| Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead | |
|---|---|
| Presented by | Independent Spirit Awards |
| First award | Geraldine Page The Trip to Bountiful (1986) |
| Final award | Taylour Paige Zola (2021) |
| Website | spiritawards |
TheIndependent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead was one of the annualIndependent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstandinglead performance in anindependent film. It was first presented in 1985 withGeraldine Page being the first recipient of the award for her role as Carrie Watts inThe Trip to Bountiful. It was last presented in 2022 withTaylour Paige being the final recipient of the award for her role inZola.
In 2022, it was announced that the four acting categories would be retired and replaced with two gender neutral categories, with bothBest Male Lead and Best Female Lead merging into the Best Lead Performance category.[1]
With two wins,Frances McDormand andJulianne Moore are the most awarded women in this category, while with 4 nominationsMichelle Williams is the most nominated female in this category.

























| Year | Actress | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 [2] | Geraldine Page | The Trip to Bountiful | Carrie Watts |
| Rosanna Arquette | After Hours | Marcy Franklin | |
| Laura Dern | Smooth Talk | Connie Wyatt | |
| Lori Singer | Trouble in Mind | Georgia | |
| 1986 | Isabella Rossellini | Blue Velvet | Dorothy Vallens |
| Elpidia Carrillo | Salvador | María | |
| Patricia Charbonneau | Desert Hearts | Cay Rivvers | |
| Laura Dern | Blue Velvet | Sandy Williams | |
| Tracy Camilla Johns | She's Gotta Have It | Nola Darling | |
| 1987 | Sally Kirkland | Anna | Anna |
| Lillian Gish | The Whales of August | Sarah Webber | |
| Debra Sandlund | Tough Guys Don't Dance | Patty Lareine | |
| Louise Smith | Working Girls | Molly | |
| Joanne Woodward | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda Wingfield | |
| 1988 | Jodie Foster | Five Corners | Linda |
| Ricki Lake | Hairspray | Tracy Turnblad | |
| Nobu McCarthy | The Wash | Masi Matsumoto | |
| Julia Roberts | Mystic Pizza | Daisy Arujo | |
| Meg Ryan | Promised Land | Bev Sykes | |
| 1989 | Andie MacDowell | Sex, Lies, and Videotape | Ann Bishop Mullany |
| Youki Kudoh | Mystery Train | Mitsuko | |
| Kelly Lynch | Drugstore Cowboy | Dianne | |
| Winona Ryder | Heathers | Veronica Sawyer | |
| Annabella Sciorra | True Love | Donna |
| Year | Actress | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 [23][24] | Carey Mulligan | Promising Young Woman | Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas |
| Nicole Beharie | Miss Juneteenth | Turquoise Jones | |
| Viola Davis | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Gertrude "Ma" Rainey | |
| Sidney Flanigan | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Autumn Callahan | |
| Julia Garner | The Assistant | Jane | |
| Frances McDormand | Nomadland | Fern | |
| 2021 [25] | Taylour Paige | Zola | Aziah "Zola" King |
| Isabelle Fuhrman | The Novice | Alex Dall | |
| Brittany S. Hall | Test Pattern | Renesha | |
| Patti Harrison | Together Together | Anna Caper | |
| Kali Reis | Catch the Fair One | Kaylee |
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