AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actress

Annual US film award From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actress is one of the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards presented annually by the AARP since the awards' inception in 2002. The award honors the best actress over the age of fifty.[1] The Best Actress Award is one of the seven original trophies issued by AARP the Magazine, along with awards for Best Movie for Grownups, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Foreign Film, Best Documentary, and Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up.[2]

Awarded forBest Actress over 50
CountryUnited States
Presented byAARP
First awardCharlotte Rampling for Under the Sand (2001)
Quick facts for Best Actress, Awarded for ...
AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actress
The 2025 recipient: Laura Dern
Awarded forBest Actress over 50
CountryUnited States
Presented byAARP
First awardCharlotte Rampling for Under the Sand (2001)
Currently held byLaura Dern for Is This Thing On? (2025)
Websitehttps://www.aarp.org/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/ Movies for Grownups
Close

Winners and Nominees

  indicates the winners.

2000s

Charlotte Rampling won the first Best Actress award for her performance in Under the Sand.
Meryl Streep, who holds the record for the most Best Actress nominations, won on her first nomination in 2002.
Alfre Woodard was the first Black nominee for Best Actress.
More information Year, Actress ...
Year Actress Role(s) Film Ref.
2001
(1st) 		Charlotte Rampling ‡ Marie Drillon Under the Sand [3]
Helen Mirren Mrs. Wilson Gosford Park
Maggie Smith Constance, Countess of Trentham
Sissy Spacek Ruth Fowler In the Bedroom
2002
(2nd) 		Meryl Streep ‡ Susan Orlean Adaptation [4]
Judi Dench Lady Bracknell The Importance of Being Earnest
Susan Sarandon Mimi Slocumb and Jojo Floss Igby Goes Down and Moonlight Mile
Sigourney Weaver Joan The Guys
2003
(3rd) 		Diane Keaton ‡ Erica Barry Something's Gotta Give [5]
Geraldine McEwan Sister Bridget The Magdalene Sisters
Helen Mirren Chris Harper Calendar Girls
Catherine O'Hara Mickey Crabbe A Mighty Wind
2004
(4th) 		Anne Reid ‡ May The Mother [6]
Cloris Leachman Evelyn Wright Spanglish
Gena Rowlands Old Allie Calhoun The Notebook
Susan Sarandon Beverly Clark Shall We Dance?
Meryl Streep Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw The Manchurian Candidate
Lily Tomlin Vivian Jaffe I Heart Huckabees
2005
(5th) 		Joan Plowright ‡ Sarah Palfrey Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont [7]
Judi Dench Ursula Widdington Ladies in Lavender
Shirley MacLaine Ella Hirsch In Her Shoes
Meryl Streep Lisa Metzger Bloomberg Prime
Liv Ullmann Marianne Saraband
2006
(6th) 		Helen Mirren ‡ Queen Elizabeth II The Queen [8]
Judi Dench Barbara Covett Notes on a Scandal
Catherine O'Hara Marilyn Hack For Your Consideration
Maggie Smith Rosie Jones/Grace Hawkins Keeping Mum
Meryl Streep Miranda Priestly The Devil Wears Prada
2007
(7th) 		Julie Christie ‡ Fiona Away from Her [9]
Sally Field Anita Bergman Two Weeks
Vanessa Redgrave Ann Grant Lord Evening
Meryl Streep Janine Roth Lions for Lambs
2008
(8th) 		Meryl Streep ‡ Sister Aloysius Beauvier Doubt [10]
Annette Bening Sylvie Fowler The Women
Catherine Deneuve Junon Vuillard A Christmas Tale
Frances McDormand Linda Litzke Burn After Reading
Alfre Woodard Alice Reynolds-Evans Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
2009
(9th) 		Helen Mirren ‡ Sophia Tolstaya The Last Station [11]
Ellen Burstyn Mary Lovely, Still
Meryl Streep Jane Adler It's Complicated
Julia Child Julie & Julia
Close

2010s

Judi Dench won in 2012 for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, her fifth Best Actress nomination.
Paulina García was the first nominee from outside Europe or North America, for her performance in Gloria.
Annette Bening won back-to-back Best Actress awards in 2016 and 2017.
Renée Zellweger won Best Actress for Judy in her first year of eligibility.
More information Year, Actress ...
Year Actress Role(s) Film Ref.
2010
(10th) 		Lesley Manville ‡ Mary Smith Another Year [12]
Annette Bening Dr. Nicole "Nic" Allgood The Kids Are All Right
Julianne Moore Jules Allgood
Vanessa Redgrave Claire Letters to Juliet
Tilda Swinton Emma Recchi I Am Love
2011
(11th) 		Glenn Close ‡ Albert Nobbs Albert Nobbs [13]
Ellen Barkin Lynn Hellman Another Happy Day
Helen Mirren Rachel Singer The Debt
Meryl Streep Margaret Thatcher The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton Eva Khatchadourian We Need to Talk About Kevin
2012
(12th) 		Judi Dench ‡ Evelyn Greenslade The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [14]
Ann Dowd Sandra Frum Compliance
Helen Mirren Alma Reville Hitchcock
Emmanuelle Riva Anne Laurent Amour
Meryl Streep Kay Soames Hope Springs
2013
(13th) 		Judi Dench ‡ Philomena Lee Philomena [15]
Paulina García Gloria Cumplido Gloria
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Eva Enough Said
Meryl Streep Violet Weston August: Osage County
Emma Thompson Pamela "P.L." Travers Saving Mr. Banks
2014
(14th) 		Julianne Moore ‡ Alice Daly Howland Still Alice [16][17]
Lindsay Duncan Meg Burrows Le Week-End
Jane Fonda Hilary Altman This Is Where I Leave You
Diane Keaton Leah And So It Goes
Maggie Smith Mathilde Girard My Old Lady
2015
(15th) 		Lily Tomlin ‡ Elle Grandma [18][19]
Blythe Danner Carol Petersen I'll See You in My Dreams
Helen Mirren Maria Altmann Woman in Gold
Charlotte Rampling Kate Mercer 45 Years
Maggie Smith Miss Mary Shepherd/Margaret Fairchild The Lady in the Van
2016
(16th) 		Annette Bening ‡ Dorothea Fields 20th Century Women [20]
Sally Field Doris Miller Hello, My Name Is Doris
Isabelle Huppert Michèle Leblanc Elle
Meryl Streep Florence Foster Jenkins Florence Foster Jenkins
Tilda Swinton Marianne Lane A Bigger Splash
2017
(17th) 		Annette Bening ‡ Gloria Grahame Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool [21]
Judi Dench Queen Victoria Victoria & Abdul
Salma Hayek Beatriz Beatriz at Dinner
Frances McDormand Mildred Hayes Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Meryl Streep Katharine Graham The Post
2018
(18th) 		Glenn Close ‡ Joan Castleman The Wife [22][23]
Sandra Bullock Malorie Hayes Bird Box
Viola Davis Veronica Rawlings Widows
Nicole Kidman Erin Bell Destroyer
Julia Roberts Holly Burns-Beeby Ben Is Back
2019
(19th) 		Renée Zellweger ‡ Judy Garland Judy [24][25]
Isabelle Huppert Frankie Frankie
Helen Mirren Betty McLeish/Lili Schröeder The Good Liar
Julianne Moore Gloria Bell Gloria Bell
Alfre Woodard Bernadine Williams Clemency
Close

2020s

Sophia Loren became the oldest winner at the age of 86 for her performance in The Life Ahead.
More information Year, Actor ...
Year Actor Role(s) Film Ref.
2020
(20th) 		Sophia Loren ‡ Madame Rosa The Life Ahead [26][27]
Viola Davis Ma Rainey Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Frances McDormand Fern Nomadland
Michelle Pfeiffer Frances Price French Exit
Robin Wright Edee Holzer Land
2021
(21st) 		Nicole Kidman‡ Lucille Ball Being the Ricardos [28][29]
Halle Berry Jackie "Pretty Bull" Justice Bruised
Sandra Bullock Ruth Slater The Unforgivable
Frances McDormand Lady Macbeth The Tragedy of Macbeth
Helen Mirren Dorothy Bunton The Duke
2022
(22nd) 		Michelle Yeoh ‡ Evelyn Quan Wang Everything Everywhere All at Once [30][31]
Cate Blanchett Lydia Tár TÁR
Viola Davis General Nanisca The Woman King
Lesley Manville Ada Harris Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Emma Thompson Nancy Stokes/Susan Robinson Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
2023
(23rd)		 Annette Bening‡ Diana Nyad Nyad [32][33]
Juliette Binoche Eugénie The Taste of Things
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Isabel Wilkerson Origin
Helen Mirren Golda Meir Golda
Julia Roberts Amanda Sandford Leave the World Behind
2024
(24th)		 Demi Moore‡ Elisabeth Sparkle The Substance [34][35]
Pamela Anderson Shelly Gardner The Last Showgirl
Marianne Jean-Baptiste Pansy Deacon Hard Truths
Nicole Kidman Romy Mathis Babygirl
June Squibb Thelma Thelma
2025
(25th)		 Laura Dern ‡ Tess Novak Is This Thing On?
Jodie Foster Lilian Steiner A Private Life
Lucy Liu Irene Rosemead
Julia Roberts Alma Imhoff After the Hunt
June Squibb Eleanor Morgenstein Eleanor the Great
Close

Multiple wins and nominations

More information Wins, Actress ...
Close

Age superlatives

More information Record, Actress ...
Record Actress Film Age (in years)
Oldest winner Sophia Loren The Life Ahead 86
Oldest nominee June Squibb Eleanor the Great 96
Youngest winner Renée Zellweger Judy 50
Youngest nominee Renée Zellweger Judy 50
Close

See also

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI