The Female First Awards 2021 continues today, as we take a look at five of the best performances to have come from the small screen over the past 12 months. Though all five of these incredible women deserve celebrating, only one can come out on top! Read on to find out exactly who that is…
Lydia West as Jill Baxter in It's A Sin
Every single person who was a part of bringing It’s A Sin to life should be lashed with praise, and one of those who firmly stands out is the incomparable Lydia West as Jill Baxter.
In some of the series’ final scenes, we saw her deliver a blistering takedown of her late friend Ritchie’s mother (Keeley Hawes), which was a simple yet powerful message to a nation: the sooner we all treat one another as equals, the better.
Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in WandaVision
It was Agatha all along! Kathryn Hahn gave such an intricate and outlandish performance in WandaVision, that audiences demanded more content from the star in the future, leading to Marvel Studios giving her a solo series, which is set to debut on the Disney+ streaming service at some point in 2022.
WandaVision's Jac Schaeffer will serve as writer and executive producer on the project, which is slated to be a "dark comedy". We doubt that'll be the last we see of Hahn however, as she's signed a larger deal to reprise the role in additional series and even films. Bring on the chaos!
Regina Hall as Carmel Schneider in Nine Perfect Strangers
Based on the novel of the same name, Nine Perfect Strangers was one of this year’s strangest television shows, with an all-star cast that gave memorable and career-defining performances.
Standing out from amongst the crowd, Regina Hall delivered in stunning fashion as Carmel Schneider, completely jarring anybody watching who may know her from the Scary Movie franchise as she gave a raw, realistic embodiment of her tortured character. Utterly brilliant.
Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok in Squid Game
Over to Squid Game now, which was packed full of exciting moments that will stick with us for some time. Above all of those however, were the more somber scenes in which we saw Sae-byoek’s past explored; one shared with her younger brother who had been taken into care.
As Sae-byoek’s motivations to compete became clear, it was her that we rooted for, despite her not necessarily being the main character or focus of the series. A real testament to the acting ability of Jung Ho-yeon, who we hope to see a lot more of in the coming years.
Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn in You
We round off our nominations with another Netflix original series star - Victoria Pedretti, who stars as the formidable Love Quinn in You. Though she looked to have met her true love in Joe Goldberg, it was only a matter of time before the cracks started to form and, not even a shared responsibility in the form of a child could save them.
Pedretti was born for this role. She is the brooding yet adoring family woman to everybody on the outside, but a lioness when threatened, reaching for her rolling pin to take out an anti-vaxxer or an axe to remove a threat to her marriage from proceedings. It’s a performance we’ll never forget!
And the winner is…
Kathryn Hahn!
Nobody stuck with us for the entire year thanks to their hilarious display more than Hahn; who else could we have really chosen? She’s fabulous!
MORE FROM THE FEMALE FIRST AWARDS: Best Netflix Original Series
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