In honour of International Women’s Day 2019, I’ve compiled a pictorial list of some of my favourite female characters in Film and Television. These are the protagonists that have made a big impact on me over the years. Women in all guises: uncompromising, dreamers, calculating, enduring, fearless, clever, flawed, loving, maternal, complex, homicidal and alien! I have loved each and every one whether they’ve got sass, class or are just plain kickass! And yes, I clearly watch far too much Star Trek!
Movie characters…
TELEVISION characters…
Doris Day, Calamity Jane, Calamity Jane; Jennifer Beals, Alex Owens, Flashdance; Gong Li, Empress Phoenix, Curse of the Golden Flower, Anne Parillaud, Nikita, La Femme Nikita; Pam Grier, Jackie Brown, Jackie Brown; Sigourney Weaver, Ripley, Alien; Julie Andrews, Victoria Grant, Victor Victoria; Salma Hayek, Frida Kahlo, Frida; Noomi Rapace, Lisbeth Salander, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Meryl Streep, Suzanne Vale, Postcards from the Edge; Carrie Fischer, Leia Organa, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope; Jennifer Lawrence, Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games; Carrie_Ann Moss, Trinity, The Matrix; Rita Moreno, Anita, West Side Story; Catherine Deneuve, Miriam Blaylock, The Hunger; Nana Visitor, Major Kira, Star Trek - Deep Space Nine; Sanae Tsuchida, Hu San-Niang, The Water Margin; Sofia Helin, Saga, The Bridge; Katee Sackhoff, Kara Thrace, Battlestar Galactica; Angela Lansbury, Jessica Fletcher, Murder She Wrote; Chandra Wilson, Miranda Bailey, Grey’s Anatomy; Marlee Matlin, Jodi Lerner, The L Word; Michelle Yeoh, Emporer Georgiou, Star Trek - Discovery; Roxann Dawson, B’Elanna Torres, Star Trek - Voyager; Jennifer Beals, Bette Porter, The L Word; Sandra Oh, Cristina Yang; Tyne Daly, Marybeth Lacey, Cagney and Lacey; Gillian Anderson, Stella Gibson, The Fall; Kate Mulgrew, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek - Voyager, Jada Pinkett Smith, Fish Mooney, Gotham.