Greatest Screen Performances per Film Actresses

[Tim]

I guess a better way of putting it would be Star Wars boosting her fame while also hurting her acting career prospects so my bad putting it on acting list.

[Tim]

Gong Li (1965–)
1. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
2. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
3. The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
4. To Live (1994)
5. Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
6. Ju Dou (1990)
7. Breaking the Silence (2000)
8. Red Sorghum (1987)
9. Saturday Fiction (2019)
10. Leap (2020)

Zhang Ziyi (1979–)
1. The Grandmaster (2013)
2. 2046 (2004)
3. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
4. The Road Home (1999)
5. Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
6. House of Flying Daggers (2004)
7. Hero (2002)
8. Jasmine Women (2005)
9. Love for Life (2012)
10. Purple Butterfly (2003)

Jennifer Lawrence (1990–)
1. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
2. Winter's Bone (2010)
3. Die My Love (2025)
4. American Hustle (2013)
5. Joy (2015)
6. The Hunger Games (2012)
7. Don't Look Up (2021)
8. No Hard Feelings (2023)
9. X-Men: First Class (2011)
10. Causeway (2022)

[Dubrow555]

All look good to me.

[ManPerson]

I'd think Crouching Tiger would be Zhang Ziyi's top performance but I could see opposing arguments for sure.

[Tim]

Hah, that was my expectation too but upon researching it, 2046 and Grandmaster especially stroke me as more acclaimed.

[Dubrow555]

Penélope Cruz:

1. Volver
2. Parallel Mothers
3. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
4. All About My Mother
5. Nine
6. Open Your Eyes
7. Vanilla Sky
8. Ferrari
9. Broken Embraces
10. Ma Ma

(Alternates: Blow, Everybody Knows, Pain and Glory, The Assassination of Gianni Versace)

[Tim]

That's what I drafted for her.

Penélope Cruz (1974-)
1. Volver (2006)
2. Parallel Mothers (2021)
3. The Girl of Your Dreams (1998)
4. Don't Move (2004)
5. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
6. Broken Embraces (2009)
7. Nine (2009)
8. Ma Ma (2015)
9. Ferrari (2023)
10. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018)

[ManPerson]

Looks good.

[Tim]

Shelley Winters (1920–2006)
1. A Place in the Sun (1951)
2. A Patch of Blue (1965)
3. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
4. Lolita (1962)
5. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
6. A Double Life (1947)
7. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
8. Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
9. Alfie (1966)
10. Pete's Dragon (1977)

Geraldine Page (1924–1985)
1. The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
2. Summer and Smoke (1961)
3. Interiors (1978)
4. Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
5. Trilogy (1969)
6. The Beguiled (1971)
7. What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969)
8. Hondo (1953)
9. You're a Big Boy Now (1966)
10. Pete 'n' Tillie (1972)

Kathy Bates (1948–)
1. Misery (1990)
2. Primary Colors (1998)
3. About Schmidt (2002)
4. Dolores Claiborne (1995)
5. Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
6. American Horror Story: Coven (2013–2014)
7. The Late Shift (1996)
8. American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014–2015)
9. Richard Jewell (2019)
10. Matlock (2024–)

Annette Bening (1958–)
1. American Beauty (1999)
2. The Kids Are All Right (2010)
3. 20th Century Women (2016)
4. Being Julia (2004)
5. Nyad (2023)
6. The Grifters (1990)
7. Bugsy (1991)
8. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017)
9. The Report (2019)
10. Mrs. Harris (2005)

Sridevi (1963–2018)
1. English Vinglish (2012)
2. ChaalBaaz (1989)
3. Sadma (1983)
4. Mom (2017)
5. Nagina (1986)
6. Lamhe (1991)
7. Mr. India (1987)
8. Chandni (1989)
9. Khuda Gawah (1992) 
10. Laadla (1994)

[ManPerson]

These also look pretty good.

[Tim]

Halle Berry (1966–)
1. Monster's Ball (2001)
2. Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999)
3. Frankie & Alice (2010)
4. Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)
5. Bruised (2020)
6. Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005)
7. The Call (2013)
8. Gothika (2003)
9. Jungle Fever (1991)
10. Bulworth (1998)

Amy Adams (1974–)
1. Arrival (2016)
2. Sharp Objects (2018)
3. Junebug (2005)
4. American Hustle (2013)
5. The Master (2012)
6. Vice (2018)
7. Nocturnal Animals (2016)
8. The Fighter (2010)
9. Doubt (2008)
10. Big Eyes (2014)

Viola Davis (1965–)
1. Fences (2016)
2. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
3. How to Get Away with Murder (2014–2020)
4. The Help (2011)
5. The Woman King (2022)
6. Doubt (2008)
7. Widows (2018)
8. Lila & Eve (2015)
9. Custody (2016)
10. G20 (2025)

Angela Bassett (1958–)
1. What's Love Got to Do with It (1993)
2. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
3. The Rosa Parks Story (2002)
4. How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
5. American Horror Story: Coven (2013–2014)
6. Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
7. American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014–2015)
8. Strange Days (1995)
9. Malcolm X (1992)
10. Boyz n the Hood (1991)

[ManPerson]

Those lists look good.

[Tim]

Do we maybe want Enchanted somewhere on Amy Adams list? Her breakthrough and still arguably her signature role, pretty acclaimed performance as well.

[ManPerson]

I could see it, but I'm not sure if it's necessary either, since she has a lot of more acclaimed performances.

[Sherick]

I think The Master > American Hustle for Adams, but it's close.

[Dubrow555]

I think The Master > American Hustle for Adams, but it's close.

I would agree with that as well.

For Berry - not exactly her breakout role, but not having Xmen on the list is surprising as it certainly led to her way more international fame/recognition.

[Tim]

X2 prolly can be added at, say, #8 on Berry's list. As for The Master, guess I just went along with Man's 2010s list which had American Hustle ahead. Funnily enough, mine and Bruno's old list did have The Master higher of two.

[ManPerson]

American Hustle seems to show up near the top a lot on lists of her best performances but maybe I underrated The Master.