they play. The first time you see a great performer, you recognize they are going to be great. Like Meryl Streep in a tiny role in the made for TV movie Holocaust. She was on screen for less than a minute, but we never forgot that performance. 

And there are actors who change so completely for each role, you hardly recognize them. Take a look at Joan Allen in Peggy Sue Got Married behind those nerdy glasses vs her role in the Contender.

So here are a dozen of my favorite actresses and some of the roles in which I've enjoyed seeing them.

Amy Adams - Enchanted, Charlie Wilson's War, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Doubt, Julie & Julia

Joan Allen - Peggy Sue Got Married, Tucker, Pleasantville, The Contender, The Notebook, Bourne Supremacy

Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth, An Ideal Husband, Talented Mr Ripley, Lord of Rings, The Aviator, Babel, Indiana Jones and Kingdom of Crystal Skull, Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Jennifer Connelly - Rocketeer, Pollock, A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog, Blood Diamond

Anne Hathaway - Princess Diaries, Brokeback Mountain, Devil Wears Prada, Becoming Jane

Frances McDormand - Fargo, Lone Star, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Burn After Reading

Helen Mirren - Excalibur, White Nights, Calendar Girls, The Queen

Julianne Moore - An Ideal Husband, End of the Affair, Far From Heaven

Michelle Pfeiffer - Witches of Eastwick, Married to the Mob, Dangerous Liasons, Fabulous Baker Boys, Russia House, Batman Returns, Age of Innocence, Up Close and Personal, What Lies Beneath, Stardust

Meryl Streep - Julia, Holocaust, Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer, French Lieutenant's Woman, Sophie's Choice, Out of Africa, River Wild, Bridges of Madison County, Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia

Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading, Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Naomi Watts - Dangerous Beauty, King Kong, Painted Veil, Eastern Promises