There may not have been a more prominent point in cinema that featured women as the stars of the show, as a few of these roles go down as absolute icons of the industry. Some names likely materialized in your head off the bat, and there will be other recognizable characters, movies, and actresses to boot.
But there are some characters that could very well appear a bit more unfamiliar. That shouldn’t take anything away from the value of their dynamics and developments, though, or from their respective actress’s performance. But without further ado, let’s get to it: these are the best female protagonists of the 1990s, ranked.
20 Nikita — La Femme Nikita (1990)
Anne Parillaud portrays the titular Nikita in this action thriller written and directed by Luc Besson. And some fans of Le Femme Nikita (1990) may be a bit surprised to see the film kicking off the list. But a spot anywhere among the twenty best female protagonists of the 1990s is nothing to hang one’s head about.
It follows the titular protagonist as a convicted felon who is given an alternative route to jail time: she’s given a new identity and is trained as an assassin controlled by the police. It’s an intriguing premise off the bat that Besson sees come into stylistic fruition, and Parillaud performs brilliantly as Nikita until the film’s final frame. It’s a French-language project, but definitely worth your time if strong female leads are what you’re after.
19 Lelaina Pierce — Reality Bites (1994)
Valedictorian, humanitarian, aspiring videographer — Lelaina Pierce does it all. Portrayed by Winona Ryder, she appears as the protagonist of Reality Bites (1994) as she makes the titular documentary about the mundane lives of her friends. And she really steals the show, with the film as a whole going down as a cult classic after receiving lukewarm reception from critics and garnering modest money at the worldwide box office.
There are plenty of other noteworthy names like director Ben Stiller, who co-stars alongside Ryder, Ethan Hawke, and Jeneane Garafalo. And aside from their performances, it’s worth noting that the film switches cinematographic styles between narrative and documentary. And that fascinating facet of filmmaking can be attributed Lelaina and her status as a high-quality, well-developed character.
18 Officer Megan Turner — Blue Steel (1990)
Played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the protagonist of Blue Steel (1990) in Officer Megan Turner leads the charge in what is perhaps the most intriguing inciting incident on the entire list. The film begins with Officer Turner shooting a robber in a convenience store, where a bystander subsequently retrieves the dead robber’s gun, exits the crime scene, and leaves Turner held accountable for shooting an unarmed man.
The project was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and received great reviews from critics despite making modest money at the worldwide box office. It’s worth a watch just for the plumb and passion portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis in the starring role, let alone the thrilling story that induces after the aforementioned plot point
17 Kat Strafford — 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
As one of the more famous characters on the list, Kat Strafford resonated with millions of high school girls across the globe. She is of course the protagonist of 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), and she’s portrayed to a career-defining extent by Julia Stiles. Of course, she shared the screen with the late, great Heath Ledger, who performs to an equally admirable extent as her love interest, Patrick. This marked his breakthrough role, as well as actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who drives the story by contriving a plot to get the two to date.
The film itself saw direction under Gil Junger, and it received mostly positive reviews while also accruing $60.4 million at the worldwide box office from a $13 million budget. And in the end, its legacy is defined by the performances from Ledger, Gordon-Levitt, and of course Julia Stiles, who in hindsight seems like the only fit for the role of Kat Strafford. She lands here at number seventeen.
16 Vivian Ward — Pretty Woman (1990)
In one of the defining romantic comedies of the decade, Julia Roberts plays the titular character in Pretty Woman (1990). A free-spirit prostitute from Hollywood, Vivian Ward boasts a strong sense of independence, courage, and honesty that is rarely seen in protagonists of her archetype. She’s not wealthy like her love interest counterpart Edward Lewis, played by Richard Gere.
But what they lack in commonalities is made up for in dynamics and development. Plus, both performers put on quite the show, as Julia Roberts won Best Actress at the 48th Golden Globes, with Gere picking up a nomination for Best Actor. Roberts was also nominated for Best actress at the 63rd Academy Awards, and in any other year — when Kathy Bates wasn’t delivering the performance of a lifetime as Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990) — she would’ve won for Pretty Woman.
15 M.J. Monoghan — Copycat (1995)
Although Sigourney Weaver appears first on the cast list in Copycat (1995) as Dr. Helen Hudson, a psychologist who specializes in the tendencies of serial killers, the true protagonist is Inspector M.J. Monaghan. Portrayed to a critically acclaimed degree by American actress Holly Hunter, she takes the center role as the lead detective hot on the hunt of a serial killer who bases all his murders off the actions of other, real-life serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy.
It’s a great premise with equally admirable execution, and Hunter shines as Monaghan the whole way through with dynamic dialogue and tremendous chemistry with her on-screen contemporaries. But the character herself is strong and sturdy when achieving her goals, and ultimately, she comes in at number fifteen.
14 Ruth Stoops — Citizen Ruth (1996)
The titular character Ruth Stoops is played by Laura Dern, who performs with pure poignance all throughout Citizen Ruth (1996). Made by Alexander Payne in his directorial debut, it follows Ruth as a poor and drug-addicted woman whose pregnancy sparks further debate across the country regarding the hot topic of abortion. It's arguably the most prominent film ever made on the subject, and remains highly underrated in today's landscape.
Those familiar with Payne's filmography won't be shocked to learn that Citizen Ruth doubles as a comedy on top of its dramatic inclinations, with Dern truly running the gamut of emotion. It's among her greatest roles to date, and ultimately, Ruth without a doubt deserves a spot on the list.
13 Lola — Run Lola Run (1998)
A German language film, Run Lola Run (1998) saw direction under Tom Twyker, while the character Lola was portrayed by Franka Potente. And it’s hard to determine what has a greater, more show-stealing effect: the development of Lola as a character and the scriptwriting basis in general, or the on-point performance from Potente that ultimately defined not just her career, but German cinema throughout the entire 1990s.
A thriller, its plot follows Lola as she has a mere twenty minutes to retrieve enough money to pay back her boyfriend’s debt, who’s stuck in a sticky situation with his powerful criminal of a boss. An engrossing premise that’s executed to perfection, with Lola being highlighted from sheer intrigue through each stride of her frantic pace.
12 Tracy Flick — Election (1999)
This is the second entry on the list that features a film from American director Alexander Payne, and there’s an argument that Election (1999) remains his magnum opus to this day. It’s a witty, award-winning script about an overachieving high school student whose campaign for the student council president is complicated by the antics of one of her teachers.
The elder at hand was played by Matthew Broderick, whose character Jim McAlister resents Tracy — the protagonist, played by Reese Whitherspoon to a career-defining degree — for engaging in sexual relations with a teacher, Jim’s coworker and friend, and ultimately getting him fired. And with dulcet dialogue and convincing performances in tandem with engaging character dynamics, Election entertains through and through. And Tracy easily steals the show.
11 Cher Horowitz — Clueless (1995)
Written and directed by Amy Heckerling, her magnum opus features Alicia Silverstone in her breakthrough role as Cher Horowitz. And sure, the rest of the cast members of Clueless (1995) each hold more name value today than the actress who played the protagonist, with names such as Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Donald Faison, and Breckin Meyer. But without a doubt, Silverstone shines brighter than everyone else combined as Cher, thanks mainly to her breaking of genre conventions.
Generally, characters of Cher’s archetype are self-interested, frankly selfish individuals who lean more toward their materialistic tendencies than those that would benefit others. But Cher makes an honest effort to better the lives of those around her, despite what her stepbrother might say. And it’s her struggle with finding the root of those tendencies that defines Cher as one of the best protagonists of the nineties, regardless of performer.
10 Mulan — Mulan (1998)
Co-directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft, Mulan (1998) is among the many revered titles from the Disney Renaissance. And along with others like Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989), this titular character instilled great passion and confidence into the young female viewers that went to the theaters to see her grand journey take place or watched it a thousand times on VHS tapes from the comfort of their sofas.
And the reason Mulan inspired so many people is that she herself overcame great adversity while setting a new standard for the conventional role of women during these wartime movies. Even if this one is animated, Mulan disguising herself as a man to combat the invading Huns is a valuable premise in itself, and the project was seen into flawless fruition by the famous animation studio. Mulan herself remains a staple among Disney princesses, despite not being of royal birth.
9 “The Lady” — The Quick and the Dead (1995)
A stylistic western, The Quick and the Dead (1995) goes down not just among the more underrated movies of Raimi’s career or of the Revisionist Western subgenre — it’s among the most overlooked films of its entire decade, and potentially of all time. Which is crazy, given the renown of its director and the fame of its roster of supporting actors: Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
But shining brightest out of the star-studded cast was Sharon Stone as the protagonist, called “The Lady”. She resembles in appearance, demeanor, and background the classic gunslinging archetypes of westerns past. But she stands out so prominently among her Revisionist Western contemporaries simply due to her being a woman, breaking genre conventions in half as she takes it upon herself to enact revenge on the man who killed her father. It’s one of the most flat-out entertaining films on the entire list, and Stone’s portrayal of The Lady should be chronicled in the Hollywood history books.
8 Rose DeWitt Bukater — Titanic (1997)
Played by Kate Winslet, this is without a doubt among the more popular roles on the list. In fact, it’s probably the single-most-well-known, as Titanic (1997) by James Cameron took previous box office records and broke them over its 470-foot-long bow. Winslet of course co-stars as Rose DeWitt Bukater alongside Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of Jack Dawson, and the two shared a wonderful dynamic that defined for a lot of fans the filmgoing experience of the late 1990s.
And Rose was arguably the star of the show, as Winslet picked up her first nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Sure, she had received a nomination previously for Best Supporting Actress thanks to her efforts in Sense and Sensibility (1995), but her role as Rose propelled her career to new heights. Just due to the emotion that Rose as a character brought to the table, let alone the performance from Winslet and her dynamics with on-screen costars, she undoubtedly deserves a spot within the top ten.
7 Mj. Motoko Kusanagi — Ghost in the Shell (1995)
A Japanese animated neo-noir cyberpunk thriller, Ghost in the Shell (1995) by Mamoru Oshii made waves at the worldwide box office upon release, and it was absolute hit with critics. It holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and much of the film’s resonance can be traced to its enticing visual style. And that includes the design of its main character, Mj. Motoko Kusanagi.
Voiced by Atsuko Tanaka, she operates in the plot as the protagonist, a cyber public-security agent who’s tasked with tracking down the Puppet Master — the moniker of a mysterious hacker. And she leads the stylistic charge from start to finish, with the film going down among the best animated stints ever made, and an influential science fiction film, too. Kusanagi is perhaps the most compelling component, easily landing Ghost in the Shell within the top ten.
6 Sidney Prescott — Scream (1996)
Among the more famous protagonists on the list, Neve Campbell of course stars as Sidney Prescott here in Scream (1996), and she reprised the role the following year in Scream 2 (1997). She still plays Sidney to this day, but those were the only two films in the famous franchise that were released in the decade at hand. And of the two, the original Scream is the better of the two despite a solid showing from the sequel. One of the best horror movie sequels ever, in fact.
But the first movie is too well executed to ignore, with its meta plot regarding a group of horror movie-loving high school teenagers who find themselves stalked by a masked killer in the night. It single-handedly revitalized the horror genre, and Sidney led its roster of iconic characters to safety. Well, for the most part. She without a doubt deserves a spot on the list.
5 Jackie Brown — Jackie Brown (1997)
This role marked a career resurgence for American actress Pam Grier, who first gained prominence throughout the 1970s with blaxploitation films such as Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). Oddly enough, she was the titular character in those films, too. But with Jackie Brown (1997) — directed by Quentin Tarantino — Grier arguably delivered her best performance to date.
Again, she was the titular character here in Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who smuggles money for an arms dealer named Ordell Robbie, played by Samuel L. Jackson. And Jackie proves to be one of the strongest and most charismatic leads of the decade, regardless of gender. She takes matters into her own hands to escape the sticky situation she finds herself in with Ordell, and manages to come out on top in the end. If you haven’t seen Jackie Brown, it’s an essential nineties viewing.
4 Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer — Thelma and Louise (1991)
Although some fans and pundits may argue that Thelma and Louise (1991) actually tells the story of the former titular character as the main character, the two are best described as co-protagonists. Both of their names are in the title, after all. And what’s more is that Geena Davis (Thelma) and Susan Sarandon (Louise) were both nominated for Best Actress at the 64th Academy Awards.
And the film as a whole — directed by Ridley Scott — picked up two other nominations in Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and it even walked away with a golden statuette for Best Original Screenplay thanks to Callie Khouri. Its story of two best friends who embark on a road trip that leads them down unexpected paths was well worth the praise, too. These characters are fully fleshed out, and they share a tremendous dynamic. They deserve this spot at number four.
3 Valentine Dassault — Three Colors: Red (1994)
Sure, Juliette Binoche was nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Globes thanks to her work as Julie de Courcy in Three Colors: Blue (1994). But as far as the Three Colors trilogy — directed by Kryzstof Kieślowski — is concerned, Red (1994) features the better protagonist overall — just in terms of character development, their dynamics with others, and even their idiosyncrasies that allure audiences to them in the first place.
Portrayed by Irène Jacob, the character at hand is named Valentine Dassault, and she truly runs the gamut of emotion from the film’s first frame until its impactful finale. It’s a deep plot worth indulging in for yourself, but just know: the film was nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography at the Oscars. The beauty of Valentine as a character was perfectly captured by all those elements, and then some.
2 Marge Gunderson — Fargo (1996)
For many fans, this is the definitive role of American actress Frances McDormand, the wife of Joel Coen who directed her in Fargo (1996) alongside his brother, Ethan. For other fans, this could also be the best character the Coen Brothers have ever created from the ground up. Needless to say, Marge Gunderson is also one of the best female movie protagonists of the 90s, and perhaps of all time.
She’s more competent than her police department contemporaries, but also more down to earth. She cares about her job and the people around her, while making audiences laugh every step of the way. Her trademark Minnesotan accent is now iconic, and McDormand put on a seriously career-defining performance all throughout. She even won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her efforts — her first of three total. And Marge will forever be her defining role.
1 Clarice Starling — The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
And speaking of Academy Awards: perhaps the most notable movie of the decade that took part in its respective Oscars ceremony was The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Directed by Jonathan Demme, it won the “Big Five” awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress. And of course, the female performance was from Jodie Foster as the film’s famous protagonist Clarice Starling.
Likely the name you expected to see appearing at the top of the list — save perhaps for the prior entry — Clarice defined the nineties in a lot of ways as far as protagonists go. She’s focused on her professional commitments while also open to lessons about herself, her patients, and the human condition in general. And Foster showcased complete prowess of the craft, confidence from start to finish as the FBI trainee. She without a doubt deserves this spot at number one.
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