The 1990s were a defining period for Hollywood. It saw the rise of groundbreaking blockbusters, like Jurassic Park and Titanic and universally beloved animated hits like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, while low-budget critically acclaimed movies like Pulp Fiction and Scream also gained prominence.
The decade was also marked by a group of now-iconic actresses who set trends and defined the landscape of 90s film. These female performers starred in some of the most memorable movies of the decade, becoming audience favorites and securing their place in the annals of cinematic history.
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone had a prolific career throughout the 1980s, but she reached major stardom in the 90s. She began the decade with Paul Verhoeven's ambitious sci-fi Total Recall before earning international recognition thanks to Vergoeven's next film, Basic Instinct. Her role as Catherine Tramell, one of cinema's most memorable femme fatales, turned her into a sex symbol and elevated her into the A-list.
Stone then earned an Oscar nomination for her leading role in Martin Scorsese's Casino, which was followed by roles in future films like The Quick and the Dead and Sphere. Stone's career waned during the late 90s, but her dominance during the first half of the decade is undeniable.
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon has been around since the 1970s, harvesting considerable success ever since. Already 44 by the time the 90s began, Sarandon challenged the establishment and redefined the image of the forty-year-old woman on screen.
The actress starred in some of the 90s' most iconic films, including Ridley Scott's Thelma & Louise and Joel Schumacher's The Client, earning Oscar nominations for both. In 1995, Sarandon finally won the golden statuette for her role in Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking. The actress finished the decade with a leading role in the box office hit Stepmom, and her success continues to this day.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Wide-eyed and absurdly beautiful, Gwyneth Paltrow began the 90s as a promising newcomer and ended it as an Oscar winner and major box office draw. Paltrow gained notoriety in 1995's Seven before taking on her first leading role in the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma.
1998 was a landmark year for Paltrow, starring in the box office hits A Perfect Murder and Shakespeare in Love, winning the Oscar for the latter. Paltrow ended the decade starring in The Talented Mr. Ripley, which cemented her place as Miramax's undisputed queen. Today, Paltrow remains a Hollywood superstar, thanks to her role as Pepper Potts, one of the MCU's most underrated supporting characters, and her self-care empire, Goop.
Jodie Foster
After making her acting debut in the early 70s, Jodie Foster continued working throughout the decade, even earning an Oscar nomination for 1976's Taxi Driver. She took a break during the early 80s to attend Yale University before returning with 1988's The Accused, for which she won her first Oscar.
Foster thrived during the 90s. She began the decade starring in The Silence of the Lambs, now considered one of the best films of all time, for which she won a second Oscar. Future success followed with Nell, which she also produced, Maverick, and Contact. Today, Foster is still a revered actress and director, winning her third Golden Globe just last year for her role in The Mauritanian.
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock's breakthrough role came in 1994 when she starred alongside Keanu Reeves and the late Dennis Hopper in one of the biggest hits of the 90s, Speed. Bullock's career took off thanks to hits like the rom-com While You Were Sleeping, the action thriller The Net, and the drama A Time to Kill.
Still, and despite her considerable success, the best was yet to come, and Bullock's career would reach new levels during the 2000s and 2010s; she even won an Oscar in 2010. However, her place in 90s history is indisputable.
Meg Ryan
If there's one undisputed queen of the rom-com, it's Meg Ryan. The actress achieved international success in the late 80s by starring in one of cinema's greatest love stories, When Harry Met Sally, and cemented her place as the genre's queen during the 90s.
Ryan starred in two of the 90s most iconic rom-coms, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. She also lent her voice to the animated hit Anastasia and had one last commercial success in 1998 with City of Angels. Ryan had little success outside rom-coms, but her contributions to the genre are enough to earn her a place among the most iconic actresses of the 90s.
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep is arguably the greatest living actress. Known for her chameleonic persona and gift for accents, Streep has worked with multiple acclaimed directors and actors and is one of the hardest-working actresses in the business.
Her career began in the 1970s and thrived during the 80s. By the 1990s, Streep was already an acting institution. Throughout the decade, she received three Oscar nominations for her roles in Postcards from the Edge, The Bridges of Madison County, and One True Thing, while also starring in cult classics like Death Becomes Her and The River Wild.
Demi Moore
Demi Moore's success in the 90s was so that she became the highest-paid actress in Hollywood history, earning an unprecedented $12.5 million for her role in Striptease. Moore began her career in the 1980s as one of the members of the so-called Brat Pack before transitioning into the adult roles with 1990s Ghost, an unexpected critical and commercial success.
Following Ghost, Moore starred in equally successful movies like A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal, and Disclosure. Moore's career suffered in the mid-90s following a string of failures, most notably The Scarlet Letter, The Juror, and G.I Jane. And while she never recovered the profile she had during the first half of the decade, Moore remains a well-known and beloved actress.
Julia Roberts
When talking about the 1990s, it's hard to name a more successful actress than Julia Roberts. The redhead with the million-dollar smile entered the decade with Pretty Woman, experiencing nearly uninterrupted success in the following years.
Roberts then had considerable success with films like The Pelican Brief, Hook, and Sleeping with the Enemy. After a somewhat quiet period in the middle of the decade, Roberts made a big return with My Best Friend's Wedding, cementing her place as a rom-com leading lady with her next two projects, Notting Hill and Runaway Bride. Roberts continued her success into the new millennium and remains one of Hollywood's most beloved and bankable stars today.
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder is the 90s. After making a name for herself in the late 80s, thanks to movies like the incredibly quotable Heathers and the cult classic Beetlejuice, Ryder became a bonafide superstar during the 90s. The actress began the decade with Tim Burton's fantasy romance Edward Scissorhands before cementing her place as a genre queen with Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Ryder earned Oscar nominations for her roles in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence and Gillian Armstrong's Little Women. In 1994, she starred in the seminal 90s classic Reality Bites, a movie that captured the zeitgeist of the early 90s grunge scene, forever defining the decade. Ryder's popularity waned towards the new millennium, but she will always be the ultimate 90s star.