50 of My Favorite Movie Characters (female)

Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) in ANNIE HALL (1977; dir. Woody Allen)

Betty Elms / Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts) in Mulholland Dr. (2001; dir. David Lynch)

Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980; dir. Irvin Kershner)

Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) in The Philadelphia Story (1940' dir. George Cukor)

Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) in The Aviator (2004; dir. Martin Scorsese)

Dorothy Parker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994; dir. Alan Rudolph)

Major Margaret Houlihan or, "Hot Lips" (Sally Kellerman) in MASH (1970; dir. Robert Altman)

Opal from the BBC (Geraldine Chaplin) in NASHVILLE (1975; dir. Robert Altman)

Debbie (Candy Clark) in American Grafitti (1973; dir. George Lucas)

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in ALIENS (1986; dir. James Cameron)

Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) in FARGO (1996; dirs. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

Tracey Flick (Reese Witherspoon) in ELECTION (1999; dir. Alexander Payne)

"Velvet" (Alice Eve) in Some Velvet Morning (2013; dir. Neil LaButte)

Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) in The Graduate (1967; dir. Mike Nichols)

Gilda (Rita Hayworth) in GILDA (1946; dir. Charles "King" Vidor)

Pauline (Melanie Lynskey) and Juliet (Kate Winslet) in Heavenly Creatures (1994; dir. Peter Jackson)

Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966; dir. Mike Nichols)

Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) in The Silence of the Lambs (1991; dir. Jonathan Demme)

Madeline Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) in Miss Sloane (2016; dir. John Madden)

Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter) in PLANET of the APES (1968; dir. Franklin J.Schaffner)

Lt. (j.g.) Saavik (Kirstie Ally) in STAR TREK II The Wrath of Khan (1982; dir. Nicholas Meyer)

Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994; dirs. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) in American Hustle (2013; dir. David O. Russell)

Carly Marshall (Jessica Lange) in Blue Sky (1994; dir. Tony Richardson)

Shug (Margaret Avery) in The Color Purple (1985; dir. Steven Spielberg)

Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) in True Romance (1993; dir. Tony Scott)

Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951; dir. Elia Kazan)

Jordan O'Neill (Demi Moore) in G.I. Jane (1997; dir. Ridley Scott)

Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) in MAD MAX - Fury Road (2015; dir. George Miller)

Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall) in Big Trouble in Little China (1986; dir. John Carpenter)