Carey Mulligan, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Charlize Theron, Michelle Williams And Glenn Close Cover The Hollywood Reporter Issue 41 November 18th 2011 Cover.

Rare is the Hollywood blockbuster that showcases a single strong female role. This year, The Help featured about a half-dozen fully realized women -- and grossed $167 million domestic, among the biggest female ensemble films ever. For this reason, THR broke with tradition and invited two stars from the same movie -- Viola Davis, 46, and Octavia Spencer, 39 -- to participate in the first awards roundtable of the season. 

Davis and Spencer, the heart and soul of The Help, joined a diverse group who challenged themselves with performances as varied as a 19th century woman pretending to be a man (Glenn Close, 64, in Albert Nobbs), an out-of-control lounge singer with suicidal tendencies (Carey Mulligan, 26, in Shame; she also played a young mother in Drive), a mean-spirited and possibly ill YA novelist (Charlize Theron, 36, in Young Adult) and perhaps the most iconic woman in Hollywood history, Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams, 31, My Week With Marilyn). The roundtable took place Oct. 24 at Smashbox Studios in West Hollywood.

Source Hollywood Reporter.