The Best Actresses Working Today

Carly Kiel

Updated May 3, 2024 804.4K views 200 items

Ranked By

645.1K votes

35.0K voters

52 reranks

Voting Rules

Vote up working actresses who have starred in major films or TV series in the last ~5 years.

Latest additions: Sandra Hüller, Lily Gladstone, Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Most divisive: Claire Danes

Over 35.0K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Actresses Working Today

Here is the place to rank the best actresses working today. This list includes many of the greatest actresses in film history, but more importantly, focuses on modern female movie stars and TV actresses. Today, Hollywood features a new crop of popular and respected young actresses who command strong female roles and hold their own on the big and small screens. Current actresses are more talented than ever before.

While many of the talented women on this list are among familiar favorites (Meryl, Tilda, Glenn...), others are not quite yet household names, even if they have been nominated for - or even won! - Oscars for their performances. This list includes the top female actors who have had starring roles in the last few years, both in film and TV (like Homeland star / Emmy award winner Claire Danes) and should give you a good idea of the top 100 actresses who are in the business these days.

The recent performances of these women have been widely acclaimed, even if their individual films or works were otherwise ignored. Vote up those actresses who you believe have contributed the most to the presence of strong female characters in film and TV.

1
13,160 votes
Meryl Streep
Don't Look Up (2021)
Let Them All Talk (2020)
The Prom (2020)
Little Women (2019)
2
12,025 votes
Cate Blanchett
Tár (2022)
Nightmare Alley (2021)
Don't Look Up (2021)
Mrs. America (2020)
Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)
3
8,746 votes
Emily Blunt
The English (2022)
Jungle Cruise (2021)
Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)
A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
4
8,171 votes
Emma Stone
Poor Things (2023)
Cruella (2021)
Zombieland: Double Tap (2020)
5
7,428 votes
Margot Robbie
Amsterdam (2022)
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Birds of Prey (2020)
Bombshell (2019)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
6
10,227 votes
Kate Winslet
Mare of Easttown (2021)
Black Beauty (2020)
Ammonite (2020)
Moominvalley (2019-2020)
7
9,810 votes
Natalie Portman
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Lucy in the Sky (2019)
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan (2018)
8
9,287 votes
Amy Adams
Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
The Woman in the Window (2021)
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
9
8,781 votes
Scarlett Johansson
Black Widow (2021)
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Marriage Story (2019)
10
8,439 votes
Maggie Smith
Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
A Boy Called Christmas (2021)
Downton Abbey (2019)

11
8,438 votes
Helena Bonham Carter
Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
Enola Holmes (2020)
The Crown (2019-2020)
Ocean's 8 (2018)
55 Steps (2017)
12
9,188 votes
Sandra Bullock
Bullet Train (2022)
The Lost City (2022)
The Unforgivable (2021)
13
10,428 votes
Jennifer Lawrence
Causeway (2022)
Don't Look Up (2021)
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Red Sparrow (2018)
14
8,051 votes
Helen Mirren
F9 (2021)
The Duke (2020)
Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
The Good Liar (2019)
15
7,548 votes
Emma Thompson
Matilda the Musical (2022)
What's Love Got to Do with It? (2022)
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
Cruella (2021)
Dolittle (2020)
Last Christmas (2019)
Late Night (2019)
16
8,554 votes
Anne Hathaway
Armageddon Time (2022)
WeCrashed (2022)
Locked Down (2021)
The Witches (2020)
The Last Thing He Wanted (2020)
Dark Waters (2019)
17
8,311 votes
Charlize Theron
The School for Good and Evil (2022)
F9 (2021)
The Old Guard (2020)
Bombshell (2019)
Long Shot (2019)
18
6,166 votes
Viola Davis
The First Lady (2022)
Black Adam (2022)
The Woman King (2022)
The Unforgivable (2021)
The Suicide Squad (2021)
How to Get Away with Murder (2014-2020)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)
Troop Zero (2019)
19
6,954 votes
Rachel McAdams
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
Game Night (2018)
Disobedience (2017)
20
6,422 votes
Kathy Bates
American Horror Story (2013-2021)
Home (2020)
Richard Jewell (2019)

21
7,189 votes
Judi Dench
Allelujah (2022)
Belfast (2021)
Off the Rails (2021)
Six Minutes to Midnight (2020)
Blithe Spirit (2020)
Cats (2019)
22
3,456 votes
Elizabeth Olsen
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
WandaVision (2021)
Sorry for Your Loss (2018-2019)
Avengers (2015-2019)
23
5,509 votes
Jessica Chastain
The Good Nurse (2022)
Armageddon Time (2022)
The 355 (2022)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
The Forgiven (2021)
Scenes from a Marriage (2021)
Ava (2020)
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
It Chapter Two (2019)
24
4,039 votes
Saoirse Ronan
See How They Run (2022)
The French Dispatch (2021)
Ammonite (2020)
Little Women (2019)
Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
25
6,511 votes
Emma Watson
Little Women (2019)
The Circle (2017)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
26
3,917 votes
Winona Ryder
Gone in the Night (2022)
Stranger Things (2016-present)
The Plot Against America (2020)
Destination Wedding (2018)
27
7,853 votes
Nicole Kidman
The Northman (2022)
Nine Perfect Strangers (2021)
Being the Ricardos (2021)
The Prom (2020)
The Undoing (2020)
Big Little Lies (2017-2019)
28
7,138 votes
Julianne Moore
When You Finish Saving the World (2022)
Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
Lisey's Story (2021)
The Glorias (2020)
After the Wedding (2019)
Gloria Bell (2018)
29
3,106 votes
Amanda Seyfried
The Dropout (2022)
A Mouthful of Air (2021)
Things Heard & Seen (2021)
Mank (2020)
You Should Have Left (2020)
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
30
1,935 votes
Anya Taylor-Joy
Amsterdam (2022)
The Menu (2022)
The Northman (2022)
Last Night in Soho (2021)
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
The New Mutants (2020)
Here Are the Young Men (2020)