2. Martin Sheen as KIT CARRUTHERS in Badlands (I thought he was unbeatable until I saw Falconetti. And even then it's pretty much a toss-up)
3. Q'Orianka Kilcher as POCAHONTAS in The New World (So transcendant I think she might be an alien, yet every inch a princess. I thought she was unbeatable until I saw Badlands)
4. Frances McDormand as MARGE GUNDERSON in Fargo (The most lovable screen persona of all time, effortlessly revealing herself one step at a time as also one of the smartest)
5. Anthony Hopkins as MR. STEVENS in The Remains of the Day (Hannibal Lecter was great. Stevens is a quietly hilarious, heartbreaking masterpiece)
6. Heath Ledger as ENNIS DEL MAR in Brokeback Mountain (so devastatingly good I don't ever want to think about it)
7. Jeff Bridges as HIS DUDENESS in The Big Lebowski (My idol, both actor and character.)
8. Julianne Moore as KATHY in Far from Heaven (how can you be so plastic and so heartbreakingly sincere at the same time? I dunno, ask Julianne Moore. Also, HUGE bonus points for Lebowski. Huge.)
9. Joan Allen as LAINE HANSEN in The Contender (overcomes the preachiness of the movie even when she's the one doing the preaching -- which is often. Has she ever made a false move? This woman is the Pope of acting as far as I'm concerned: completely infallible.)
10. Paul Scofield as SIR THOMAS MORE in A Man for All Seasons (Eloquence and dignity personified like they've never been before or since. Both humble and humbling, and so heartbreakingly human.)
11. Jeremy Irons as CLAUS VON BULOW in Reversal of Fortune (Oy, that voice! Two words: "Just kidding.")
12. Michelle Williams as ARLENE in Dick (no, I'm not kidding! the timing, my god, the timing!)
13. Mo'Nique as MARY in Precious (the hype is all true and I'm not the least bit sorry)
14. Bette Davis as MARGO CHANNING in All About Eve (for somehow rising above the ocean of pettiness that could so easily have drowned this character and making her into one of the grand dames for all time)
15. Alicia Silverstone as CHER in Clueless (Again, totally serious. How many other times have you ever seen an actor totally OWN a movie body and soul the way she does this one? And it's not like she has no competition)
16. Michael Caine as JASPER in Children of Men (A sage who provides this bleak but hopeful film its vital emotional center. Once the movie's over, the role seems in the memory to be SO much larger than it is, and not just because it's Michael Caine -- not that it hurts.)
17. Joan Allen as ELIZABETH PROCTOR in The Crucible (My only two-fer! And who better to earn it? Joan Allen might not be my favorite actor, but I could never say that she's not my favorite actor, if that makes sense. This movie is a bit of a melodramatic mess, an adaptation of a brilliant play that never should have been or needed to be made. Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Scofield do as well as they can and come out with their dignity well intact. But whenever Joan's on screen it's a masterpiece. That scene in the courtroom is so good it makes me want to tear my hair out.)
18. Dianne Wiest as HELEN SINCLAIR in Bullets over Broadway (I think I'll take Helen's advice here and not speak.)
19. Max von Sydow as FREDERICK in Hannah and her Sisters (It's not at all a large role -- almost a cameo -- and has been outshone by the film's Oscar-winners (both of whom made this list for other reasons). But at the end of my favorite Woody Allen film -- one of my favorite films, period -- this self-loathing, others-loathing, desperately intellectual shell of a man is the character who stays with me. The break-up is so real I can barely watch it.)
20. Tie -- Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel as MELANIE HAMILTON and MAMMY in Gone with the Wind (I can't choose between them. McDaniel, clearly the older and wiser of the two actresses, is essentially perfect and the obvious choice, and I think she, not de Havilland, was indeed the right choice for the Oscar. And there's no doubt in my mind that Vivien Leigh's performance is truly great and more than accomplishes the Herculean task of carrying the film's four-hour weight. But as I've gotten older de Havilland's, though far from perfect, is the performance that has grown and changed the most with me. Scarlett and Mammy may dominate every scene they're in (and when they're together, fuhgeddaboudit), but Melanie is the film's emotional center. We, like the film and its characters, don't want to be away from her long, and, even as Gone with the Wind has become less meaningful and personal for me as I've gotten older, Melanie's death has become one of the most unbearable for me to watch.)
Body-of-work awards for actors I love but can't seem to find a spot for on this list:
Emma Thompson, Josh Brolin, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kate Winslet, Karl Malden, Robert Donat, Judy Davis, Woody Allen, Steve Buscemi
Please let me know what you think!