Saturn Award for Best Actress
| Saturn Award for Best Actress | |
|---|---|
 The 2020 recipient: Elisabeth Moss | |
| Awarded for | Best performance of the year by a female in a leading role in a genre film |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films |
| First awarded | 1974/75 |
| Currently held by | Elisabeth Moss for The Invisible Man (2019/2020) |
| Website | www |
The Saturn Award for Best Actress is one of the annual Saturn Awards given by the American professional organization, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. The Saturn Awards are the oldest film-specialized reward of achievements in science fiction, fantasy, and horror (another award, the Hugo Award is older but includes other genres and media). The Saturn Award included the Best Actress category for the first time in the 1974 film year.
The Saturn Award for Best Actress is the oldest prize to reward actresses in science fiction, fantasy, and horror films: other awards such as the Academy and Golden Globe Awards, despite supposedly disregarding the genre, gave little recognition to acting quality at the time. In 1996 the Saturns began to reward both film and television acting, and created the Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television. For the first two years it was awarded there were no nominees announced.
The actresses with the most nominations are Jamie Lee Curtis, Jodie Foster, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts and Sigourney Weaver, who are all tied with five. Curtis, Foster, Portman, Watts and Sandra Bullock are the only actresses to have won it twice. Portman is also the only actress to win both the Saturn Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress for the same film, while Weaver holds the record for most nominations for playing the same character (Ellen Ripley) with four. Foster is the youngest winner in this category, winning her first award in 1977 at age 13.
Winners and nominees[]
Legend:
indicates the winner
1970s[]
| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974/75 | Katharine Ross | The Stepford Wives | Joanna Eberhart |
| 1976 | Blythe Danner | Futureworld | Tracy Ballad |
| 1977 | Jodie Foster | The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | Rynn Jacobs |
| Julie Christie | Demon Seed | Susan Harris | |
| Joan Collins | Empire of the Ants | Marilyn Fryser | |
| Melinda Dillon | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Jillian Guiler | |
| Carrie Fisher | Star Wars | Princess Leia Organa | |
| 1978 | Margot Kidder | Superman: The Movie | Lois Lane |
| Brooke Adams | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | Elizabeth Driscoll | |
| Ann-Margret | Magic | Peggy Ann Snow | |
| Geneviève Bujold | Coma | Dr. Susan Wheeler | |
| Diana Ross | The Wiz | Dorothy Gale | |
| 1979 | Mary Steenburgen | Time After Time | Amy Robbins |
| Susan Saint James | Love at First Bite | Cindy Sondheim | |
| Persis Khambatta | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | Lt. Ilia | |
| Margot Kidder | The Amityville Horror | Kathy Lutz | |
| Sigourney Weaver | Alien | Ripley |
1980s[]
| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Angie Dickinson | Dressed to Kill | Kate Miller |
| Ellen Burstyn | Resurrection | Edna | |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Terror Train | Alana Maxwell | |
| Louanne | Oh, God! Book II | Tracy Richards | |
| Jane Seymour | Somewhere in Time | Elise McKenna | |
| 1981 | Karen Allen | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Marion Ravenwood |
| Jenny Agutter | An American Werewolf in London | Nurse Alex Price | |
| Margot Kidder | Superman II | Lois Lane | |
| Angela Lansbury | The Mirror Crack'd | Miss Jane Marple | |
| Lily Tomlin | The Incredible Shrinking Woman | Pat Kramer/Judith Beasley | |
| 1982 | Sandahl Bergman | Conan the Barbarian | Valeria |
| Susan George | The House Where Evil Dwells | Laura Fletcher | |
| Nastassja Kinski | Cat People | Irena Gallier | |
| JoBeth Williams | Poltergeist | Diane Freeling | |
| Mary Woronov | Eating Raoul | Mary Bland | |
| 1983 | Louise Fletcher | Brainstorm | Lillian Reynolds |
| Bess Armstrong | High Road to China | Eve "Evie" Tozer | |
| Bobbie Bresee | Mausoleum | Susan Walker Farrell | |
| Carrie Fisher | Return of the Jedi | Princess Leia Organa | |
| Ally Sheedy | WarGames | Jennifer Mack | |
| 1984 | Daryl Hannah | Splash | Madison |
| Karen Allen | Starman | Jenny Hayden | |
| Nancy Allen | The Philadelphia Experiment | Allison Hayes | |
| Linda Hamilton | The Terminator | Sarah Connor | |
| Helen Slater | Supergirl | Supergirl/Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee | |
| 1985 | Coral Browne | Dreamchild | Alice Hargreaves |
| Glenn Close | Maxie | Jan/Maxie | |
| Mia Farrow | The Purple Rose of Cairo | Cecilia | |
| Michelle Pfeiffer | Ladyhawke | Isabeau d'Anjou | |
| Jessica Tandy | Cocoon | Alma Finley | |
| 1986 | Sigourney Weaver | Aliens | Ellen Ripley |
| Barbara Crampton | From Beyond | Dr. Katherine McMichaels | |
| Geena Davis | The Fly | Veronica Quaife | |
| Elisabeth Shue | Link | Jane Chase | |
| Kathleen Turner | Peggy Sue Got Married | Peggy Sue Bodell | |
| 1987 | Jessica Tandy | *batteries not included | Faye Riley |
| Nancy Allen | RoboCop | Officer Anne Lewis | |
| Melinda Dillon | Harry and the Hendersons | Nancy Henderson | |
| Lorraine Gary | Jaws: The Revenge | Ellen Brody | |
| Susan Sarandon | The Witches of Eastwick | Jane Spofford | |
| Robin Wright | The Princess Bride | Buttercup | |
| 1988 | Catherine Hicks | Child's Play | Karen Barclay |
| Kim Basinger | My Stepmother Is an Alien | Celeste Martin | |
| Amanda Donohoe | The Lair of the White Worm | Lady Sylvia Marsh | |
| Joanna Pacuła | The Kiss | Felice Dunbar | |
| Cassandra Peterson | Elvira, Mistress of the Dark | Elvira/Aunt Morgana Talbot | |
| Jessica Tandy | Cocoon: The Return | Alma Finley | |
| 1989/90 | Demi Moore | Ghost | Molly Jensen |
| Julie Carmen | Fright Night Part 2 | Regine Dandrige | |
| Blanca Guerra | Santa Sangre | Concha | |
| Anjelica Huston | The Witches | Miss Eva Ernst/Grand High Witch | |
| Nicole Kidman | Dead Calm | Rae Ingram | |
| Madonna | Dick Tracy | Breathless Mahoney | |
| Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio | The Abyss | Dr. Lindsey Brigman | |
| Ally Sheedy | Fear | Cayce Bridges | |
| Jenny Wright | I, Madman | Virginia |
1990s[]
| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Linda Hamilton | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Sarah Connor |
| Kathy Bates | Misery | Annie Wilkes | |
| Jodie Foster | The Silence of the Lambs | Clarice Starling | |
| Julia Roberts | Sleeping with the Enemy | Laura Burney | |
| Winona Ryder | Edward Scissorhands | Kim Boggs | |
| Meryl Streep | Defending Your Life | Julia | |
| 1992 | Virginia Madsen | Candyman | Helen Lyle |
| Rebecca De Mornay | The Hand That Rocks the Cradle | Peyton Flanders/Mrs. Mott | |
| Sheryl Lee | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Laura Palmer | |
| Winona Ryder | Bram Stoker's Dracula | Mina Harker/Elisabeta | |
| Sharon Stone | Basic Instinct | Catherine Tramell | |
| Meryl Streep | Death Becomes Her | Madeline Ashton | |
| Sigourney Weaver | Alien 3 | Ellen Ripley | |
| 1993 | Andie MacDowell | Groundhog Day | Rita |
| Patricia Arquette | True Romance | Alabama Whitman | |
| Laura Dern | Jurassic Park | Dr. Ellie Sattler | |
| Michelle Forbes | Kalifornia | Carrie Laughlin | |
| Anjelica Huston | Addams Family Values | Morticia Addams | |
| Bette Midler | Hocus Pocus | Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson | |
| Ally Sheedy | Man's Best Friend | Lori Tanner | |
| 1994 | Sandra Bullock | Speed | Annie Porter |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | True Lies | Helen Tasker | |
| Mädchen Amick | Dream Lover | Lena Mathers | |
| Helena Bonham Carter | Frankenstein | Elizabeth Frankenstein | |
| Penelope Ann Miller | The Shadow | Margo Lane | |
| Michelle Pfeiffer | Wolf | Laura Alden | |
| 1995 | Angela Bassett | Strange Days | Lornette "Mace" Mason |
| Kathy Bates | Dolores Claiborne | Dolores Claiborne | |
| Nicole Kidman | To Die For | Suzanne Stone-Maretto | |
| Sharon Stone | The Quick and the Dead | The Lady | |
| Madeleine Stowe | 12 Monkeys | Kathryn Railly | |
| Marina Zudina | Mute Witness | Billy | |
| 1996 | Neve Campbell | Scream | Sidney Prescott |
| Geena Davis | The Long Kiss Goodnight | Samantha Caine/Charlene Elizabeth "Charly" Baltimore | |
| Gina Gershon | Bound | Corky | |
| Helen Hunt | Twister | Dr. Jo Harding | |
| Frances McDormand | Fargo | Marge Gunderson | |
| Penelope Ann Miller | The Relic | Dr. Margo Green | |
| 1997 | Jodie Foster | Contact | Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Ann Arroway |
| Neve Campbell | Scream 2 | Sidney Prescott | |
| Pam Grier | Jackie Brown | Jackie Brown | |
| Jennifer Lopez | Anaconda | Terri Flores | |
| Mira Sorvino | Mimic | Dr. Susan Tyler | |
| Sigourney Weaver | Alien: Resurrection | Ellen Ripley | |
| 1998 | Drew Barrymore | Ever After | Danielle de Barbarac/Countess Nicole de Lancret |
| Gillian Anderson | The X-Files | Dana Scully | |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Laurie Strode / Keri Tate | |
| Meg Ryan | City of Angels | Maggie Rice | |
| Jennifer Tilly | Bride of Chucky | Tiffany | |
| Catherine Zeta-Jones | The Mask of Zorro | Elena De La Vega | |
| 1999 | Christina Ricci | Sleepy Hollow | Katrina Van Tassel |
| Heather Graham | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | Felicity Shagwell | |
| Catherine Keener | Being John Malkovich | Maxine Lund | |
| Carrie-Anne Moss | The Matrix | Trinity | |
| Sigourney Weaver | Galaxy Quest | Gwen DeMarco/Lt. Tawny Madison | |
| Rachel Weisz | The Mummy | Evelyn "Evie" Carnahan O'Connell |
2000s[]
| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Téa Leoni | The Family Man | Kate Reynolds / Kate Campbell |
| Cate Blanchett | The Gift | Annabelle "Annie" Wilson | |
| Ellen Burstyn | Requiem for a Dream | Sara Goldfarb | |
| Jennifer Lopez | The Cell | Dr. Catherine Deane | |
| Michelle Pfeiffer | What Lies Beneath | Claire Spencer | |
| Michelle Yeoh | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Yu Shu Lien | |
| 2001 | Nicole Kidman | The Others | Grace Stewart |
| Kate Beckinsale | Serendipity | Sara Thomas | |
| Angelina Jolie | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider | Lara Croft | |
| Julianne Moore | Hannibal | Clarice Starling | |
| Frances O'Connor | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Monica Swinton | |
| Naomi Watts | Mulholland Drive | Betty Elms | |
| 2002 | Naomi Watts | The Ring | Rachel Keller |
| Kirsten Dunst | Spider-Man | Mary Jane Watson | |
| Jodie Foster | Panic Room | Meg Altman | |
| Milla Jovovich | Resident Evil | Alice | |
| Natascha McElhone | Solaris | Rheya | |
| Natalie Portman | Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones | Senator Padmé Amidala | |
| 2003 | Uma Thurman | Kill Bill: Volume 1 | The Bride |
| Kate Beckinsale | Underworld | Selene | |
| Jessica Biel | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Erin Hardesty | |
| Cate Blanchett | The Missing | Magdalena "Maggie" Gilkeson | |
| Jennifer Connelly | Hulk | Betty Ross | |
| Jamie Lee Curtis | Freaky Friday | Tess Coleman / Anna Coleman | |
| 2004 | Blanchard Ryan | Open Water | Susan Watkins |
| Nicole Kidman | Birth | Anna | |
| Julianne Moore | The Forgotten | Telly Paretta | |
| Uma Thurman | Kill Bill: Volume 2 | The Bride / Beatrix Kiddo | |
| Kate Winslet | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Clementine Kruczynski | |
| Zhang Ziyi | House of Flying Daggers | Mei | |
| 2005 | Naomi Watts | King Kong | Ann Darrow |
| Jodie Foster | Flightplan | Kyle Pratt | |
| Laura Linney | The Exorcism of Emily Rose | Erin Christine Bruner | |
| Rachel McAdams | Red Eye | Lisa Reisert | |
| Natalie Portman | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | Padmé Amidala | |
| Tilda Swinton | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Jadis, the White Witch | |
| 2006 | Natalie Portman | V for Vendetta | Evey Hammond |
| Kate Bosworth | Superman Returns | Lois Lane | |
| Judi Dench | Notes on a Scandal | Barbara Covett | |
| Maggie Gyllenhaal | Stranger than Fiction | Ana Pascal | |
| Shauna Macdonald | The Descent | Sarah Carter | |
| Renée Zellweger | Miss Potter | Beatrix Potter | |
| 2007 | Amy Adams | Enchanted | Princess Giselle |
| Helena Bonham Carter | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Lovett | |
| Ashley Judd | Bug | Agnes White | |
| Belén Rueda | The Orphanage | Laura | |
| Carice van Houten | Black Book | Rachel Stein/Ellis de Vries | |
| Naomi Watts | Eastern Promises | Anna Khitrova | |
| 2008 | Angelina Jolie | Changeling | Christine Collins |
| Cate Blanchett | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Daisy Fuller | |
| Maggie Gyllenhaal | The Dark Knight | Rachel Dawes | |
| Julianne Moore | Blindness | Doctor's Wife | |
| Emily Mortimer | Transsiberian | Jessie | |
| Gwyneth Paltrow | Iron Man | Virginia "Pepper" Potts | |
| 2009 | Zoe Saldana | Avatar | Neytiri |
| Catherine Keener | Where the Wild Things Are | Connie | |
| Mélanie Laurent | Inglourious Basterds | Shoshanna Dreyfus/Emmanuelle Mimieux | |
| Alison Lohman | Drag Me to Hell | Christine Brown | |
| Natalie Portman | Brothers | Grace Cahill | |
| Charlize Theron | The Burning Plain | Sylvia |
2010s[]
| Year | Actress | Film | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Natalie Portman | Black Swan | Nina Sayers / The Swan Queen |
| Cécile de France | Hereafter | Marie Lelay | |
| Angelina Jolie | Salt | Evelyn Salt/Natasha Chenkova | |
| Carey Mulligan | Never Let Me Go | Kathy H. | |
| Elliot Page | Inception | Ariadne | |
| Noomi Rapace | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Lisbeth Salander | |
| 2011 | Kirsten Dunst | Melancholia | Justine |
| Jessica Chastain | Take Shelter | Samantha LaForche | |
| Keira Knightley | A Dangerous Method | Sabina Spielrein | |
| Rooney Mara | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Lisbeth Salander | |
| Brit Marling | Another Earth | Rhoda Williams | |
| Elizabeth Olsen | Martha Marcy May Marlene | Martha | |
| 2012 | Jennifer Lawrence | The Hunger Games | Katniss Everdeen |
| Jessica Chastain | Zero Dark Thirty | Maya | |
| Ann Dowd | Compliance | Sandra | |
| Zoe Kazan | Ruby Sparks | Ruby Sparks | |
| Helen Mirren | Hitchcock | Alma Reville | |
| Naomi Watts | The Impossible | Maria Bennett | |
| 2013 | Sandra Bullock | Gravity | Dr. Ryan Stone |
| Halle Berry | The Call | Jordan Turner | |
| Martina Gedeck | The Wall | Die Frau (The Woman) | |
| Jennifer Lawrence | The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | Katniss Everdeen | |
| Emma Thompson | Saving Mr. Banks | P. L. Travers | |
| Mia Wasikowska | Stoker | India Stoker | |
| 2014 | Rosamund Pike | Gone Girl | Amy Elliott-Dunne |
| Emily Blunt | Edge of Tomorrow | Sergeant Rita Rose Vrataski | |
| Essie Davis | The Babadook | Amelia | |
| Anne Hathaway | Interstellar | Amelia Brand | |
| Angelina Jolie | Maleficent | Maleficent | |
| Jennifer Lawrence | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | Katniss Everdeen | |
| 2015 | Charlize Theron | Mad Max: Fury Road | Imperator Furiosa |
| Emily Blunt | Sicario | Kate Macer | |
| Jessica Chastain | The Martian | Melissa Lewis | |
| Blake Lively | The Age of Adaline | Adaline | |
| Daisy Ridley | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Rey | |
| Mia Wasikowska | Crimson Peak | Edith Cushing | |
| 2016 | Mary Elizabeth Winstead | 10 Cloverfield Lane | Michelle |
| Amy Adams | Arrival | Dr. Louise Banks | |
| Emily Blunt | The Girl on the Train | Rachel Watson | |
| Taraji P. Henson | Hidden Figures | Katherine Goble Johnson | |
| Felicity Jones | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Jyn Erso | |
| Jennifer Lawrence | Passengers | Aurora Lane | |
| Narges Rashidi | Under the Shadow | Shideh | |
| 2017 | Gal Gadot | Wonder Woman | Diana Prince / Wonder Woman |
| Sally Hawkins | The Shape of Water | Elisa Esposito | |
| Frances McDormand | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Mildred Hayes | |
| Lupita Nyong'o | Black Panther | Nakia | |
| Rosamund Pike | Hostiles | Rosalie Quaid | |
| Daisy Ridley | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | Rey | |
| Emma Watson | Beauty and the Beast | Belle | |
| 2018/19 | Jamie Lee Curtis | Halloween | Laurie Strode |
| Emily Blunt | Mary Poppins Returns | Mary Poppins | |
| Toni Collette | Hereditary | Annie Graham | |
| Nicole Kidman | Destroyer | Erin Bell | |
| Brie Larson | Captain Marvel | Carol Danvers / Vers / Captain Marvel | |
| Lupita Nyong'o | Us | Adelaide Wilson / Red | |
| Octavia Spencer | Ma | Sue Ann "Ma" Ellington | |
| 2019/20 | Elisabeth Moss | The Invisible Man | Cecilia "Cee" Kass |
| Rebecca Ferguson | Doctor Sleep | Rose the Hat | |
| Natalie Portman | Lucy in the Sky | Lucy Cola | |
| Daisy Ridley | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | Rey | |
| Margot Robbie | Birds of Prey | Harley Quinn | |
| Charlize Theron | The Old Guard | Andy | |
| Liu Yifei | Mulan | Mulan |
Multiple nominations[]
- 6 nominations
- Natalie Portman
- 5 nominations
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Jodie Foster
- Nicole Kidman
- Naomi Watts
- Sigourney Weaver
- 4 nominations
- Emily Blunt
- Angelina Jolie
- Jennifer Lawrence
- 3 nominations
- Cate Blanchett
- Jessica Chastain
- Margot Kidder
- Julianne Moore
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Daisy Ridley
- Ally Sheedy
- Jessica Tandy
- Charlize Theron
- 2 nominations
- Amy Adams
- Karen Allen
- Nancy Allen
- Kathy Bates
- Kate Beckinsale
- Helena Bonham Carter
- Sandra Bullock
- Ellen Burstyn
- Neve Campbell
- Geena Davis
- Melinda Dillon
- Kirsten Dunst
- Carrie Fisher
- Linda Hamilton
- Anjelica Huston
- Catherine Keener
- Jennifer Lopez
- Frances McDormand
- Penelope Ann Miller
- Lupita Nyong'o
- Rosamund Pike
- Winona Ryder
- Sharon Stone
- Meryl Streep
- Uma Thurman
- Mia Wasikowska
Multiple wins[]
- 2 wins
- Sandra Bullock
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Jodie Foster
- Natalie Portman
- Naomi Watts
References[]
External links[]
Categories:
- Saturn Awards
- Film awards for lead actress