Oscar-Winning Ladies: 2000-2009
2000: Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank accepts her Oscar for Best Actress for her role in "Boys Don't Cry" during the 72nd Academy Awards in Los Angeles, Sunday, March 26, 2000. In the film, Swank portrayed Brandon Teena, a transgendered teen who preferred life as a male.
Supporting Actress Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie took home an Oscar during the 2000 telecast of the Academy Awards for her role in "Girl, Interrupted." In the film, Jolie portrayed Lisa Rowe, a sociopathic patient who befriends Susanna (Winona Ryder), the newcomer to the mental institution.
2001: Julia Roberts
Best actress Julia Roberts poses with her award at the 73rd annual Academy Awards, Sunday, March 25, 2001, in Los Angeles. Roberts took home her Oscar for her role as Erin Brockovich, a single mother turned legal assistant who manages to almost single-handely take down a California power company.
Supporting Actress: Marica Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress during the 2001 telecast of the Academy Awards. Harden won her Oscar for her role in "Pollock" as Lee Krasner, an artist who puts her career on hold to take care of husband American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock.
2002: Halle Berry
Halle Berry raises up the Oscar she won for Best Actress for her work in "Monster's Ball" at the 74th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, March 24, 2002, in Los Angeles. In the film, Berry portrayed Leticia Musgrove, a young woman struggling to make ends meet. She falls in love with racist death row prison guard Hank (Billy Bob Thorton), who, ironically, excuted her husband.
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress during the 2002 Academy Award telecast. She won her award for her role as Alicia Nash in the Ron Howard-directed film "A Beautiful Mind." In the film, Alicia is the wife of troubled mathematical genius Forbes Nash, Jr.
2003: Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman took home the Oscar for Best Actress during the 2003 Academy Awards. Kidman won the award for her role as novelist Virginia Woolf in the film "The Hours." Kidman's part of the film is set in 1923, when the ailing Woolf was writing her novel "Mrs. Dolloway."
Supporting Actress: Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jone took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress during the 2003 Academy Awards for her role in the musical "Chicago." In the film, based on the hit Broadway musical, she portrayed Velma Kelly, a chanteuse and tease who killed her husband and sister after discovering them in bed together.
2004: Charlize Theron
Best Actress Oscar-winner Charlize Theron accepts her award at the 76th annual Academy Awards Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, in Los Angeles. Theron took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute-turned-serial-killer, in "Monster."
Supporting Actress Renee Zellweger
Renee Zellweger poses with her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Cold Mountain" at the 76th annual Academy Awards, Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, in Los Angeles. In the film, Zellweger portrayed Ruby Thewes, a scrappy drifter who teaches Ada (Nicole Kidman) the ropes to running a farm.
Actress Hilary Swank holds her Best Actress Oscar for her work in "Million Dollar Baby," her second award of the decade, at the 77th Academy Awards, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2005, in Los Angeles. In the film, Swank portrayed Maggie Fitzgerald, a poor 31-year-old waitress from a dysfunctional family who starts boxing.
Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett
Actress Cate Blanchett accepts her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "The Aviator" during the 77th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 27, 2005. In the film, based on the life of Howard Hughes, Blanchett portrayed film legend Katharine Hepburn, who had a relationship with Hughes.
2006: Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon, winner of the Oscar for Best Actress for her work in "Walk the Line," looks at her trophy while sharing a moment with her mother, Betty Witherspoon, at the Governor's Ball after the 78th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 5, 2006, in Los Angeles. In the film, based on the life of Johnny Cash, Witherspoon portrayed country legend June Carter.
Credit: AP Photo/Chris Carlson
Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz
British actress Rachel Weisz poses with her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony. Weisz took home her award for her role in "The Constant Gardner" as Tessa Quayle, an activist who is brutally murdered in Northern Kenya.
Credit: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
2007: Helen Mirren
British actress Helen Mirren accepts the Oscar for Best Actress for her work in "The Queen" the 79th Academy Awards Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007, in Los Angeles. In the film, Mirren portrayed the Queen of England as she struggles with her reaction to the death of Princess Diana.
Credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson
American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson accepts the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Dreamgirls" at the 79th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007, in Los Angeles. In the film, based on the Broadway musical, Hudson portrayed Effie White, the big-voiced lead singer of a pop trio, who is fired shortly after being replaced by group member Deena Jones (Beyonce).
2008: Marion Cotillard
French actress Marion Cotillard accepts the Oscar for Best Actress for her work in "La Vie en Rose" at the 80th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008, in Los Angeles. In the film, Cotillard portrayed singer Edith Piaf, whose constant companions through life were alchol and heartache.
Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton
British actress Tilda Swinton accepts the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Michael Clayton" at the 80th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008, in Los Angeles. In the film, Swinton portrayed litigator Karen Crowder, whose career rests on the the multi-million dollar class settlement of a class-action involving the Kenner, Back and Odeen lawfirm.
2009: Kate Winslet
Actress Kate Winslet accepts the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in "The Reader" at the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 22, 2009, in Los Angeles. It was her first Oscar and her sixth nomination. In the film, Winslet portrayed Hanna Schmitz, a train conductor who begins an affair with a teenage boy and goes on to be a SS guard during the Holocaust.
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz
Actress Penelope Cruz kisses the Oscar she just won in the press room after the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb. 22, 2008. Awarded for her supporting role in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," it was her first Oscar but her second nomination. She also was nominated in 2007 for her supporting role in "Volver."