Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
A two-time Oscar nominee at only 22 (her first was for 2011's Winter's Bone), Lawrence is the frontrunner this year for her portrayal of a grieving widow named Tiffany, who wants a partner for a dance competition.
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Earning her second consecutive nomination in two years, Chastain is another favorite for her transformative turn as Maya, a CIA agent at the center of the nearly decade-long manhunt for Osama Bin Laden.
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Watts earned her second nomination for taking on the real-life story of a mother (named Maria in the film), who is separated from most of her family when they are caught in a tsunami while vacationing in Thailand.
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
The oldest acting nominee ever, 88-year-old Rivera received her first Academy nomination for playing Anne, an elderly French woman who suffers a stroke and must grapple with her impending death.
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
The youngest Best Actress nominee ever, 9-year-old Wallis (she was 6 when they shot the film) was not even a professional actor before she was cast as Hushpuppy, a little girl with a big heart facing an impending storm.
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
The clear frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress, Hathaway received her second Academy nomination for playing Fantine, a down-on-her-luck mother who must turn to prostitution after she's wrongfully ostracized.
Amy Adams, The Master
Adams earned her fourth Oscar nomination (all in the Best Supporting Actress field) playing Peggy Dodd, the woman behind the titular master in the film and a master manipulator herself.
Sally Field, Lincoln
Field has quite the impressive Oscar track record: She has been nominated twice in the past and won both times (her last time being in 1985). For her third nomination, she portrayed the grieving first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln.
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Weaver's second nomination (following 2011's Animal Kingdom) is for her work as Dolores, the well-intentioned wife of a man who suffers from OCD and the mother of a bipolar son.
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
For her second nomination (following her win in 1998 for As Good As It Gets), Hunt bared all—emotionally and physically—playing Cheryl, a sex therapist who is hired to help a man with polio lose his virginity.