TILDA SWINTON
Past Gem: The Deep End (2001)

The versatile British actress (Orlando, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) seems to shine as women in desperate situations, like the ethically compromised corporate lawyer role that garnered her an Oscar nomination this year in Michael Clayton. In her first major starring role in an American movie, she played Margaret Hall, a mom who becomes as fierce as a lioness in order to protect her son from extortionists when he becomes the likeliest suspect in a lowlife's murder.