Oscar Best Actress Winners 2026: Full History & Past Winners List
Jessie Buckley won the Best Actress Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026. She took home the award for her performance in Hamnet and made history as the first Irish actress to ever win this prize.
The Best Actress category is one of the most watched at the Oscars every year. Janet Gaynor started it all back in 1929. Since then 81 different actresses have won the award and each one has added something special to this history.
This page gives you the full 2026 winner breakdown plus every Best Actress winner from 1929 to 2026.
2026 Oscar Best Actress Winner
Jessie Buckley | Hamnet | Focus Features
Buckley plays Agnes in Hamnet, the real name of William Shakespeare’s wife. The story follows Agnes and William as they raise a family in 16th century England. Their 11-year-old son Hamnet dies from the plague and the film shows the grief that follows. Director Chloé Zhao and author Maggie O’Farrell wrote the screenplay together based on O’Farrell’s bestselling 2020 novel. Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare.
Critics called Buckley’s performance one of the best of the year from the moment the film debuted at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2025. Hamnet received eight Oscar nominations in total including Best Picture and Best Director. It holds an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Buckley swept every major award on the way to the Oscars. She won Best Actress at the Golden Globes, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and Actor Awards (formerly SAG). She was the heavy favourite going into Oscar night.
The historic win: Buckley became the first Irish actress to win Best Actress in Oscar history. She won on her second nomination. Her first nomination came in 2022 for Best Supporting Actress in The Lost Daughter.
At the ceremony: Buckley opened her speech with “This is really something.” She thanked her fellow nominees by name. March 15 was also Mother’s Day in the UK so she dedicated the win to “the beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.” Her entire family flew in from Ireland for the night. She told her husband Freddie Sorensen: “You’re the most incredible dad. You’re my best friend.” She also praised her eight-month-old daughter and director Chloé Zhao.
2026 Best Actress Nominees
| Nominee | Film | Studio | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jessie Buckley | Hamnet | Focus Features | WINNER |
| Emma Stone | Bugonia | A24 | Nominated |
| Rose Byrne | If I Had Legs I’d Kick You | A24 | Nominated |
| Kate Hudson | Song Sung Blue | Focus Features | Nominated |
| Renate Reinsve | Sentimental Value | Neon | Nominated |
Emma Stone played Michelle Fuller in Bugonia, a tech CEO kidnapped by two men who believe she is an alien. Stone has won Best Actress twice before for La La Land (2017) and Poor Things (2024). A third win would have put her alongside Katharine Hepburn and Frances McDormand. But voters rarely give back-to-back wins and Stone had just won two years prior.
Rose Byrne earned her first Oscar nomination for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. She won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy but faced long odds against Buckley’s sweep.
Kate Hudson received her first Best Actress nomination after a 25-year gap. Her 2001 nod for Almost Famous was for Best Supporting Actress. She gained 15 pounds and sang all her own songs for her role as Claire in Song Sung Blue.
Renate Reinsve earned her second Oscar nomination for Sentimental Value. She teams up again with director Joachim Trier after The Worst Person in the World. Her performance is quiet and layered.
Also Check: 2026 Oscar Winners List
Recent Best Actress Winners (2020–2026)
| Year | Winner | Film | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Jessie Buckley | Hamnet | First Irish winner |
| 2025 | Mikey Madison | Anora | Breakout performance |
| 2024 | Emma Stone | Poor Things | 2nd win |
| 2023 | Michelle Yeoh | Everything Everywhere All at Once | First Asian woman to win |
| 2022 | Jessica Chastain | The Eyes of Tammy Faye | Transformative role |
| 2021 | Frances McDormand | Nomadland | 3rd win |
| 2020 | Renée Zellweger | Judy | Comeback role |
2025: Mikey Madison — Anora
Madison plays Anora, a New York sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch in Sean Baker’s film. The performance launched her career to a new level. Her win was a big moment for independent cinema.
2024: Emma Stone — Poor Things
Stone plays Bella Baxter, a grown woman brought back to life with a child’s brain. Director Yorgos Lanthimos pushed her into bizarre and physically demanding territory. The film won four Oscars from 11 nominations.
2023: Michelle Yeoh — Everything Everywhere All at Once
Yeoh plays a laundromat owner who discovers she can travel across parallel universes. She was 60 years old when she won. Her win was historic as she became the first Asian woman to win Best Actress.
2022: Jessica Chastain — The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Chastain plays real-life televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. She wore heavy prosthetic makeup to age across decades. She showed the private pain behind Bakker’s public persona. It was her first Oscar win on her third nomination.
2021: Frances McDormand — Nomadland
McDormand plays Fern, a woman who takes to the road in a van after losing her job and her husband. She was also a producer on the film. Her win gave her a third Best Actress Oscar. Only Katharine Hepburn has more.
2020: Renée Zellweger — Judy
Zellweger plays Judy Garland during the final months of her life in London. She sang the songs herself. The win gave Zellweger her second Oscar. She had previously won Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain in 2004.
Best Actress Records and Statistics
Most Wins
| Rank | Actress | Best Actress Wins | Films |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katharine Hepburn | 4 | Morning Glory, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter, On Golden Pond |
| 2 | Frances McDormand | 3 | Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Nomadland |
| 3 | 13 actresses tied | 2 | Various |
Hepburn is the only person in history to win four acting Oscars. Her Best Actress wins cover nearly 50 years: Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981). She tied with Barbra Streisand in 1969 which remains the only tie in Best Actress history.
McDormand won for Fargo (1996), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (2017) and Nomadland (2020). She fully disappears into each character which is rare even for top actors.
Two-time Best Actress winners (13 total): Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Hilary Swank, Jodie Foster, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Vivien Leigh, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Glenda Jackson, Luise Rainer, Ingrid Bergman and Elizabeth Taylor.
Most Nominations
| Rank | Actress | Nominations | Best Actress Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meryl Streep | 17 | 2 |
| 2 | Katharine Hepburn | 12 | 4 |
| 3 | Bette Davis | 10 | 2 |
| 4 | Glenn Close | 8 | 0 |
| 5 | Greer Garson | 7 | 1 |
Meryl Streep owns the Best Actress nomination record at 17. She won the category twice for Sophie’s Choice (1982) and The Iron Lady (2011). She also won Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), giving her three Oscars in total. Her Best Actress nominations run from 1978 to 2017, covering four straight decades. She has 21 total Oscar nominations across both acting categories. No actor in history has more.
Glenn Close received eight Best Actress nominations and never won. That makes her the most nominated actress in this category without a win.
Age Records
| Record | Actress | Age | Film | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youngest Winner | Marlee Matlin | 21 | Children of a Lesser God | 1986 |
| Oldest Winner | Jessica Tandy | 80 | Driving Miss Daisy | 1989 |
| Youngest Nominee | Quvenzhané Wallis | 9 | Beasts of the Southern Wild | 2012 |
| Oldest Nominee | Emmanuelle Riva | 85 | Amour | 2012 |
Historic Firsts in Best Actress History
- First winner: Janet Gaynor (1929) for 7th Heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise
- First tie: Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand shared the win in 1969
- First Black winner: Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball (2001)
- First Asian winner: Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023)
- First Irish winner: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet (2026)
- First deaf winner: Marlee Matlin for Children of a Lesser God (1986)
- No Latina actress has won Best Actress yet
- Greer Garson received five straight nominations from 1941 to 1945
Notable Best Actress Performances
Vivien Leigh — Gone with the Wind (1939) Leigh played Scarlett O’Hara in what became the most successful film of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Scarlett is stubborn, flawed and magnetic. Leigh captured all of it. The performance still holds up today.
Katharine Hepburn — On Golden Pond (1981) Hepburn won her fourth Oscar at age 74. She played opposite Henry Fonda in a quiet story about aging and family. The role showed a warmth that people had not always seen from her. It was the perfect final chapter.
Meryl Streep — Sophie’s Choice (1982) Many film scholars call this the greatest Best Actress performance in Oscar history. Streep learned a Polish accent from scratch. She handled a scene near the end of the film that almost no actor could attempt. The role set the standard.
Jodie Foster — The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Foster played FBI trainee Clarice Starling opposite Anthony Hopkins. She brought intelligence and physical restraint to a role that could have gone wrong in many ways. The film won all five top Oscars and only three films have ever done that.
Halle Berry — Monster’s Ball (2001) Berry became the first Black woman to win Best Actress at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002. That barrier had stood for 73 years since the first ceremony in 1929. Her performance was raw and completely unguarded.
Michelle Yeoh — Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023) Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win. She played an ordinary laundromat owner who can access skills from parallel versions of herself. The role needed action, comedy, heartbreak and wisdom. She delivered all of it.
Jessie Buckley — Hamnet (2026) Buckley plays Agnes as a woman deeply connected to nature and emotion. She grieves her son in ways that feel physical and real. Critics used words like “astonishing” and “heroic.” She made history as the first Irish actress to win Best Actress.
How Best Actress Winners Are Chosen
The Actors Branch of the Academy selects the nominees. About 1,300 members belong to this branch. They vote using single transferable vote where each member ranks their choices in order. The counting runs through multiple rounds until five nominees emerge. This system has been in place since 1937. Films need a qualifying theatrical run in Los Angeles County during the calendar year to be eligible.
All Academy members vote for the final winner, about 9,500 people across every branch. A member does not need to be an actor to vote in acting categories. Whoever gets the most votes wins. Starting in 2026 voters must watch all nominees before voting.
Precursor Awards and What They Mean
| Award | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| BAFTA | One of the strongest Oscar predictors. British voters often align with Academy voters. |
| Actor Awards (formerly SAG) | SAG members overlap heavily with Academy actors. Strong predictor for acting categories. |
| Golden Globes | Splits actresses into Drama and Musical/Comedy. The Drama winner usually aligns with Oscar. |
| Critics’ Choice | Builds early momentum. Less reliable than BAFTA or SAG but important for campaign visibility. |
Sweeping all four major precursors almost always leads to an Oscar win. Jessie Buckley did exactly that in 2026.
Complete Best Actress Winners List (1929–2026)
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Jessie Buckley | Hamnet |
| 2025 | Mikey Madison | Anora |
| 2024 | Emma Stone | Poor Things |
| 2023 | Michelle Yeoh | Everything Everywhere All at Once |
| 2022 | Jessica Chastain | The Eyes of Tammy Faye |
| 2021 | Frances McDormand | Nomadland |
| 2020 | Renée Zellweger | Judy |
| 2019 | Olivia Colman | The Favourite |
| 2018 | Frances McDormand | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri |
| 2017 | Emma Stone | La La Land |
| 2016 | Brie Larson | Room |
| 2015 | Julianne Moore | Still Alice |
| 2014 | Cate Blanchett | Blue Jasmine |
| 2013 | Jennifer Lawrence | Silver Linings Playbook |
| 2012 | Meryl Streep | The Iron Lady |
| 2011 | Natalie Portman | Black Swan |
| 2010 | Sandra Bullock | The Blind Side |
| 2009 | Kate Winslet | The Reader |
| 2008 | Marion Cotillard | La Vie en Rose |
| 2007 | Helen Mirren | The Queen |
| 2006 | Reese Witherspoon | Walk the Line |
| 2005 | Hilary Swank | Million Dollar Baby |
| 2004 | Charlize Theron | Monster |
| 2003 | Nicole Kidman | The Hours |
| 2002 | Halle Berry | Monster’s Ball |
| 2001 | Julia Roberts | Erin Brockovich |
| 2000 | Hilary Swank | Boys Don’t Cry |
| 1999 | Gwyneth Paltrow | Shakespeare in Love |
| 1998 | Helen Hunt | As Good as It Gets |
| 1997 | Frances McDormand | Fargo |
| 1996 | Susan Sarandon | Dead Man Walking |
| 1995 | Jessica Lange | Blue Sky |
| 1994 | Holly Hunter | The Piano |
| 1993 | Emma Thompson | Howards End |
| 1992 | Jodie Foster | The Silence of the Lambs |
| 1991 | Kathy Bates | Misery |
| 1990 | Jessica Tandy | Driving Miss Daisy |
| 1989 | Jodie Foster | The Accused |
| 1988 | Cher | Moonstruck |
| 1987 | Marlee Matlin | Children of a Lesser God |
| 1986 | Geraldine Page | The Trip to Bountiful |
| 1985 | Sally Field | Places in the Heart |
| 1984 | Shirley MacLaine | Terms of Endearment |
| 1983 | Meryl Streep | Sophie’s Choice |
| 1982 | Katharine Hepburn | On Golden Pond |
| 1981 | Sissy Spacek | Coal Miner’s Daughter |
| 1980 | Sally Field | Norma Rae |
| 1979 | Jane Fonda | Coming Home |
| 1978 | Diane Keaton | Annie Hall |
| 1977 | Faye Dunaway | Network |
| 1976 | Louise Fletcher | One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest |
| 1975 | Ellen Burstyn | Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore |
| 1974 | Glenda Jackson | A Touch of Class |
| 1973 | Liza Minnelli | Cabaret |
| 1972 | Jane Fonda | Klute |
| 1971 | Glenda Jackson | Women in Love |
| 1970 | Maggie Smith | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie |
| 1969 | Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand (TIE) | The Lion in Winter / Funny Girl |
| 1968 | Katharine Hepburn | Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner |
| 1967 | Elizabeth Taylor | Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
| 1966 | Julie Christie | Darling |
| 1965 | Julie Andrews | Mary Poppins |
| 1964 | Patricia Neal | Hud |
| 1963 | Anne Bancroft | The Miracle Worker |
| 1962 | Sophia Loren | Two Women |
| 1961 | Elizabeth Taylor | BUtterfield 8 |
| 1960 | Simone Signoret | Room at the Top |
| 1959 | Susan Hayward | I Want to Live! |
| 1958 | Joanne Woodward | The Three Faces of Eve |
| 1957 | Ingrid Bergman | Anastasia |
| 1956 | Anna Magnani | The Rose Tattoo |
| 1955 | Grace Kelly | The Country Girl |
| 1954 | Audrey Hepburn | Roman Holiday |
| 1953 | Shirley Booth | Come Back, Little Sheba |
| 1952 | Vivien Leigh | A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 1951 | Judy Holliday | Born Yesterday |
| 1950 | Olivia de Havilland | The Heiress |
| 1949 | Jane Wyman | Johnny Belinda |
| 1948 | Loretta Young | The Farmer’s Daughter |
| 1947 | Olivia de Havilland | To Each His Own |
| 1946 | Joan Crawford | Mildred Pierce |
| 1945 | Ingrid Bergman | Gaslight |
| 1944 | Jennifer Jones | The Song of Bernadette |
| 1943 | Greer Garson | Mrs. Miniver |
| 1942 | Joan Fontaine | Suspicion |
| 1941 | Ginger Rogers | Kitty Foyle |
| 1940 | Vivien Leigh | Gone with the Wind |
| 1939 | Bette Davis | Jezebel |
| 1938 | Luise Rainer | The Good Earth |
| 1937 | Luise Rainer | The Great Ziegfeld |
| 1936 | Bette Davis | Dangerous |
| 1935 | Claudette Colbert | It Happened One Night |
| 1934 | Katharine Hepburn | Morning Glory |
| 1933 | Helen Hayes | The Sin of Madelon Claudet |
| 1932 | Marie Dressler | Min and Bill |
| 1931 | Mary Pickford | Coquette |
| 1930 | Janet Gaynor | 7th Heaven / Street Angel / Sunrise |
| 1929 | Janet Gaynor | 7th Heaven / Street Angel / Sunrise |
Note: The 1929 and 1930 ceremonies covered an overlapping eligibility window. From the 4th Academy Awards onward a single specific performance was cited per nominee.