Over the past decade, running from 1998-2007, the Academy Awards have nominated a total of fifty movies for their most prestigious ‘Best Picture’ category. Those productions lucky enough to be voted as one of the top films of a given year tend to be the ones that stick in the memory banks for the longest. But if you’re a casting agent in Hollywood trying to identify who best fits a movie you’re planning to gear towards future Oscar glory, you can do well to look at recent history. A trawl through the credits of the past ten years reveals some fascinating nuggets about which actors see their work consistently appearing in the most celebrated films.
So right off the bat, how many of the fifty most recent Best Picture nominees can you even remember? We’ve just seen “No Country for Old Men” defeat “There Will Be Blood”, “Juno”, “Atonement”, and “Michael Clayton” to become Best Picture of 2007. But what about nominated films such as “In The Bedroom” from 2001, “Finding Neverland” from 2004, “Capote” from 2005, or even “The Insider” back in 1999? Did you see these movies, or remember who starred in them? Maybe you’re already aware that from 1999-2003, with the exception of 2002 there was a Russell Crowe movie in the Best Picture category every year? Co-starring with Al Pacino, he took the plaudits for Michael Mann’s tobacco industry expose “The Insider” in 1999, and then followed it with consecutive Best Picture winners “Gladiator” and “A Beautiful Mind”. His most recent nominee for the top award was Peter Weir’s magnificent “Master and Commander” in 2003. Should casting directors continue to bank on Mr. Crowe for future Oscar night glory, or are there other sure-fire ways to draw critical acclaim?
Here are the winning and nominated fifty Oscar ‘Best Picture’ movies from 1998-2007:
1998: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line
1999: AMERICAN BEAUTY, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense
2000: GLADIATOR, Chocolat, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic
2001: A BEAUTIFUL MIND, Gosford Park, In The Bedroom, L.O.T.R. Part 1, Moulin Rouge
2002: CHICAGO, Gangs of New York, The Hours, L.O.T.R. Part 2, The Pianist
2003: L.O.T.R. PART 3, Lost in Translation, Master & Commander, Mystic River, Seabiscuit
2004: MILLION DOLLAR BABY, The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways
2005: CRASH, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night & Good Luck, Munich
2006: THE DEPARTED, Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen
2007: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood
When you look at the list of stars that have appeared in the nominees and winners of the ‘Best Picture’ Oscar over the past ten years, it becomes clear that not only do very few actors and actresses dominate the casting, but many of the biggest box office stars get barely a look-in! Oscar winners from before 1998, such as Juliette Binoche (“Chocolat”), Julie Christie (“Finding Neverland”), Michael Douglas (“Traffic”), Dustin Hoffman (“Finding Neverland”), Jack Nicholson (“The Departed”), Vanessa Redgrave (“Atonement”), Maggie Smith (“Gosford Park”), Sissy Spacek (“In The Bedroom”), Meryl Streep (“The Hours”), and Marisa Tomei (“In The Bedroom”), or nominees Alan Bates (“Gosford Park”), Brenda Blethyn (“Atonement”), Jeff Bridges (“Seabiscuit”), Leslie Caron (“Chocolat”), Willem Dafoe (“The Aviator”), Laurence Fishburne (“Mystic River”), Graham Greene (“The Green Mile”), Judd Hirsch (“A Beautiful Mind”), Amy Irving (“Traffic”), Greg Kinnear (“Little Miss Sunshine”), William H. Macy (“Seabiscuit”), Liam Neeson (“Gangs of New York”), Kate Nelligan (“The Cider House Rules”), Nick Nolte (“The Thin Red Line”), Brad Pitt (“Babel”), Miranda Richardson (“The Hours”), Gary Sinise (“The Green Mile”), Kristin Scott Thomas (“Gosford Park”), John Travolta (“The Thin Red Line”), and Emily Watson (“Gosford Park”), have each made just one appearance in a ‘Best Picture’ since 1998. (Their respective ‘Best Picture’ appearances from 1998-2007 accompany their names in brackets.)
Some performers have won an Oscar in the past ten years for their sole appearance in a ‘Best Picture’ contender. These include Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”), Roberto Benigni (“Life is Beautiful”), Michael Caine (“The Cider House Rules”), Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind”), Benico Del Toro (“Traffic”), Jamie Foxx (“Ray”), Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”), Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”), Gwyneth Paltrow (“Shakespeare in Love”), Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”), Tim Robbins (“Mystic River”), Kevin Spacey (“American Beauty”), Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby”, but also Oscar-winning for “Boys Don’t Cry” in 1999), and Tilda Swinton (“Michael Clayton”).
However, there are those performers appearing in only one ‘Best Picture’ who won an Oscar (or were nominated) in an acting category for another project over the same period. Examples include Annette Bening (“American Beauty”, but Oscar nominated for “Being Julia”), Marcia Gay
Harden (“Mystic River”, but her Oscar was for “Pollock”), Djimon Hounsou (“Gladiator”, but Oscar nominated for both “In America” and “Blood Diamond”), Jude Law (“The Aviator”, but Oscar nominated for “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Cold Mountain”), Clive Owen (“Gosford Park”, but Oscar nominated for “Closer”), Amy Ryan (“Capote”, but Oscar nominated for “Gone, Baby, Gone”), Imelda Staunton (“Shakespeare in Love”, but Oscar nominated for “Vera Drake”), Charlize Theron (“The Cider House Rules”, her Oscar was for “Monster”), Ken Watanabe (“Letters from Iwo Jima”, but Oscar nominated for “The Last Samurai”), and Renee Zellweger (“Chicago”, but her Oscar was for “Cold Mountain”).
Others have themselves been nominated for roles in films also in the ‘Best Picture’ category, such as Alan Alda (“The Aviator”), Adriana Barraza (“Babel”), Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Thomas Haden Church (“Sideways”), Matt Dillon (“Crash”), Michael Clarke Duncan
(“The Green Mile”), Clint Eastwood (“Million Dollar Baby”), Jake Gyllenhaal (“Brokeback Mountain”), Catherine Keener (“Capote”), Rinko Kikuchi (“Babel”), Queen Latifah (“Chicago”), the late Heath Ledger (“Brokeback Mountain”), Laura Linney (“Mystic River”), Julianne Moore (“The Hours”), Bill Murray (“Lost in Translation”), Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense”), Al Pacino (“The Insider”), Ellen Page (“Juno”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Gladiator”), Saoirse Ronan (“Atonement”), David Strathairn (“Good Night, & Good Luck”), Mark Wahlberg (“The Departed”), Michelle Williams (“Brokeback Mountain”), and Kate Winslet (“Finding Neverland”).
There are other well-known or up-and-coming stars to appear just once in a ‘Best Picture’ candidate (never having been Oscar nominated in their own right), like Ben Affleck (“Shakespeare in Love”), Mathieu Amalric (“Munich”), Kevin Bacon (“Mystic River”), Eric Bana (“Munich”), Kate Beckinsale (“The Aviator”), Benjamin Bratt (“Traffic”), James Brolin (“Traffic”), Josh Brolin (“No Country for Old Men”), Steve Carell (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Jim Caviezel (“The Thin Red Line”), Ben Chaplin (“The Thin Red Line”), John Cusack (“The Thin Red Line”), Claire Danes (“The Hours”), Cameron Diaz (“Gangs of New York”), Christopher Eccleston (“Elizabeth”), Aaron Eckhart (“Erin Brockovich”), Colin Firth (“Shakespeare in Love”), Brendan Fraser (“Crash”), Romola Garai (“Atonement”), Jennifer Garner (“Juno”), Richard Gere (“Chicago”), Brendan Gleeson (“Gangs of New York”), Bruce Greenwood (“Capote”), Anne Hathaway (“Brokeback Mountain”), Bonnie Hunt (“The Green Mile”), Danny Huston (“The Aviator”), Scarlett Johansson (“Lost in Translation”), Keira Knightley (“Atonement”), Frank Langella (“Good Night, & Good Luck”), James McAvoy (“Atonement”), Ewan McGregor (“Moulin Rouge”), Anthony Mackie (“Million Dollar Baby”), Kate Mara (“Brokeback Mountain”), Alfred Molina (“Chocolat”), David Morse (“The Green Mile”), Carrie-Anne Moss (“Chocolat”), Thandie Newton (“Crash”), Connie Nielsen (“Gladiator”), Dennis Quaid (“Traffic”), Emmy Rossum (“Mystic River”), and Bruce Willis (“The Sixth Sense”).
All of these stars just named were only present in one of the fifty most recent ‘Best Picture’ nominated films. No amount of individual recognition can compare to the longer lasting celebration of being involved with one of the five most acclaimed movies of a given year. So
which actors and actresses are a casting director’s dream ticket to Oscar’s biggest prize?
What follows is a potential cast list for an epic movie! It doesn’t exist, of course, but gives you flavour of Hollywood’s favourite faces. Are they just lucky? Does the presence of certain stars influence the Academy to vote a film into the ‘Best Picture’ category? Are these just quality films regardless of who stars in them, and do certain actors have great agents who get them into the choicest roles?!
In the past decade, Cate Blanchett is the darling of the Oscars. Aside from her many individual nominations, she has appeared in six films nominated for ‘Best Picture’ – the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, along with “Elizabeth”, “Babel”, and her Oscar-winning turn as Katharine Hepburn in Scorsese’s “The Aviator”. Perhaps more remarkable is the supporting talent of the likes of John C. Reilly! While merely a nominee for Best Supporting Actor in his own right, he has appeared in five ‘Best Pictures’ between 1998-2007. In fact, aside from “The Thin Red Line” in 1998 and “The Aviator” in 2004, it was 2002 that was the “YEAR OF REILLY”!! Sitting there in the auditorium on Oscar night, he must have been beaming with pride knowing that his roles as Renee Zellweger’s cuckolded husband in “Chicago”, Julianne Moore’s bland husband in “The Hours”, and ‘Happy Jack’ in “Gangs of New York” were all in the ‘Best Picture’ realm in the same year.
Look at the cast list of talent that follows! It shows the credits (in brackets) of the actors and actresses who have appeared in multiple Best Picture winners and nominees from 1998-2007. Some of them are the most famous faces in Hollywood, while others’ names are completely unheard of! But there are plenty more in between. Inhabitants of Middle Earth dominate the list, as “Lord of the Rings” occupies three spots in the fifty ‘Best Pictures’ of the last decade. Equally, being appreciated by Martin Scorsese is helpful in padding out your C.V. His three films (“Gangs of New York”, “The Aviator”, and “The Departed”) were all placed in the Best Picture category. Let me set the scene ....
Ok, so you’re in the cinema, clinging to a stale bucket of overpriced popcorn, and the suffering through a string of intolerable car commercials has come to an end! Roll credits, cue drum-roll, it’s a trailer for ......
“THE OSCAR MOVIE!!!”
(cue the deep-voiced “movie guy announcer” talking over beaming
faces and dramatic poses of Hollywood’s elite)
“Starring ........ 14 Academy Award winners ..... in alphabetical order .....
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Aviator, Babel, The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge, Gangs of New York)
Adrien Brody (The Thin Red Line, The Pianist)
George Clooney (The Thin Red Line, Good Night & Good Luck, Michael Clayton)
Chris Cooper (American Beauty, Seabiscuit, Capote)
Russell Crowe (The Insider, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood)
Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat)
Tom Hanks (The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan)
Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, The Hours)
Helen Mirren (Gosford Park, The Queen)
Sean Penn (The Thin Red Line, Mystic River)
Geoffrey Rush (Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, Munich)
Catherine Zeta-Jones (Traffic, Chicago)
“Also starring, 20 Academy Award nominees ......
Alec Baldwin (The Aviator, The Departed)
Don Cheadle (Traffic, Crash)
Patricia Clarkson (The Green Mile, Good Night & Good Luck)
Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, The Hours, Little Miss Sunshine)
James Cromwell (The Green Mile, The Queen)
Matt Damon (Saving Private Ryan, The Departed)
Johnny Depp (Chocolat, Finding Neverland)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed)
Brad Dourif (The Lord of the Rings II & III)
Albert Finney (Traffic, Erin Brockovich)
Paul Giamatti (Saving Private Ryan, Sideways)
Woody Harrelson (The Thin Red Line, No Country for Old Men)
Ed Harris (A Beautiful Mind, The Hours)
Ian Holm (The Aviator, The Lord of the Rings I & III)
Terrence Howard (Crash, Ray)
Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Kelly Macdonald (Elizabeth, Gosford Park, Finding Neverland, No Country for Old Men)
Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
John C. Reilly (The Thin Red Line, The Hours, Gangs of New York, Chicago, The Aviator)
Tom Wilkinson (Shakespeare in Love, In The Bedroom, Michael Clayton)
“And featuring 15 stars who aren’t quite good enough to get an Oscar nomination!! .....
Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander)
Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Daniel Craig (Elizabeth, Munich)
Jeff Daniels (The Hours, Good Night & Good Luck)
Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood)
Joseph Fiennes (Elizabeth, Shakespeare in Love)
Michael Gambon (The Insider, Gosford Park)
Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Tobey Maguire (The Cider House Rules, Seabiscuit)
Ryan Philippe (Gosford Park, Crash)
Christopher Plummer (The Insider, A Beautiful Mind)
Liv Tyler (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Hugo Weaving (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
“And also featuring 26 people you know you know but aren’t sure where from! Wasn’t he the guy in that movie about the guy who did that thing?! ....
Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Eileen Atkins (Gosford Park, The Hours)
Bob Balaban (Gosford Park, Capote)
Billy Boyd (Master and Commander, The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Robert John Burke (Munich, Good Night & Good Luck)
Clifton Collins, Jr. (Traffic, Babel, Capote)
Anna Faris (Brokeback Mountain, Lost in Translation)
Colm Feore (The Insider, Chicago)
Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind)
David Hemmings (Gladiator, Gangs of New York)
Ciaran Hinds (Munich, There Will Be Blood)
Derek Jacobi (Gladiator, Gosford Park)
Allison Janney (American Beauty, The Hours, Juno)
Douglas McGrath (The Insider, Michael Clayton)
Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Michael Pena (Million Dollar Baby, Crash, Babel)
Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile)
John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan, Lost in Translation)
Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
J.K. Simmons (The Cider House Rules, Juno)
Nick Stahl (The Thin Red Line, In The Bedroom)
Larenz Tate (Crash, Ray)
Robert Wahlberg (Mystic River, The Departed)
David Wenham (Moulin Rouge, The Lord of the Rings II & III)
“Not to mention the extras!! They’re 40 people you’ve never heard of, but happen to be standing in the backgrounds of at least two Best Pictures in the last decade (in addition to the least famous member of the Allen family!) .....
Alfie Allen (Elizabeth, Atonement) – so what if Keith is his Dad and Lily is his sister?!
Sala Baker (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Eric Bruno Borgman (The Cider House Rules, Mystic River)
Cameron Bowen (Seabiscuit, Mystic River)
Daniel Brocklebank (Shakespeare In Love, The Hours)
Giorgio Cantarini (Life Is Beautiful, Gladiator)
Kevin Chapman (The Cider House Rules, In The Bedroom, Mystic River)
Joe Chrest (Erin Brockovich, The Aviator)
Spencer Treat Clark (Gladiator, Mystic River)
Annie Corley (The Cider House Rules, Seabiscuit)
Bryan Cranston (Saving Private Ryan, Little Miss Sunshine)
Rutherford Cravens (Ray, No Country for Old Men)
Barry Del Sherman (American Beauty, There Will Be Blood)
Shay Duffin (Seabiscuit, The Departed)
Lonnie Farmer (The Cider House Rules, Mystic River)
V.J. Foster (The Insider, Million Dollar Baby)
Patrick Gallagher (Master and Commander, Sideways)
Beth Grant (Little Miss Sunshine, No Country for Old Men)
Phil Hawn (The Insider, The Green Mile)
Hans Howes (Seabiscuit, There Will Be Blood)
Alex Jennings (Babel, The Queen)
Patrick Kennedy (Munich, Atonement)
Matthew Kimbrough (American Beauty, Erin Brockovich)
Scotty Leavenworth (The Green Mile, Erin Brockovich)
Tim McMullan (Shakespeare in Love, The Queen)
J.C. MacKenzie (The Departed, The Aviator)
Margo Martindale (The Hours, Million Dollar Baby)
David Nicholls (Gladiator, Gangs of New York)
Michael O’Neill (Traffic, Seabiscuit)
Steven Christopher Parker (Little Miss Sunshine, Juno)
Joseph P. Reidy (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed)
Matt Ross (The Aviator, Good Night & Good Luck)
Nellie Sciutto (The Aviator, The Departed)
Terry Serpico (The Departed, Michael Clayton)
Christian Simpson (Elizabeth, Gladiator)
Pat Skipper (Erin Brockovich, Seabiscuit)
Don Snell (Traffic, Erin Brockovich)
Chris Ufland (The Insider, The Aviator)
John Walcott (Seabiscuit, Little Miss Sunshine)
Harriet Walter (Babel, Atonement)
Peter Wight (Babel, Atonement)
“Yes, go see this movie! It’s nominated for Best Picture of the year!” (sound the trumpets!)
If you’re on this last list, audiences will not have heard of you, and only your family and friends will cheer when you appear on screen for seconds behind your Clooneys or your Mirrens. But these no-name extras have managed what Streep and Nicholson haven’t done in the last decade – namely to appear in more than one film nominated for the ‘Best Picture’ Oscar!
It’s a funny old game, the movie business. There’s no real rhyme or reason to what captures the imagination of the Academy’s voters every twelve months. Which “For Your Consideration” marketing campaigns will lead to a movie being nominated for Best Picture, and which will just stand as a vehicle for the film’s budget-hogging star? Do the studios want to set out to make movies that will win Academy Awards? It doesn’t always work, as the perfect writer, cast, director and storyline on paper has all the makings of an Oscar-winning classic, but very often gets pushed aside in favour of the low-budget crowd-pleaser, or the obscure film that revives a previously-forgotten performer. All that can be said in the sunset of the 2008 Oscars is that if you’re thinking future awards when making your casting decisions, if you’ve got Cate Blanchett on board, John C. Reilly and Chris Cooper are happy with supporting roles, guns or goblins are involved, and there’s a brooding Russell Crowe or Leonardo DiCaprio on the movie poster, then you’ve got a better than even shot at Best Picture! And the Oscar goes to ......
