Top 5 Oscar's Best Actress In A Leading Role Predictions [PHOTOS]

There's a lot of talk going around about the upcoming Academy awards and one of the hottest topics circulating is "who will win the title of best actress in a leading role?"

Last year, Natalie Portman nabbed the prestigous acclaim for her work in Darren Aronofsky's "The Black Swan." This year, some names, young and old, are already on the race to follow Portman's suit as the Best Actress In a Leading Role winner. Everyone knows how much an Oscar, especially in this category, can shift a celebrity's career into a ticket to the eternal hall-of-fame of acclaimed actors.

Here are the top 5 actresses in their starring roles that might get a chance to nab the coveted award:

Charlize Theron in The Young Adult

Charlize Theron has been out of the circuit because of some bad career choices but we think this film is her ticket back to stardom. In "The Young Adult", she plays the role of a young woman trying to get her ex-boyfriend back. With a lovable childlike "Juno" quality to the character she's playing which is so unlike most of the other roles she's played, Charlize Theron may have finally landed herself an Oscar winning role.

Glenn Close in Albert Knobbs

As a veteran actress, Glenn Close has always been masterful in the roles she's played. Although her performance in "Albert Knobbs" wasn't the explosive character portrayal that we expect from her, she was still able to deliver a beautiful performance worthy of an Oscar.

Rooney Mara in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Rooney Mara was spectacular in her 2 scenes in The Social Network, and if she was chosen by David Fincher to play the challenging role as the female lead in his film, then there must be something about Rooney Mara that we as an audience have yet to experience. It becomes all the more difficult for Mara because her role was played by someone else before her with such masterful ferocity. But we believe that she was able to fill the shoes well and perhaps the critics will agree with us as well.

Viola Davis in The Help

"The Help" was given an outstanding cast and exceptional direction, yet Viola Davis gave the strongest performance out of everyone. The film is reminiscent of The Color purple but lighter in contrast. Davis plays her role with conviction and humor which makes for a sweet on-screen persona. It also doesn't hurt her chances of winning that the community is already all abuzz about her film way before its release.

Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady

With 16 nominations, 2 wins and years of experience on her belt, she is without a doubt mpst people's number one pick to win the title of best actress at the 84^th annual academy awards. But it's simply up to her performance, especially with the variation of the acting range of other contenders. Still, Streep has a huge ace to win. Why some may ask, it is simply because she is the legendary Meryl Streep.

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