1. Jennifer Lawrence
Born: August 15, 1990 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Distinguished performances in 2013: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | American Hustle
"Jennifer Lawrence"... She's everywhere (9gag, Tumblr, magazines, etc), she's the girl everyone talks, she's the actress of the moment and it is not only because of her celebrity persona, but also because of her acting talent and impressive (yet short) body of work. With critically acclaimed and awarded performances in independent productions like Winter's Bone and Silver Linings Playbook (both gave her 2 Oscar nominations and the last one gave her a golden man to bring some "golden shine" to her fireplace) and as the leading actress of The Hunger Games franchise and a supporting actress in X-Men: First Class (and in the upcoming X-Men: Days of the Future Past), Lawrence is also (one of) the biggest money-making actresses working in Hollywood. The balance between her turns in box-office hits and in more serious/award-looking movies let her doing whatever she wants and in 2013 she presented us with stellar performances in both The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (in which she plays Katniss in such a soulful and aggressive way) and American Hustle (her second work with David O. Russell, playing a "wife-in-crisis" and delivering a performance that will likely get her third Oscar nomination of her career), making her the actress of the year, the movie star of the moment and Hollywood's golden girl.
2. Cate Blanchett
Born: May 14, 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Distinguished performances in 2013: Blue Jasmine | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
One of the best actresses working today, Blanchett impressed the world with amazing acting turns in movies like Heaven, Elizabeth, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Veronica Guerin, The Aviator, Little Fish, Notes On a Scandal, I'm Not There or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button... and she's back with what I consider to be the best performance of her career (and one of the best of the year, by far) in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. Critics acclaimed the movie and Blanchett got huge raves for her performance as Jasmine, a troubled New York City socialite, and she's under heavy Oscar buzz, with predictions experts saying she's the strongest contender to win the Oscar for Best Actress. A true talent and one of the most respected actresses these days, this Australian actress could be in this list just because of her performance in Blue Jasmine alone, but it happens she has an important part in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, in which she reprises the role of Galadriel (previously seen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), being part of one of the box-office hits of this Fall-Christmas season (and this second installment got even better reviews than the previous one). While she's far from being under the same attentions as Lawrence, Blanchett rules the attentions of independent cinema and Woody Allen movies' lovers.
3. Scarlett Johansson
Distinguished performances in 2013: Don Jon | Under the Skin | Her
2013 will be known as the year of Scarlett's rebirth as an actress thanks to her raved turns in a critical praised "trilogy": Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Don Jon, Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin and Spike Jonze's Her (considered one of the best movies of the year and a major player in this awards season and a solid Oscar contender in a big couple of categories, including Best Picture). While Under the Skin remain unseen by most of the auteur-cinema loving audiences, reviews from Venice Film Festival and other Fall film festivals rave the young actress and draw some comparisons with her (also) silent performance in Girl With a Pearl Earring. Don Jon, on the other hand, was seen by a nice number of audiences (and it did good at the box-office, specially for a small movie) and more than Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut the movie worked as a showcase for Scarlett Johansson, who delivered what critics considered a "dynamite acting turn" and her "best performance in years" as a hilarious and spoiled Jersey-girl/princess. But it was Her which featured the performance everybody is talking about: Scarlett's Oscar buzzy voice-only performance. Critics and audiences loved Her and "her acting turn" as Samantha, praising the actress for being able to build such a multidimensional character using her voice only and for being able to make her presence being felt without being ever seen on-screen. With or without a future Oscar nomiantion, Scarlett delivered the most interesting and moving performance of the year in Her (which might be the most difficult performance of the year also).
4. Meryl Streep
Distinguished performance in 2013: August: Osage County
When you have Harvey Weinstein saying something like "Meryl Streep will be promoted in the Best Supporting Actress category" but then every critics associations and other awards organizations insist in nominating her in Best Actress category, then you realise Meryl Streep is the real big deal... and The Queen of Hollywood. Even after her third Oscar-winning performance (first was Kramer Vs Kramer, then Sophie's Choice and after becoming the most Oscar nominated actress in history, she took home the third Oscar she deserved with an impressive portray/incarnation of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady), Streep keeps impressing us and her performance in August: Osage County got nothing but raves and even critics who were a bit less enthusiastic about her Violet admited how good her line deliveries were... I only watched a few clips of her in August, but from what I've seen, she's stellar once again! So, why having Streep in this list when she stars in only one movie and I've not seen it yet? Well, putting the whole world ignoring Mr. Weinstein's orders and stilling fresh for the awards organizations is something really deserving of this "little honour" for me... and she's Meryl Strepp, for God's sake! She's impossible to ignore! She's a living legend, that's all!
5. Sandra Bullock
Distinguished performances in 2013: The Heat | Gravity
Sandra Bullock became a star thanks to her breakthrough performance in the critical praised and huge box-office hit Speed (1994), followed by her turns in While You Were Sleeping (1995) and in Miss Congeniality (2000) that gave her the "America's sweetheart" status and made her one of the most beloved and profitable screen presences. And while she's far from being the best actress working today, Bullock benefits from the love from the audiences and for being smart when it comes to choosing her projects. Since 2004 she starred in three movies that ended nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture: Crash (that ended taking home the prize), 2009's The Blind Side (that also featured her Oscar-winning performance) and 2011's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, with this year's Gravity in serious contention to be the fourth one. In fact, Alfonso Cuarón directed Gravity, more than a major contender for the Best Picture and the technical categories, it is a box-office sensation and it features what I would call Bullock's most impressive dramatic turn of her career. Her turn as Ryan Stone is an attention magnet and she holds herself really well in that one-woman-show and critics noticed that too, praising her performance like they never did before. But just like her 2009 without All About Steve, Bullock also starred a profitable comedy (in that year, it was The Proposal) and her 2013 brought us The Heat, for which she also got good reviews and some awards in the comedy field (like a Golden Globe)... So, in spite of not being delivering the best performances of the year, Bullock benefits from the success of the projects and from how likeable she can be not only as an actress but also as a public/mediatic personality. The Heat and Gravity wouldn't have the same success without her... no matter what I think, Bullock is a star and people pay to see her movies!
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