Oscar 2012 Predictions: Best Actress

Viola Davis, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams should continue their streak of awards-season love at Tuesday's announcement.
By Kara Warner

Michelle Williams in "My Week With Marilyn"
Photo: The Weinstein Company

After a fun-filled start to the 2012 awards season with the People's Choice Awards, Critics' Choice Movie Awards and Golden Globes, the nominations announcement for the 64th annual Academy Awards are upon us.

Before Tuesday morning's reveal, we're making a few predictions about which lucky leading ladies will get the good news. Here are our predictions for the nominees in the Best Actress category:

Viola Davis: Davis has been a shoo-in for awards-season love since early August, when audiences first experienced her critically acclaimed performance in "The Help." Davis has already won a Critics' Choice Movie Award and received a Globe nomination for her portrayal of sweet-natured maid Aibileen Clark; the Oscar nomination is next.

Meryl Streep: At this point in her illustrious career, it's basically a given that any year Streep makes an appearance in a film, she will be nominated. As the most-nominated actor in history, Streep has 16 Oscar nods under her belt, along with two wins, plus 26 Golden Globe nominations and eight wins — including this year's Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. And although the reviews of her film, "The Iron Lady," have been mixed, the praise for her performance is expectedly high.

Michelle Williams: Not many of those who first met Williams via her work on teen soap "Dawson's Creek" would have predicted that she would become one of the most talented, respected and critically acclaimed actresses of her generation, and yet, here we are. Following last year's nominations haul for her work in "Blue Valentine," the recent Globe winner should expect to hear her name called tomorrow.

Tilda Swinton: The nominating body within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is just as likely to recognize performances in films with mass audience appeal and success as it is to single out performers in films that push boundaries and step outside the box. Tilda Swinton is an actress who has done just that in several films, the most recent being the harrowing drama "We Need to Talk About Kevin," for which she will surely land an Oscar nomination.

Rooney Mara or Charlize Theron: Singling out a fifth nominee is a tough call given the number of strong performances by leading ladies this year. It's a toss-up between Oscar winner Charlize Theron's performance in the dark comedy "Young Adult" and Rooney Mara's bold, buzz-worthy transformation into Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

Winner: Viola Davis. The woman is due; just check out her résumé for further proof.

Stick with MTV News as we cover the 2012 Oscar nominations — and snubs — on Tuesday, January 24!

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677771/oscar-predictions-best-actress-2012.jhtml

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