Entertainment
Which of These Actresses Had the Best 2014?
While the Academy Awards might be an effective means of celebrating the best individual performances of the year (and that itself is up for debate), there aren't enough forums for paying tribute to an actor's year in its entirety. So often, we have a rising star, or established veteran vying for a comeback on par with Matthew McConaughey's infamous resurgence, make magic of a single calendar year. He or she will release multiple great pictures, earn Oscar attention, even turn out some impressive work on the small screen. These past 12 months have seen no shortage of power player actresses aim for pop culture ubiquity in such regards, and we can't sit idly by without recognizing these efforts.
With a complex, airtight formula (it's mostly just adding arbitrary point assignments), we've come up with a way to determine which of our favorite actresses had the very best year in 2014. Judging quantity, quality, awards chatter, box office intake, and those almost indefinable characteristics that the world loves so much, we've come up with a ranking that we're pretty confident in.
So check out this gallery to find out which actresses stole the show in 2014. Every woman on this list had a year to be proud of... but who had the best year of all?
Image: A24 Films
Reese Witherspoon
FILMS RELEASED: 2+ Regrettable Condescension points for The Good Lie: 0+ Best Actress Oscar Buzz points for Wild: 10
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL FILMS: 1+ “What the Hell Did I Just Watch?” points for Inherent Vice: 9
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): .8 /10 )
FINAL SCORE: 22.008
Image: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Elizabeth Moss
FILMS RELEASED: 2+ Playing Double points for The One I Love: 5+ Upstaging the Lead points for Listen Up Philip: 8
TV SHOWS: 1+ Points for a season of pure excellence: 10
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): .07 / 10 )
FINAL SCORE: 26.0007
Image: Tribeca Film
Mia Wasikowska
FILMS RELEASED: 3+ Juggling Eisenbergs points in The Double: 7+ Losing Her Stoic Edge and Going Bananas points in Only Lovers Left Alive: 7+ Points for principally playing off camels in Tracks: 3
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL FILMS: 1+ Cronenberg Cred points for Maps to the Stars: 8
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): .1 / 10 )
FINAL SCORE: 29.001
Image: Transmission Films
Emma Stone
FILMS RELEASED: 3+ Points for that “big scene” in Amazing Spider Man 2: 7+ Tolerable Latter Day Woody Allen Film points for Magic in the Moonlight: 2+ Upstaging the Lead points for Birdman: 8
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): 92 / 10 )
FINAL SCORE: 29.2
Image: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Gaby Hoffman
FILMS RELEASED: 3+ Fandom Works! points for Veronica Mars: 5+ Points for absolving abortion of its societal vilifcation in Obvious Child: 9+ “Hey, she’s in Wild?” points for Wild: 4
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL FILMS: 1+ True Horror points for Lyle: 6
TV SHOWS: 2+ Perfect Casting points for playing Adam’s sister on Girls: 6+ Most Hatable Character on Most Lovable Show points for Transparent: 9
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): 2 / 10 )
FINAL SCORE: 45.02
Image: Amazon
Jessica Chastain
FILMS RELEASED: 2+ Cool in Concept points for The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: 5+ Points for figuring out the science behind time in Interstellar: 7
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL FILMS: 2+ Points for “playing Brooklyn” in A Most Violent Year: 6+ Period Piece points for Miss Julie: 5
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): 92 / 10 )
FINAL SCORE: 36.2
Image: Paramount Pictures
Scarlett Johansson
FILMS RELEASED: 4+ This Doesn’t Count as a Black Widow Movie points for Captain America 2: 3+ Sprouting a Meme points for Under the Skin: 8+ “Wait, she was in Chef?” points for Chef: 4+ Beating Hercules points for Lucy: 7
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): 139 / 10 )
FINAL SCORE: 39.9
Image: Universal Pictures
Julianne Moore
FILMS RELEASED: 3+ Surprise Hit points for Non-Stop: 5+ Living Up to the Books points for Mockingjay: 4+ Best Actress Oscar Buzz points for Still Alice: 10
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL FILMS: 1+ Cronenberg Cred points for Maps to the Stars: 8
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): 151 ) / 10 =
FINAL SCORE: 46.1
Image: Sony Pictures Classics
Tilda Swindon
FILMS RELEASED: 4+ Only Suitable Replacement for Jessica Fletcher points for The Grand Budapest Hotel: 6+ Points for delivery of the line, “I love Jack White” in Only Lovers Left Alive: 9+ Points for introducing “be a shoe” to the zeitgeist via Snowpiercer: 9+ Points for appearing only in computer screen form in The Zero Theorem: 3
+ BONUS POINTS for being all anyone talks about anymore: 20
+ ( BOX OFFICE OPENINGS (IN MILLIONS): 1.2 / 10 )
FINAL SCORE: 50.012
And we have a winner.
Image: Fox Searchlight Pictures
