Empire Award for Best Actress


The Empire Award for Best Actress was an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine Empire to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role, while working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best Actress was one of five ongoing awards which were first introduced at the 1st Empire Awards ceremony in 1996, with Nicole Kidman receiving the award for her role in To Die For. Winners were chosen by the readers of Empire magazine.
Since its inception, the award was given to 20 actresses. Nicole Kidman has received the most awards in this category, with two awards. Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman were nominated on five occasions, more than any other actress. Daisy Ridley was the most recent winner in this category, for her role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Winners and nominees

In the list below, winners are listed first in the colored row in boldface, followed by the other nominees. The number of the ceremony appears in parentheses after the awards year, linked to the article on that ceremony.
KeyDescription
Indicates the winner

1990s

2000s

2010s

Multiple awards and nominations

Multiple awards

The following individual received two or more Best Actress awards:
AwardsFilm
2Nicole Kidman

Multiple nominations

The following individuals received two or more Best Actress nominations:
NominationsFilm
5Cate Blanchett
5Nicole Kidman
4Keira Knightley
3Angelina Jolie
3Emily Blunt
3Emma Watson
3Hilary Swank
3Jennifer Lawrence
2Alicia Vikander
2Amy Adams
2Carey Mulligan
2Felicity Jones
2Frances McDormand
2Gwyneth Paltrow
2Helena Bonham Carter
2Kate Winslet
2Kirsten Dunst
2Naomi Watts
2Natalie Portman
2Renée Zellweger
2Uma Thurman