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10. Kim Basinger, Best Supporting Actress – L.A. Confidential, 1997
Basinger broke out of the “just-a-pretty-face” mold in 1997 when she played the role of Lynn Bracken, a call girl with Veronica Lake looks, in L.A. Confidential. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, the film, based on the 1990 crime fiction novel L.A. Confidential, was an instant hit despite featuring other relative unknowns, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce. Praised by New York Times' James Maslin as a "tough, gorgeous and vastly entertaining" film, we think that applies to Basinger as well, whose gritty performance earned her the Best Supporting Actress nod.