The Empire Award for Best Actress is an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine Empire to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best Actress is one of five ongoing awards which were first introduced at the 1st Empire Awards ceremony in 1996 (the others being Best Actor, Best Director, Best Film and Best British Film) with Nicole Kidman receiving the award for her role in To Die For. Winners are voted by the readers of Empire magazine.