Every Best Actress Oscar Movie Winner Of The 21st Century Ranked
8. Julia Roberts - Erin Brokovich (2000)
Who should have won: Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream.
The first Best Actress win of the 21st century went to Julia Roberts for her career-defining turn as real-life legal clerk Erin Brockovich, who as a single mother of three went toe-to-toe with a dangerous and corrupt energy corporation.
Soderbergh's drama is well-crafted and thrilling, but it's Roberts' empowering central role that makes the movie sing, combining her skills as a dramatic and comedic star into the role of a lifetime. Roberts has always soared as determined heroines caught in the traps of an unfair world, and here she reached her peak.
Brave, iron-willed, and charming, Roberts excellently brings Brockovich to life with a fiery perseverance and subtle sadness that allows the drama to reach its full potential. She's always been great, but she's never been better than she was here.