BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Winners and nominees

† – indicates the performance also won the Academy Award^{[citation needed]}
‡ – indicates the performance was also nominated for the Academy Award^{[citation needed]}

Best British Actress (1952–1967)

Best Foreign Actress (1952–1967)

Best Actress in a Leading Role (1968–present)

1968–1979

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Note: Between 1964–1973, several actresses were nominated for multiple performances in a single year, these each count as one nomination.^[4] Scarlett Johansson's two mentions in 2003 count as two separate nominations.^[5] The two mentions received by Kate Winslet in both 2004 and 2008, count as two separate nominations each time.

Note: The 2013 ceremony was the first time in the history of BAFTA that two French actress were nominated for French-language performances in the Best Leading Actress category. Marion Cotillard for Rust and Bone and Emmanuelle Riva for Amour.^[6]