| Best Actress Award | |
|---|---|
| Prix d'interprétation féminine (French) | |
 2025 recipient:Nadia Melliti | |
| Awarded for | Best Performance by an Actress |
| Country | France |
| Presented by | Cannes Film Festival |
| First award | 1946 |
| Currently held by | Nadia Melliti forThe Little Sister (2025) |
| Website | www |
TheBest Actress Award (French:Prix d'interprétation féminine) is an award presented at theCannes Film Festival since 1946. It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and chosen by the jury from the films in official competition slate at the festival.
At the 1946 Cannes Film Festival, Michèle Morgan was the inaugural winner of the award forPastoral Symphony. WhileNadia Melliti is the most recent winner forThe Little Sister at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
The award was first presented in 1946. The prize was not awarded on three occasions (1947, 1953, and 1954). The festival was not held at all in 1948, 1950, and 2020. In 1968, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to theMay 1968 events in France.
On five occasions, the jury has awarded multiple women (more than 2) the prize for one film. The five films wereA Big Family (1955),Brink of Life (1958),A World Apart (1988),Volver (2006) andEmilia Pérez (2024).
Vanessa Redgrave,Barbara Hershey,Helen Mirren, andIsabelle Huppert have won the most awards in this category, each winning twice. Hershey is the only actress to win the award in consecutive years, forShy People (1987) andA World Apart (1988).
Isabelle Adjani is the only actress to win for roles in two different films in the same competition, for her performances inPossession andQuartet in 1981.
The award can be for lead or supporting roles, with the exception of the period from 1979 to 1981, when the festival used to award a separate "Best Supporting Actress" prize. The jury also, on occasion, cites actresses with a special citation that is separate from the main award.
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| ‡ | Indicates the Best Supporting Actress winner |
|---|
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Michèle Morgan | Gertrude | Pastoral Symphony | La Symphonie pastorale | [1] |
| 1949 | Isa Miranda | Marta Manfredini | The Walls of Malapaga | Au-delà des grilles | [2] |
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Bette Davis | Margo Channing | All About Eve | [3] | |
| 1952 | Lee Grant | The Shoplifter | Detective Story | [4] | |
| 1955 [A][B] | Elena Dobronravova | Katya Travnikova | A Big Family | Больша́я семья́ | [5] |
| Vera Kuznetsova | Agafya Karpovna Zhurbina | ||||
| Klara Luchko | Lida Zhurbina | ||||
| Ekaterina Savinova | Dunyasha Zhurbina | ||||
| Iya Arepina | Tanya Zhurbina | ||||
| Larisa Kronberg | Zina Ivanova | ||||
| 1956 [A] | Susan Hayward | Lillian Roth | I'll Cry Tomorrow | [6] | |
| 1957 | Giulietta Masina | Maria "Cabiria" Ceccarelli | Nights of Cabiria | Le notti di Cabiria | [7] |
| 1958 | Bibi Andersson[C] | Hjördis Petterson | Brink of Life | Nära livet | [8] [9] |
| Eva Dahlbeck[C] | Stina Andersson | ||||
| Barbro Hiort af Ornäs[C] | Nurse Brita | ||||
| Ingrid Thulin[C] | Cecilia Ellius | ||||
| 1959 | Simone Signoret | Alice Aisgill | Room at the Top | [10] | |
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Melina Mercouri | Ilya | Never on Sunday | Ποτέ την Κυριακή | [11] |
| Jeanne Moreau | Anne Desbarèdes | Seven Days... Seven Nights | Moderato cantabile | ||
| 1961 | Sophia Loren | Cesira | Two Women | La ciociara | [12] |
| 1962 | Katharine Hepburn[D] | Mary Cavan Tyrone | Long Day's Journey into Night | [13] [14] | |
| Rita Tushingham[D] | Josephine ("Jo") | A Taste of Honey | |||
| 1963 | Marina Vlady | Regina | The Conjugal Bed | L'ape regina | [15] |
| 1964 | Anne Bancroft | Jo Armitage | The Pumpkin Eater | [16] | |
| Barbara Barrie | Julie Cullen Richards | One Potato, Two Potato | |||
| 1965 | Samantha Eggar | Miranda Grey | The Collector | [17] | |
| 1966 | Vanessa Redgrave | Leonie Delt | Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment | [18] | |
| 1967 | Pia Degermark | Elvira Madigan | Elvira Madigan | [19] [20] | |
| 1969 | Vanessa Redgrave | Isadora Duncan | Isadora | [21] | |
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Ottavia Piccolo | Ersilia | Metello | [22] | |
| 1971 | Kitty Winn | Helen Reeves | The Panic in Needle Park | [23] | |
| 1972 | Susannah York | Cathryn | Images | [24] | |
| 1973 | Joanne Woodward | Beatrice Hunsdorfer | The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds | [25] | |
| 1974 | Marie-José Nat | Elle / Michel's wife | Violins at the Ball | Les Violons du bal | [26] |
| 1975 | Valérie Perrine | Honey Bruce | Lenny | [27] | |
| 1976 | Dominique Sanda | Irene Carelli Ferramonti | The Inheritance | L'eredità Ferramonti | [28] |
| Mari Törőcsik | Déryné | Mrs. Dery Where Are You? | Déryné hol van? | ||
| 1977 | Shelley Duvall | Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux | 3 Women | [29] | |
| Monique Mercure | Rose-Aimee Martin | J.A. Martin Photographer | J.A. Martin photographe | ||
| 1978 | Jill Clayburgh | Erica Benton | An Unmarried Woman | [30] | |
| Isabelle Huppert | Violette Nozière | Violette Nozière | |||
| 1979 | Sally Field | Norma Rae Webster | Norma Rae | [31] [32] | |
| Eva Mattes ‡ | Marie | Woyzeck | |||
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Anouk Aimée | Marta Ponticelli | A Leap in the Dark | Salto nel vuoto | [33] [34] |
| Milena Dravić ‡ # | Kaca | Special Treatment | Посебан третман | ||
| Carla Gravina ‡ # | Carla | La terrazza | |||
| 1981 | Isabelle Adjani[E] | Anna / Helen | Possession | [35] [36] | |
| Marya 'Mado' Zelli | Quartet | ||||
| Elena Solovey ‡ | Ona | Faktas | Группа крови „Ноль“ | ||
| 1982 | Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak | Eva Szalanczky | Another Way | Egymásra nézve | [37] |
| 1983 | Hanna Schygulla | Eugenia | The Story of Piera | Storia di Piera | [38] |
| 1984 | Helen Mirren | Marcella | Cal | [39] | |
| 1985 | Norma Aleandro | Alicia Marnet de Ibáñez | The Official Story | La Historia Oficial | [40] |
| Cher | Florence "Rusty" Dennis | Mask | |||
| 1986 | Barbara Sukowa | Rosa Luxemburg | Rosa Luxemburg | [41] | |
| Fernanda Torres | The Woman | Love Me Forever or Never | Eu Sei que Vou Te Amar | ||
| 1987 | Barbara Hershey | Ruth | Shy People | [42] | |
| 1988 | Barbara Hershey | Diana Roth | A World Apart | [43] | |
| Jodhi May | Molly Roth | ||||
| Linda Mvusi | Elsie | ||||
| 1989 | Meryl Streep | Lindy Chamberlain | A Cry in the Dark | [44] | |
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Krystyna Janda | Antonina 'Tonia' Dziwisz | Interrogation | Przesłuchanie | [45] |
| 1991 | Irène Jacob | Weronika / Véronique | The Double Life of Veronique | La double vie de Véronique | [46] |
| 1992 | Pernilla August | Anna Åkerblom Bergman | The Best Intentions | Den goda viljan | [47] |
| 1993 | Holly Hunter | Ada McGrath | The Piano | [48] | |
| 1994 | Virna Lisi | Catherine de' Medici | La Reine Margot | [49] | |
| 1995 | Helen Mirren | Queen Charlotte | The Madness of King George | [50] | |
| 1996 | Brenda Blethyn | Cynthia Rose Purley | Secrets & Lies | [51] | |
| 1997 | Kathy Burke | Valerie | Nil by Mouth | [52] | |
| 1998 | Élodie Bouchez | Isabelle 'Isa' Tostin | The Dreamlife of Angels | La Vie rêvée des anges | [53] |
| Natacha Régnier | Marie Thomas | ||||
| 1999 | Séverine Caneele | Dominio | Humanité | L'humanité | [54] |
| Émilie Dequenne | Rosetta | Rosetta | |||
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Björk | Selma Ježková | Dancer in the Dark | [55] | |
| 2001 | Isabelle Huppert | Erika Kohut | The Piano Teacher | La Pianiste | [56] |
| 2002 | Kati Outinen | Irma | The Man Without a Past | Mies vailla menneisyyttä | [57] |
| 2003 | Marie-Josée Croze | Nathalie | The Barbarian Invasions | Les Invasions barbares | [58] |
| 2004 | Maggie Cheung | Emily Wang | Clean | [59] | |
| 2005 | Hanna Laslo | Hanna | Free Zone | [60] | |
| 2006 | Penélope Cruz | Raimunda | Volver | [61] | |
| Carmen Maura | Irene | ||||
| Lola Dueñas | Soledad ("Sole") | ||||
| Blanca Portillo | Agustina | ||||
| Yohana Cobo | Paula | ||||
| Chus Lampreave | Tía Paula | ||||
| 2007 | Jeon Do-yeon | Lee Shin-ae | Secret Sunshine | 밀양 | [62] |
| 2008 | Sandra Corveloni | Cleuza | Linha de Passe | [63] | |
| 2009 | Charlotte Gainsbourg | She | Antichrist | [64] | |
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Juliette Binoche | The Woman | Certified Copy | Copie conforme | [65] |
| 2011 | Kirsten Dunst | Justine | Melancholia | [66] | |
| 2012 | Cristina Flutur | Alina | Beyond the Hills | După dealuri | [67] |
| Cosmina Stratan | Voichita | ||||
| 2013 | Bérénice Bejo | Marie Brisson | The Past | Le passé / گذشته | [68] |
| 2014 | Julianne Moore | Havana Segrand | Maps to the Stars | [69] | |
| 2015 | Emmanuelle Bercot | Marie-Antoinette Jézéquel | My King | Mon Roi | [70] |
| Rooney Mara | Therese Belivet | Carol | |||
| 2016 | Jaclyn Jose | Rosa | Ma' Rosa | [71] | |
| 2017 | Diane Kruger | Katja Sekerci | In the Fade | Aus dem Nichts | [72] |
| 2018 | Samal Yeslyamova | Ayka | Ayka | Айка | [73] |
| 2019 | Emily Beecham | Alice Woodard | Little Joe | [74] | |
| Year | Actress | Role(s) | English Title | Original Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Renate Reinsve | Julie | The Worst Person in the World | Verdens verste menneske | [75] |
| 2022 | Zar Amir Ebrahimi | Arezoo Rahimi | Holy Spider | عنکبوت مقدس | [76] |
| 2023 | Merve Dizdar | Nuray | About Dry Grasses | Kuru Otlar Üstüne | [77] |
| 2024 | Karla Sofía Gascón | Emilia Perez | Emilia Pérez | [78] | |
| Selena Gomez | Jessi del Monte | ||||
| Adriana Paz | Epifanía Flores | ||||
| Zoe Saldaña | Rita Mora Castro | ||||
| 2025 | Nadia Melliti | Fatima | The Little Sister | La Petite Dernière | [79] |
The following individuals have received multiple Best Actress awards:
| Number of Wins | Actress | Nationality | Films |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Barbara Hershey | United States | Shy People (1987) andA World Apart (1988) |
| Helen Mirren | United Kingdom | Cal (1984) andThe Madness of King George (1995) | |
| Isabelle Huppert | France | Violette Nozière (1978) andThe Piano Teacher (2001) | |
| Vanessa Redgrave | United Kingdom | Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) andIsadora (1969) |
The following individuals have also received Best Actress award(s) atVenice orBerlin Film Festival.