Best living film actress ASIDE FROM MERYL

Because we can leave her out of a thread once in a while. So who is it?

• Juliette Binoche

• I'd vote for most of those listed instead of old Click Click Click...

• "Glenn Close" is actually a character I invented some decades back when I wanted to the freedom play certain roles that weren't quite up to par. She's just been my way of having fun--sort of a hobby, like a famous novelist who chooses a pseudonym to write mysteries. So technically, since she's not real, you probably shouldn't include her. Other than that, your poll is darling!

  M

• Cate Blanchette and Tilda Swinton should be on that list Op.

• What, no Emma Thompson?

• Do they have to be English speaking, OP? If not, Isabelle Huppert can wipe the floor with half of your list.

• AAAAARGH!!! Still no "Other" option! FUCK YOU, OP!

• You're missing Jessica Lange, Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Helen Mirren, Kathy Bates

• Another vote for Cate Blanchett.

• And Kate Winslet.

• Tilda Swinton.

• Glenda slays all the rest. She's our goddess!

  http://youtu.be/AvOG1WHG9Zg

• Kate Winslet.

• Goldie Hawn?

• You can all suck my dick.

  Gwyneth%20Paltrow

• Meryl Streep on Meagan Fox in the latest edition of "Iconoclast": "Every now and then, an actress comes along who takes the bar and raises it to the heavens. I've known Drew since she was a child, and I've known that she would one day possess the title 'Best Living Actress.' She is simply The One; the Alpha and Omega. All hail Her Majesty The Queen, Drew of All Time."

• Try not to trip over my two Oscars on your way out of my suite.

  Miss%20Sally%20Field

• Sit down, breathe deeply, and take your heart medication, R7.

• Kate Winslet

• So glad Anne Barfaway isn't in there.

• Ahem!

  Dame%20Maggie%20Smith%20who%20has%20more%20Oscars%20than%20her%20good%20chum%20J

• Well R17 Hilary Swank has two Oscors. Should she be included?

• Woefully inadequate list. Susan Sarandon Sigourney Weaver Jodie Foster Annette Bening Joan Allen Julianne Moore Sissy Spacek

• Isabel Adjani,

• Another vote for Kate Winslet.

• What about Helen Mirren, Cate Blancett and Kate Winslet I like them all better than the ones in the polls.

• Where is Jennifer Tilly on this list?!

• MIRANDA RICHARDSON

• How is Angela Bassett not listed?

• What is this from, the 80s? Marion Cottilard (sp)

• Kate Winslett!

• Your poll question should be Of These Ten Actresses, Which One do You Believe to the Best? As you now know, your list of ten does not include many actresses whom the people you are asking believe to be better than your list of ten. If you must ask us "Who is the best living film actress ASIDE FROM MERYL" you'll have to leave the field wide open rather than limit it to your ten best.

  Jane%20Fonda

• Liv Ullman and Juile Christie are irreproachable. They have never made a false move on screen.

• Cate Blanchett

• [quote]Glenn Close" is actually a character I invented some decades back when I wanted to the freedom play certain roles that weren't quite up to par. She's just been my way of having fun--sort of a hobby, like a famous novelist who chooses a pseudonym to write mysteries. So technically, since she's not real, you probably shouldn't include her. Other than that, your poll is darling! by: M These Meryl/Glenn jokes are getting really tired now. Why don't you find a new line before you drive everyone nuts?

  bored, bored, bored...

• Agree that Sigourney & Sarandon should be on the list. They're my favorite actresses by far.

• Another vote for Kate.

• Jodie Foster should be on the list.

• Where are Helen Mirren, Tilda Swinton, Catherine Deneuve, Sophia Loren - she may not be acting much now, but is still living !

• and Kate Winslet of course, the best actress of her generation.

• Glenda Jackson has not been an actress for decades, you are not serious about including Goldie Hawn or Holly Hunter ? Winslet and Mirren are much more relevant - and who can beat the trio of Maggie Smith, Judie Dench and Vanessa Redgrave, all 3 still busy in their 70s.

• Meryl Streep is not a good actress, OP. She's mechanical and awkward as though she doesn't have feelings in real life and is trying to reproduce what she's seen other people display. She seems possibly Autistic to me.

• The title of the list should include English speaking actress. Otherwise, it once again shows the audacity of DL to think only a few US & Brit actresses are worthy of greatness. Of course there are many great actresses who speak French, Hindi, German etc. but they never seem to be included here.

• I can't believe no one mentioned Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet yet!

• Dame Maggie Smith

• R42 That is the best post I’ve read on DL about Streep. It sums up how I feel about her.

• Oh no, not that "click, click, click" Katharine Hepburn thing again. As if one never knew what her next reaction would be!!! Tilt head, eyes dart, head follows, click click click. Please. Like Jack Nicholson and a lot of other actors, they can't play anything but a variation of their star persona. Meryl Streep, like Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman etc., really can do different parts believably. Kate was just a bitter old hag who knew she was being bested by a better actress.

• Sigourney Weaver

• Charlotte Rampling

• Or Sigourney Weaver?

• If Jane Fonda hadn't stopped working, she'd be on this list.

• Mia Farrow, too. I love her in "Rosemary's Baby" and "Hannah and Her Sisters". Totally agree, R49. Swimming Pool and The Night Porter are extraordinary.

• Agreed, R42. Which is why a bunch of stupid queens worship her(because they've been told to do so).

• Until Liv Ullman dies this subject is pointless.

• Four way tie between Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, and Cher.

  Queen

• Diane Keaton

• I'm in awe of Cate Blanchette

• Yet another vote for Cate Blanchett.

• "Annette Bening" Thank you for remembering

  Mrs.%20Warren%20Beatty

• Definitely not old Click Click Click, that ham. And not Winslet. I'm going to say either Redgrave or Mirren.

• Susan Surandon

• Juliette Binoche and Tilda Swinton Why the fuck is Anjelica Houston being considered a "great actress"? I like her but she has limited range (arch high school principal bitch types) and the only roles that stick out on imdb are The Grifters, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Addams Family. (and she was there when Polanski raped that girl and didn't do anything)

• No Jodie Foster?

• Tilda Swinton! Viola Davis! Okay, they don't quite, either of them, have a big enough body of work to compete in this little race. Liv Ullman? Isuzu Yamada? And I don't know how to deal with Jane Fonda: Her performances in [italic]They Shoot Horses, Don't They?[/italic] and [italic]Klute[/italic] are two of the best ever, but then she can also be remarkably stiff and overly earnest and plastic and mannered. I haven't seen [italic]Coming Home[/italic] in a long time, so I don't know how to evaluate it here. I actually thought she was kind of great in [italic]Georgia Rules[/italic]. It's hard to look at her since her most recent facelift. I adore her. For [italic]Klute[/italic] alone, she goes on the list of all time best single performances. But "Best Living Actress" means there's a track record, yes? And I don't know that I could put Fonda up there next to Liv Ullman or Isuzu Yamada - who, miraculously, is still alive, and nearly 100.

• Anjelica Houston was surprisingly moving and wonderful in [italic]50/50[/italic], and she hasn't at all gotten the props she deserves for that performance. It was a small part of the film, but she totally gave the thing its heart. And she managed to be remarkably layered and complex and funny and touching and present. If there's justice in Hollywood, she'll get a Supporting Actress nomination this year.

• "These Meryl/Glenn jokes are getting really tired now. Why don't you find a new line before you drive everyone nuts?" For you, r35, I suspect it would be a short drive. In fact, I think you could walk there.

  M

• Kristin Scott Thomas is in the second phase of her career (non Hollywood) and has been doing some wonderful mature work.

• This is just a rehash of Tori Spelling disguising herself to audition for her father's epic serial drama "90210". She earned that part with her own raw talent and natural acting ability. Beryl Skreep, OP!

  Take%20my%20little%20girl%21%20Take%20my%20baby%21%20

• Brendad Isckson!

  Brendad%20Ickson

• Ian Somerhalder

• I would pick Spacek before any of the women in the poll.

• Marion Cotillard is the world's greatest living actress.

• Joan Collins.

• R64, don't go there with Liv. I suspect that if Cate Blanchett had a vote she would name Liv. After all, as head of the Sydney Theater Co she invited Liv to direct her as Blanche in "Streetcar". Whoever said Angelica Huston is only known for royal tenenbaums, The Witches and The Grifters inadvertantly pointed out that she is one of the greatest living actresses if you add The Dead, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Prizzi's Honor. And frankly the first two Addams Family movies.

• Goldie Hawn?????????

• R75 she is a great, one of the greatest comedic atresses. The issue is that movies she's amazing in are often fluff - Private Benjamin, Housesitter, Overboard, First Wives Club, Death Becomes Her. Dying is easy - comedy is hard Now her useless daughter...

• OP You could have put Cherry Jones on the list for goodness sake. Cherry Jones is to the stage what Meryl Streep is to film.

• WHY HASN'T ANYONE MENTIONED BLANCHETT? Or Winslet?

• [quote]How is Angela Bassett not listed? I would list her over the DREADFUL Holly Hunter.

• All these posts and not one single mention of one of the all time greats - Rula Lenska.

• I'd rather watch Marlo Thomas that Cate Blanchett or Kate Winslet. Ugh.

• Gena Rowlands Frances McDormand

• The best living actress aside from Saint Meryl of Streep is Cherry Jones The best living film actress aside from Saint Meryl of Streep is Vanessa Redgrave Thread closed. Yep. Shut it down, man. Just shut it down. :)

• The Zionist hoodlums don't like Vanessa Redgrave!

• Pia Zadora owns this thread.

  Anonymous

• Michelle Williams Julianne Moore Anette Bening

• Theresa Russell owns this thread.

• Only one mention of Frances Mcdormand?

• my vote goes for Frances McDormand, Julianne Moore(seriously), Emma Thompson, Shirley MacClaine (sp?), Alfre Woodard.

• Remember that Vanity Fair cover - beautiful photo with Nicole Kidman, Deneuve, Streep, Gwyneth, Kate Winslet, Cate, Vanessa Redgrave, Chloe Sevigny, Sophia Loren and Penelope Cruz? Replace Sevigny (I love her but really?), POOP, and Cruz with Liv Ullmann, Juliette Binoche and Sigourney and you've got the A Team.

• I'm hurt that none of you queens mentioned me......Namaste

  Gwyneth

• Though some of you will laugh and others might not know exactly who she is, Patty Duke is one of the best actress there is. Too bad she either didn't go after more roles or others did offer her more roles.

• Foster should NOT be included. She exemplifies "wooden" and "one-note."

• R92, I agree. I also love Patty Duke.

• r72, Marion Cotillard has a prosthetic foot.

• Cybil Shepherd

  Anonymous

• Catherine O'Hara is brilliant. I'd have to say she's up there on my list, too.

• If I had to choose the single greatest living film actress it would be Liv Ullman. If I had to choose ten, they would be: Liv Cate Blanchett Dianne Wiest Glenda Jackson Charlotte Rampling Gena Rowlands Jeanne Moreau Bibi Andersson Helen Mirren and Julie Christie * * * Meryl would have to be content to be a B Girl, but she'd be in very good company, among the likes of: Isabelle Huppert Judy Davis Fernanda Montenegro Ellen Burstyn Frances McDormand Marion Cotillard Hye-ja Kim Diane Keaton Sissy Spacek Jennifer Ehle Norma Aleandro Cicely Tyson Patricia Clarkson Jane Fonda Emily Watson Emma Thompson Shirley Maclaine Debra Winger Gong Li Julianne Moore Miranda Richardson Sandrine Bonnaire Hannah Shygulla Genevieve Bujold Piper Laurie Thandie Newton Sophia Loren Cloris Leachman Vanessa Redgrave Kate Winslet Kathy Bates Judy Parfitt Annette Bening Michelle Pfeiffer Glenn Close Catherine Deneuve and Judi Dench

• Vanessa. Absolutely.

• Liv Ullmann? In Swedish, she's fucking a fjord, she's superb but stick her in an English language film - FORTY CARATS, LOST HORIZON- and it's amateur hour.

  Martin%20Charnin

• These bitches are lucky Maria Ouspenskaya is dead.

• Suzanne Summers

  Anonymous

• Winger has given a couple of the most phenomenal performances I have ever seen, but hasn't done a lot in the past two decades or so to merit consideration. Still, her essaying of Emma in "Terms" is one of the most detailed, authentic performances ever recorded. As someone mentioned Hawn is a phenomenally talented comic actor, in her way right up there with Chaplin and Keaton (Buster, not Diane), but she's been in some largely mediocre fair-"Private Benjamin" is phenomenal for the first hour or so and then completely falls apart I am a huge fan of Winslet but thought her turn in "Mildred Pierce" (to be fair, I couldn't watch all of it because the film itself was dull as dishwater) was self-conscious

• I love R98. I was hoping Patricia Clarkson would at least get an honorable mention. She has the ability to be heartbreakingly and almost uncomfortably engaging. She has a gift.

  ka-ween

• oops me again, am glad the other queen mentioned Emily Watson. I think she was fantastic in at least 3 films and then faded into mediocrity. I believe Michelle Williams may earn a place on this list (Wendy and Lucy - oh my fucking god!!!!) but it's too early to tell.

• No Susan Sarandon. OP fucked up.

• Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman.

• "Liv Ullmann? In Swedish, she's fucking a fjord, she's superb but stick her in an English language film - FORTY CARATS, LOST HORIZON- and it's amateur hour." And your point is what exactly? How many non-Swedish actresses do you know who have scored triumphs in films where they've spoken Swedish? Not to mention, "Forty Carats" and "Lost Horizon" were shit movies Ullman's roles in them would hardly have been the pinnacles of her career no matter how fine a job she had done. I doubt any one, no matter how brilliant an actress or how proficient in English, would have been particularly impressive in these vehicles.

• Thanks r105, and I wholeheartedly accept Michelle Williams and invite her to be a member of Our Academy Love you too

  The Other Queen, aka r98

• When Ullman has been given great roles to perform in English, i.e., Anna Christie and A Doll's House on Broadway, she has given highly acclaimed performances.

• If only my performances in Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons weren't the two greatest of all time by an actor of any species, gender, age or race; then there would be much more room for discussion in this silly little thread. It would be such a disappointment for so many if I FINALLY won the Best Actress Oscar this year after being so heinously--oops, did I say that? I meant fairly--overlooked so.many.FUCKING.times. Meryl just may keel over and expire. *grins* Lovingly yours,

  Glenn Close, the greatest international film and stage actress of all time

• Cherry Jones is the greatest actress of our time. Shame she does not do more film.

  Obvious

• The DLers sure do love making lists.

  List%20Troll

• Help me Jesus, I saw a preview for PBS's Masterpiece entry for 11/6. Judy Davis is a cast member. The crinkly wattle that used to be her neck scared me into running into the laudry room and hiding in the dryer.

• Helen Mirren is missing from that list...

• Angelica Huston would have kicked Meryl's butt in "The Grifters."

• I was going to say Helen Mirren too; closely followed by Portia de Rossi.

• Kathy Bates rules.

• Kathy Bates Patricia Clarkson Sigourney Weaver Tilda Swinton Amy Ryan is pretty breathtaking, and so versatile.

• [quote]Amy Ryan is pretty breathtaking, and so versatile. My granny calls her a "wee Meryl Streep" of all things.

• Marion Cotillard has prostetic feet? I can't find proof of that - these look real.

  http://www.hollywoodfeet.com/2010/06/marion-cotillard-feet.html

• It's her left foot, r121. Those aren't her real feet in those photos, that's just damage control.

• Thanks to "American Horror Story" Jessica Lange is at the top of the list.

• I love the Cotillard prosthetic foot troll. It's probably the mutant child of the Danny Thomas scat-breath coffee table troll. That DID happen. I have this friend and they saw it..................

• I just wish she would explain in an interview if she lost the foot in an accident or if it was a birth defect.

• Having seen Zulawski's POSSESSION the other day at the Film Forum in NY I will say that Isabelle Adjani gives one of the greatest performances I have ever seen on film - it is manic, brave, brutal, intimate, cruel, otherworldly.

• Enough with the Judi Dench love already. Pig-faced biddy is so overrated.

• Jessica Lange and Sigourney Weaver get my votes!

• Carol Burnett. Seriously. If she would just do another drama.

• I voted for Mariska.

• [quote]She seems possibly Autistic to me. Well, that would explain her dependence on doing dialect and accent roles. Being autistic, learning another language or dialect probably comes easily to Meryl, far easier than accessing real feelings.

• *fans self* *clutches pearls* Sally Field, screams WHYYYYY, WHYYYYYYY, Lord I wish I could understand? Steel Magnolia style...

• I have never seen Tilda Swinton be anything but magnetic, authentic, and fascinating. I am going with her.

• I'll say Casey Anthony.

• Isabelle Huppert. Good god La Pianiste.

• R127 = Maggie Smith, obviously. Suck it up, Dame Maggie. You look like a 90 year old desiccated corpse in your new movie with Dame Judi, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," while Dame Judi looks younger than springtime.

  Elizabeth%20McGovern

• You people are fucking crazy. Jessica Lange tops my list any day. And this is way before her brilliant camp in American Horror Story. Country, Music Box, Frances, Blue Sky,even the godawful A Thousand Acres.. I adore her.

• What?! 137 posts and no HELENA BONHAM CARTER or CHARLIZE THERON

• [quote]CHARLIZE THERON Why? She is really kind of unremarkable. Pretty, yes. Interesting, no. What are these great performances of hers that I've missed?

• It's interesting that the top three are all British. I must confess. The two Cates/Kates, Winslet & Blanchett are awesome, Tilda is awesome, and Marion Cotillard is in a class allllll by herself. So there are four, none of whom are American. We have fine actresses here. I think Michelle Williams is a very good actress, and so is Amy Adams. Who ever put Goldie Hawn on that list is delusional. Please. Babs and Glenn Close are wonderful from time to time. But there isn't anyone who comes close to the level of MEryl except the foreigners.

• Helen Mirren

• I'd pick anyone off R23's list and add Charlize.

• Meryl does dialects extremely well. She has a keen instinct for making showy choices. Unfortunately, where the work really matters, her inner life, she is consistently general.

  Annonymoua

• Do remember that while a number of those mentioned have given at least one good performance, it is the consistentcy. The body of work and the range. We really need to be firm on our criteria.

• What R4 said. The poll is completely useless. Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton are the best actresses on the planet.

• [quote]Do remember that while a number of those mentioned have given at least one good performance, it is the consistentcy. The body of work and the range. We really need to be firm on our criteria. Agree. The criteria is important. Also, it's not fair to try to evaluate the careers of some younger actresses, because they're not even halfway through their careers. It is possible, however, to analyze their potential. Streep has done some garbage films and given some not so interesting performances. She may be less inconsistent than some of her peers, but she has had the advantage of getting the best scripts (read: opportunities). At their best, quite a few actresses can match and even top Streep, in my humble opinion.

• Charlize Theron and my #1 choice Gong Li of China.

• Helen Mirren, Jane Fonda, Miranda Richardson, Isabelle Adjani to name a few.

• Helena.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DUmYEfF3We8M

• Jessica Lange

• Streep's never given a performance that could touch Angelica Huston in "The Grifters."

  click click click

• Susan Sarandon Ellen Burstyn

• Olivia De Havilland Joan Fontaine

  Still living

• F&F this entire thread.

  M

• Goldie Hawn? Are you on crack?

• Someone needs to make a thread like this on Men... enough with the women already, Gays and women, the obsession. Ugh.

• Tilda Swenton.

• LOL at R154.

• Gong Li Althought she has not done a decent role in awhile.

• Irene Dunne, seriously.

• I wholly agree, R156. But I like how there is at least an interest in male actors at Datalounge as well and quite a few threads on them, beyond which ones they want to fuck.

• I absolutely cannot believe you did not include Tilda Swinton in that list. She is the best actress in the GALAXY.

• With a couple exceptions, the actors listed here are all American or English. Must be hard to imagine that there might be actors who are spectacular at their craft even if they have never - heaven forfend - appear in an American or English movie. I guess thats because movies are produced only by Americans or Brits. Yes, that must be it.

• It's Huppert, Redgrave, Close, Adjani, Cotillard, Blanchett. All of them formidable talents, if not quite in Meryl's league. Defo not Mirren (too stiff) or Winslet (too unaffecting) or Theron (too cold). Thompson is a natural talent, but maybe a tad too repetitive.

  The%20Meryl%20troll.%20Happy%20Boxing%20Day%21

• If you think that highly of her, r98, you should learn to spell her name correctly. It's Liv ULLMANN, not Ullman.

  Tackar.

• Also, Liv Ullmann is Norwegian, not Swedish. She's mostly appeared in Swedish films, though.

• Oh, and finally, Ingrid Thulin and Bibi Andersson mop the floor with Liv Ullmann (who IS a great actress, but not as good as either of them). Ingrid Thulin: best non-English speaking actress evah.

  Harriet%20Andersson

• If Huppert is the French Streep, does that mean Adjani is their Hepburn?

• Top 10 female performances of all time: 1 - Meryl Streep, A Cry in the Dark 2 - Ingrid Thulin, The Silence 3 - Isabelle Adjani, Possession 4 - Isabelle Huppert, La Pianiste 5 - Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice 6 - Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons 7 - Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer 8 - Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive 9 - Bibi Andersson, Persona 10 - Liv Ullmann, Scenes from a Marriage

• Darlings, Stephanie 'Sable' Beacham , please.

• 11 - Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

• LOL, r170!

• Norma Aleandro in The Official Story Fernanda Montegnegro in Central Station

  Annonymous

• The best stage actress is Vanessa Redgrave. Meryl isn't even close. If you think Meryl was so great in Sophie's Choice, go watch Jane Fonda in Klute and They Shoot Horses, Don't They.

  Anonymous

• Vanessa Redgrave cannot do comedy to save her life. Therefore she isn't even close to Meryl. And Jane Fonda? Bwahahaha....

  The%20Streep%20troll%20%28tm%29

• Marion Cotillard. And may she make a million films.