One of the most widely respected and talented actresses in the business, Julianne Moore appeared in four very different movies this year, and unsurprisingly delivered strong performances in all of them. First up was Liam Neeson vehicle Non-Stop, with the actress managing to do her best with an underdeveloped character in amongst the preposterous plot. David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars marked a return to more serious fare, with Moore's great turn as a fading actress landing her the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival. A fan of the book series, Moore took on a rare blockbuster role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, giving the character of President Alma Coin a real sense of warmth, intelligence and gravitas in what is a supporting yet pivotal role. Her best work of the year came in the independent drama Still Alice, with the actress delivering what many are calling the best performance of her career as a woman dealing with early onset Alzheimer's in a turn that has been generating plenty of awards buzz. Almost certainly a lock for her fifth Academy Award nomination, 2014 may well have been the best 12 months of Julianne Moore's 30 year career.
Runner Up - Rosamund Pike
Rosamund Pike has been working solidly for over a decade, but seems poised to break out in a big way thanks to her mesmerizing performance in David Fincher's Gone Girl. A real contender for every Best Actress Prize going, the 35 year-old's turn as Amy Elliott Dunne is a layered, complex and powerful dual performance that resulted in one of the year's most unforgettable characters. That being said, the actress also featured in three other movies this year that did a good job in showcasing her range and versatility, even if the final product itself wasn't great. A Long Way Down wasted an interesting premise and talented ensemble, but Pike still managed to do her best with an underwritten role, a sentiment that can also be applied to her work in the Simon Pegg vehicle Hector And The Search For Happiness. Pike also showcased her comedic chops in What We Did on Our Holiday, generating plenty of chemistry with onscreen husband David Tennant in a light-hearted British comedy. However, everything else pales in comparison to her star-making performance in the critical and commercial smash hit Gone Girl.
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