Oscars 2017: Best actress nominees - BBC News
A look at the best actress nominees for the 89th Academy Awards on 26 February 2017.
Find out more about the nominees for the 89th Academy Awards, which will take place on 26 February 2017.

The character: Michele Leblanc, the head of a video game company, who is raped in her home.

The critics said: "Huppert gives a performance of imperious fury, holding the audience at bay, almost goading us to disown her. Audaciously, Elle presents her not so much as a victim but as the casualty of a world she is very much a part of; maybe (still more troublingly) an accessory to." [The Guardian]

The character: Mildred Loving, whose interracial marriage to Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), led to the couple's arrest and banishment from the US state of Virginia in the 1950s.

The critics said: "When her expressive eyes, usually downcast, rise up to confront a world that needs changing, it's impossible not to be moved. The stabbing simplicity of Negga's acting is breathtaking." [Rolling Stone]

The character: Jackie Kennedy, whose husband President John F Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Oscar record: Portman won best actress for Black Swan in 2011 and was nominated for best supporting actress for Closer in 2005.

The critics said: "Portman's intricate performance... may just trump her Oscar-winning turn in Black Swan as the most high-wire feat she's ever pulled off." [Variety]

The character: Mia Dolan, an aspiring actress working in a Los Angeles coffee shop.

Oscar record: Nominated for best supporting actress for Birdman in 2015.

The critics said: "This is a career-best moment for Stone, who is grounded and spunky as the scrappy aspiring actress, then graceful and poised as Mia continues her journey." [Cinema Blend]

The character: Streep plays Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having an awful singing voice.

Oscar record: Streep has 19 previous Oscar nominations and has won three times - twice as best actress, for The Iron Lady (2012) and Sophie's Choice (1983), and once as best supporting actress, in Kramer vs Kramer (1980).

The critics said: "Ms Streep is a delight, hilarious when she's singing and convincingly on edge at all times." New York Times

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