The pretty woman received two Oscar nominations early in her career, but to many observers they probably seemed like flukes. That was until "Erin Brockovich" debuted in March of 2000, instantly drawing comparisons to Sally Field's award-winning performance in "Norma Rae" more than two decades earlier. Fortunately for the red-haired and red-hot Roberts, voters didn't forget about "Brockovich" at the end of the year, as she earned Best Actress honors from the L.A. Film Critics Assn., the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and SAG. Her film even garnered nominations for Best Picture and Director, making it all the more apparent that Best Actress was Roberts' race to lose. Her competition was quite solid, including strong dramatic work from Ellen Burstyn in "Requiem for a Dream," Laura Linney in "You Can Count on Me" and Joan Allen in "The Contender." Roberts could still count on the Oscar going her way, and it did. As far as most pundits were concerned, Julia was the only real contender.