European Film Award for Best Actress

The European Film Award for Best Actress is an award given out at the annual European Film Awards to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film industry. The awards are presented by the European Film Academy (EFA) and was first presented in 1988 to Spanish actress Carmen Maura for her role as Pepa in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

European Film Award for Best Actress
The 2024 recipient: Karla Sofía Gascón
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Presented by	European Film Academy
First award	Carmen Maura Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Currently held by	Karla Sofía Gascón Emilia Pérez (2024)
Website	europeanfilmacademy.org

Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Carmen Maura, Charlotte Rampling, and Sandra Hüller are the only actresses who have received this award more than once, with two wins each. Penélope Cruz is the most nominated actress in the category with five nominations.

Winners and nominees

Carmen Maura won twice for her roles in Mujeres al borde de un Ataque de Nervios (1988) and ¡Ay Carmela! (1990).

Juliette Binoche won twice for her roles in Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) and The English Patient (1996).

Emily Watson won for her role in Breaking the Waves (1996).

Cecilia Roth won for her role in Todo Sobre Mi Madre (1999).

Björk won for her role in Dancer in the Dark (2000).

Isabelle Huppert won twice for her roles in La Pianiste (2001) and 8 Femmes (2002).

Charlotte Rampling won twice for her roles in Swimming Pool (2003) and 45 Years (2015).

Julia Jentsch won for her role in Sophie Scholl – Die Letzten Tage (2005).

Penélope Cruz won for her role in Volver (2006)

Helen Mirren won for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006)

Kristin Scott Thomas won for her role in I've Loved You So Long (2008)

Kate Winslet won for her performance in The Reader (2008)

Sylvie Testud won for her role in Lourdes (2009).

Tilda Swinton won for her role in We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011).

Emmanuelle Riva won for her role in Amour (2012)

Marion Cotillard won for her role in Deux Jours, Une Nuit (2014)

Sandra Hüller won twice for her roles in Toni Erdmann (2016) and Anatomy of a Fall (2023).

Alexandra Borbély won for her role in Testről és Lélekről (2017).

Joanna Kulig won for her role in Zimna wojna (2018).

Olivia Colman won for her role in The Favourite (2018).

Paula Beer won for her role in Undine (2020).

Vicky Krieps won for her role in Corsage (2022).

Karla Sofía Gascón won for her role in Emilia Pérez (2024).

1980s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character	Ref
1988 (1st)	Carmen Maura	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios	Pepa Marcos	[1]
	Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir	In the Shadow of the Raven	Í skugga hrafnsins	Isold
	Ornella Muti	Private Access	Codice privato	Anna
	Carol Scanlan	Reefer and the Model		Teresa 'the Model'
1989 (2nd)	Ruth Sheen	High Hopes		Shirley	[2]
	Sabine Azéma	Life and Nothing But	La vie et rien d'autre	Irène de Courtil
	Snežana Bogdanović	Kuduz		Badema Kuduz
	Corinna Harfouch	Treffen in Travers		Therese Forster
	Natalya Negoda	Little Vera	Ма́ленькая Ве́ра (Malenkaya Vera)	Vera

1990s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character	Ref
1990 (3rd)	Carmen Maura	¡Ay Carmela!		Carmela	[3]
	Anne Brochet	Cyrano de Bergerac		Roxane
	Krystyna Janda	Interrogation	Przesłuchanie	Antonina 'Tonia' Dziwisz
1991 (4th)	Clotilde Courau	The Little Gangster	Le petit criminel	Nathalie	[4]
	Julie Delpy	Voyager	Homo Faber	Sabeth
	Sigríður Hagalín	Children of Nature	Börn náttúrunnar	Stella
1992 (5th)	Juliette Binoche	The Lovers on the Bridge	Les amants du Pont-Neuf	Michèle	[5]
	Johanna ter Steege	Dear Emma, Sweet Böbe	Édes Emma, drága Böbe	Emma
	Barbara Sukowa	Europa		Katharina Hartmann
1993 (6th)	Maia Morgenstern	The Oak	Balanta	Nela	[6]
	Carla Gravina	The Long Silence	Il lungo silenzio	Carla Aldrovandi
	Tilda Swinton	Orlando		Orlando
1994 (7th)	No award given				[7]
1995 (8th)	No award given				[8]
1996 (9th)	Emily Watson	Breaking the Waves		Bess McNeill	[9]
1997 (10th)	Juliette Binoche	The English Patient		Hana	[10]
	Katrin Cartlidge	Career Girls		Hannah Mills
	Brigitte Roüan	Post Coitum	Post coïtum animal triste	Diane Clovier
	Emma Thompson	The Winter Guest		Frances
1998 (11th)	Elodie Bouchez Natacha Régnier	The Dreamlife of Angels	La vie rêvée des anges	Isabelle 'Isa' Tostin Marie Thomas	[11]
	Dinara Drukarova	Of Freaks and Men	Про уродов и людей (Pro urodov i lyudey)	Liza
	Annet Malherbe	Little Tony	Kleine Teun	Keet
1999 (12th)	Cecilia Roth	All About My Mother	Todo sobre mi madre	Manuela Echevarria	[12]
	Nathalie Baye	A Pornographic Affair	Une liaison pornographique	Her
	Penélope Cruz	The Girl of Your Dreams	La niña de tus ojos	Macarena Granada
	Emilie Dequenne	Rosetta		Rosetta
	Iben Hjejle	Mifune's Last Song	Mifune	Liva

2000s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character	Ref
2000 (13th)	Björk	Dancer in the Dark		Selma Ježková	[13] [14]
	Bibiana Beglau	The Legend of Rita	Die Stille nach dem Schuß	Rita Vogt
	Lena Endre	Faithless	Trolösa	Marianne
	Sylvie Testud	La Captive		Ariane
	Julie Walters	Billy Elliot		Sandra Wilkinson
2001 (14th)	Isabelle Huppert	The Piano Teacher	La pianiste	Erika Kohut	[15] [16]
	Ariane Ascaride	The Town Is Quiet	La ville est tranquille	Michèle
	Laura Morante	The Son's Room	La stanza del figlio	Paola
	Charlotte Rampling	Under the Sand	Sous le sable	Marie Drillon
	Stefania Sandrelli	The Last Kiss	L'ultimo bacio	Anna
	Audrey Tautou	Amélie	Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain	Amélie Poulain
2002 (15th)	Catherine Deneuve Isabelle Huppert Emmanuelle Béart Fanny Ardant Virginie Ledoyen Danielle Darrieux Ludivine Sagnier Firmine Richard	8 Women	8 femmes	Gaby Augustine Louise Pierrette Suzon Mamy Catherine Madame Chanel	[17] [18]
	Oksana Akinshina	Lilja 4-Ever		Lilya Michailova
	Emmanuelle Devos	Read My Lips	Sur mes lèvres	Carla Behm
	Martina Gedeck	Mostly Martha	Bella Martha	Martha Klein
	Laura Morante	A Journey Called Love	Un viaggio chiamato amore	Sibilla Aleramo
	Samantha Morton	Morvern Callar		Morvern Callar
	Kati Outinen	The Man Without a Past	Mies vailla menneisyyttä	Irma
2003 (16th)	Charlotte Rampling	Swimming Pool		Sarah Morton	[19] [20]
	Diana Dumbrava	Maria		Maria
	Helen Mirren	Calendar Girls		Chris Harper
	Anne Reid	The Mother		May
	Katja Riemann	Rosenstrasse		Lena Fischer
	Katrin Sass	Good Bye, Lenin!		Christiane Kerner
2004 (17th)	Imelda Staunton	Vera Drake		Vera Drake	[21] [22]
	Sarah Adler	Notre musique		Judith Lerner
	Valeria Bruni Tedeschi	5x2		Marion
	Penélope Cruz	Don't Move	Non ti muovere	Italia
	Sibel Kekilli	Head-On	Gegen die Wand	Sibel Güner
	Asi Levi	Stones	Avanim	Michale
2005 (18th)	Julia Jentsch	Sophie Scholl - The Final Days	Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage	Sophia Magdalena 'Sophie' Scholl	[23] [24]
	Juliette Binoche	Caché		Anne Laurent
	Sandra Ceccarelli	The Life I Want	La vita che vorrei	Laura / Eleonora
	Natalie Press	My Summer of Love		Mona
	Connie Nielsen	Brothers	Brødre	Sarah
	Judi Dench Maggie Smith	Ladies in Lavender		Ursula Widdington Janet Widdington
	Audrey Tautou	A Very Long Engagement	Un long dimanche de fiançailles	Mathilde Donnay
2006 (19th)	Penélope Cruz	Volver		Raimunda	[25] [26]
	Nathalie Baye	The Young Lieutenant	Le petit lieutenant	Caroline Vaudieu
	Martina Gedeck	The Lives Of Others	Das Leben der Anderen	Christa-Maria Sieland
	Sandra Hüller	Requiem		Michaela Klingler
	Mirjana Karanović	Grbavica		Esma Halilović
	Sarah Polley	The Secret Life of Words		Hanna
2007 (20th)	Helen Mirren	The Queen		Queen Elizabeth II	[27] [28]
	Marion Cotillard	La Vie en Rose	La môme	Édith Piaf
	Marianne Faithfull	Irina Palm		Maggie
	Carice van Houten	Black Book	Zwartboek	Rachel Stein
	Anamaria Marinca	4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days	4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile	Otilia Mihartescu
	Kseniya Rappoport	The Unknown Woman	La sconosciuta	Irena
2008 (21st)	Kristin Scott Thomas	I've Loved You So Long	Il y a longtemps que je t'aime	Juliette Fontaine	[29] [30]
	Hiam Abbass	Lemon Tree	Etz Limon	Salma Zidane
	Arta Dobroshi	Lorna's Silence	Le silence de Lorna	Lorna
	Sally Hawkins	Happy-Go-Lucky		Pauline "Poppy" Cross
	Belén Rueda	The Orphanage	El orfanato	Laura
	Ursula Werner	Cloud Nine	Wolke Neun	Inge
2009 (22nd)	Kate Winslet	The Reader		Hanna Schmitz	[31] [32]
	Penélope Cruz	Broken Embraces	Los abrazos rotos	Magdalena "Lena" Rivas
	Charlotte Gainsbourg	Antichrist		She
	Katie Jarvis	Fish Tank		Mia Williams
	Yolande Moreau	Séraphine		Séraphine Louis
	Noomi Rapace	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Män som hatar kvinnor	Lisbeth Salander

2010s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character	Ref
2010 (23rd)	Sylvie Testud	Lourdes		Christine	[33] [34]
	Zrinka Cvitešić	On the Path	Na putu	Luna
	Sibel Kekilli	When We Leave	Die Fremde	Umay
	Lesley Manville	Another Year		Mary Smith
	Lotte Verbeek	Nothing Personal		Annie
2011 (24th)	Tilda Swinton	We Need to Talk About Kevin		Eva Khatchadourian	[35] [36]
	Cécile de France	The Kid with a Bike	Le gamin au vélo	Samantha
	Kirsten Dunst	Melancholia		Justine
	Charlotte Gainsbourg			Claire
	Nadezhda Markina	Elena	Елена	Elena
2012 (25th)	Emmanuelle Riva	Amour		Anne Laurent	[37] [38]
	Émilie Dequenne	Our Children	À perdre la raison	Murielle
	Nina Hoss	Barbara		Barbara Wolff
	Margarethe Tiesel	Paradise: Love	Paradies: Liebe	Teresa
	Kate Winslet	Carnage		Nancy Cowan
2013 (26th)	Veerle Baetens	The Broken Circle Breakdown		Elise Vandevelde / Alabama	[39] [40]
	Luminița Gheorghiu	Child's Pose	Poziția copilului	Cornelia Keneres
	Keira Knightley	Anna Karenina		Anna Arkadievna Karenina
	Barbara Sukowa	Hannah Arendt		Hannah Arendt
	Naomi Watts	The Impossible	Lo Imposible	María
2014 (27th)	Marion Cotillard	Two Days, One Night	Deux jours, une nuit	Sandra Bya	[41] [42]
	Marian Álvarez	Wounded	La herida	Ana
	Charlotte Gainsbourg	Nymphomaniac		Joe
	Valeria Bruni Tedeschi	Human Capital	Il capitale umano	Carla Bernaschi
	Agata Kulesza	Ida		Wanda Gruz
	Agata Trzebuchowska			Anna / Ida Lebenstein
2015 (28th)	Charlotte Rampling	45 Years		Kate Mercer	[43] [44]
	Margherita Buy	Mia Madre		Margherita
	Laia Costa	Victoria		Victoria
	Alicia Vikander	Ex Machina		Ava
	Rachel Weisz	Youth		Lena Ballinger
2016 (29th)	Sandra Hüller	Toni Erdmann		Ines Conradi	[45] [46]
	Valeria Bruni Tedeschi	Like Crazy	La pazza gioia	Beatrice Morandini Valdirana
	Trine Dyrholm	The Commune	Kollektivet	Anna
	Isabelle Huppert	Elle		Michèle Leblanc
	Emma Suárez Adriana Ugarte	Julieta		Julieta Arcos Younger Julieta Arcos
2017 (30th)	Alexandra Borbély	On Body and Soul	Testről és lélekről	Mária	[47] [48]
	Juliette Binoche	Let the Sunshine In	Un beau soleil intérieur	Isabelle
	Paula Beer	Frantz		Anna
	Isabelle Huppert	Happy End		Anne Laurent
	Florence Pugh	Lady Macbeth		Katherine Lester
2018 (31st)	Joanna Kulig	Cold War	Zimna wojna	Zuzanna "Zula" Lichoń	[49] [50]
	Marie Bäumer	3 Days in Quiberon	3 Tage in Quiberon	Romy Schneider
	Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir	Woman at War	Kona fer í stríð	Halla
	Bárbara Lennie	Petra		Petra
	Eva Melander	Border	Gräns	Tina
	Alba Rohrwacher	Happy as Lazzaro	Lazzaro felice	Antonia
2019 (32nd)	Olivia Colman	The Favourite		Queen Anne	[51] [52]
	Trine Dyrholm	Queen of Hearts	Dronningen	Anne
	Adèle Haenel Noémie Merlant	Portrait of a Lady on Fire	Portrait de la jeune fille en feu	Héloïse Marianne
	Viktoria Miroshnichenko	Beanpole	Дылда (Dylda)	Beanpole
	Helena Zengel	System Crasher	Systemsprenger	Bernadette

2020s

Year	Winner and nominees	English title	Original title	Character	Ref
2020 (33rd)	Paula Beer	Undine		Undine Wibeau	[53] [54]
	Natasha Berezhnaya	DAU. Natasha	ДАУ. Наташа	Natasha
	Andrea Bræin Hovig	Hope	Håp	Anja
	Nina Hoss	My Little Sister	Schwesterlein	Lisa
	Marta Nieto	Mother	Madre	Elena
	Ane Dahl Torp	Charter		Alice
2021 (34th)	Jasna Đuričić	Quo Vadis, Aida?		Aida Selmanagić	[55] [56]
	Seidi Haarla	Compartment No. 6	Hytti nro 6	Laura
	Carey Mulligan	Promising Young Woman		Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas
	Renate Reinsve	The Worst Person in the World	Verdens verste menneske	Julie
	Agathe Rousselle	Titane		Alexia / Adrien
2022 (35th)	Vicky Krieps	Corsage		Empress Elisabeth of Austria	[57]
	Penélope Cruz	Parallel Mothers	Madres Paralelas	Janis Martínez
	Zar Amir Ebrahimi	Holy Spider		Arezoo Rahimi
	Meltem Kaptan	Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush	Rabiye Kurnaz gegen George W. Bush	Rabiye Kurnaz
	Léa Seydoux	One Fine Morning	Un Beau Matin	Sandra
2023 (36th)	Sandra Hüller	Anatomy of a Fall	Anatomie d'une chute	Sandra Voyter	[58]
	Eka Chavleishvili	Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry		Etero
	Alma Pöysti	Fallen Leaves	Kuolleet lehdet	Ansa
	Mia McKenna-Bruce	How to Have Sex		Tara
	Leonie Benesch	The Teachers' Lounge	Das Lehrerzimmer	Carla Nowak
	Sandra Hüller	The Zone of Interest		Hedwig Höss
2024 (37th)	Karla Sofía Gascón	Emilia Pérez		Emilia Pérez / Juan "Manitas" Del Monte	[59]
	Renate Reinsve	Armand		Elisabeth
	Trine Dyrholm	The Girl with the Needle	Pigen med nålen	Dagmar Overbye
	Vic Carmen Sonne	The Girl with the Needle	Pigen med nålen	Karoline
	Tilda Swinton	The Room Next Door	La habitación de al lado	Martha / Michelle

Multiple wins and nominations

Multiple wins

Wins	Actress
2	Juliette Binoche
	Sandra Hüller
	Isabelle Huppert
	Carmen Maura
	Charlotte Rampling

Multiple nominations

Nominations	Actress
5	Penélope Cruz
4	Juliette Binoche
	Sandra Hüller
	Isabelle Huppert
3	Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
	Trine Dyrholm
	Charlotte Gainsbourg
	Charlotte Rampling
	Tilda Swinton
2	Nathalie Baye
	Paula Beer
	Marion Cotillard
	Émilie Dequenne
	Martina Gedeck
	Nina Hoss
	Sibel Kekilli
	Carmen Maura
	Helen Mirren
	Laura Morante
	Renate Reinsve
	Barbara Sukowa
	Audrey Tautou
	Sylvie Testud
	Kate Winslet

Superlatives

Age superlatives

Record	Actress	Film	Age (in years)
Oldest winner	Emmanuelle Riva	Amour	85
Oldest nominee
Youngest winner	Clotilde Courau	The Little Gangster	22
Youngest nominee	Helena Zengel	System Crasher	11

Multiple nominations from the same film

Year	Actress	Film
1998	Elodie Bouchez and Natacha Regnier	The Dreamlife of Angels
2002	Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, Danielle Darrieux, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Ledoyen, Firmine Richard and Ludivine Sagnier	8 Women
2005	Judi Dench and Maggie Smith	Ladies in Lavender
2011	Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg	Melancholia
2013	Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska	Ida
2016	Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte	Julieta
2019	Adèle Haenel and Noémie Merlant	Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2024	Trine Dyrholm and Vic Carmen Sonne	The Girl with the Needle

See also

• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
• BIFA for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film
• César Award for Best Actress
• David di Donatello for Best Actress
• Goya Award for Best Actress
• Polish Academy Award for Best Actress
• Robert Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role