Tony_Award_for_Best_Performance_by_a_Leading_Actress_in_a_Play

Tony Award for
Best Actress in a Play
Tony Award for ; Best Actress in a Play
	2023 Recipient: Jodie Comer
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Location	New York City
Presented by	American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League
Currently held by	Jodie Comer for Prima Facie (2023)
Website	TonyAwards.com

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play

Award for role in Broadway play

The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play is presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League^[1] at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The award is given to actresses for quality leading roles in a Broadway play.^[2] Despite the award first being presented in 1947, there were no nominees announced until 1956. There have been two ties in this category, and one three-way tie.

Quick Facts Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, Awarded for ...

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Gans, Andrew (December 18, 2007). "League of American Theatres and Producers Announces Name Change" Archived December 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Playbill. Retrieved September 13, 2013. The League of American Theatres and Producers was renamed "The Broadway League".

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Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)
1947 (1st)
	Ingrid Bergman	Joan of Lorraine	Mary Grey / Joan of Arc
	Helen Hayes	Happy Birthday	Addie Bemis
1948 (2nd)
	Judith Anderson	Medea	Medea
	Katharine Cornell	Antony and Cleopatra	Cleopatra
	Jessica Tandy	A Streetcar Named Desire	Blanche DuBois
1949 (3rd)
1949 (3rd)	Martita Hunt	The Madwoman of Chaillot	Countess Aurelia

Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)
1950 (4th)
1950 (4th)
Shirley Booth	Come Back, Little Sheba	Lola Delaney
1951 (5th)
1951 (5th)	Uta Hagen	The Country Girl	Georgie Elgin
1952 (6th)
1952 (6th)	Julie Harris	I Am a Camera	Sally Bowles
1953 (7th)
1953 (7th)	Shirley Booth	The Time of the Cuckoo	Leona Samish
1954 (8th)
1954 (8th)	Audrey Hepburn	Ondine	Ondine
1955 (9th)
1955 (9th)	Nancy Kelly	The Bad Seed	Christine Penmark
1956 (10th) ^[3]
	Julie Harris	The Lark	Joan of Arc
	Barbara Bel Geddes	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Maggie Pollitt
	Gladys Cooper	The Chalk Garden	Mrs. St. Maugham
	Ruth Gordon	The Matchmaker	Dolly Gallagher Levi
	Siobhán McKenna	The Chalk Garden	Miss Madrigal
	Susan Strasberg	The Diary of Anne Frank	Anne Frank
1957 (11th) ^[4]
	Margaret Leighton	Separate Tables	Ann Shankland / Sibyl Railton-Bell
	Florence Eldridge	Long Day's Journey into Night	Mary Cavan Tyrone
	Rosalind Russell	Auntie Mame	Mame Dennis
	Sybil Thorndike	The Potting Shed	Mrs. Callifer
1958 (12th) ^[5]
	Helen Hayes	Time Remembered	The Duchess of Pont-Au-Bronc
	Wendy Hiller	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Josie Hogan
	Siobhán McKenna	The Rope Dancers	Margaret Hyland
	Eugenie Leontovich	The Cave Dwellers	The Queen
	Mary Ure	Look Back in Anger	Alison Porter
	Jo Van Fleet	Look Homeward, Angel	Eliza Gant
1959 (13th) ^[6]
	Gertrude Berg	A Majority of One	Bertha Jacoby
	Claudette Colbert	The Marriage-Go-Round	Content Lowell
	Lynn Fontanne	The Visit	Claire Zachanassian
	Kim Stanley	A Touch of the Poet	Sara Melody
	Maureen Stapleton	The Cold Wind And The Warm	Aunt Ida

Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)	Ref.
1960 (14th)
	Anne Bancroft	The Miracle Worker	Annie Sullivan	^[7]
	Margaret Leighton	Much Ado About Nothing	Beatrice
	Claudia McNeil	A Raisin in the Sun	Lena Younger
	Geraldine Page	Sweet Bird of Youth	Alexandra Del Lago
	Maureen Stapleton	Toys in the Attic	Carrie Berniers
	Irene Worth	Toys in the Attic	Albertine Prine
1961 (15th)
	Joan Plowright	A Taste of Honey	Josephine	^[8]
	Tallulah Bankhead	Midgie Purvis	Midgie Purvis
	Barbara Baxley	Period of Adjustment	Isabel Haverstick
	Barbara Bel Geddes	Mary, Mary	Mary McKellaway
1962 (16th)
	Margaret Leighton	The Night of the Iguana	Hannah Jelkes	^[9]
	Gladys Cooper	A Passage to India	Mrs. Moore
	Colleen Dewhurst	Great Day in the Morning	Phoebe Flaherty
	Kim Stanley	A Far Country	Elizabeth von Ritter
1963 (17th)
	Uta Hagen	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Martha	^[10]
	Hermione Baddeley	The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore	Flora Goforth
	Margaret Leighton	Tchin-Tchin	Pamela Pew-Pickett
	Claudia McNeil	Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright	Mama Morris
1964 (18th)
	Sandy Dennis	Any Wednesday	Ellen Gordon	^[11]
	Elizabeth Ashley	Barefoot in the Park	Corie Bratter
	Colleen Dewhurst	The Ballad of the Sad Café	Amelia Evans
	Julie Harris	Marathon '33	June Havoc
1965 (19th)
	Irene Worth	Tiny Alice	Miss Alice	^[12]
	Marjorie Rhodes	All in Good Time	Lucy Fitton
	Beah Richards	The Amen Corner	Sister Margaret Alexander
	Diana Sands	The Owl and the Pussycat	Doris
1966 (20th)
	Rosemary Harris	The Lion in Winter	Eleanor of Aquitaine	^[13]
	Sheila Hancock	Entertaining Mr Sloane	Kath
	Kate Reid	Slapstick Tragedy	Celeste/Molly
	Lee Remick	Wait Until Dark	Susy Hendrix
1967 (21st)
	Beryl Reid	The Killing of Sister George	Sister George / June Buckridge	^[14]
	Eileen Atkins	The Killing of Sister George	Childie / Alice McNaught
	Vivien Merchant	The Homecoming	Ruth
	Rosemary Murphy	A Delicate Balance	Claire
1968 (22nd)
	Zoe Caldwell	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie	Jean Brodie	^[15]
	Colleen Dewhurst	More Stately Mansions	Sara (Melody) Harford
	Maureen Stapleton	Plaza Suite	Karen Nash / Murial Tate / Norma Hubley
	Dorothy Tutin	Portrait of a Queen	Queen Victoria
1969 (23rd)
	Julie Harris	Forty Carats	Ann Stanley	^[16]
	Estelle Parsons	The Seven Descents of Myrtle	Myrtle
	Charlotte Rae	Morning, Noon and Night	Gertrude / Beryl / Filigree Bones
	Brenda Vaccaro	The Goodbye People	Nancy (Silverman) Scott

Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)	Ref.
1970 (24th)
	Tammy Grimes	Private Lives	Amanda Prynne	^[17]
	Geraldine Brooks	Brightower	Sara Brightower
	Helen Hayes	Harvey	Veta Louise Simmons
1971 (25th)
	Maureen Stapleton	The Gingerbread Lady	Evy Meara	^[18]
	Estelle Parsons	And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little	Catherine Reardon
	Diana Rigg	Abelard and Heloise	Héloïse
	Marian Seldes	Father's Day	Marian
1972 (26th)
	Sada Thompson	Twigs	Ma / Dorothy / Celia / Emily	^[19]
	Eileen Atkins	Vivat! Vivat Regina!	Elizabeth I
	Colleen Dewhurst	All Over	The Mistress
	Rosemary Harris	Old Times	Anna
1973 (27th)
	Julie Harris	The Last of Mrs. Lincoln	Mary Todd Lincoln	^[20]
	Jane Alexander	6 Rms Riv Vu	Annie Miller
	Colleen Dewhurst	Mourning Becomes Electra	Christine Mannon
	Kathleen Widdoes	Much Ado About Nothing	Beatrice
1974 (28th)
	Colleen Dewhurst	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Josie Hogan	^[21]
	Jane Alexander	Find Your Way Home	Jacqueline Harrison
	Julie Harris	The Au Pair Man	Elizabeth Rogers
	Madeline Kahn	In the Boom Boom Room	Chrissy
	Rachel Roberts	The Visit / Chemin de Fer	Claire Zachanassian / Francine
1975 (29th)	Rachel Roberts
	Ellen Burstyn	Same Time, Next Year	Doris	^[22]
	Elizabeth Ashley	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Maggie Pollitt
	Diana Rigg	The Misanthrope	Célimène
	Maggie Smith	Private Lives	Amanda Prynne
	Liv Ullmann	A Doll's House	Nora Helmer
1976 (30th)
	Irene Worth	Sweet Bird of Youth	Alexandra Del Lago	^[23]
	Tovah Feldshuh	Yentl	Yentl
	Rosemary Harris	The Royal Family	Julie Cavendish
	Lynn Redgrave	Mrs. Warren's Profession	Vivie Warren
1977 (31st)
	Julie Harris	The Belle of Amherst	Emily Dickinson	^[24]
	Colleen Dewhurst	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Martha
	Liv Ullmann	Anna Christie	Anna Christopherson
	Irene Worth	The Cherry Orchard	Ranevskaya
1978 (32nd)
	Jessica Tandy	The Gin Game	Fonsia Dorsey	^[25]
	Anne Bancroft	Golda	Golda Meir
	Anita Gillette	Chapter Two	Jennie Malone
	Estelle Parsons	Miss Margarida's Way	Miss Margarida
1979 (33rd)
	Constance Cummings	Wings	Emily Stilson	^[26]
	Carole Shelley	The Elephant Man	Madge Kendal
	Jane Alexander	First Monday in October	Ruth Loomis
	Frances Sternhagen	On Golden Pond	Ethel Thayer

Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)	Ref.
1980 (34th)
	Phyllis Frelich	Children of a Lesser God	Sarah Norman	^[27]
	Blythe Danner	Betrayal	Emma
	Maggie Smith	Night and Day	Ruth Carson
	Anne Twomey	Nuts	Claudia Draper
1981 (35th)
	Jane Lapotaire	Piaf	Édith Piaf	^[28]
	Glenda Jackson	Rose	Rose
	Eva Le Gallienne	To Grandmother's House We Go	Grandie
	Elizabeth Taylor	The Little Foxes	Regina Giddens
1982 (36th)
	Zoe Caldwell	Medea	Medea	^[29]
	Katharine Hepburn	The West Side Waltz	Margaret Mary Elderdice
	Geraldine Page	Agnes of God	Mother Miriam Ruth
	Amanda Plummer	A Taste of Honey	Josephine
1983 (37th)
	Jessica Tandy	Foxfire	Annie Nations	^[30]
	Kathy Bates	'night, Mother	Jessie Cates
	Kate Nelligan	Plenty	Susan Traherne
	Anne Pitoniak	'night, Mother	Thelma Cates
1984 (38th)
	Glenn Close	The Real Thing	Annie	^[31]
	Rosemary Harris	Heartbreak House	Hesione Hushabye
	Linda Hunt	End of the World	Audrey Wood
	Kate Nelligan	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Josie Hogan
1985 (39th)
	Stockard Channing	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg	Sheila	^[32]
	Sinéad Cusack	Much Ado About Nothing	Beatrice
	Rosemary Harris	Pack of Lies	Barbara Jackson
	Glenda Jackson	Strange Interlude	Nina Leeds
1986 (40th)
	Lily Tomlin	The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe	Various Characters	^[33]
	Rosemary Harris	Hay Fever	Judith Bliss
	Mary Beth Hurt	Benefactors	Sheila
	Jessica Tandy	The Petition	Elizabeth Milne
1987 (41st)
	Linda Lavin	Broadway Bound	Kate Jerome	^[34]
	Lindsay Duncan	Dangerous Liaisons	Marquise de Merteuil
	Geraldine Page	Blithe Spirit	Madame Arcati
	Amanda Plummer	Pygmalion	Eliza Doolittle
1988 (42nd)
	Joan Allen	Burn This	Anna Mann	^[35]
	Blythe Danner	A Streetcar Named Desire	Blanche DuBois
	Glenda Jackson	Macbeth	Lady Macbeth
	Frances McDormand	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stella Kowalski
1989 (43rd)
	Pauline Collins	Shirley Valentine	Shirley Valentine	^[36]
	Joan Allen	The Heidi Chronicles	Heidi Holland
	Madeline Kahn	Born Yesterday	Emma 'Billie' Dawn
	Kate Nelligan	Spoils of War	Elise

Tony_Award_for_Best_Performance_by_a_Leading_Actress_in_a_Play

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play

Winners and nominees

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple wins

Multiple nominations

Multiple character wins

Multiple character nominations

Productions with multiple nominations

Multiple awards and nominations

See also

References

External links

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Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)	Ref.
1990 (44th)
	Maggie Smith	Lettice and Lovage	Lettice Douffet	^[37]
	Geraldine James	The Merchant of Venice	Portia
	Mary-Louise Parker	Prelude to a Kiss	Rita Boyle
	Kathleen Turner	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Maggie Pollitt
1991 (45th)
	Mercedes Ruehl	Lost in Yonkers	Bella Kurnitz	^[38]
	Stockard Channing	Six Degrees of Separation	Ouisa Kittredge
	Julie Harris	Lucifer's Child	Karen Blixen
	Cherry Jones	Our Country's Good	Liz Morden / Reverend Johnson
1992 (46th)
	Glenn Close	Death and the Maiden	Paulina Salas Escobar	^[39]
	Jane Alexander	The Visit	Claire Zachanassian
	Stockard Channing	Four Baboons Adoring the Sun	Penny McKenzie
	Judith Ivey	Park Your Car in Harvard Yard	Kathleen Hogan
1993 (47th)
	Madeline Kahn	The Sisters Rosensweig	Gorgeous Teitelbaum	^[40]
	Jane Alexander	The Sisters Rosensweig	Sara Goode
	Lynn Redgrave	Shakespeare for My Father	Lynn Redgrave
	Natasha Richardson	Anna Christie	Anna Christopherson
1994 (48th)
	Diana Rigg	Medea	Medea	^[41]
	Anna Deavere Smith	Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992	Various Characters
	Nancy Marchand	Black Comedy	Sophie
	Nancy Marchand	The White Liars	Mrs. Furnival
	Joan Rivers	Sally Marr...and her escorts	Sally Marr
1995 (49th)
	Cherry Jones	The Heiress	Catherine Sloper	^[42]
	Mary Alice	Having Our Say	Bessie Delany
	Eileen Atkins	Indiscretions	Léonie
	Helen Mirren	A Month in the Country	Natalia Petrovna
1996 (50th)
	Zoe Caldwell	Master Class	Maria Callas	^[43]
	Carol Burnett	Moon Over Buffalo	Charlotte Hay
	Rosemary Harris	A Delicate Balance	Agnes
	Elaine Stritch	A Delicate Balance	Claire
1997 (51st)
	Janet McTeer	A Doll's House	Nora Helmer	^[44]
	Julie Harris	The Gin Game	Fonsia Dorsey
	Shirley Knight	The Young Man From Atlanta	Lily Dale Kidder
	Lia Williams	Skylight	Kyra Hollis
1998 (52nd)
	Marie Mullen	The Beauty Queen of Leenane	Maureen Folan	^[45]
	Jane Alexander	Honour	Honor
	Allison Janney	A View from the Bridge	Beatrice Carbone
	Geraldine McEwan	The Chairs	Old Woman
1999 (53rd)
	Judi Dench	Amy's View	Esme Allen	^[46]
	Stockard Channing	The Lion in Winter	Eleanor of Aquitaine
	Marian Seldes	Ring Round the Moon	Madame Desmermortes
	Zoë Wanamaker	Electra	Electra

Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)	Ref.
2000 (54th)
	Jennifer Ehle	The Real Thing	Annie	^[47]
	Jayne Atkinson	The Rainmaker	Lizzie Curry
	Rosemary Harris	Waiting in the Wings	May Davenport
	Cherry Jones	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Josie Hogan
	Claudia Shear	Dirty Blonde	Jo / Mae West
2001 (55th)
	Mary-Louise Parker	Proof	Catherine Llewellyn	^[48]
	Juliette Binoche	Betrayal	Emma
	Linda Lavin	The Tale of the Allergist's Wife	Marjorie Taub
	Jean Smart	The Man Who Came to Dinner	Lorraine Sheldon
	Leslie Uggams	King Hedley II	Ruby
2002 (56th)
	Lindsay Duncan	Private Lives	Amanda Prynne	^[49]
	Kate Burton	Hedda Gabler	Hedda Gabler
	Laura Linney	The Crucible	Elizabeth Proctor
	Helen Mirren	The Dance of Death	Alice
	Mercedes Ruehl	The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?	Stevie Gray
2003 (57th)
	Vanessa Redgrave	Long Day's Journey into Night	Mary Tyrone	^[50]
	Jayne Atkinson	Enchanted April	Lotty Wilton
	Victoria Hamilton	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg	Sheila
	Clare Higgins	Vincent in Brixton	Ursula Loyler
	Fiona Shaw	Medea	Medea
2004 (58th)
	Phylicia Rashad	A Raisin in the Sun	Lena Younger	^[51]
	Eileen Atkins	The Retreat from Moscow	Alice
	Tovah Feldshuh	Golda's Balcony	Golda Meir
	Anne Heche	Twentieth Century	Lily Garland / Mildred Plotka
	Swoosie Kurtz	Frozen	Nancy Shirley
2005 (59th)
	Cherry Jones	Doubt	Sister Aloysius Beauvier	^[52]
	Laura Linney	Sight Unseen	Patricia
	Mary-Louise Parker	Reckless	Rachel
	Phylicia Rashad	Gem of the Ocean	Aunt Ester
	Kathleen Turner	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Martha
2006 (60th)
	Cynthia Nixon	Rabbit Hole	Becca Corbett	^[53]
	Kate Burton	The Constant Wife	Constance Culver Middleton
	Judy Kaye	Souvenir	Florence Foster Jenkins
	Lisa Kron	Well	Lisa Kron
	Lynn Redgrave	The Constant Wife	Mrs. Culver
2007 (61st)
	Julie White	The Little Dog Laughed	Diane	^[54]
	Eve Best	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Josie Hogan
	Swoosie Kurtz	Heartbreak House	Hesione Hushabye
	Angela Lansbury	Deuce	Leona Mullen
	Vanessa Redgrave	The Year of Magical Thinking	Joan Didion
2008 (62nd)
	Deanna Dunagan	August: Osage County	Violet Weston	^[55]
	Eve Best	The Homecoming	Ruth
	Kate Fleetwood	Macbeth	Lady Macbeth
	S. Epatha Merkerson	Come Back, Little Sheba	Lola Delaney
	Amy Morton	August: Osage County	Barbara Weston-Fordham
2009 (63rd)
	Marcia Gay Harden	God of Carnage	Veronica	^[56]
	Hope Davis	God of Carnage	Annette
	Jane Fonda	33 Variations	Katherine Brandt
	Janet McTeer	Mary Stuart	Mary Stuart
	Harriet Walter	Mary Stuart	Elizabeth I

Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)	Ref.
2010 (64th)
	Viola Davis	Fences	Rose Maxson	^[57]
	Valerie Harper	Looped	Tallulah Bankhead
	Linda Lavin	Collected Stories	Ruth Steiner
	Laura Linney	Time Stands Still	Sarah Goodwin
	Jan Maxwell	The Royal Family	Julie Cavendish
2011 (65th)
	Frances McDormand	Good People	Margie Walsh	^[58]
	Nina Arianda	Born Yesterday	Emma 'Billie' Dawn
	Lily Rabe	The Merchant of Venice	Portia
	Vanessa Redgrave	Driving Miss Daisy	Daisy Werthan
	Hannah Yelland	Brief Encounter	Laura Jesson
2012 (66th)
	Nina Arianda	Venus in Fur	Vanda	^[59]
	Tracie Bennett	End of the Rainbow	Judy Garland
	Stockard Channing	Other Desert Cities	Polly Wyeth
	Linda Lavin	The Lyons	Rita Lyons
	Cynthia Nixon	Wit	Vivian Bearing
2013 (67th)
	Cicely Tyson	The Trip to Bountiful	Carrie Watts	^[60]
	Laurie Metcalf	The Other Place	Juliana Smithton
	Amy Morton	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Martha
	Kristine Nielsen	Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike	Sonia
	Holland Taylor	Ann	Ann Richards
2014 (68th)
	Audra McDonald	Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill	Billie Holiday	^[61]
	Tyne Daly	Mothers and Sons	Katharine Gerard
	Cherry Jones	The Glass Menagerie	Amanda Wingfield
	Estelle Parsons	The Velocity of Autumn	Alexandra
	LaTanya Richardson	A Raisin in the Sun	Lena Younger
2015 (69th)
	Helen Mirren	The Audience	Queen Elizabeth II	^[62]
	Geneva Carr	Hand To God	Margery
	Elisabeth Moss	The Heidi Chronicles	Heidi Holland
	Carey Mulligan	Skylight	Kyra Hollis
	Ruth Wilson	Constellations	Marianne
2016 (70th)
	Jessica Lange	Long Day's Journey into Night	Mary Tyrone	^[63]
	Laurie Metcalf	Misery	Annie Wilkes
	Lupita Nyong'o	Eclipsed	The Girl
	Sophie Okonedo	The Crucible	Elizabeth Proctor
	Michelle Williams	Blackbird	Una Spencer
2017 (71st)
	Laurie Metcalf	A Doll's House, Part 2	Nora Helmer	^[64]
	Cate Blanchett	The Present	Anna Petrovna
	Jennifer Ehle	Oslo	Mona Juul
	Sally Field	The Glass Menagerie	Amanda Wingfield
	Laura Linney	The Little Foxes	Regina Hubbard Giddens
2018 (72nd)
	Glenda Jackson	Three Tall Women	A	^[65]
	Condola Rashād	Saint Joan	Joan of Arc
	Lauren Ridloff	Children of a Lesser God	Sarah Norman
	Amy Schumer	Meteor Shower	Corky
2019 (73rd)
	Elaine May	The Waverly Gallery	Gladys Green	^[66]
	Annette Bening	All My Sons	Kate Keller
	Laura Donnelly	The Ferryman	Caitlin Carney
	Janet McTeer	Bernhardt/Hamlet	Sarah Bernhardt
	Laurie Metcalf	Hillary and Clinton	Hillary Clinton
	Heidi Schreck	What the Constitution Means to Me	Heidi Schreck

Year	Actress	Play	Role(s)	Ref.
2020 (74th)
	Mary-Louise Parker	The Sound Inside	Bella Baird	^[67]
	Joaquina Kalukango	Slave Play	Kaneisha
	Laura Linney	My Name Is Lucy Barton	Lucy Barton
	Audra McDonald	Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune	Frankie
2022 (75th)
	Deirdre O'Connell	Dana H.	Dana H.	^[68]
	Gabby Beans	The Skin of Our Teeth	Sabina
	LaChanze	Trouble in Mind	Wiletta Mayer
	Ruth Negga	Macbeth	Lady Macbeth
	Mary-Louise Parker	How I Learned to Drive	Li'l Bit
2023 (76th)

	Jodie Comer	Prima Facie	Tessa Ensler	^[69]
	Jessica Chastain	A Doll's House	Nora Helmer
	Jessica Hecht	Summer, 1976	Alice
Audra McDonald	Ohio State Murders	Suzanne Alexander