BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.

In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees.

The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year.

Vivien Leigh was the inaugural winner, for A Streetcar Named Desire (1952).
Simone Signoret was the inaugural winner, and she won three times for Golden Helmet (1952), The Witches of Salem (1957), and Room at the Top (1958).
Audrey Hepburn won three times for Roman Holiday (1953), The Nun's Story (1959), and Charade (1963).
Shirley MacLaine won two consecutive times for Ask Any Girl (1959) and The Apartment (1960).
Rachel Roberts won twice, for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and This Sporting Life (1963).
Sophia Loren won for Two Women (1961)
Leslie Caron won for The L-Shaped Room (1962).
Patricia Neal won twice for Hud (1963) and In Harms Way (1965)
Anne Bancroft won three times, for The Miracle Worker (1962), The Pumpkin Eater (1964), and 84 Charing Cross Road (1987).
Julie Christie won for Darling (1965).
Elizabeth Taylor won for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).
Jeanne Moreau won for Viva Maria! (1966)
Anouk Aimee won for A Man and a Woman (1967)
Katharine Hepburn won twice, for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner / The Lion in Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981).
Maggie Smith holds the record for most wins in this category, with four for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), A Private Function (1984), A Room with a View (1985), and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987).
Katharine Ross won for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid / Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1970).
Glenda Jackson won for Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971).
Liza Minnelli won for Cabaret (1972).
Joanne Woodward won for Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973).
Ellen Burstyn won for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974).
Diane Keaton won for Annie Hall (1977).
Jane Fonda won two consecutive times for Julia (1977) and The China Syndrome (1978).
Meryl Streep received a leading twelve nominations in this category, winning two times for The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) and The Iron Lady (2011).
Judy Davis won for My Brilliant Career (1980)
Julie Walters won for Educating Rita (1983).
Pauline Collins won for Shirley Valentine (1989)
Jodie Foster won for The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Emma Thompson won twice, for Howards End (1992) and Sense and Sensibility (1995).
Holly Hunter won for The Piano (1993).
Susan Sarandon won for The Client (1994).
Brenda Blethyn won for Secrets & Lies (1996).
Photo of Judi Dench at the 2007 British Academy Film Awards
Judi Dench won twice, for Mrs Brown (1997) and Iris (2001).
Photo of Cate Blanchett at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Cate Blanchett won three times for Elizabeth (1998), Blue Jasmine (2013), and Tár (2022).
Photo of Annette Bening at the 2013 Tribeca International Film Festival
Annette Bening won for American Beauty (1999).
Photo of Julia Roberts at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival
Julia Roberts won for Erin Brockovich (2000).
Photo of Nicole Kidman at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival
Nicole Kidman won for The Hours (2002).
Photo of Scarlett Johansson at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con
Scarlett Johansson won for Lost in Translation (2003).
Imelda Staunton won for Vera Drake (2004)
Photo of Reese Witherspoon at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Reese Witherspoon won for Walk the Line (2005).
Photo of Helen Mirren at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards
Helen Mirren won for The Queen (2006).
Photo of Marion Cotillard at the 2017 Cabourg Film Festival
Marion Cotillard won for La Vie en Rose (2007).
Photo of Kate Winslet at the 2011 Venice Film Festival
Kate Winslet won for The Reader (2008).
Photo of Carey Mulligan in Sydney, Australia at the premiere of "The Great Gatsby" in 2013
Carey Mulligan won for An Education (2009).
Photo of Natalie Portman at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Natalie Portman won for Black Swan (2010).
Photo of Emmanuelle Riva at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
Emmanuelle Riva won for Amour (2012); this category's oldest winner, at age 85.
Photo of Julianne Moore at the 2014 Tribeca International Film Festival
Julianne Moore won for Still Alice (2014).
Photo of Brie Larson at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
Brie Larson won for Room (2015).
Photo of Julianne Moore at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
Emma Stone won twice, for La La Land (2016) and Poor Things (2023).
Photo of Frances McDormand at the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards
Frances McDormand won twice, for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and Nomadland (2020).
Photo of Olivia Colman at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards
Olivia Colman won for The Favourite (2018).
Renée Zellweger won for Judy (2019).
Joanna Scanlan won for After Love (2021).
Mikey Madison won for Anora (2024).