A Topic That Never Grows Old: Best Actress 1995
Wednesday, July 17, 2013 at 10:14AM 
Elisabeth Shue had my vote among the Oscar nominees
With the time left -- you can have more money, you can drink all you want -- just stay. That's what I want. I want you to talk. Or listen. Just stay."
Alicia Silverstone, Clueless (MTV Winner, Globe Nominee)
Angela Bassett, Waiting to Exhale (Image Award Winner)
Annette Bening, The American President (Globe Nominee)
Gong Li, Shanghai Triad (None)
Joan Allen, Nixon (SAG Lead Nominee but Oscar Supporting Nominee)
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Georgia (NYFCC Winner, Spirit Nominee)
Jessica Lange, Rob Roy (None)
Julianne Moore, [safe] (Spirit Nominee)
Julie Delpy, Before Sunrise (None)
Kathy Bates, Delores Claiborne (Saturn Nominee)
Michelle Pfeiffer, Dangerous Minds (MTV Nominee, #1 Female Led Box Office Hit)
Nicole Kidman, To Die For (Globe Winner)
Sandra Bullock, While You Were Sleeping (Globe Nominee, #2 Female Led Box Office Hit)
Toni Collette, Muriel's Wedding (AFI Winner, Globe Nominee)
...and the Oscar nominees
Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas
Emma Thompson, Sense & Sensibility (won for Screenplay!)
Meryl Streep, The Bridges of Madison County (#3 Female Led Box Office Hit)
Sharon Stone, Casino (Globe Winner)
Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking (The Winner)
*and I dedicate this list to Pocahontas in Pocahontas who I wish was a real actress
Such riches to choose from! Definitely in the running for Bestest Best Actress Year of All Time? Your ballots please.
Reader Comments (79)
Streep, of course. One of the 5 best performances ever.
On 1994: Foster should have won her second Oscar.
And I want to make a point that Julia Roberts is wonderful in Something to Talk About.
Oh, hi Susan! God that dress is wrinkled. Anyway her speech was great and the standing ovation very well deserved. Since I'm a hardcore fan this is one of my happiest memories.
Streep
Moore
Sarandon
Kidman
Bates
tough decision:
julianne moore - [safe]
nicole kidman - to die for
elisabeth shue - leaving las vegas
toni collette - muriel's wedding
alicia silverstone - clueless
But I still haven't seen Georgia, Dead Man Walking or Sense and Sensibility (I know!)
More than even picking my lineup....I like thinking of the possible combinations that could have come up with the possibilities. Part of me wants the all redhead lineup of Moore, Kidman, Collette, Bening, and Sarandon.
I'll admit first I've never seen [safe]. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find on DVD. Anywhere! (Similarly with Vanya on 42nd Street) Suggestions welcome.
But my personal lineup is:
Meryl Streep "The Bridges of Madison County" so romantic, so minimal. I think Eastwood kept her on her toes in his direction
Nicole Kidman "To Die For" I do think she does far better later, but this first plum role was a good indication of what lengths she goes to fulfill director's vision and tone.
Annette Bening "The American President" A fizzy smart and sexy Sorkin heroine that is thwarted but never diminished. Full of fire and music.
Susan Sarandon "Dead Man Walking" I just love the clear eyed authenticity in which she plays this woman. Devotion to God not minimized by the power that Penn's character holds her with.
Angela Bassett "Waiting to Exhale" The full-tilt melodrama that she finds in the burning car scene alone is worth a nomination in my book. She carries that throughout.
My winner would be a tough 3way race between Meryl, Susan, and Annette, and I'd be tempted to pick Bening on the sheer fact that I would have bestowed these other women before. Though Meryl is perfect in my mind.
Special shout-outs to Julie Delpy, Elisabeth Shue, and Collette (My God Somebody Give Her A Movie!).
A rich year. Some more actresses to add:
Halle Berry - Losing Isaiah
Holly Hunter - Copycat
Julia Ormond - Sabrina
Parker Posey - Party Girl
Lili Taylor - The Addiction
Emma Thompson - Carrington
Sigourney Weaver - Copycat
Then to the more commercial front
Rene Russo - Get Shorty, Julia Roberts - Something to Talk About, Meg Ryan - French Kiss, Geena Davis - Cutthroat Island, Angela Bassett - Strange Days, Demi Moore - Scarlet Letter and Sharon Stone - The Quick and the Dead
Even if some of these performances I mentioned were flops, it still shows how many oppurtinites there were for lead actresses in 1995
Let's not forget
Amanda Root - Persuasion and Vanessa Redgrave - A Month By the Lake
SO MANY
Great line up, but I've always thought that Stone should've gone supporting (where I really do think she belonged). I think she would've won that in a walk and then you would've had the bonus of Kidman getting her first Oscar nomination! Sarandon winning does feel right. She was on quite a roll in the 90s and after the nomination for The Client (talk about elevating the material) her winning just felt inevitable.
Susan, Elisabeth, Julianne, Meryl, Nicole for me (and in that order)
I REALLY wish I could include Annette Bening, and every once in awhile I'll switch her out with Kidman. Such a vibrant performance, and gives her a chance to dig into a strong female character that's so full of life, and not the crazy had ass she's usually pigeonholed into. She brilliantly masters the Sorkin-speak in a really funny, smart performance, and I think it says a lot about the '95 line-up that if you bump her down to '94, she's my clear winner.
I also hate leaving off Emma Thompson but that's really just because she's Emma Thompson, and I like including her, which is usually easier to do.
Still happy to this day that Stone landed that much deserved nomination for "Casino". I remember at the time I was very hopeful for Bassett in Waiting to Exhale, but now I can barely even remember the movie. *sigh*
My nominees? Silverstone, Stone, Streep, Sarandon, Thompson
For the record, I would have voted for Streep and still would. It remains my favorite of her performances.
Love Best Actress '95! Not an embarassment in the bunch! (also love Best Actress 2002 and 2006!)
I LOVE Copycat, so I'm glad to see some Sigourney/Holly mentions.
My nominees...
Kathy Bates (Dolores Claiborne)
Nicole Kidman (To Die For)
WINNER: Julianne Moore (Safe)
Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking)
Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas)
I'm also a big fan of Bassett, Collette and Silvestone's performances (if not their entire movies), but someone had to get cut. 1995 was actually a banner year for Bassett with Strange Days also in the mix. I'm tempted to give her a nod for that movie. It's such a badass performance. Too bad she wasn't able to launch intro true movie stardom.
BEST ACTRESS 1995
***Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas***
Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensibility
Annette Bening, The American President
Alicia Silverstone, Clueless
Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
Streep
Kidman
Shue
Sarandon
Bates
Kidman (the first time I went "hmm"), Sarandon (her co-star raised her already great game), Streep, Thompson (flawless), Collette (a star is born).
"And the Oscar goes to..." Streep by a nose, and what a nose. Oh, Francesca...
Annette Bening - The American President
Julie Delpy - Before Sunrise
Catherine Keener - Living in Oblivion (MY CHOICE)
Meryl Streep - The Bridges of Madison County
Emma Thompson - Sense and Sensibility
Runner-up: Sandra Bullock - While You Were Sleeping
I'll never get over the Nicole snub that year. Globe win, BAFTA nom, BFCA win....if SAG had come through for her, surely she would've made it (probably not). I guess SAG didn't take her seriously enough yet.
I really love the actual Oscar line-up that year sans Stone, who I find to be awful and borderline supporting. Take her out, add Kidman, and it would honestly be one of my favorite line-ups ever.
I'm sure I need to see [safe] again, but:
Julie Delpy, Before Sunrise
Nicole Kidman, To Die For
Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking*
Alicia Silverstone, Clueless
Emma Thompson, Sense & Sensibility
Toni Collette just misses. Silverstone is actually my #2, but the Academy got the winner right. One of my favorite Actress wins.
My choice would be Emma Thompson for Sense and Sensibility with Kathy Bates a close second for Dolores Claiborne but I have to admit I've never seen Leaving Las Vegas. I have it in my queue but have put it off because of my general indifference to Nicolas Cage even though I am a big fan of hers.
Hard to pick one winner from the final five, but I will always go for Meryl Streep purely based on how much I LOVE that movie.
Also (from an Antipodean perspective) a pity that a little movie called ANGEL BABY didn't get a release in the US that year (the year it came out in Australia), and/or gained some attention, because despite the movie itself not being great, it may have served as a great launch pad for the wonderful Jacqueline Mackenzie (she may have actually gained some awards traction and subsequent good international roles, instead of the schlocky shark movies and so-so sci-fi series that she ended up with.
This was the year Jennifer Jason Leigh should have won (even Meryl Streep was stunned she wasn't nominated and mentioned it to Mare Winningham at a luncheon). Sadie is such a complex role and Leigh has never been so vulnerable and aching. She is a walking open wound in Georgia.
As far as listing actresses I think should have been nominated, I am more interested in listing the best performances and not what the Oscars would feel it is within their own universe.
So, these are the 5 best performances that year, in my opinion:
1. Jennifer Jason Leigh
2. Nicole Kidman
3. Catherine Keener in Living in Oblivion
4. Kathy Bates in Dolores Claiborne
5. Kristin Scott-Thomas in Angels and Insects
special mention to Chloe Sevigny in Kids
Sandra Bullock- While You Were Sleeping*
Nicole Kidman- To Die For
Susan Sarandon- Dead Man Walking
Elizabeth Shue- Leaving Las Vegas
Meryl Streep- The Bridges of Madison County
My Vote:
Elisabeth Shue [Leaving Las Vegas]
Julianne Moore [Safe]
Susan Sarandon [Dead Man Walking]
Emma Thompson [Sense and Sensibility]
Meryl Streep [The Bridges of Madison County]
My Choices:
1) Stone
2) Kidman
3) Shue
4) Streep
5) Bassett (for STRANGE DAYS)
Streep's performance was heartbreaking. i have seen all 5 Oscar contenders that year and I say with whole conviction hers was the winningest.
1. Streep
2. Stone
3. Shue
4. Thompson
5. Sarandon
Kathy Bates, Dolores Claiborne
Nicole Kidman, To Die For
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Georgia (personal vote for winner)
Julianne Moore, Safe
Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas
My rankings:
1. Susan Sarandon (tie)
1. Elizabeth Shue (tie)
2. Emma Thompson
3. Meryl Streep
4. Sharon Stone
Dead Man Walking was a pretty mediocre film, but Sarandon did give an INCREDIBLE performance. I enjoyed Leaving Las Vegas and Shue gave an equally AMAZING performance. If I were me, I would have given it to both of them. It's a shame that Shue didn't win it, but then again, Sarandon was so horrendously overdue by this point, having lost 4 times already and this was her final Oscar nomination.
I hope in nomination Oscar actress in a leading role for Emma Thompson, this year, in Saving Mr Banks. Emma is very talent. It's moment her return in nomination of Academy Awards.
Sarandon
Collette
Kidman
JJL
Moore
Now, isn't that a lineup?