8. Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep has been around for a long time, and since the late seventies has played a huge variety of female roles in American cinema. Many will take you by surprise. Go back far enough and you can find her as the lesbian ex-wife of Woody Allen in 1979's "Manhattan". Having played the jittery Aunt Josephine in "A Series of Unfortunate Events", the icy journalist in "Devil Wears Prada", and the unforgettably tormented mother in "Sophie's Choice" - Streep has stamped her mark as one of the most versatile actresses in cinema, including her wonderfully subtle work as Susan Orlean in "Adaptation". Yet perhaps her best work is in "The Iron Lady" as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - which is more of an embodiment than a portrayal. From "Kramer vs Kramer" to "Mamma Mia!", you really never know when or where or how Streep will pop up. But it will always most certainly be entertaining.