# Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.

## Nominees and winners
### 1980s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role |
| 1988 | Barbara Hershey | Shy People | Ruth |
| 1988 | Glenn Close | Dangerous Liaisons | Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil |
| 1988 | Jodie Foster | The Accused | Sarah Tobias |
| 1988 | Meryl Streep | A Cry in the Dark | Lindy Chamberlain |
| 1989 | Michelle Pfeiffer | The Fabulous Baker Boys | Susie Diamond |
| 1989 | Ellen Barkin | Sea of Love | Helen Cruger |
| 1989 | Andie MacDowell | Sex, Lies, and Videotape | Ann Bishop Mullany |
| 1989 | Meg Ryan | When Harry Met Sally... | Sally Albright |
| 1989 | Winona Ryder | Heathers | Veronica Sawyer |

### 1990s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role |
| 1990 | Kathy Bates | Misery | Annie Wilkes |
| 1990 | Mia Farrow | Alice | Alice Smith Tate |
| 1990 | Anjelica Huston | The Grifters | Lily Dillon |
| 1990 | Meryl Streep | Postcards from the Edge | Suzanne Vale |
| 1990 | Joanne Woodward | Mr. & Mrs. Bridge | India Bridge |
| 1991 | Jodie Foster | The Silence of the Lambs | Clarice Starling |
| 1991 | Annette Bening | Bugsy | Virginia Hill |
| 1991 | Geena Davis | Thelma & Louise | Thelma Dickinson |
| 1991 | Laura Dern | Rambling Rose | Rose |
| 1991 | Bette Midler | For the Boys | Dixie Leonard |
| 1991 | Anne Parillaud | La Femme Nikita | Nikita |
| 1991 | Susan Sarandon | Thelma & Louise | Louise Sawyer |
| 1992 | Emma Thompson | Howards End | Margaret Schlegel |
| 1992 | Rebecca De Mornay | The Hand That Rocks the Cradle | Mrs. Mott / Peyton Flanders |
| 1992 | Jennifer Jason Leigh | Single White Female | Hedra "Hedy" Carlson |
| 1992 | Susan Sarandon | Lorenzo's Oil | Michaela Odone |
| 1992 | Sharon Stone | Basic Instinct | Catherine Tramell |
| 1993 | Holly Hunter | The Piano | Ada McGrath |
| 1993 | Angela Bassett | What's Love Got to Do with It | Tina Turner |
| 1993 | Stockard Channing | Six Degrees of Separation | Ouisa Kittredge |
| 1993 | Emma Thompson | The Remains of the Day | Miss Kenton |
| 1993 | Debra Winger | A Dangerous Woman | Martha Horgan |
| 1994 | Jennifer Jason Leigh | Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle | Dorothy Parker |
| 1994 | Linda Fiorentino | The Last Seduction | Bridget Gregory / Wendy Kroy |
| 1994 | Jodie Foster | Nell | Nell Kellty |
| 1994 | Jessica Lange | Blue Sky | Carly Marshall |
| 1994 | Winona Ryder | Little Women | Josephine "Jo" March |
| 1995 | Elisabeth Shue | Leaving Las Vegas | Sera |
| 1995 | Kathy Bates | Dolores Claiborne | Dolores Claiborne |
| 1995 | Rena Owen | Once Were Warriors | Beth Heke |
| 1995 | Sharon Stone | Casino | Ginger McKenna |
| 1995 | Meryl Streep | The Bridges of Madison County | Francesca Johnson |
| 1996 | Frances McDormand | Fargo | Marge Gunderson |
| 1996 | Brenda Blethyn | Secrets & Lies | Cynthia Rose Purley |
| 1996 | Courtney Love | The People vs. Larry Flynt | Althea Flynt |
| 1996 | Lili Taylor | I Shot Andy Warhol | Valerie Solanas |
| 1996 | Emily Watson | Breaking the Waves | Bess McNeill |
| 1997 | Judi Dench | Mrs. Brown | Queen Victoria |
| 1997 | Helena Bonham Carter | The Wings of the Dove | Kate Croy |
| 1997 | Jodie Foster | Contact | Dr. Eleanor Arroway |
| 1997 | Pam Grier | Jackie Brown | Jackie Brown |
| 1997 | Helen Hunt | As Good as It Gets | Carol Connelly |
| 1998 | Cate Blanchett | Elizabeth | Queen Elizabeth I |
| 1998 | Jane Horrocks | Little Voice | Laura "Little Voice" Hoff |
| 1998 | Holly Hunter | Living Out Loud | Judith Moore |
| 1998 | Gwyneth Paltrow | Shakespeare in Love | Viola de Lesseps |
| 1998 | Ally Sheedy | High Art | Lucy Berliner |
| 1998 | Emily Watson | Hilary and Jackie | Jacqueline du Pré |
| 1999 | Hilary Swank | Boys Don't Cry | Brandon Teena |
| 1999 | Annette Bening | American Beauty | Carolyn Burnham |
| 1999 | Janet McTeer | Tumbleweeds | Mary Jo Walker |
| 1999 | Julianne Moore | The End of the Affair | Sarah Miles |
| 1999 | Reese Witherspoon | Election | Tracy Flick |

### 2000s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role |
| 2000 | Ellen Burstyn | Requiem for a Dream | Sara Goldfarb |
| 2000 | Joan Allen | The Contender | Senator Laine Billings Hanson |
| 2000 | Björk | Dancer in the Dark | Selma Ježková |
| 2000 | Laura Linney | You Can Count on Me | Samantha "Sammy" Prescott |
| 2000 | Julia Roberts | Erin Brockovich | Erin Brockovich |
| 2001 | Naomi Watts | Mulholland Drive | Betty Elms / Diane Selwyn |
| 2001 | Halle Berry | Monster's Ball | Leticia Musgrove |
| 2001 | Thora Birch | Ghost World | Enid |
| 2001 | Sissy Spacek | In the Bedroom | Ruth Fowler |
| 2001 | Tilda Swinton | The Deep End | Margaret Hall |
| 2002 | Julianne Moore | Far from Heaven | Cathy Whitaker |
| 2002 | Salma Hayek | Frida | Frida Kahlo |
| 2002 | Nicole Kidman | The Hours | Virginia Woolf |
| 2002 | Diane Lane | Unfaithful | Connie Sumner |
| 2002 | Renée Zellweger | Chicago | Roxie Hart |
| 2003 | Charlize Theron | Monster | Aileen Wuornos |
| 2003 | Keisha Castle-Hughes | Whale Rider | Paikea Apirana |
| 2003 | Hope Davis | American Splendor | Joyce Brabner |
| 2003 | Scarlett Johansson | Lost in Translation | Charlotte |
| 2003 | Naomi Watts | 21 Grams | Cristina Peck |
| 2004 | Imelda Staunton | Vera Drake | Vera Drake |
| 2004 | Hilary Swank | Million Dollar Baby | Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald |
| 2004 | Kate Winslet | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Clementine Kruczynski |
| 2004 | Catalina Sandino Moreno | Maria Full of Grace | María Álvarez |
| 2004 | Annette Bening | Being Julia | Julia Lambert |
| 2005 | Joan Allen | The Upside of Anger | Terry Ann Wolfmeyer |
| 2005 | Felicity Huffman | Transamerica | Bree |
| 2005 | Keira Knightley | Pride & Prejudice | Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bennet |
| 2005 | Naomi Watts | King Kong | Ann Darrow |
| 2005 | Reese Witherspoon | Walk the Line | June Carter Cash |
| 2006 | Helen Mirren | The Queen | Queen Elizabeth II |
| 2006 | Penélope Cruz | Volver | Raimunda |
| 2006 | Judi Dench | Notes on a Scandal | Barbara Covett |
| 2006 | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Sherrybaby | Sherry Swanson |
| 2006 | Meryl Streep | The Devil Wears Prada | Miranda Priestly |
| 2006 | Kate Winslet | Little Children | Sarah Pierce |
| 2007 | Elliot Page | Juno | Juno MacGuff |
| 2007 | Julie Christie | Away from Her | Fiona Anderson |
| 2007 | Marion Cotillard | La Vie en Rose (La môme) | Edith Piaf |
| 2007 | Angelina Jolie | A Mighty Heart | Mariane Pearl |
| 2007 | Laura Linney | The Savages | Wendy Savage |
| 2008 | Anne Hathaway | Rachel Getting Married | Kym |
| 2008 | Sally Hawkins | Happy-Go-Lucky | Pauline "Poppy" Cross |
| 2008 | Angelina Jolie | Changeling | Christine Collins |
| 2008 | Melissa Leo | Frozen River | Ray Eddy |
| 2008 | Meryl Streep | Doubt | Sister Aloysius |
| 2009 | Carey Mulligan | An Education | Jenny Miller |
| 2009 | Abbie Cornish | Bright Star | Fanny Brawne |
| 2009 | Maya Rudolph | Away We Go | Verona De Tessant |
| 2009 | Gabourey Sidibe | Precious | Claireece "Precious" Jones |
| 2009 | Meryl Streep | Julie & Julia | Julia Child |

### 2010s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role |
| 2010 | Natalie Portman | Black Swan | Nina Sayers |
| 2010 | Annette Bening | The Kids Are All Right | Dr. Nicole "Nic" Allgood |
| 2010 | Jennifer Lawrence | Winter's Bone | Ree Dolly |
| 2010 | Lesley Manville | Another Year | Mary Smith |
| 2010 | Michelle Williams | Blue Valentine | Cindy Heller |
| 2011 | Michelle Williams | My Week with Marilyn | Marilyn Monroe |
| 2011 | Kirsten Dunst | Melancholia | Justine |
| 2011 | Elizabeth Olsen | Martha Marcy May Marlene | Martha |
| 2011 | Anna Paquin | Margaret | Lisa Cohen |
| 2011 | Meryl Streep | The Iron Lady | Margaret Thatcher |
| 2012 | Jessica Chastain | Zero Dark Thirty | Maya |
| 2012 | Helen Hunt | The Sessions | Cheryl Cohen-Greene |
| 2012 | Jennifer Lawrence | Silver Linings Playbook | Tiffany Maxwell |
| 2012 | Emmanuelle Riva | Amour | Anne Laurent |
| 2012 | Quvenzhané Wallis | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Hushpuppy |
| 2012 | Naomi Watts | The Impossible | Maria Bennett |
| 2013 | Cate Blanchett | Blue Jasmine | Jeanette "Jasmine" Francis |
| 2013 | Sandra Bullock | Gravity | Dr. Ryan Stone |
| 2013 | Adèle Exarchopoulos | Blue Is the Warmest Colour | Adèle |
| 2013 | Brie Larson | Short Term 12 | Grace |
| 2013 | Meryl Streep | August: Osage County | Violet Weston |
| 2014 | Julianne Moore | Still Alice | Dr. Alice Howland |
| 2014 | Marion Cotillard | Two Days, One Night | Sandra Bya |
| 2014 | Scarlett Johansson | Under the Skin | The Female |
| 2014 | Rosamund Pike | Gone Girl | Amy Elliott-Dunne |
| 2014 | Reese Witherspoon | Wild | Cheryl Strayed |
| 2015 | Brie Larson | Room | Joy "Ma" Newsome |
| 2015 | Cate Blanchett | Carol | Carol Aird |
| 2015 | Charlotte Rampling | 45 Years | Kate Mercer |
| 2015 | Saoirse Ronan | Brooklyn | Eilis Lacey |
| 2015 | Charlize Theron | Mad Max: Fury Road | Imperator Furiosa |
| 2016 | Natalie Portman | Jackie | Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis |
| 2016 | Amy Adams | Arrival | Louise Banks |
| 2016 | Rebecca Hall | Christine | Christine Chubbuck |
| 2016 | Isabelle Huppert | Elle | Michèle Leblanc |
| 2016 | Emma Stone | La La Land | Mia Dolan |
| 2017 | Saoirse Ronan | Lady Bird | Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson |
| 2017 | Sally Hawkins | The Shape of Water | Elisa Esposito |
| 2017 | Vicky Krieps | Phantom Thread | Alma Elson |
| 2017 | Frances McDormand | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Mildred Hayes |
| 2017 | Margot Robbie | I, Tonya | Tonya Harding |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Toni Collette | Hereditary | Annie Graham |
| 2018 | Yalitza Aparicio | Roma | Cleo |
| 2018 | Lady Gaga | A Star Is Born | Ally Maine |
| 2018 | Regina Hall | Support the Girls | Lisa Conroy |
| 2018 | Melissa McCarthy | Can You Ever Forgive Me? | Lee Israel |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | Lupita Nyong'o | Us | Adelaide Wilson / Red |
| 2019 | Awkwafina | The Farewell | Billi Wang |
| 2019 | Scarlett Johansson | Marriage Story | Nicole Barber |
| 2019 | Elisabeth Moss | Her Smell | Becky Something |
| 2019 | Renée Zellweger | Judy | Judy Garland |

### 2020s

| Year | Winner and nominees | Film | Role |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Frances McDormand | Nomadland | Fern |
| 2020 | Jessie Buckley | I'm Thinking of Ending Things | Young Woman |
| 2020 | Carrie Coon | The Nest | Allison O'Hara |
| 2020 | Viola Davis | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Ma Rainey |
| 2020 | Carey Mulligan | Promising Young Woman | Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas |
| 2021 |
| 2021 | Kristen Stewart | Spencer | Princess Diana |
| 2021 | Jessica Chastain | The Eyes of Tammy Faye | Tammy Faye Bakker |
| 2021 | Olivia Colman | The Lost Daughter | Leda Caruso |
| 2021 | Alana Haim | Licorice Pizza | Alana Kane |
| 2021 | Agathe Rousselle | Titane | Alexia / Adrien |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Cate Blanchett | Tár | Lydia Tár |
| 2022 | Ana de Armas | Blonde | Norma Jeane Mortenson / Marilyn Monroe |
| 2022 | Mia Goth | Pearl | Pearl |
| 2022 | Andrea Riseborough | To Leslie | Leslie Rowlands |
| 2022 | Michelle Yeoh | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Evelyn Quan Wang |
| 2023 | Emma Stone | Poor Things | Bella Baxter |
| 2023 | Lily Gladstone | Killers of the Flower Moon | Mollie Kyle |
| 2023 | Sandra Hüller | Anatomy of a Fall | Sandra Voyter |
| 2023 | Natalie Portman | May December | Elizabeth Berry |
| 2023 | Margot Robbie | Barbie | Barbie |
| 2024 | Marianne Jean-Baptiste | Hard Truths | Pansey |
| 2024 | Cynthia Erivo | Wicked | Elphaba Thropp |
| 2024 | Mikey Madison | Anora | Anora "Ani" Mikheeva |
| 2024 | Demi Moore | The Substance | Elisabeth Sparkle |
| 2024 | Léa Seydoux | The Beast | Gabrielle |