# Volpi Cup for Best Actress

The Volpi Cup for Best Actress is an award presented by the Venice Film Festival. It is given by the festival jury in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance from the films in the competition slate. It is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the festival. The 1st ceremony was held in 1932, when Helen Hayes received the Volpi Cup for the title role in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)—this was the only time that the award was chosen by public voting. From 1942 to 1945, the festival was suspended because of World War II. The student protests in May 1968 opened a period of institutional changes, with no prizes were awarded from 1969 to 1979.
The official name of the award has changed several times. In 1934, Katharine Hepburn was honored with the Great Gold Medal of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment for the Best Actress for her role in Little Women. It was renamed the Volpi Cup for Best Actress the following year. The awards given from 1947 to 1949 were named the International Award for the Best Actress. The Best Actress Award resumed in 1983, when Darling Légitimus became the first black woman to receive the award for her work Sugar Cane Alley. In 1992, Ingrid Bergman was honored posthumously for her performance in Europe '51, which was denied by the jury in 1952 because her voice was dubbed from Swedish into Italian. The award can be for lead or supporting roles with the exception of the period, when the additional award for Best Supporting Actress was given from 1993 to 1995. At the age of four, Victoire Thivisol became the youngest recipient for the title role in Ponette in 1996.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 67 actresses. Only four of them have won more than once: Shirley MacLaine, Isabelle Huppert, Valeria Golino and Cate Blanchett, who have each won the cup twice. Bette Davis is the only actress to win the award for her roles in two different films on the same competition; she won in 1937 for her contribution in Marked Woman and Kid Galahad. In 1988, the award was shared by two actresses in different films: Huppert in Story of Women and MacLaine in Madame Sousatzka. There have been two films, She's Been Away in 1989 and La Cérémonie in 1995, that garnered multiple winners in one year.
As of 2024, Nicole Kidman is the most recent winner for Babygirl.

## Winners

Table key :
| ‡ | Indicates the Best Supporting Actress winner |

### 1930s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title |
| 1932 | Helen Hayes | Madelon Claudet | The Sin of Madelon Claudet |
| 1934 | Katharine Hepburn | Josephine "Jo" March | Little Women |
| 1935 | Paula Wessely | Valerie Gärtner | Episode |
| 1936 | Annabella | Jeanne de Corlaix | Veille d'armes |
| 1937 | Bette Davis | Mary Dwight Strauber | Marked Woman |
| 1937 | Bette Davis | Louise "Fluff" Phillips | Kid Galahad |
| 1938 | Norma Shearer | Marie Antoinette | Marie Antoinette |

### 1940s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title |
| 1941 | Luise Ullrich | Annelie Dörensen | Annelie |
| 1942 | Kristina Söderbaum | Anna Jobst | Die goldene Stadt |
| 1947 | Anna Magnani | Angelina Bianchi | Angelina |
| 1948 | Jean Simmons | Ophelia | Hamlet |
| 1949 | / Olivia de Havilland | Virginia Stuart Cunningham | The Snake Pit |

### 1950s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Ref. |
| 1950 | Eleanor Parker | Marie Allen | Caged | |
| 1951 | Vivien Leigh | Blanche DuBois | A Streetcar Named Desire | |
| 1952 | Ingrid Bergman | Irene Girard | Europe '51 | |
| 1953 | Lilli Palmer | Abby Edwards | The Four Poster | |
| 1954 | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned |
| 1955 | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned |
| 1956 | / Maria Schell | Gervaise Macquart Coupeau | Gervaise | |
| 1957 | Dzidra Ritenberga | Malva | Malva | |
| 1958 | Sophia Loren | Rose Bianco | The Black Orchid | |
| 1959 | Madeleine Robinson | Thérèse Marcoux | Web of Passion | |

### 1960s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Ref. |
| 1960 | Shirley MacLaine | Fran Kubelik | The Apartment | |
| 1961 | Suzanne Flon | Madame Cordier | Thou Shalt Not Kill | |
| 1962 | Emmanuelle Riva | Thérèse Desqueyroux | Thérèse Desqueyroux | |
| 1963 | Delphine Seyrig | Hélène Aughain | Muriel | |
| 1964 | Harriet Andersson | Louise | To Love | |
| 1965 | Annie Girardot | Kay Larsi | Three Rooms in Manhattan | |
| 1966 | Natalya Arinbasarova | Altynai | The First Teacher | |
| 1967 | Shirley Knight | Lula | Dutchman | |
| 1968 | Laura Betti | Emilia | Teorema | |
| 1969 | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned |

### 1980s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Ref. |
| 1980 | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned |
| 1981 | Jutta Lampe | Marianne | Marianne and Juliane | |
| Barbara Sukowa | Juliane | | Marianne and Juliane | |
| 1982 | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned |
| 1983 | Darling Légitimus | M'Man-Tine | Sugar Cane Alley | |
| 1984 | Pascale Ogier | Louise | Full Moon in Paris | |
| 1985 | Not assigned | Not assigned | Not assigned | |
| 1986 | Valeria Golino | Bruna Assecondati | A Tale of Love | |
| 1987 | Kang Soo-yeon | Ok-nyo | The Surrogate Woman | |
| 1988 | Isabelle Huppert | Marie Latour | Story of Women | |
| 1988 | Shirley MacLaine | Madame Sousatzka | Madame Sousatzka | |
| 1989 | Peggy Ashcroft | Lillian Huckle | She's Been Away | |
| 1989 | Geraldine James | Harriet Ambrose | She's Been Away | |

### 1990s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title |
| 1990 | Gloria Münchmeyer | Lucrecia | The Moon in the Mirror |
| 1991 | Tilda Swinton | Isabella | Edward II |
| 1992 | Gong Li | Qiu Ju | The Story of Qiu Ju |
| 1993 | Juliette Binoche | Julie Vignon de Courcy | Three Colours: Blue |
| 1993 | Anna Bonaiuto ‡ | Mother | Where Are You? I'm Here |
| 1994 | Maria de Medeiros | Maria | Two Brothers, My Sister |
| 1994 | Vanessa Redgrave | Irina Shapira | Little Odessa |
| 1995 | Sandrine Bonnaire | Sophie | La Cérémonie |
| 1995 | Isabelle Huppert | Jeanne | La Cérémonie |
| 1995 | Isabella Ferrari ‡ | Andreina | The Story of a Poor Young Man |
| 1996 | Victoire Thivisol | Ponette | Ponette |
| 1997 | Robin Tunney | Marcy | Niagara, Niagara |
| 1998 | Catherine Deneuve | Marianne Malivert | Place Vendôme |
| 1999 | Nathalie Baye | Her | Une liaison pornographique |

### 2000s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title |
| 2000 | Rose Byrne | B.G. | The Goddess of 1967 |
| 2001 | Sandra Ceccarelli | Maria | Light of My Eyes |
| 2002 | Julianne Moore | Cathy Whitaker | Far from Heaven |
| 2003 | Katja Riemann | Lena Fischer | Rosenstrasse |
| 2004 | Imelda Staunton | Vera Drake | Vera Drake |
| 2005 | Giovanna Mezzogiorno | Sabina | Don't Tell |
| 2006 | Helen Mirren | Queen Elizabeth II | The Queen |
| 2007 | Cate Blanchett | Jude Quinn | I'm Not There |
| 2008 | Dominique Blanc | Anne-Marie | The Other One |
| 2009 | Kseniya Rappoport | Sonia | The Double Hour |

### 2010s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title |
| 2010 | Ariane Labed | Marina | Attenberg |
| 2011 | Deanie Ip | Sister Peach | A Simple Life |
| 2012 | Hadas Yaron | Shira Mendelman | Fill the Void |
| 2013 | Elena Cotta | Samira Calafiore | A Street in Palermo |
| 2014 | Alba Rohrwacher | Mina | Hungry Hearts |
| 2015 | Valeria Golino | Anna | Per amor vostro |
| 2016 | Emma Stone | Mia Dolan | La La Land |
| 2017 | Charlotte Rampling | Hannah | Hannah |
| 2018 | Olivia Colman | Queen Anne | The Favourite |
| 2019 | Ariane Ascaride | Sylvie Benar | Gloria Mundi |

### 2020s

| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title |
| 2020 | Vanessa Kirby | Martha Weiss | Pieces of a Woman |
| 2021 | Penélope Cruz | Janis Martínez | Parallel Mothers |
| 2022 | Cate Blanchett | Lydia Tár | Tár |
| 2023 | Cailee Spaeny | Priscilla Presley | Priscilla |
| 2024 | / Nicole Kidman | Romy | Babygirl |

## Multiple winners

The following individuals have received multiple Best Actress awards:
| Number of Wins | Actress | Nationality | Films |
| 2 | Shirley MacLaine | United States | The Apartment (1960), Madame Sousatzka (1988) |
| 2 | Isabelle Huppert | France | Story of Women (1988), La Cérémonie (1995) |
| 2 | Valeria Golino | Italy | A Tale of Love (1986), Per amor vostro (2015) |
| 2 | Cate Blanchett | Australia | I'm Not There (2007), Tár (2022) |