The Best Actress 2004

1. Radha Mitchell

Radha Mitchell (born 12 November 1973) is an Australian actress. She started her career acting in various Australian TV series and movies, and later became known for her appearance in Hollywood films. Mitchell, a native of Melbourne, began acting when she was still in high school and had her ...

1600 points

2. Kate Winslet

Actress | Titanic

Ask Kate Winslet what she likes about any of her characters, and the word "ballsy" is bound to pop up at least once. The British actress has made a point of eschewing straightforward pretty-girl parts in favor of more devilish damsels; as a result, she's built an eclectic resume that runs the gamut...

1585 points

3. Ziyi Zhang

Actress | Yi dai zong shi

Ziyi Zhang is a Chinese actress and model. She is best known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Rush Hour 2 (2001), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).

She made her feature film debut in The Road Home (1999).

For her work in Memoirs of a Geisha she was...

1580 points

4. Martina Gedeck

Actress | Das Leben der Anderen

Martina Gedeck was born in Munich. After spending a year in the US, she studied drama at the Berlin University of the Arts. Martina's film career began while she was still at drama school. Her filmography covers practically all genres of film.

Gedeck has won a total of 23 major cinema and TV awards....

1502 points

5. Sandrine Bonnaire

Actress | La cérémonie

Sandrine Bonnaire was born on May 31, 1967 in Gannat, Allier, France. She is an actress and director, known for La Cérémonie (1995), To Our Loves (1983) and Vagabond (1985). She was previously married to Guillaume Laurant.

1436 points

6. Sophie Okonedo

Actress | Hotel Rwanda

Sophie Okonedo is a British actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda (2004).

Okonedo was born within London in 1968. Her parents were Henry Okonedo (1939-2009) and Joan Allman. Her father was British Nigerian ...

850 points

7. Hilary Swank

Actress | Million Dollar Baby

Hilary was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Judith Kay (Clough), a secretary, and Stephen Michael Swank, who served in the National Guard and was also a traveling salesman. Her maternal grandmother, Frances Martha Dominguez, was of Mexican descent, and her other roots include German, English, and ...

849 points

8. Gena Rowlands

Actress | The Notebook

Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands is an American film, stage, and television actress, whose career in the entertainment industry has spanned over six decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her late actor-director husband John Cassavetes ...

837 points

9. Rachel McAdams

Actress | The Notebook

Rachel Anne McAdams was born on November 17, 1978 in London, Ontario, Canada, to Sandra Kay (Gale), a nurse, and Lance Frederick McAdams, a truck driver and furniture mover. She is of English, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish descent. Rachel became involved with acting as a teenager and by the age of 13 ...

837 points

10. Sandra Bullock

Producer | The Proposal

Sandra Annette Bullock was born in Arlington, a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Her mother, Helga Bullock (née Helga Mathilde Meyer), was a German opera singer. Her father, John W. Bullock, was an American voice teacher, who was born in Alabama, of German descent. Sandra grew up on the road ...

829 points

11. Thandiwe Newton

Actress | Crash

Thandiwe Newton was born in London. She is the daughter of Zimbabwean mother Nyasha, a health-care worker from the Shona tribe, and British father Nick Newton, who worked as a lab technician. She lived in Zambia until political unrest caused her family to move back to the UK, where she lived in ...

829 points

12. Julie Christie

Actress | Doctor Zhivago

Julie Christie, the British movie legend whom Al Pacino called "the most poetic of all actresses," was born in Chabua, Assam, India, on April 14, 1940, the daughter of a tea planter and his Welsh wife Rosemary, who was a painter. The young Christie grew up on her father's plantation before being ...

827 points

13. Kelly Macdonald

Actress | No Country for Old Men

Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald was born and raised in Glasgow. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother, a sales executive in the garment industry. She has one brother, David. As a hobby, she acted in an amateur theatrical club, which she enjoyed a great deal. ...

827 points

14. Belén Rueda

Actress | El orfanato

María Belén Rueda García-Porrero (born March 16, 1965) is a Spanish actress. She is best known for her roles as Lucía in the TV series Los Serrano (2003); as Julia in The Sea Inside (2004), for which she won a Goya Award; and as Laura in The Orphanage (2007), for which she received another Goya ...

822 points

15. Lola Dueñas

Actress | Mar adentro

Lola Dueñas was born on October 6, 1971 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She is an actress, known for The Sea Inside (2004), Volver (2006) and Broken Embraces (2009).

822 points

16. Mabel Rivera

Actress | Mar adentro

Mabel Rivera was born on June 20, 1952 in Ferrol, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. She is an actress, known for The Sea Inside (2004), Goya's Ghosts (2006) and The Orphanage (2007). She is married to Enrique Banet.

822 points

17. Leonor Varela

Actress | Blade II

Leonor Varela was born on December 29, 1972 in Santiago de Chile, Chile, the daughter of Leonor Palma, a massage therapist, and Francisco Varela (Francisco Javier Varela Garcia), a biologist, neuroscientist, and philosopher. Her family fled to Costa Rica, leaving behind the dictatorship of Augusto ...

813 points

18. Connie Nielsen

Actress | Gladiator

Connie Nielsen is set to begin production on Ridley Scott's "Gladiator 2," where she will star alongside Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, reprising her iconic role of 'Lucilla' from the Academy Award-winning film "Gladiator." She appears in Ava Duvernay's feature, "Origin," based on the book by ...

809 points

19. Imelda Staunton

Actress | Vera Drake

Imelda Staunton is an English actress and singer from Archway, London. Her ancestry is primarily Irish. She has worked extensively in theater, and has won 4 Laurence Olivier Awards; 3 for leading roles and one for a supporting role. Her best known role in films has been the recurring villain ...

802 points

20. Julie Delpy

Actress | Trois couleurs: Blanc

Julie Delpy was born in Paris, France, in 1969 to Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet, both actors.

She was first featured in Jean-Luc Godard's Detective (1985) at the age of fourteen. She has starred in many American and European productions since then, including Disney's The Three Musketeers (1993), ...

781 points

21. Faye Wong

Actress | Chung Hing sam lam

Her mother (now deceased) was a singer and her father a mining engineer. They moved with her older brother to Hong Kong when she was 18 and she began to take singing lessons. Her teacher introduced her to Cinepoly Records, where she first recorded under the name Wong Jing Man and was given the ...

778 points

22. Gong Li

Actress | Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia

Born in Shenyang, grew up in Jinan, the daughter of an economics professor. Loved music from childhood, and dreamed of a singing career. After failing to gain entrance to China's top music school in 1985, applied for and was admitted to the Central Drama Academy in Beijing, from which she graduated...

778 points

23. Carina Lau

Actress | Di Renjie zhi Tongtian diguo

Carina Lau moved to Hong Kong with her family at the age of 14 and at the the time could not speak the local Cantonese and was often teased by other people the "Mainland Girl". She would eventually gave her best effort to learn the language and then was re-accepted at the TVB actors training ...

778 points

24. Hiam Abbass

Actress | Blade Runner 2049

Hiam Abbass also Hiyam Abbas, is a Palestinian actress and film director. Abbass was born in Nazareth, Israel, to a Muslim Arab family. She was raised in the village of Deir Hanna. Since the late 1980s, she has lived in Paris and holds French citizenship. During the filming of the Steven Spielberg ...

777 points

25. Clara Khoury

Actress | Baghdad Central

Clara Khoury was born on December 29, 1976 in Haifa, Israel. She is an actress, known for Baghdad Central (2020), Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf (2019) and Body of Lies (2008).

777 points

26. Jennifer Jason Leigh

Actress | The Hateful Eight

Jennifer Jason Leigh was born Jennifer Lee Morrow in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of writer Barbara Turner and actor Vic Morrow. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry. She is the sister of Carrie Ann Morrow and half-sister of actress Mina ...

776 points

27. Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

Actress | The Machinist

Aitana Sánchez-Gijón was born on November 5, 1968 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. She is an actress, known for The Machinist (2004), A Walk in the Clouds (1995) and Parallel Mothers (2021). She has been married to Papin Luccadane since September 2002. They have two children.

776 points

28. Regina King

Actress | Ray

Regina King was born in Los Angeles, California, to Gloria, a special education teacher, and Thomas King, an electrician. She began her career in the television show 227 (1985), followed by a role in Boyz n the Hood (1991). She began to be recognized by a mainstream audience after her role as Cuba ...

775 points

29. Kerry Washington

Actress | Scandal

Kerry Washington is an African-American actress, television show producer and film director who is known for her roles in Scandal, Ray, the Tim Story Fantastic Four film series, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Confirmation, Django Unchained, Little Fires Everywhere, Cars 3 and The Last King of Scotland. She ...

775 points

30. Senta Berger

Actress | Unter Verdacht

Senta Berger was born in 1941 in Vienna, Austria to her father Josef Berger who was a musician and her mother Therese Berger, a school teacher. Senta and her father performed together when she was just four years old. She sang and her dad played the piano. At five years old, she took ballet lessons...

775 points

31. Rachel Ticotin

Actress | Total Recall

One tough cookie who can definitely hold her own next to the boys on film and TV, lovely, dark-haired Rachel Ticotin has stepped up to the plate many times in strong-armed femme roles, playing everything from cops and bodyguards to military corporals.

Born on November 1, 1958, and raised in the ...

773 points

32. Audrey Tautou

Actress | Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

Audrey Justine Tautou was born on August 9, 1976 in Beaumont, France, to Evelyne Marie Laure (Nuret), a teacher, and Bernard Tautou, a dental surgeon. Audrey showed an interest for comedy at an early age and started her acting lessons at 'Cours Florent'. In 1998 she won the best young actress award...

772 points

33. Jodie Foster

Actress | The Silence of the Lambs

Jodie Foster started her career at the age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). In 1975 Jodie was offered the role of prostitute Iris Steensma in the movie Taxi Driver (1976). This role, for which she received ...

772 points

34. Marion Cotillard

Actress | La Môme

Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard was born on September 30, 1975 in Paris. Cotillard is the daughter of Jean-Claude Cotillard, an actor, playwright and director, and Niseema Theillaud, an actress and drama teacher. Her father's family is from Brittany.

Raised in Orléans, France, she ...

772 points

35. Miranda Otto

Actress | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Miranda Otto is an Australian actress. Otto is a daughter of actors Barry Otto and Lindsay Otto, and half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. She began her acting career at age 18 in 1986, and has appeared in a variety of independent and major studio films. Otto made her major film debut in Emma's War (...

770 points

36. Alexandra Maria Lara

Actress | Der Untergang

Born on 12 November 1978 in Bucharest, Romania, Alexandra Maria Lara fled to Germany with her parents when she was four and half years old. After graduating at the French High School, she studied acting at the Theaterwerkstatt Charlottenburg from 1997 and 2000, but had already played leading ...

760 points

37. Juliane Köhler

Actress | Der Untergang

Juliane Köhler was born on August 6, 1965 in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress, known for Downfall (2004), Aimee & Jaguar (1999) and Nowhere in Africa (2001). She has been married to Michael Rösch since 1996. They have two children.

760 points

38. Corinna Harfouch

Actress | Der Untergang

Growing up as the daughter of the teacher Wolfgang Meffert and his wife Marianne née Kleber, she attended school in Großenhain from 1961 to 1973. She completed her Abitur at the extended high school. After training as a nurse, she began studying textile engineering at the TU Dresden in 1976. From ...

760 points

39. Taraneh Alidoosti

Actress | Forooshande

Born on January 12th 1984 in Tehran. Her father is a former national team football player, Hamid Alidoosti. She started her career as an actress visiting Amin Tarokh's acting school in 2000. Soon she was chosen for her first role in I'm Taraneh, 15 (2002) (I'm Taraneh, 15), which has so far ...

758 points

40. Jada Pinkett Smith

Actress | The Matrix Revolutions

Jada Koren Pinkett Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Robsol Grant Pinkett, Jr., a contractor, and 'Gammy' Adrienne Banfield Norris, a nurse. They divorced after only a few months of marriage. Her father is of African-American descent and her mother is of Afro-Caribbean ancestry (from ...

758 points

41. Kirsten Dunst

Actress | Spider-Man

Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, who also holds German citizenship. She was born on April 30, 1982 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to parents Inez (née Rupprecht), who owned an art gallery, and Klaus Dunst, a medical services executive. She has a younger brother named Christian Dunst, ...

758 points

42. Fernanda Montenegro

Actress | Central do Brasil

Arlette Pinheiro Esteves da Silva was born on 16th October 1929 in Rio de Janeiro. She adopted the name "Fernanda" because she thought it sounded good. "Montenegro" came after her family doctor.

In late 40s she was translating and adapting famous theater plays to radio. She begun her artistic life ...

753 points

43. Barbara Sukowa

Actress | Hannah Arendt

A strikingly beautiful German lead actress, Barbara Sukowa broke into TV and films as the protégée of famed director Rainer Werner Fassbinder with his masterpiece mini-series Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) and the moody film drama Lola (1981) in the title role. In the latter, Barbara won critical ...

751 points

44. Barbara Auer

Actress | Nachtschicht

Barbara Auer was born on February 1, 1959 in Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She is an actress, known for Nachtschicht (2003), The Book Thief (2013) and Das Ende einer Nacht (2012).

751 points

45. Ann Eleonora Jørgensen

Actress | Italiensk for begyndere

Ann Eleonora Jørgensen was born on October 16, 1965 in Hjørring, Denmark. She is an actress, known for Italian for Beginners (2000), Forbrydelsen (2007) and Herrens veje (2017).

744 points

46. Trine Dyrholm

Actress | Dronningen

Trine Dyrholm was born on April 15, 1972 in Odense, Denmark. She is an actress and director, known for Queen of Hearts (2019), Love Is All You Need (2012) and In a Better World (2010).

744 points

47. Sonja Richter

Actress | The Homesman

Sonja Richter was born on January 4, 1974 in Esbjerg, Denmark. She is an actress, known for The Homesman (2014), Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013) and Cecilie (2007).

744 points

48. Frida Hallgren

Actress | Så som i himmelen

Frida Hallgren was born on December 16, 1974 in Stockholm, Sweden. She is an actress and director, known for As It Is in Heaven (2004), 30:e november (1995) and The Searchers (1993).

740 points

49. Uma Thurman

Actress | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Uma Karuna Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, into a highly unorthodox and internationally-minded family. She is the daughter of Nena Thurman (née Birgitte Caroline von Schlebrügge), a fashion model and socialite who now runs a mountain retreat, and of Robert Thurman (Robert Alexander ...

740 points

50. Daryl Hannah

Actress | Wall Street

Daryl Christine Hannah was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She is the daughter of Susan Jeanne (Metzger), a schoolteacher and later a producer, and Donald Christian Hannah, who owned a tugboat/barge company. Her stepfather was music journalist/promoter Jerrold Wexler. Her siblings are Page ...

740 points

51. Vivica A. Fox

Actress | Independence Day

Vivica A. Fox was born in South Bend, Indiana, on July 30, 1964, and is the daughter of Everlyena, a pharmaceutical technician, and William Fox, a private school administrator. She is of Native American and African-American descent and is proud of her heritage. She is a graduate of Arlington High ...

740 points

52. Catherine Zeta-Jones

Actress | Chicago

Catherine Zeta-Jones was born September 25, 1969 in Swansea, Wales (and raised in the nearby town of Mumbles), the only daughter of Patricia (nee Fair) and David James "Dai" Jones, who formerly owned a sweet factory. She attended Dumbarton House School (Swansea). Her father (the son of Bertram (...

739 points

53. Catalina Sandino Moreno

Actress | Maria Full of Grace

Catalina Sandino Moreno made her screen debut as the title character in the critically-acclaimed film "Maria Full of Grace" from Fine Line Features/HBO. For her performance, Sandino was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Performance by...

738 points

54. Sibel Kekilli

Actress | Gegen die Wand

Sibel Kekilli is a German actress of Turkish origin. With her debut in Fatih Akin's movie "Head On" she gained major public attention. The film won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival 2004 and her acting performance received several national and international prizes, among them the highly ...

738 points

55. Amy Smart

Actress | Starship Troopers

Amy Smart was born in Topanga Canyon, California to Judy, who worked at a museum, and John Boden Smart, a salesman. She has German, English, and Irish ancestry.

Smart was a relatively new arrival when she first gained notice for her supporting roles in the 1999 hit teen films Varsity Blues (1999) and...

736 points

56. Elisabeth Shue

Actress | Leaving Las Vegas

Elisabeth Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Anne Brewster (Wells), who worked for the Chemical Banking Corporation, and James William Shue, a lawyer and real estate developer. She is of German and English ancestry, including descent from Mayflower passengers. Shue's parents divorced while ...

733 points

57. Bibiana Beglau

Actress | Die Stille nach dem Schuss

Bibiana Beglau was born on July 16, 1971 in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress, known for The Legend of Rita (2000), Unter dem Eis (2005) and Luna's Revenge (2017).

732 points

58. Sienna Miller

Actress | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Sienna Rose Diana Miller was born in New York City, but was raised in London, United Kingdom. Her father, Edwin "Ed" Miller, who is American-born, is an investment banker and a dealer in Modern Chinese paintings. Her mother, Josephine "Jo" Miller, was a South African model and a personal assistant ...

730 points

59. Sally Hawkins

Actress | The Shape of Water

Sally Cecilia Hawkins was born in 1976 in Lewisham hospital, London, England, to Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, authors and illustrators of children's books. She is of English and Irish descent. Hawkins was brought up in Greenwich, in southeast London. She attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich...

730 points

60. Judi Dench

Actress | Skyfall

Dame Judi Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with the ...

728 points

61. Maggie Smith

Actress | Gosford Park

One of the world's most famous and distinguished actresses, Dame Maggie Smith was born Margaret Natalie Smith in Essex. Her Scottish mother, Margaret (Hutton), worked as a secretary, and her English father, Nathaniel Smith, was a teacher at Oxford University. Smith has been married twice: to actor ...

728 points

62. Natascha McElhone

Actress | Solaris

Natascha McElhone was born in Walton on Thames, London. She attended several schools, Camden School for Girls being the last.

Natascha McElhone established herself as a talented leading actress when she left drama school in 1993 to play the lead in her first film, Merchant Ivory's Surviving Picasso,...

728 points

63. Bai Ling

Actress | Red Corner

Bai Ling is recognized for unbridled freedom and creativity, Bai Ling has become undoubtedly one of the world's most diverse and captivating actresses! Born in the city of Cheng Du in southern China, Bai Ling began her career at age of 14. She enlisted In the Chinese People's Liberation Army, where...

726 points

64. Annette Bening

Actress | American Beauty

Annette Bening was born on May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of four children. Her family moved to California when she was young, and she grew up there. She graduated from San Francisco State University and began her acting career with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, ...

723 points

65. Juliet Stevenson

Actress | Bend It Like Beckham

With her father being in the army much of her early life was spent in boarding school from the age of 9. Initially she was turned down for RADA but got in and won a prize for Best Student. She had to turn down a role in Schindler's List (1993) as his wife due to already being committed to a theatre...

723 points

66. Joan Allen

Actress | Room

Joan Allen was born on August 20, 1956 in Rochelle, Illinois, the youngest of four children. She is the daughter of homemaker Dorothea Marie (Wirth) and gas station owner James Jefferson Allen. Her mother's family was German, and her father had English, Scots-Irish, and German ancestry. She ...

723 points

67. Shirley Henderson

Actress | 24 Hour Party People

Shirley Henderson was the eldest of three sisters born into a working-class family in the village of Kincardine in Fife, Scotland. As a teenager she sang locally and performed in school drama clubs. Her first break came when she watched a singer on the Opportunity Knocks (1956) TV talent program ...

723 points

68. Natalie Portman

Actress | Black Swan

Natalie Portman is the first person born in the 1980s to have won the Academy Award for Best Actress (for Black Swan (2010)).

Natalie was born Natalie Hershlag on June 9, 1981, in Jerusalem, Israel. She is the only child of Avner Hershlag, an Israeli-born doctor, and Shelley Stevens, an ...

723 points

69. Émilie Dequenne

Actress | Rosetta

Émilie Dequenne was born on August 29, 1981 in Beloeil, Wallonia, Belgium. She is an actress, known for Rosetta (1999), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) and Our Children (2012). She has been married to Michel Ferracci since October 11, 2014.

722 points

70. Kristen Stewart

Actress | Snow White and the Huntsman

Though most famous for her role as Isabella "Bella" Swan in The Twilight (2008) Saga, Kristen Stewart has been a working actor since her early years in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, John Stewart and Jules Stewart, both work in film and television. The family includes three boys, Kristen's ...

721 points

71. Elizabeth Perkins

Actress | Sharp Objects

Elizabeth Ann Perkins was born on November 18, 1960, in the borough of Queens, New York, and was raised in Vermont. Her mother, Jo Williams, was a concert pianist and drug treatment counselor, and her father, James Perkins, was a businessman, farmer, and writer. She is of Greek and English descent....

721 points

72. Krystyna Feldman

Actress | Mój Nikifor

Born on March 1st, 1916 in Lwów. Parents: Katarzyna Sawicka-Feldman (mother) was an opera singer and Ferdynand Feldman (father) was a known actor. Education: National Institute of Theatre in Warsaw. Career: City Theatre in Lwów (debut in the "Kwiat paproci" ("Fern Flower") in 1937), Stage in Zimna ...

720 points

73. Naomi Watts

Actress | Mulholland Dr.

Naomi Ellen Watts was born on September 28, 1968 in Shoreham, England to Myfanwy Edwards "Miv" (Roberts), an antiques dealer and costume/set designer, and Peter Watts (Peter Anthony Watts), Pink Floyd's road manager. Her maternal grandfather was Welsh. Her father died when she was seven and she ...

719 points

74. Rie Miyazawa

Actress | Yu wo wakasuhodo no atsui ai

She started her career playing innocent girl-next door types in movies and TV dramas, but shocked the Japanese public in the early 90s by starring in the movie Erotic Liaisons, and then by appearing nude in a photo book titled, "Santa Fe". As a result, the conservative NHK network dropped her from ...

718 points

75. Charlize Theron

Producer | Monster

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg area, in South Africa, the only child of Gerda Theron (née Maritz) and Charles Theron. She was raised on a farm outside the city. Theron is of Afrikaner (Dutch, with some French Huguenot and German) descent, and Afrikaner ...

716 points

76. Emily Watson

Actress | Gosford Park

Emily Watson was born and raised in London, the daughter of Katharine (Venables), an English teacher, and Richard Watson, an architect. After a self-described sheltered upbringing, Watson attended university for three years in Bristol, studying English literature. She applied to drama school and ...

716 points

77. Monica Bellucci

Actress | Malèna

Monica Anna Maria Bellucci was born on September 30, 1964 in the Italian village of Città di Castello, Umbria, the only child of Brunella Briganti and Pasquale Bellucci. She originally pursued a career in the legal profession. While attending the University of Perugia, she modeled on the side to ...

713 points

78. Maia Morgenstern

Actress | The Passion of the Christ

Maia Morgenstern is a Romanian film and stage actress, described by Florin Mitu of AMOS News as "a symbol of Romanian theater and film." In the English-speaking world, she is probably best known for the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. In Romania, she ...

713 points

79. Kyra Sedgwick

Actress | The Closer

Kyra Minturn Sedgwick was born on August 19, 1965 in New York City to Patricia (Rosenwald), a family and speech therapist, and Henry Dwight Sedgwick V, a venture capitalist. Her mother was from an upper-class German Jewish family, and her father was from a wealthy Massachusetts clan of English ...

710 points

80. Hannelore Elsner

Actress | Die Kommissarin

One of the pre-eminent divas of post-war German cinema, Hannelore Elsner (born 'Elstner') was the consummate actress: a gifted and versatile performer with a penchant for intense roles, often as emancipated, strong-willed women. A Bavarian engineer's daughter (her father died of tuberculosis when ...

708 points

81. Scarlett Johansson

Actress | Lost in Translation

Scarlett Ingrid Johansson was born on November 22, 1984 in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Her mother, Melanie Sloan is from a Jewish family from the Bronx and her father, Karsten Johansson is a Danish-born architect from Copenhagen. She has a sister, Vanessa Johansson, who is also an actress, ...

708 points

82. Deborah Kara Unger

Actress | The Game

Deborah Kara Unger was the first Canadian accepted into the prestigious Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. She made her feature film debut in Blood Oath (1990), followed by roles in Christopher Crowe's Whispers in the Dark (1992), Till There Was You (1991), and Highlander: The Final ...

708 points

83. Agnieszka Grochowska

Actress | Obce niebo

Agnieszka Grochowska was born on December 31, 1979 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. She is an actress, known for Obce niebo (2015), Upperdog (2009) and Child 44 (2015). She has been married to Dariusz Gajewski since July 2004. They have two children.

707 points

84. Kate Bosworth

Actress | Superman Returns

Kate Bosworth was born in Los Angeles, California, to Patricia (Potter), a homemaker, and Harold Bosworth, who was an executive for Talbots. Unlike the characters Bosworth has portrayed in television and in film, which are known as "townies", Kate spent most of her childhood in different cities and...

706 points

85. Sigourney Weaver

Actress | Alien Resurrection

Sigourney Weaver has created a host of memorable characters, both dramatic and comic, ranging from Ripley in Alien to Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist to Gwen/Tawny in Galaxy Quest and most recently, 14-year-old Kiri in Avatar: The Way of Water. With a career spanning over 50 years, Weaver has ...

705 points

86. Michelle Williams

Actress | Blue Valentine

A small-town girl born and raised in rural Kalispell, Montana, Michelle Ingrid Williams is the daughter of Carla Ingrid (Swenson), a homemaker, and Larry Richard Williams, a commodity trader and author. Her ancestry is Norwegian, as well as German, British Isles, and other Scandinavian. She was ...

705 points

87. Fritzi Haberlandt

Actress | Kalt ist der Abendhauch

Fritzi Haberlandt was born in East Berlin, German Democratic Republic on 6th June. She is a theater and television actor known for her roles in Kalt ist der Abendhauch (2000), Babylon Berlin (2017), Summer Window (2011), Liegen lernen (2003), Deutschland 86 (2018) and Deutschland 89 (2020). She won...

705 points

88. Penélope Cruz

Actress | Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Known outside her native country as the "Spanish enchantress," Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid to Eduardo Cruz, a retailer, and Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser. As a toddler, she was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement, but she decided to ...

704 points

89. Claudia Gerini

Actress | The Passion of the Christ

Claudia Gerini was born in Rome, where she did classical studies and dance training. Her acting career began when an advertising agency cast her in several commercials.

Claudia Gerini has had a long movie career in Italy and abroad, working with actors and directors like Sergio Castellito, Giuseppe ...

704 points

90. Katja Riemann

Actress | Fack ju Göhte

Katja Riemann was born on November 1, 1963 in Kirchweyhe, Weyhe, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress and director, known for Suck Me Shakespeer (2013), Rosenstrasse (2003) and Bandits (1997).

703 points

91. Laura Linney

Actress | The Big C

Laura Leggett Linney was born in New York City on February 5, 1964, into a theatre family. Her father was prominent playwright Romulus Linney, whose own great-grandfather was a congressman from North Carolina. Her mother, Miriam Anderson (Leggett), is a nurse. Although she did not live in her ...

703 points

92. Veronica Cartwright

Actress | Alien

Born in Bristol, England, Veronica is the older sister of the popular child actress Angela Cartwright. In her early career, Veronica was cast in a number of popular movies such as William Wyler's The Children's Hour (1961), Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). As such,...

703 points

93. Bridget Moynahan

Actress | I, Robot

Kathryn Bridget Moynahan is an American actress and model from New York. She is known for playing Dr. Susan Calvin in I, Robot (2004), Erin Reagan in Blue Bloods (2010), John Wick (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), Serendipity (2001), The Sum of All Fears (2002), and Coyote Ugly (2000), and many ...

703 points

94. Emmanuelle Devos

Actress | Rois et reine

Emmanuelle Devos was born on May 10, 1964 in Puteaux, Seine [now Hauts-de-Seine], France. She is an actress and writer, known for Kings & Queen (2004), Read My Lips (2001) and Just a Sigh (2013).

702 points

95. Claire Danes

Actress | My So-Called Life

New Yorker Claire Catherine Danes was born in Manhattan, the daughter of Carla (Hall), a day-care provider and artist, and Christopher Danes, a computer consultant and photographer. She has an older brother, Asa. Her paternal grandfather, Gibson Andrew Danes, was a Dean of the Yale School of Art ...

700 points

96. Alicja Bachleda

Actress | Ondine

Polish actress Alicja Bachleda-Curus was born in Mexico, where her father was working at the time. She started performing on stage at a tender age of 6. She studied at the National Ballet Academy in Kraków from 1989-1998 and at the National Academy of Music's vocal department in Kraków. Her silver ...

700 points