For our fifteenth Rundown article, the female version of the lead category. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Actress as well as general commentary about the race. Next week, we’ll start off on Monday with a category that takes something everyone’s seen, heard or read and makes it new again.

Best Actress

Winner Predictions

• Cate Blanchett – Carol
• Brie Larson – Room (WL O) (PP O) (TB O) (TL O)
• Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
• Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn

Runner-Up Predictions

• Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years (TB R) [New]
• Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn (WL O) (PP O)(TL O)

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Wesley Lovell: For each definitive victory, Brie Larson comes one step closer to an Oscar. Matter of fact, the winds are so in her favor that it seems utterly unlikely that anyone else can win. The big question will be whether the victory goes to her head or if she’ll remain an indie actress for the foreseeable future.
Peter J. Patrick: A win for anyone other than Larson at this point would be a shock.
Tripp Burton: At one point it looked like this could be a real competitive race, but Brie Larson has very quickly solidified her status as front-runner and I’m not sure anyone can beat her.
Thomas La Tourrette: Brie Larson has won close to twice the number of awards as her competitors, including the SAG and BAFTA awards which are pretty good indicators that she will win the Oscar as well. She really does have this in the bag and it is hard to picture anyone else winning. She gave a strong performance and deserves the accolades, but I am sorry that once again the award seems predetermined. Her closest competition, and my personal favorite, is Saorise Ronan who anchored Brooklyn with a beautiful and heartfelt performance. It was not as showy a role, but she was equally as good as Brie and that is harder to pull off in a quieter film. Cate Blanchett might have stood a chance if she had not won so recently. Neither Charlotte Rampling nor Jennifer Lawrence stood any chance of winning. Larson easily wins.

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