What makes a great actress? Is it talent, sass, timing, beauty . . . a mix of all of the above? For me, a great actress is one who, after I’ve sat through a true stinkbomb of a movie, makes me say, “Well, that was just terrible. The only good thing about it was Actress McActressy.”
This is why, coincidentally, you’ll not see one of my favorite actresses, Michelle Rodriguez, on the following list. I think she’s beautiful, and I love that she usually plays strong, kickass women. But she’s been in several stinkers whose stinkiness couldn’t be overcome by her beauty and muscle. (See, I love her, but I’m starting to suspect she’s not very good at acting.) This disclaimer aside (I love you, Michelle! Forgive me!), I present the five greatest actresses working today:
This is why, coincidentally, you’ll not see one of my favorite actresses, Michelle Rodriguez, on the following list. I think she’s beautiful, and I love that she usually plays strong, kickass women. But she’s been in several stinkers whose stinkiness couldn’t be overcome by her beauty and muscle. (See, I love her, but I’m starting to suspect she’s not very good at acting.) This disclaimer aside (I love you, Michelle! Forgive me!), I present the five greatest actresses working today:
5. Emma Watson
Emma is the youngest entry on our list, and sure, cynics might say she hasn’t really proven herself yet. But I’ll tell you something: this girl is remarkable already, and she’s only 27.
Besides being the perfect Hermione, and also winning over the cold, dead heart of a beast (that was me, when I heard they were remaking Beauty and the Beast as a live action film), she’s also a decent human being and a heck of a role model for young women. She speaks out against racism, gender inequality, and homophobia, started a feminist book club (Our Shared Shelf), and had not one crap to give when fashion magazines criticized her short haircut. Because seriously, people, she’s got more important things to fight for.
Emma is the youngest entry on our list, and sure, cynics might say she hasn’t really proven herself yet. But I’ll tell you something: this girl is remarkable already, and she’s only 27.
Besides being the perfect Hermione, and also winning over the cold, dead heart of a beast (that was me, when I heard they were remaking Beauty and the Beast as a live action film), she’s also a decent human being and a heck of a role model for young women. She speaks out against racism, gender inequality, and homophobia, started a feminist book club (Our Shared Shelf), and had not one crap to give when fashion magazines criticized her short haircut. Because seriously, people, she’s got more important things to fight for.
4. Viola Davis
I like strong women. I like it even better when you don’t realize how butt kickin' they are until you're halfway through the show. And that, my friends, is Viola Davis.
Davis has been acting for over two decades, but she’s probably best known for her role as Aibileen Clark in The Help. (That pie. How could you forget that pie?) I’d read the book before knowing a movie was in the works, and when I heard Viola was cast in the main role, it all clicked perfectly: of course she’d play Aibileen. Nobody else possibly could.
Davis is also the only black woman to have ever won the triple crown of acting awards: an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony. Of course she has. She's Viola Davis.
Remember how I said a great actress can make a total turd of a movie (also kind of a pie reference again) memorable? Whenever I see Davis’s name in the opening credits, I relax. Because even with a stinkeroo like Suicide Squad, she made watching it bearable.
I like strong women. I like it even better when you don’t realize how butt kickin' they are until you're halfway through the show. And that, my friends, is Viola Davis.
Davis has been acting for over two decades, but she’s probably best known for her role as Aibileen Clark in The Help. (That pie. How could you forget that pie?) I’d read the book before knowing a movie was in the works, and when I heard Viola was cast in the main role, it all clicked perfectly: of course she’d play Aibileen. Nobody else possibly could.
Davis is also the only black woman to have ever won the triple crown of acting awards: an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony. Of course she has. She's Viola Davis.
Remember how I said a great actress can make a total turd of a movie (also kind of a pie reference again) memorable? Whenever I see Davis’s name in the opening credits, I relax. Because even with a stinkeroo like Suicide Squad, she made watching it bearable.
3. Robin Wright
I’ll be honest: for a long time, I really didn’t like Robin Wright. As both Buttercup (The Princess Bride) and Jenny (Forrest Gump), I thought she wasn’t worth all the death-defying feats and chest-pounding and "not even death can keep me away" garbage these men were doing to be with her.
Then two things happened: I read The Princess Bride, and I watched House of Cards. The former opened my eyes to the fact that Buttercup wasn’t particularly likeable anyway, and the one scene that made her more relatable (when she embarrasses herself proclaiming her love to a stunned Wesley, who says nothing, and she’s mortified) was cut from the movie. This wasn’t Wright’s fault: Buttercup was written to be a simpering snob. The latter, on the other hand, showcased a character who was cold, cruel, manipulative and . . . whose actions were completely understandable. Wright’s Claire Underwood is a nuanced portrayal of a terrible woman who has perfectly sensible reasons for doing what she does. I found myself admiring Robin Wright for the first time in my adult life.
Then came Wonder Woman. Wright’s General Antiope was magnificent. Powerful, fierce, brilliant and beautiful. And I now find myself in a position I wouldn’t have believed just a few years ago. Say one bad word about Robin Wright in my presence, and I’ll punch a hole through your throat faster than you can say “Antiope.”
I’ll be honest: for a long time, I really didn’t like Robin Wright. As both Buttercup (The Princess Bride) and Jenny (Forrest Gump), I thought she wasn’t worth all the death-defying feats and chest-pounding and "not even death can keep me away" garbage these men were doing to be with her.
Then two things happened: I read The Princess Bride, and I watched House of Cards. The former opened my eyes to the fact that Buttercup wasn’t particularly likeable anyway, and the one scene that made her more relatable (when she embarrasses herself proclaiming her love to a stunned Wesley, who says nothing, and she’s mortified) was cut from the movie. This wasn’t Wright’s fault: Buttercup was written to be a simpering snob. The latter, on the other hand, showcased a character who was cold, cruel, manipulative and . . . whose actions were completely understandable. Wright’s Claire Underwood is a nuanced portrayal of a terrible woman who has perfectly sensible reasons for doing what she does. I found myself admiring Robin Wright for the first time in my adult life.
Then came Wonder Woman. Wright’s General Antiope was magnificent. Powerful, fierce, brilliant and beautiful. And I now find myself in a position I wouldn’t have believed just a few years ago. Say one bad word about Robin Wright in my presence, and I’ll punch a hole through your throat faster than you can say “Antiope.”
2. Maggie Smith
My mother may never forgive me for saying this, but there was a time, around season four, when Downton Abbey got a little . . . boring. I was sick of Mr. and Mrs. Bates (seriously, could they ever get a break?) and hated all one hundred of Mary’s suitors. But there was no chance I was going to stop watching. Because Maggie Smith.
She’s elegant, refined, an honest-to-goodness dame (it’s British, look it up) and hilarious. Every role she takes on is gold in her hands. Her cast mates love her. Her country loves her. Our country loves her. We all love Maggie, because she’s amazing.
My mother may never forgive me for saying this, but there was a time, around season four, when Downton Abbey got a little . . . boring. I was sick of Mr. and Mrs. Bates (seriously, could they ever get a break?) and hated all one hundred of Mary’s suitors. But there was no chance I was going to stop watching. Because Maggie Smith.
She’s elegant, refined, an honest-to-goodness dame (it’s British, look it up) and hilarious. Every role she takes on is gold in her hands. Her cast mates love her. Her country loves her. Our country loves her. We all love Maggie, because she’s amazing.
1. Helen Mirren
Maggie Smith may be delightful and elegant and all that fancy stuff, but Helen Mirren is a real dame. (You know, in the colloquial sense, but again, also in the British title sense.) When I grow up, I want to be Helen Mirren.
She’s classy and funny and charming and sexy and smart. She speaks her mind and doesn’t give one ladylike fart if you agree or disagree: you asked her what she thought, and she told you, and sounded brilliant while doing it. She’s seventy-one and not afraid say she likes being naked. Atta girl.
Besides being a pretty fascinating person, she’s a fabulous actress, too. From Caligula to The Queen, she doesn’t shy away from any role, and forgive me Alma Hitchcock, but now when I read biographies about Hitch I picture you as Helen Mirren, because she made the role come alive in an otherwise somewhat depressing movie. She even popped up in The Fate of the Furious—the eighth installment in a franchise that should’ve ended years ago—and arguably made it the best one in the series.
So there you have it. Agree, disagree, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to take a page from Dame Mirren’s handbook—or really, any one of these amazing women—and not give one tiny, ladylike fart.
Maggie Smith may be delightful and elegant and all that fancy stuff, but Helen Mirren is a real dame. (You know, in the colloquial sense, but again, also in the British title sense.) When I grow up, I want to be Helen Mirren.
She’s classy and funny and charming and sexy and smart. She speaks her mind and doesn’t give one ladylike fart if you agree or disagree: you asked her what she thought, and she told you, and sounded brilliant while doing it. She’s seventy-one and not afraid say she likes being naked. Atta girl.
Besides being a pretty fascinating person, she’s a fabulous actress, too. From Caligula to The Queen, she doesn’t shy away from any role, and forgive me Alma Hitchcock, but now when I read biographies about Hitch I picture you as Helen Mirren, because she made the role come alive in an otherwise somewhat depressing movie. She even popped up in The Fate of the Furious—the eighth installment in a franchise that should’ve ended years ago—and arguably made it the best one in the series.
So there you have it. Agree, disagree, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to take a page from Dame Mirren’s handbook—or really, any one of these amazing women—and not give one tiny, ladylike fart.
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