AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actress

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]

AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actress
The 2024 recipient: Demi Moore
Awarded for	Best Actress over 50
Country	United States
Presented by	AARP
First award	Charlotte Rampling for Under the Sand (2001)
Currently held by	Demi Moore for The Substance (2024)
Website	https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/movies-for-grownups/ Movies for Grownups

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.

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	Gosford Park
	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]
	Meryl Streep	Miranda Priestly	The Devil Wears Prada
	Catherine O'Hara	Marilyn Hack	For Your Consideration
	Maggie Smith	Rosie Jones/Grace Hawkins	Keeping Mum
	Judi Dench	Barbara Covett	Notes on a Scandal
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]
	Frances McDormand	Linda Litzke	Burn After Reading
	Catherine Deneuve	Junon Vuillard	A Christmas Tale
	Alfre Woodard	Alice Reynolds-Evans	Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
	Annette Bening	Sylvie Fowler	The Women
2009 (9th)	Helen Mirren ‡	Sophia Tolstaya	The Last Station	[11]
	Ellen Burstyn	Mary	Lovely, Still
	Meryl Streep	Jane Adler	It's Complicated
	Meryl Streep	Julia Child	Julie & Julia

2010s

Judi Dench won in 2012 for Albert Nobbs, 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.

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	The Kids Are All Right
	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]
	Julia Louis-Dreyfus	Eva	Enough Said
	Paulina García	Gloria Cumplido	Gloria
	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

2020s

Sophia Loren became the oldest winner at the age of 86 for her performance in The Life Ahead.

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]
	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Pansy Deacon	Hard Truths
	Nicole Kidman	Romy Mathis	Babygirl
	Pamela Anderson	Shelly Gardner	The Last Showgirl
	June Squibb	Thelma	Thelma

Multiple wins and nominations

The following individuals received two or more Best Actress awards: Wins Actress Nominations 3 Annette Bening 5 2 Glenn Close 2 Judi Dench 6 Helen Mirren 10 Meryl Streep 13

The following individuals received multiple Best Actress nominations: Nominations Actress 13 Meryl Streep 10 Helen Mirren 6 Judi Dench 5 Annette Bening 4 Frances McDormand Maggie Smith 3 Viola Davis Julianne Moore Tilda Swinton Nicole Kidman 2 Sandra Bullock Glenn Close Sally Field Isabelle Huppert Diane Keaton Lesley Manville Catherine O'Hara Charlotte Rampling Vanessa Redgrave Julia Roberts Susan Sarandon Emma Thompson Lily Tomlin Alfre Woodard

Age superlatives

Record	Actress	Film	Age (in years)
Oldest winner	Sophia Loren	The Life Ahead	86
Oldest nominee	June Squibb	Thelma	95
Youngest winner	Renée Zellweger	Judy	50
Youngest nominee	Renée Zellweger	Judy	50

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actress
• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
• César Award for Best Actress
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role