Helen Mirren The Queen t's good to be queen. Just ask Helen Mirren, who is riding a wave of support into this Oscar race including a Golden Globe win. The British actress scored her third Academy Award nomination with her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in this film chronicling the monarch's unforgettable lack of response following Princess Diana's death and the shifting of the relationship between her and Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen). Appearing in almost every scene, Mirren's portrayal is less an imitation as it is an interpretation of a living icon trying to balance proper protocol with a public growing weary of the monarchy.
	Pen�lope Cruz Volver en�lope Cruz's forays into mainstream Hollywood (Vanilla Sky, Sahara) may have been great for her romantic life (she had relationships with co-stars Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey) but they failed to showcase her acting talent. Reuniting with director Pedro Almod�var (All About My Mother), Cruz truly shines in her native tongue as Raimunda, an overworked mother with a deadbeat husband and a daughter in crisis. Things get even more complicated when someone she thought was dead, reappears in her life. Should Cruz win, she would be the first actress in a foreign language film to do so since Sophia Loren in 1961.
	Judi Dench Notes on a Scandal onsidered Mirren's main competition, Dench received a nod in this same category last year for Mrs. Henderson Presents. This time, the venerable actress plays against type as a manipulative school teacher obsessed with a new art teacher named Sheba (Cate Blanchett). On discovering the younger woman's affair with a male student, the sour spinster threatens to expose her, and at the same time, reveals her own lustful feelings. Interestingly, Dench won her Oscar for portraying Queen Elizabeth I in 1998's Shakespeare in Love, while Blanchett was nominated the same year for playing the same royal in Elizabeth.
	Meryl Streep The Devil Wears Prada n lesser hands, the role of Miranda Priestly, the editor of fictitious "Runway" magazine in The Devil Wears Prada, may have resulted in a simple caricature of a bitchy boss. But drama queen Streep (she's got two previous Oscars to prove it), obviously relishes being in this light comedy, stealing the film right from under her co-star Anne Hathaway. From her silver coif to her shriveling gaze, Streep's portrayal of a woman on top is sharp and funny. However, it's her moments of vulnerability that give the character the one thing it lacked in Lauren Weisberger's best-selling book -- humanity.
	Kate Winslet Little Children ill this finally be Kate Winslet's year? This marks the 32-year-old British actress' fifth Academy Award nomination, her third as a lead. In this disturbing drama, Winslet plays Sarah, an over-educated, unhappily married, suburban mom who embarks on a torrid affair with a studly househusband (Patrick Wilson) in front of their clueless kids. The role is a demanding one since the character is not likeable, but Winslet is at her best with an honest and riveting performance worthy of recognition. Sadly, it comes in a year with more attention-grabbing roles meaning she may have to wait for another chance to score an Oscar.