Best Actress Nominees

Natalie Portman, Black Swan *WINNER

By all accounts, 2011 seems to be the year of Natalie Portman. Not only did the Israeli-American actress take home a Critics' Choice Award and Golden Globe for her portrayal of the determined ballerina in Black Swan, but she also recently announced that she's expecting her first child with fiancé Benjamin Millepied.

Portman made her film debut at the age of 13, playing a child who befriends a hit man in Luc Besson's The Professional. She continued to show off her acting chops in the mid-90s with major roles in films like Beautiful Girls and Anywhere but Here. Movie-goers everywhere might know her best as Queen Amidala from the Star Wars prequel trilogies, but it is her role in the psychological thriller Black Swan that is capturing the attention of critics and audiences everywhere.