The Golden Derby
The Top 10 longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances
By Matthew Stewart
April 4, 2024
Top 10 longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances
While lengthy Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances are rarer than ones put in the running for Best Actor, many of them have emerged over 96 years. Exactly 50 have surpassed 90 minutes of screen time; the most extended Oscar-nominated turn is a lead female one. Tour our photo gallery to learn which 10 Best Actress-nominated performances are the longest.
This countdown is presented in terms of physical screen time, meaning any time an actress can be seen on screen or heard off-screen. Moments involving silent and non-visible scene presence do not apply here. Nearly all 479 performances nominated for this honor could be counted, except one from a lost film: Betty Compson (“The Barker,” 1930).
Only two entrants on this list are from the 21st century, while the rest were recognized before the 59th Academy Awards in 1987. The average screen time for nominees in this category is one hour, three minutes, and 52 seconds – almost seven minutes lower than the corresponding male one.
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Bette Midler The Rose.
- Bette Midler (‘The Rose,’ 1980)
1 hour, 51 minutes, 31 seconds (82.89% of the film)
After winning a Grammy and an Emmy, Midler earned her first Oscar nomination for her intense portrayal of rock and roll singer Mary Rose Foster. Although Sally Field won the race with her one hour, 20 minutes, and 46 seconds of screen time in “Norma Rae,” Midler’s performance brought her two Golden Globes for Best Actress (Comedy/Musical) and New Female Star of the Year. She also scored a second Grammy for her recording of the title song, which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Audrey Hepburn The Nuns Story.
- Audrey Hepburn (‘The Nun’s Story,’ 1960)
1 hour, 52 minutes, 50 seconds (74.49% of the film)
Hepburn earned her third of five lead nominations for playing Gaby Van Der Mal, a woman who spends over a decade trying to adapt to life as a nun. Academy voters chose to award Simone Signoret’s much shorter performance in “Room at the Top,” which totals just 38 minutes and seven seconds. Besides Susan Hayward, Hepburn is the only actress to be nominated for five or more performances that all reach the one-hour mark, with her shortest being her 61-minute and 14-second turn in “Sabrina” (1955).
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Meryl Streep Out of Africa.
- Meryl Streep (‘Out of Africa,’ 1986)
1 hour, 52 minutes, 57 seconds (70.24% of the film)
Streep’s fourth Best Actress nomination came for her passionate portrayal of author Karen Blixen. It ranks as the longest of her 21 Oscar-nominated performances, all adding up to 21 hours, 19 minutes, and 39 seconds of screen time. She has won in this category twice (for “Sophie’s Choice” in 1983 and “The Iron Lady” in 2012), but lost this time to Geraldine Page, who finally triumphed on her eighth bid for her one-hour, 18-minute, and 39-second performance in “The Trip to Bountiful.”
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Ana de Armas Blonde.
- Ana de Armas (‘Blonde,’ 2023)
1 hour, 53 minutes, 44 seconds (67.91% of the film)
With her first Academy mention, de Armas became the second woman nominated in this category for portraying legendary screen actress Marilyn Monroe. The first was Michelle Williams, who appeared in just 48 minutes and 25 seconds of “My Week with Marilyn” (2012). Williams and de Armas were direct competitors in 2023, with the former’s bid coming for her 52 minutes and 24 seconds of work in “The Fabelmans.”
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Judy Garland’s A Star Is Born.
- Judy Garland (‘A Star Is Born,’ 1955)
1 hour, 56 minutes, 12 seconds (65.90% of the film)
Garland received her only Best Actress nomination for playing Esther Blodgett, a small-time singer who became a successful film actress with the help of an established male star. Janet Gaynor and Lady Gaga have also been nominated for their takes on the same role, though both of their screen times fall under Garland’s by at least 26 minutes. Although Garland was widely expected to win, she notoriously lost to Grace Kelly, who appears in 45 minutes and 46 seconds of “The Country Girl.”
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Liv Ullmann Face to Face.
- Liv Ullmann (‘Face to Face,’ 1977)
1 hour, 58 minutes, 6 seconds (86.74% of the film)
Ullmann’s exceptionally long performance in this film starkly contrasts with her previously nominated one in “The Emigrants,” which lasts for less than 57 minutes. As mentally ill psychiatrist Jenny Isaksson, she also stood out from her competitors, who have an average screen time of 39 minutes and five seconds. In the end, Faye Dunaway was chosen as the winner for her 42 minutes and two seconds of screen time in “Network.”
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl.
- Barbra Streisand (‘Funny Girl,’ 1969)
2 hours, 1 minute, 2 seconds (78.03% of the film)
The most recent tie in an acting category occurred when Katharine Hepburn won her third Best Actress award for her one hour, 10 minutes, and 38 seconds of screen time in “The Lion in Winter,” and Streisand was honored for her film debut. After losing both a Tony and a Grammy for playing the role of Fanny Brice, she finally succeeded at the Oscars. Hers was the fourth and remains one of only nine Oscar-nominated performances to reach the two-hour screen time mark.
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Diana Ross Lady Sings the Blues.
- Diana Ross (‘Lady Sings the Blues,’ 1973)
2 hours, 1 minute, 38 seconds (84.56% of the film)
Like Streisand, Ross also received her first Oscar nomination for her film debut. Though she stopped acting five years later, her bid for playing Billie Holiday was historic in that 1973 marked the first time that two Black actresses competed against each other in this category. Cicely Tyson was also up for her performance in “Sounder,” which is over three times smaller than Ross’s. They both lost to Liza Minnelli, who appears in one hour, three minutes, and 10 seconds of “Cabaret.”
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Cate Blanchett Tar.
- Cate Blanchett (‘Tár,’ 2023)
2 hours, 15 minutes, 15 seconds (85.49% of the film)
Until she picked up a bid for this massive performance, the longest of Blanchett’s seven previously nominated ones was her winning turn in “Blue Jasmine” (2014), which is 67 minutes and 16% shorter than this. Her lead average used to be just one hour and nine seconds, but it is now 15 minutes and eight seconds higher.
Longest Best Actress Oscar-nominated performances Vivien Leigh’s Gone with the Wind
- Vivien Leigh (‘Gone with the Wind,’ 1940)
2 hours, 23 minutes, 32 seconds (61.61% of the film)
The relatively inexperienced Leigh won the coveted role of Scarlett O’Hara after a famously exhaustive casting search that involved the likes of Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis. By appearing in a majority of the nearly four-hour epic, she achieved the still-intact records for longest Oscar-nominated and winning turn in any category. She was also the first nominee to have at least two hours of screen time and stood alone in that regard for 20 years. When she was later honored for her 93 minutes on screen in “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1952), she earned a second spot on the list of 10 lengthiest Best Actress-winning performances.
