Jack_Savage

I dont mean to be sexist, but male actors seem so much better then female actors, im sure their are exceptions, but look at the top male actors, hoffman, dinero, depp, nortin, and the actress? Roberts, berry and kidman. Everyone gave kidman so much credit for putting on a prosthetic nose but hell hoffman did that in hook 10 years ago.

Maybe im alone on this.

Charlie Goose

There are no actresses at all. They prefer to be called actors.

I think there are just as many skilled females as there are males. They're just not as apparent because most movies have a male lead. I mean, wouldn't you call Anna Paquin, Meg Ryan, or Drew Barrymore better than David Arquette, FPJ, or Vin Diesel? These are just names off the top of my head.

Honk!

audrey

Yikes…where have you been? While I would agree there’s a lot of empty eye candy gracing the silver screen, there are legions of great actresses…Betty Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Isabella Rossellini, Isabelle Adjani, Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Susan Sarandon, Jodie Foster, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Sissy Spacek, Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Faye Dunaway to name a few.

Jackskeleton

I second this and add Nicole Kidman to the list.

Sessa17

Yup, talk about watching someone grow as an actor literally each & every movie they make.

bsktballDude1

Not to overkill it, but I concur, Nicole Kidman is really an excellent actress, and really does keep getting better in everything she does and is quite nice to look at too.

B.A.

I think Famke Janssen is an excellent actress who doesn't get the credit she deserves. Though Gwyneth Paltrow is an at least two duds for every good movie she is in - she is also an excellent actress.

Yeah, Nicole Kidman has grown by leaps and bounds as an actress over the last several years.

audrey - you left the great Maureen O'Hara off of your list. One of the most talented and beautiful redheads ever.

audrey

Nope, not intentional. I just listed those that came to mind quickly; there are many others...Audrey Hepburn, Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Patricia Neal, Glenda Jackson, Jane Fonda, etc. And of course Kidman and Paltrow are talented. I’m sure others will chime in.

lesterlong

I'll also add Natalie Portman who outperformed the incredible performances of Gary Oldman and Jean Reno in Leon. And by the way, Norton doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as DeNiro. There are plenty of fine female actors they just don't get as many great scripts as guys do, mostly because screenwriters are guys.

Corvin

I'm not sure why, but I can think of several movies I've seen simply because an actor is in the starring role (Death to Smoochy comes to mind).

But I honestly can't name one actress that has that same kind of effect on me.

Is that saying something about our society? Perhaps, but I'm too tired and lazy to really think about it.

So it goes.

Tscott

I can think of several movies I've seen simply because an actress is in a staring role (Death to Smoochy comes to mind).
Catherine Keener

Is that saying something about me? Perhaps. I've got almost every Julianne Moore film available on DVD (don't have Psycho(98) yet). Christina Ricci, Helena Bonham Carter, Juliette Binoche, Julia Stiles, Audrey Tautou, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Franka Potente and the above mentioned Catherine Keener are a few other actress that'll make me seek out a little known title and give it a chance.

jfoobar

I think that is likely.

Rocky_Stallone

I'll have to agree with your choices on Halle Berry and Nicole Kidman, who are two of my very favorite, both of them are wonderful actresses. However, I'm not that much of a fan of Julie Roberts though, I don't care her acting that much.

Mostly men would like a certain actress just because they think she is hot and beautiful, that's true, I think they are hot and beautiful myself, but they are very talented actresses too.

Here are my top five favorite actresses who I enjoy watching and think they are very talented in no order:

Angela Jolie (My number one favorite, I worship her, just like I worship Sly)

Halle Berry (my second favorite)

Nicole Kidman (I love her to death as well, amazing actress, I need to see "The Hours" which I haven't yet)

Naomi Watts (she did a great job in "Mulholland Drive" and "The Ring")

Julianne Moore (also another one of my faves)

LiquidSky

To name a few:

Meryl Streep
Julianne Moore
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Franka Potente
Cate Blanchett
Jodie Foster
Ellen Burstyn
Frances McDormand
Susan Sarandon
Sissy Spacek
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Huppert
Edie Falco
Mary McDonnell
Angela Bassett

C Roberts

Most of the ones I'd have listed have already been listed, but I'll add a couple unusual ones too...

Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton. They both managed to become successful action heroes (Ripley and Sarah Connor), which few actors (male or female) have pulled off on the same scale.

Groucho

The only good actress is a topless actress.

PalmerJoss

I would have to say Julianne Moore is the best working actress today. She is excellent in every movie she is in(even Hannibal) and makes the movie that much better.

xDareDevilx

Ok, I think what the og poster of this thread was talking about actresses that are still acting today. So, without the amazing talents of the Hepburn's, Grace Kelly, Liz Taylor, etc. Let's talk about those in today's generation of films.

Most good actresses IMO are undercast. Usually, studio's go with the one's that have the best looks and rely upon ability a distant 2nd...
3 Come to mind right away (these are both amazing actors and for the most part undercast and underrated as well):

Uma Thurman (my fav. actress and IMO the most beautiful, natural beauty, actress around)
Holly Hunter (Amazing talent)
Frances McDormand

I think Julia Roberts, Drew Berrymoore, and Nicole Kidman are overrated, although are pretty decent actresses. I just don't think they should rule the woman's scene in hollywood.

SOme other actresses that are def. great are Ellyn Burstyn, Meryl Streep, and Kathy Bates.

But I agree, that men do have more success than women in hollywood.

sundog

some recent, impressive perfomances I've seen (in no order and not already mentioned):

Miranda Richardson (Spider)
Mania Akbari (10)
Samantha Morton (Morvern Callar)
Zooey Deschanel (All the Real Girls)
Oksana Akinshina (Lilja 4-Ever)
Molly Parker (Marion Bridge)
Judy Marte, Krystal Rodriguez (Raising Victor Vargas)
Lucy Russell (The Lady and the Duke)
Lara Philips, Karin Anglin (Kwik Stop)
Emmanuelle Devos (Read My Lips)
Leila Hatami (The Deserted Station)
Julianne Nicholson (Tully)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary)
Summer Phoenix (Esther Kahn)
Edie Falco (Sunshine State)
Angela Lindvall (CQ)
Maggie Chueng (In the Mood for Love)
Lena Endre (Faithless)
Thora Birch (Ghost World)
Kerry Fox (Intimacy)
Tilda Swinton (The Deep End)

Daytripper

Wow, I have to admit I was shocked by this thread. Because for years, I felt the opposite. How come there are so many great actresses and so few great actors out there these days?

Pants

Are there any good (female) actors?

Yes, but you don't see them as often as the talentless beautiful ones.

Daytripper

Do you mean male and female? Because, yes (sadly) a pretty face usually gets more work. However, you do see more not so pretty male actors than you do (not so pretty) female actresses. Older too. An unattractive female actress is *usually* cast in a supporting role (or smaller). We're talking mainstream films here. Independent movies? A completely different story.

Pants

Fixed it for you. Thanks Daytripper

kneijst1

Reese Witherspoon
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yeah....maybe not.... I'll stick with Rebecca Romein Stamos and/or Tea Leione(sp?) who do perform some fine work(most of the time) and not to mention are fine to look at.

NCMojo

One big reason it is hard to name GREAT female actors is because of Hollywood chauvinism. Let's face it, if you look at some of the awe-inspiring male actors of our time, they're not much to look at. Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson... none of these are all that great looking, and yet they were given the chance to star in powerful roles early on, and then allowed to continue to act even when their faces started to wrinkle and their hair fell out.

Is there an unattractive lead actress in Hollywood? Anyone? Women aren't cut an inch of slack... they have to be cute and perky and sexy and show skin or they don't get cast.

And Hollywood rarely writes good parts for women, largely because so many of the writers, directors and producers in Hollywood are men. (As I guy, even I can recognize that.)

So I'll repeat my question -- am I wrong? Can anyone name a truly unattractive Hollywood actress?