For our twelfth Rundown article, a category that will bring someone their first Oscar (or second). 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 two categories that bring the theatrical experience to life.

Best Actress

Winner Predictions

• Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
• Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
• Julianne Moore – Still Alice (WL O) (PP O) (TB O) (TL O)
• Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
• Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Runner-Up Predictions

• Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything (TL O)
• Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl (WL R) [New]
• Reese Witherspoon – Wild (PP R) [New] (TB O)

(color and symbol key at bottom of page)

Wesley Lovell: Julianne Moore should have had at least two Oscars by now. Her performances in Boogie Nights and Far From Heaven were utterly brilliant. However, she remains Oscar-less. That will change on Feb. 22, 2015 when she seems to be a lock to win Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Her competition is good, but the late-precursor season hasn’t been kind and nearly every award has gone Moore’s way in the last two months. That gives her an undeniable edge that I doubt any but perhaps Rosamund Pike could overcome, but the Academy already showed that it doesn’t think Gone Girl was nearly as good as many others did.
Peter J. Patrick: This is a done deal, Moore will finally win on her fifth nomination.
Tripp Burton: Can Julianne Moore lose this? Probably not. she is considered one of our greatest actresses, has never won an Oscar, has a meaty role that fits the profile of Oscar winners and has won every other awards imaginable this season.
Thomas La Tourrette: It is hard to picture anyone but Julianne Moore winning this award. She has won so many of the precursors, including the SAG and BAFTA awards, that it doesn’t really feel like a race. She is supposed to be amazing in the part, and in most years she would really have to duke it out with Reese Witherspoon, Marion Cotillard, Felicity Jones and Rosamund Pike, but this year it feels like it has been preordained that she will receive this award. All the others were good, but no one stands a chance of beating Moore this year.

KEY: