Honoring 16 Leading Ladies for International Women's Month:

How’s everyone doing with the madness that is this pandemic? Going crazy yet? Yeah me neither. Let’s take a break from Corona Virus talk and remember it’s International Women’s Month! I’ve put together a list of leading ladies from the last decade whose performances are worth acknowledging. The list kicks off with legendary performers who have paved the way and up-and-comers who ensure a promising future for women in film.

Not a bad list to go off of as your battling cabin fever.

Emma Thompson

Obviously Emma Thompson’s work as a writer, actress, and producer reaches FAR beyond her work in last year’s Late Night. I mean, the woman is a legend with projects ranging from Sense and Sensibility to Much Ado About Nothing and countless voice acting performances, but her sharp-witted role as a late night comic in last year’s Late Night let us fall in love with her all over again.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ historic run on Seinfield was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of her talent and range as an actress. Right before catching the next wave of greatness on Veep she starred in a quiet, female-directed rom-com called Enough Said. It was a beautiful way to move from one phase of her career to the next.

Charlize Theron

No woman who sat in a theater watching Mad Max: Fury Road can say they weren’t riled to a state of pride every time Furiosa was on screen. She kicked butt, yeah, but she also carried a degree of integrity and a swift hand of justice that deserved fist pumps. And pump my fist I did.

Amy Adams

Adams had a stellar decade (despite the egregious Oscar win snubs) in everything from The Master, Nocturnal Animals, and even a foray into television with Sharper Things, but her talent was on display in an incomparable way in Arrival. Adams’ character, Louise Banks, was the beating heart of that movie and she helped us understand what it meant to be human not to mention a mother and woman. It’s time the Academy got it together and recognized this actor for the talent that she is.

Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy

Let’s take a minute to acknowledge what Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy have done for the comedy genre with their work in Bridesmaids. The classic comedy launched McCarthy into a whole new level of stardom and they paved the way by showing that female comedians can carry a movie all the way to massive box office numbers.

Emily Blunt

A Quiet Place was my favorite non-horror horror movie of 2017 and it was Emily Blunt’s “quiet” performance that truly drove the story. Any performance that involves delivering a baby in complete silence is an automatic win in my book. She also brought the heat as the highly trained alien-fighting scene partner for Tom Cruise in The Edge of Tomorrow and of course she plays the syrupy-sweet Mary Poppins. So I’d say, the woman has chops.

Scarlett Johansson

As an up-and-coming actress in Lost in Translation, Johansson proved she can have a commanding presence. It helps that she’s starred in so many action movies. Acting in Under the Skin and as Black Widow in the Marvel Universe showed her command of the genre. Returning to her dramatic roots in Marriage Story and Jo Jo Rabbit this past year, earned her Oscar nominations for expertly holding comedic and dramatic moments in tension.

Margot Robbie

Since her knockout breakout performance in The Wolf of Wallstreet, Robbie has been on the fast track to an acting Oscar. Her leading role in I Tonya, though, is what really helped her rise to leading lady stardom. She’s a boss on and off screen acting as a producer on several of the films she’s starred in including the recent Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn.

Saoirse Ronan

Let’s face it, she’s good in everything she does, but special attention should be paid to her roles in Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women. From a young age, Ronan’s magnetic talent has been on display in innocent, reserved characters and bold and fierce revolutionaries alike. She makes womanhood look beautiful and messy and complicated in all of the best (and accurate) ways. She’s on a sure path to Oscar glory.

Sakura Ando

Not enough hype surrounded Sakura Ando’s breathtaking performance in 2018s Shoplifters. To my shame, I’m not familiar with her other work, but the way she embodied this character was so stunning and stayed in my mind long after watching the film.

Brie Larson

Short Term 12 is one of the most underrated film of the 2010s and Larson’s work in it hinted at a promising path forward leading to her Oscar win for Room and eventual transformation into the most powerful superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain Marvel. She’s an advocate for gender pay equity in the entertainment industry and is just a cool person all around.

Emma Stone

Before we knew about her rockstar singing and dancing abilities, Emma Stone was permeating the film world consciousness with films like The Help and Easy A. It was La La Land that earned her her Oscar for Best Actress, but it was in The Favourite that we really got to see her range as a true comedic performer.

Ana De Armas

A strong and growing presence from a Latina actress is always welcome in the world of cinema. Ana De Armas first got on my radar in Blade Runner 2049, but really showed she can carry a movie in last year’s Knives Out. She has several projects slated for this year and it’s exciting to think of where her career will go next.

Elsie Fisher

Eighth Grade is a small indie movie about a girl making the transition from middle school to high school and all of the anxieties and awkwardness that’s involved. The film became a cultural phenomenon. Fisher managed to capture a real, relatable experience and her raw talent has no limits.

Greta Gerwig

Gerwig is leaving an indelible imprint on the film industry, first as an actor, especially as the quirky and perky, Frances in Frances Ha. The way Gerwig played Frances attempting to navigate New York and adulthood made us love her, but her recent directing work with Lady Bird and Little Women makes us to respect her.

Taylor Russell

Not many people will recognize her face, but I hope that’s short-lived. Russell made a splash (pun intended) in the small indie film, Waves, last year and her moving performance left me anxious to see what she’ll do next.