The Best Actress of the 1990s: Emma Thompson

Choosing the best actress of the 1990s was the easiest. For me there is only one choice. At one point it appeared that Emma Thompson was on her way to a score of Oscars and a place in history up there with the best of all time. As it stands now her streak in the 90s ranks as probably the most impressive ever. Emma Thompson reminds me very much of Barbara Stanwyck; there is seemingly little she can't do. For instance, over the course of a few years she convincingly portrayed a French woman in Henry IV, an American woman in Dead Again and several British women and it would be very difficult, I imagine, for most people to tell which of those nationalities she really is. (Compare that to husband Kenneth Branagh's perfectly dreadful American accident in Dead Again!)

The thing about Emma Thompson is that she acts completely. You know how good actors are said to completely inhabit a role? Well, that's never been truer than with Thompson. She can do more with her throat muscles than most actresses can do with a page of dialogue. If you don't believe me, then watch that scene in Sense & Sensibility in the stables. Another great talent of Emma Thompson is her inability to distinguish between comedy and tragedy. Thompson treats all roles as human beings and as result you cannot pigeonhole her as either a great tragedian or a great comedienne. As an example of just how good she is at comedy consider that I have only rented one Arnold Schwarzenegger movie in my entire life. I rented Junior only because she was in it. And that's not even her best comic performance. That honor belongs to either her supporting role in Impromptu, her co-starring role in The Tall Guy or her ensemble part in Peter's Friends.