1. Ellen Burstyn
What can I say about Ellen that others already haven’t said? She is more than an actress, she goes beyond just playing a character. She immerses herself into another human being. Would The Exorcist be as well respected and highly acclaimed had it just been about a little girl vomiting green sick? Ellen brought to that movie a sense of realism, a gritty and powerful performance which should have got her the Oscar. I don’t think I need to say anything about Requiem For A Dream. Without her, that movie would have been just another Trainspotting.
2. Meryl Streep
There are certain films I wont watch with Meryl, like Mamma Mia, which I think looks like it wastes her talent, but no one can take away Sophie’s Choice from her. It is one of the greatest female performances in cinema. And Meryl isn’t afraid to go the other way, as shown in The Devil Wears Prada, another highly memorable performance from her recent career choices.
3. Katharine Hepburn
She was something else, something unlike every other actress who emerged from her era. The Great Kate wasn’t your regular star of yesterday, she fought her way to stand tall in a man’s world and wasn’t prepared to just play the love interest of the leading man. Her stand out performances for me were Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, for her genuine emotion at Spencer Tracy’s monologue and Woman Of The Year.
4. Cate Blanchett
She is one of the few true Hollywood stars today who will be remembered in the same vein as Hepburn, Davis, Crawford and Garland. Cate Blanchett is one of the greatest actresses in the Hollywood history, and I say that bold, loud and clear. No one can touch her in terms of talent, she is The new Great Cate.
5. Holly Hunter
There is something very special about Holly. She is one of the most underrated actresses in the business but in two of my favourite performances by her, she has managed to be downright hilarious in Raising Arizona to perfectly calm, collected and focused in Copycat. I had to pick her for number 5, for the last moments we see her in Copycat, she doesn’t even speak in her last scene but her character contradicted everything she had stood for her in the whole movie and no words needed to be expressed. But her face said more than words ever could.
