BEST ACTRESS
By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY


Gwyneth Paltrow
(Shakespeare in Love)
Role: An aristocratic maiden, who must cross-dress to land a role
on the stage in Elizabethan England, romances young William
Shakespeare and inspires the Bard to write Romeo and Juliet.

Major wins so far: Golden Globe for best actress in a musical/comedy.

Buzz: Paltrow was not taken completely seriously as an actress
until this role. Her romantic liaisons with heartthrobs Brad Pitt
and Ben Affleck received more attention than her movies. Paltrow
does have the slight handicap of having appeared in a comedic role,
but Shakespeare was sumptuously romantic as well, and its cleverness
was widely admired in Hollywood. So Paltrow could be in a neck-and-
neck race with Blanchett.