Independent Spirit Award/Beste Hauptdarstellerin
Preisgekrönte und nominierte Schauspielerinnen für den Independent Spirit Award in der Kategorie Beste Hauptdarstellerin (Best Female Lead).
1986, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 und 2018 stimmte die Preisträgerin mit der Oscar-Gewinnerin in der Kategorie Beste Hauptdarstellerin überein.
| Statistik | Name | Anzahl | Jahr |
| Häufigste Auszeichnungen | Frances McDormand | 2 | 1997, 2018 |
| Julianne Moore | 2 | 2003, 2015 | |
| Häufigste Nominierungen (* = Sieg) |
Michelle Williams | 4 | 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012* |
| Häufigste Nominierungen ohne Sieg | Catherine Keener | 3 | 1993, 1997, 2003 |
1980er-Jahre
1986
Geraldine Page – A Trip to Bountiful – Reise ins Glück (A Trip to Bountiful)
- Rosanna Arquette – Die Zeit nach Mitternacht (After Hours)
- Laura Dern – Bedrohliches Geflüster (Smooth Talk)
- Lori Singer – Trouble in Mind
1987
Isabella Rossellini – Blue Velvet
- Elpidia Carrillo – Salvador
- Patricia Charbonneau – Desert Hearts
- Laura Dern – Blue Velvet
- Tracy Camilla Johns – Nola Darling (She’s Gotta Have It)
1988
Sally Kirkland – Anna… Exil New York (Anna)
- Lillian Gish – Wale im August (The Whales of August)
- Louise Smith – Working Girls
- Debra Stipe – Harte Männer tanzen nicht (Tough Guys Don’t Dance)
- Joanne Woodward – Die Glasmenagerie (The Glass Menagerie)
1989
Jodie Foster – Pinguine in der Bronx (Five Corners)
- Ricki Lake – Hairspray
- Nobu McCarthy – The Wash
- Julia Roberts – Pizza Pizza – Ein Stück vom Himmel (Mystic Pizza)
- Meg Ryan – Promised Land
1990er-Jahre
1990
Andie MacDowell – Sex, Lügen und Video (Sex, Lies, and Videotape)
- Youki Kudoh – Mystery Train
- Kelly Lynch – Drugstore Cowboy
- Winona Ryder – Heathers
- Annabella Sciorra – Wahre Liebe (True Love)
1991
Anjelica Huston – Grifters (The Grifters)
- Mary Alice – Zorniger Schlaf (To Sleep with Anger)
- Eszter Bálint – Nach uns die Sintflut (Bail Jumper)
- Carolyn Farina – Metropolitan – Verdammt, bourgeois, verliebt (Metropolitan)
- Joanne Woodward – Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
1992
Judy Davis – Verliebt in Chopin (Impromptu)
- Patsy Kensit – Twenty-One
- Mimi Rogers – Dunkle Erleuchtung (The Rapture)
- Lili Taylor – Eine unhimmlische Mission (Bright Angel)
- Lily Tomlin – The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
1993
Fairuza Balk – Gas Food Lodging
- Edie Falco – Laws of Gravity
- Catherine Keener – Johnny Suede
- Sheryl Lee – Twin Peaks – Der Film (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me)
- Cynda Williams – One False Move
1994
Ashley Judd – Ruby in Paradise
- May Chin – Das Hochzeitsbankett (喜宴, Hsi yen)
- Ariyan A. Johnson – Brooklyn Girl
- Emma Thompson – Viel Lärm um nichts (Much Ado About Nothing)
- Suzy Amis – Little Jo – Eine Frau unter Wölfen (The Ballad of Little Jo)
1995
Linda Fiorentino – Die letzte Verführung (The Last Seduction)
- Jennifer Jason Leigh – Mrs. Parker und ihr lasterhafter Kreis (Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle)
- Karen Sillas – What Happened Was...
- Lauren Luna Vélez – Life is Trouble (I Like It Like That)
- Chien-Lien Wu – Eat Drink Man Woman (飲食男女, Yǐn Shí Nán Nǚ)
1996
Elisabeth Shue – Leaving Las Vegas
- Jennifer Jason Leigh – Georgia
- Elina Löwensohn – Nadja
- Julianne Moore – Safe
- Lili Taylor – The Addiction
1997
- María Conchita Alonso – Caught – Im Netz der Leidenschaft (Caught)
- Scarlett Johansson – Manny & Lo
- Catherine Keener – Walking and Talking
- Renée Zellweger – Liebe auf dem Prüfstand (The Whole Wide World)
1998
Julie Christie – Liebesflüstern (Afterglow)
- Stacy Edwards – In the Company of Men
- Alison Folland – All Over Me
- Lisa Harrow – Sunday
- Robin Wright Penn – Loved
1999
- Katrin Cartlidge – Claire Dolan
- Christina Ricci – The Opposite of Sex – Das Gegenteil von Sex (The Opposite of Sex)
- Robin Tunney – Niagara, Niagara
- Alfre Woodard – Down in the Delta
2000er-Jahre
2000
- Diane Lane – A Walk on the Moon
- Janet McTeer – Tumbleweeds
- Susan Traylor – Valerie Flake
- Reese Witherspoon – Election
2001
Ellen Burstyn – Requiem for a Dream
- Joan Allen – Rufmord – Jenseits der Moral (The Contender)
- Sanaa Lathan – Love and Basketball (Love & Basketball)
- Laura Linney – You Can Count on Me
- Kelly Macdonald – Two Family House
2002
- Kim Dickens – Things Behind the Sun
- Molly Parker – Macht der Begierde (The Center of the World)
- Tilda Swinton – The Deep End – Trügerische Stille (The Deep End)
- Kerry Washington – Lift
2003
Julianne Moore – Dem Himmel so fern (Far from Heaven)
- Jennifer Aniston – The Good Girl
- Maggie Gyllenhaal – Secretary
- Catherine Keener – Lovely & Amazing
- Parker Posey – Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
2004
- Agnes Bruckner – Blue Car – Poesie des Sommers (Blue Car)
- Zooey Deschanel – All the Real Girls
- Samantha Morton – In America
- Elisabeth Moss – Virgin
2005
Catalina Sandino Moreno – Maria voll der Gnade (Maria Full of Grace)
- Kimberly Elise – Woman Thou Art Loosed
- Vera Farmiga – Down to the Bone
- Judy Marte – On the Outs
- Kyra Sedgwick – Cavedweller
2006
Felicity Huffman – Transamerica
- Dina Korzun – Forty Shades of Blue
- Laura Linney – Der Tintenfisch und der Wal (The Squid and the Whale)
- S. Epatha Merkerson – Lackawanna Blues
- Cyndi Williams – Room
2007
- Catherine O’Hara – Es lebe Hollywood (For Your Consideration)
- Elizabeth Reaser – Sweet Land
- Michelle Williams – Land of Plenty
- Robin Wright Penn – Sorry, Haters
2008
- Angelina Jolie – Ein mutiger Weg (A Mighty Heart)
- Sienna Miller – Interview
- Parker Posey – Broken English
- Tang Wei – Gefahr und Begierde (色，戒, Sè, jiè)
2009
- Summer Bishil – Unverblümt – Nichts ist privat (Towelhead)
- Anne Hathaway – Rachels Hochzeit (Rachel Getting Married)
- Tarra Riggs – Ballast
- Michelle Williams – Wendy and Lucy
2010er-Jahre
2010
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious – Das Leben ist kostbar (Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire)
- Maria Bello – Downloading Nancy
- Nisreen Faour – Amreeka
- Helen Mirren – Ein russischer Sommer (The Last Station)
- Gwyneth Paltrow – Two Lovers
2011
2012
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn
- Lauren Ambrose – About Sunny
- Rachael Harris – Natural Selection
- Adepero Oduye – Pariah
- Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
2013
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Linda Cardellini – Return
- Emayatzy Corinealdi – Middle of Nowhere
- Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Smashed
2014
- Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
- Gaby Hoffmann – Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus and 2012
- Brie Larson – Short Term 12
- Shailene Woodley – The Spectacular Now – Perfekt ist jetzt (The Spectacular Now)
2015
Julianne Moore – Still Alice – Mein Leben ohne Gestern (Still Alice)
- Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant
- Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
- Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
- Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive
2016
Brie Larson – Raum (Room)
- Cate Blanchett – Carol
- Rooney Mara – Carol
- Bel Powley – The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- Kitana Kiki Rodriguez – Tangerine
2017
- Annette Bening – Jahrhundertfrauen (20th Century Women)
- Sasha Lane – American Honey
- Ruth Negga – Loving
- Natalie Portman – Jackie: Die First Lady (Jackie)
Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
- Salma Hayek – Beatriz at Dinner
- Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
- Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
- Shinobu Terajima – Oh Lucy!
- Regina Williams – Life & Nothing More
Glenn Close – Die Frau des Nobelpreisträgers (The Wife)
- Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade
- Toni Collette – Hereditary – Das Vermächtnis (Hereditary)
- Helena Howard – Madeline’s Madeline
- Regina Hall – Support the Girls
- Carey Mulligan – Wildlife
2020er-Jahre
- Karen Allen – Colewell
- Hong Chau – Driveways
- Elisabeth Moss – Her Smell
- Mary Kay Place – Diane
- Alfre Woodard – Clemency
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman
- Nicole Beharie – Miss Juneteenth
- Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
- Sidney Flanigan – Niemals Selten Manchmal Immer (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
- Julia Garner – The Assistant
- Frances McDormand – Nomadland
2022
- Isabelle Fuhrman – The Novice
- Brittany S. Hall – Test Pattern
- Patti Harrison – Together Together
- Taylour Paige – Zola
- Kali Reis – Catch the Fair One
Anmerkungen
- Elliot Page wurde nominiert, bevor er Ende 2020 bekannt gab, dass er transgender ist.