# AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actress

The AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actress is one of the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards presented annually by the AARP since the awards' inception in 2002. The award honors the best actress over the age of fifty. The Best Actress Award is one of the seven original trophies issued by AARP the Magazine, along with awards for Best Movie for Grownups, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Foreign Film, Best Documentary, and Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up.

## Winners and Nominees

    indicates the winners.

### 2000s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | Film |
| 2001 (1st) | Charlotte Rampling ‡ | Marie Drillon | Under the Sand |
| 2001 (1st) | Helen Mirren | Mrs. Wilson | Gosford Park |
| 2001 (1st) | Maggie Smith | Constance, Countess of Trentham | Gosford Park |
| 2001 (1st) | Sissy Spacek | Ruth Fowler | In the Bedroom |
| 2002 (2nd) | Meryl Streep ‡ | Susan Orlean | Adaptation |
| 2002 (2nd) | Judi Dench | Lady Bracknell | The Importance of Being Earnest |
| 2002 (2nd) | Susan Sarandon | Mimi Slocumb and Jojo Floss | Igby Goes Down and Moonlight Mile |
| 2002 (2nd) | Sigourney Weaver | Joan | The Guys |
| 2003 (3rd) | Diane Keaton ‡ | Erica Barry | Something's Gotta Give |
| 2003 (3rd) | Geraldine McEwan | Sister Bridget | The Magdalene Sisters |
| 2003 (3rd) | Helen Mirren | Chris Harper | Calendar Girls |
| 2003 (3rd) | Catherine O'Hara | Mickey Crabbe | A Mighty Wind |
| 2004 (4th) | Anne Reid ‡ | May | The Mother |
| 2004 (4th) | Cloris Leachman | Evelyn Wright | Spanglish |
| 2004 (4th) | Gena Rowlands | Old Allie Calhoun | The Notebook |
| 2004 (4th) | Susan Sarandon | Beverly Clark | Shall We Dance? |
| 2004 (4th) | Meryl Streep | Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw | The Manchurian Candidate |
| 2004 (4th) | Lily Tomlin | Vivian Jaffe | I Heart Huckabees |
| 2005 (5th) | Joan Plowright ‡ | Sarah Palfrey | Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont |
| 2005 (5th) | Judi Dench | Ursula Widdington | Ladies in Lavender |
| 2005 (5th) | Shirley MacLaine | Ella Hirsch | In Her Shoes |
| 2005 (5th) | Meryl Streep | Lisa Metzger Bloomberg | Prime |
| 2005 (5th) | Liv Ullmann | Marianne | Saraband |
| 2006 (6th) | Helen Mirren ‡ | Queen Elizabeth II | The Queen |
| 2006 (6th) | Meryl Streep | Miranda Priestly | The Devil Wears Prada |
| 2006 (6th) | Catherine O'Hara | Marilyn Hack | For Your Consideration |
| 2006 (6th) | Maggie Smith | Rosie Jones/Grace Hawkins | Keeping Mum |
| 2006 (6th) | Judi Dench | Barbara Covett | Notes on a Scandal |
| 2007 (7th) | Julie Christie ‡ | Fiona | Away from Her |
| 2007 (7th) | Sally Field | Anita Bergman | Two Weeks |
| 2007 (7th) | Vanessa Redgrave | Ann Grant Lord | Evening |
| 2007 (7th) | Meryl Streep | Janine Roth | Lions for Lambs |
| 2008 (8th) | Meryl Streep ‡ | Sister Aloysius Beauvier | Doubt |
| 2008 (8th) | Frances McDormand | Linda Litzke | Burn After Reading |
| 2008 (8th) | Catherine Deneuve | Junon Vuillard | A Christmas Tale |
| 2008 (8th) | Alfre Woodard | Alice Reynolds-Evans | Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys |
| 2008 (8th) | Annette Bening | Sylvie Fowler | The Women |
| 2009 (9th) | Helen Mirren ‡ | Sophia Tolstaya | The Last Station |
| 2009 (9th) | Ellen Burstyn | Mary | Lovely, Still |
| 2009 (9th) | Meryl Streep | Jane Adler | It's Complicated |
| 2009 (9th) | Meryl Streep | Julia Child | Julie & Julia |

### 2010s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | Film |
| 2010 (10th) | Lesley Manville ‡ | Mary Smith | Another Year |
| 2010 (10th) | Annette Bening | Dr. Nicole "Nic" Allgood | The Kids Are All Right |
| 2010 (10th) | Julianne Moore | Jules Allgood | The Kids Are All Right |
| 2010 (10th) | Vanessa Redgrave | Claire | Letters to Juliet |
| 2010 (10th) | Tilda Swinton | Emma Recchi | I Am Love |
| 2011 (11th) | Glenn Close ‡ | Albert Nobbs | Albert Nobbs |
| 2011 (11th) | Ellen Barkin | Lynn Hellman | Another Happy Day |
| 2011 (11th) | Helen Mirren | Rachel Singer | The Debt |
| 2011 (11th) | Meryl Streep | Margaret Thatcher | The Iron Lady |
| 2011 (11th) | Tilda Swinton | Eva Khatchadourian | We Need to Talk About Kevin |
| 2012 (12th) | Judi Dench ‡ | Evelyn Greenslade | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel |
| 2012 (12th) | Ann Dowd | Sandra Frum | Compliance |
| 2012 (12th) | Helen Mirren | Alma Reville | Hitchcock |
| 2012 (12th) | Emmanuelle Riva | Anne Laurent | Amour |
| 2012 (12th) | Meryl Streep | Kay Soames | Hope Springs |
| 2013 (13th) | Judi Dench ‡ | Philomena Lee | Philomena |
| 2013 (13th) | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Eva | Enough Said |
| 2013 (13th) | Paulina García | Gloria Cumplido | Gloria |
| 2013 (13th) | Meryl Streep | Violet Weston | August: Osage County |
| 2013 (13th) | Emma Thompson | Pamela "P.L." Travers | Saving Mr. Banks |
| 2014 (14th) | Julianne Moore ‡ | Alice Daly Howland | Still Alice |
| 2014 (14th) | Lindsay Duncan | Meg Burrows | Le Week-End |
| 2014 (14th) | Jane Fonda | Hilary Altman | This Is Where I Leave You |
| 2014 (14th) | Diane Keaton | Leah | And So It Goes |
| 2014 (14th) | Maggie Smith | Mathilde Girard | My Old Lady |
| 2015 (15th) | Lily Tomlin ‡ | Elle | Grandma |
| 2015 (15th) | Blythe Danner | Carol Petersen | I'll See You in My Dreams |
| 2015 (15th) | Helen Mirren | Maria Altmann | Woman in Gold |
| 2015 (15th) | Charlotte Rampling | Kate Mercer | 45 Years |
| 2015 (15th) | Maggie Smith | Miss Mary Shepherd/Margaret Fairchild | The Lady in the Van |
| 2016 (16th) | Annette Bening ‡ | Dorothea Fields | 20th Century Women |
| 2016 (16th) | Sally Field | Doris Miller | Hello, My Name Is Doris |
| 2016 (16th) | Isabelle Huppert | Michèle Leblanc | Elle |
| 2016 (16th) | Meryl Streep | Florence Foster Jenkins | Florence Foster Jenkins |
| 2016 (16th) | Tilda Swinton | Marianne Lane | A Bigger Splash |
| 2017 (17th) | Annette Bening ‡ | Gloria Grahame | Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool |
| 2017 (17th) | Judi Dench | Queen Victoria | Victoria & Abdul |
| 2017 (17th) | Salma Hayek | Beatriz | Beatriz at Dinner |
| 2017 (17th) | Frances McDormand | Mildred Hayes | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri |
| 2017 (17th) | Meryl Streep | Katharine Graham | The Post |
| 2018 (18th) | Glenn Close ‡ | Joan Castleman | The Wife |
| 2018 (18th) | Sandra Bullock | Malorie Hayes | Bird Box |
| 2018 (18th) | Viola Davis | Veronica Rawlings | Widows |
| 2018 (18th) | Nicole Kidman | Erin Bell | Destroyer |
| 2018 (18th) | Julia Roberts | Holly Burns-Beeby | Ben Is Back |
| 2019 (19th) | Renée Zellweger ‡ | Judy Garland | Judy |
| 2019 (19th) | Isabelle Huppert | Frankie | Frankie |
| 2019 (19th) | Helen Mirren | Betty McLeish/Lili Schröeder | The Good Liar |
| 2019 (19th) | Julianne Moore | Gloria Bell | Gloria Bell |
| 2019 (19th) | Alfre Woodard | Bernadine Williams | Clemency |

### 2020s

| Year | Actor | Role(s) | Film |
| 2020 (20th) | Sophia Loren ‡ | Madame Rosa | The Life Ahead |
| 2020 (20th) | Viola Davis | Ma Rainey | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom |
| 2020 (20th) | Frances McDormand | Fern | Nomadland |
| 2020 (20th) | Michelle Pfeiffer | Frances Price | French Exit |
| 2020 (20th) | Robin Wright | Edee Holzer | Land |
| 2021 (21st) | Nicole Kidman‡ | Lucille Ball | Being the Ricardos |
| 2021 (21st) | Halle Berry | Jackie "Pretty Bull" Justice | Bruised |
| 2021 (21st) | Sandra Bullock | Ruth Slater | The Unforgivable |
| 2021 (21st) | Frances McDormand | Lady Macbeth | The Tragedy of Macbeth |
| 2021 (21st) | Helen Mirren | Dorothy Bunton | The Duke |
| 2022 (22nd) | Michelle Yeoh ‡ | Evelyn Quan Wang | Everything Everywhere All at Once |
| 2022 (22nd) | Cate Blanchett | Lydia Tár | TÁR |
| 2022 (22nd) | Viola Davis | General Nanisca | The Woman King |
| 2022 (22nd) | Lesley Manville | Ada Harris | Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris |
| 2022 (22nd) | Emma Thompson | Nancy Stokes/Susan Robinson | Good Luck to You, Leo Grande |
| 2023 (23rd) | Annette Bening‡ | Diana Nyad | Nyad |
| 2023 (23rd) | Juliette Binoche | Eugénie | The Taste of Things |
| 2023 (23rd) | Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor | Isabel Wilkerson | Origin |
| 2023 (23rd) | Helen Mirren | Golda Meir | Golda |
| 2023 (23rd) | Julia Roberts | Amanda Sandford | Leave the World Behind |
| 2024 (24th) | Demi Moore‡ | Elisabeth Sparkle | The Substance |
| 2024 (24th) | Marianne Jean-Baptiste | Pansy Deacon | Hard Truths |
| 2024 (24th) | Nicole Kidman | Romy Mathis | Babygirl |
| 2024 (24th) | Pamela Anderson | Shelly Gardner | The Last Showgirl |
| 2024 (24th) | June Squibb | Thelma | Thelma |

## Multiple wins and nominations

| Wins | Actress | Nominations |
| 3 | Annette Bening | 5 |
| 2 | Glenn Close | 2 |
| 2 | Judi Dench | 6 |
| 2 | Helen Mirren | 10 |
| 2 | Meryl Streep | 13 |
| Nominations | Actress |
| 13 | Meryl Streep |
| 10 | Helen Mirren |
| 6 | Judi Dench |
| 5 | Annette Bening |
| 4 | Frances McDormand |
| 4 | Maggie Smith |
| 3 | Viola Davis |
| 3 | Julianne Moore |
| 3 | Tilda Swinton |
| 3 | Nicole Kidman |
| 2 | Sandra Bullock |
| 2 | Glenn Close |
| 2 | Sally Field |
| 2 | Isabelle Huppert |
| 2 | Diane Keaton |
| 2 | Lesley Manville |
| 2 | Catherine O'Hara |
| 2 | Charlotte Rampling |
| 2 | Vanessa Redgrave |
| 2 | Julia Roberts |
| 2 | Susan Sarandon |
| 2 | Emma Thompson |
| 2 | Lily Tomlin |
| 2 | Alfre Woodard |

## Age superlatives

| Record | Actress | Film | Age (in years) |
| Oldest winner | Sophia Loren | The Life Ahead | 86 |
| Oldest nominee | June Squibb | Thelma | 95 |
| Youngest winner | Renée Zellweger | Judy | 50 |
| Youngest nominee | Renée Zellweger | Judy | 50 |