The tightest race at the 2017 Oscars is best actress — here's who could win

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As we get deeper into award season, the picture of how Oscar night will turn out is getting clearer.

"La La Land" and its director Damien Chazelle are frontrunners in the best picture and best director categories. Casey Affleck, meanwhile, is the odds-on favorite to win best actor for his performance in the moving "Manchester by the Sea."

But best actress will likely keep people scrambling to guess until the big night.

The category has been famously tight in recent years. And this year performances by Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, and Amy Adams are all very strong, and anyone could win. Though they could be upset by the work of Taraji P. Henson or Isabelle Huppert. Or Meryl Streep could even swoop in and take down everyone, as she sometimes does.

Below are 10 actresses who all have a chance at being nominated and eventually winning best actress at the 2017 Academy Awards — and who we think has the best shot:

Amy Adams, "Arrival"

Adams has been nominated for an Oscar five times in her career (four times in the supporting actress category), and her portrayal as a linguist who is brought on by the military to communicate with aliens is the kind of performance Oscar voters love. She plays a character who is strong and assertive, but also tender and heartbreaking. It could lead to her first Oscar, and she certainly deserves one.

Annette Bening, "20th Century Women"

Bening gives one of the best performances of her career as a chain-smoking mother in the late 1970s who is trying to cope with her son turning into a rebellious teen. Playing it with a comedic touch, she will make you laugh and cry.

Jessica Chastain, "Miss Sloane"

Chastain plays a no-nonsense lobbyist and shows why she's one of the best actresses of her generation. Eschewing all the usual cliches of the woman-in-a-man's-world movie, she plays a role that shines bright in our "nasty woman" era.