[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1985 and the nominees are:

1. Sissy Spacek - The River
2. Vanessa Redgrave - The Bostonians
3. Jessica Lange - Country
4. Judy Davis - A Passage to India
5. Sally Field - Places in the Heart
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In 1985 Sally Field won her second Oscar playing a widow struggling to save her farm in Places in the Heart. This was an odd year in that there were 2 other similarly nominated roles for both Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek. Each of films portrayed a woman trying to keep her family and farm from being foreclosed by the bank. Honestly these films began to blur together while viewing. Oh this is also the famous year when Field said the famously misquoted quote, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me! Right now! You like me!” Judy Davis became a first time nominee for the David Lean epic in A Passage to India. This was Lean’s return to screen after a 14 year hiatus following the negative reviews from critics for the film Ryan’s Daughter. Finally, Vanessa Redgrave plays a suffragette in the extremely queer coded The Bostonians. Who do you think should have won?

Join host Kyle Brownrigg with guest host Dylan Mahaney as they discuss.