Top 5 Actresses

As I made a list of Top 5 Actors in December, I thought it was time to make a list of Top 5 Actresses as well!

1) Maggie Smith. She's just so classy! So there is a certain type of character she plays - but I don't really get tired of it. Does anyone? I think my favourite film of hers would be A Room With A View, from 1986. It's actually old enough to be me, but it's such a fantastic movie, and she adds so much to it. In fact, it's the only movie I've ever seen that made me appreciate the book more. I think that's quite an achievement. Honourable mention goes also to Tea with Mussolini, Gosford Park, Sister Act and Ladies in Lavender.
2) Aishwarya Rai. I've actually only seen two of her movies - Bride and Prejudice and Mistress of Spices - but she is fantastic. She is one of the most genuinely stunning women in the world but she is no stick insect or bimbo. I think she has a lot of style. She basically outshines anyone else on the screen, with no difficulty whatsoever.




3) Kate Winslet. I hated Titanic, but other than that little blip, I've loved almost anything I've seen with Kate Winslet in it. Sense and Sensibility - she is exactly like Marianne Dashwood and she doesn't go too far. Finding Neverland - perfect. Heavenly Creatures - perfect. I could go on and on. She just has class. Again, classy without being a stick insect. Hooray!



4) Audrey Tautou. Like Aishwarya Rai, I've only seen a few of her movies, but Amelie was just so good that it earns her the number four spot on the list. She is so wackily charismatic in that film; you can't help but love her. A Very Long Engagement was good too, and she was the best thing about The Da Vinci Code.

5) Julie Andrews. The Sound of Music. Mary Poppins. Need I say more? If anyone acted that way these days, I would shake my head and groan, but I will happily sing along with The Sound of Music and I have a secret fantasy of running through the hills of Austria one day singing, 'The hills are alive...' or walking down the aisle on my hypothetical wedding-day to the strains of 'How do you solve a problem like Maria...' One of the coolest things I've ever done was go to a sing-along Sound of Music at the theatre. Everyone dressed up and we all sang along and shouted 'Maria, the curtains! Look behind you!' in the scene just after 'My Favourite Things' and let off party poppers when they kissed.

Special mention goes to: Helena Bonham-Carter (for A Room With A View especially), Reese Witherspoon, Emma Thompson, Jennifer Ehle, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Judy Dench.

In other news, I just got my passport photo taken. I look like a terrorist.