Best Actress Oscar Trivia

I've never heard it mentioned before... so it might be a first!

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I've seen them both now, and they're both deserving of the award.

I'm predicting Julie Christie for the win, though. Both give terrific acting performances. Julie's is mostly internal: mental confusion, depression and anguish, while Cotillard's is mostly external: physical debilitation, aging, theatricality and (to some degree) mimicry.

Both are right on the money and entirely believable, though. And from my own personal POV, I believe Julie's work to be more impressive on the degree-of-difficulty scale. It's hard to do what she did with basically "no tricks." No excessive makeup, no theatrics, no original vocal recordings or footage of an iconic legend to study and help you out.

I also think Cotillard has two (if not more) strikes against her unfortunately: she's not doing her own singing, and her performance is in a foreign language. Only three performances in the history of the Oscars have won for a foreign language performance (Sophia Loren, Roberto Benigni and Robert De Niro in Godfather II). Only two have won it for a foreign language film. I'm not saying she shouldn't be next, but the historical odds are against her.

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Mmmm, I find that debatable. To me, it's up between Christie and Page in terms of the best performance. Christie gave such a quiet, detailed, heart-breaking performance in AWAY FROM HER. Page overcame the difficulties of the traps of playing Juno, she was always walking that thin line between struggling teenager and annoying emo kid. She brought in so much to the role, plus she made it funny without taking the real emotions from it. In a year full of dramatic, big performances, it would be nice to see Page's work recognized.
Having said that, it's between Cotillard and Christie. To be honest, I thought Cotillard did great acting in LA VIE EN ROSE, but I'm just a bit tired of all these people getting awards for mimicking someone else. Yes, I know, it's more than mimicking, it's revealing the essence of the person, etc, etc, etc. But I do find it a bit gimmicky. If she wins (and I think the award belongs to Christie), it won't be undeserved but I believe there are worthier actresses in the category.

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Christie's performance, months after seeing the film, still gives me goosebumps when I think about it.

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It will either go to Christie or Marion. Marion gave the best performance of the year. Period!

Here's what I found: from 1960-2001
1963-Best Supporting Actress
Diane Cilento-Australia
Dame Edith Evans-Great Britain
Joyce Redman-Ireland
Margaret Rutherford-Great Britain
Lilia Skala-Austria

1965-Best Actress
Julie Andrews-Great Britain
Julie Christie-Great Britain
Samantha Eggar-Great Britain
Elizabeth Hartman-USA
Simone Signoret-France

1966-Best Actress
Anouk Aimee-France
Ida Kaminska-Czechoslovakia
Lynn Redgrave-Great Britain
Vanessa Redgrave-Great Britain
Elizabeth Taylor-USA (born in Great Britain)

1971- Best Actress
Julie Christie-Great Britain
Jane Fonda-USA
Glenda Jackson-Great Britain
Vanessa Redgrave-Great Britain
Janet Suzman-South Africa

1992-Best Supporting Actress
Judy Davis-Australia
Joan Plowright-Great Britain
Vanessa Redgrave-Great Britain
Miranda Richardson-Great Britain
Marisa Tomei-USA (aside: one of Oscar's great mysteries)

1997-Best Actress
Helena Bonham Carter-Great Britain
Julie Christie-Great Britain
Judi Dench-Great Britain
Helen Hunt-USA
Kate Winslet-Great Britain

1998-Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates-USA
Brenda Blethyn-Great Britain
Judi Dench-Great Britain
Rachel Griffiths-Australia
Lynn Redgrave-Great Britain

and that's just actresses, I didn't bother with the actors.

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StageManager2 - I forgot about the five women in 2004. Excellent!

Urban, Tomei gave a spectacular, and yes award-worthy comic performance in MY COUSIN VINNY. However, compared with the ferociousness of both Judy Davis and Miranda Richardsons performances (maybe they cancelled each other out) it is odd she won.


Ironically, Tomei was robbed about ten years later for the same award in IN THE BEDROOM.

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Oh, please, get over it. Marisa Tomei gave a brilliant comedic performance, I don't understand why that is less accomplished than Judy Davis' or Miranda Richardson's performances. I don't understand the "mystery" behind it, for the first time the Academy went for a non-Oscar bait role and it went to someone who very much deserved it. To this day, I think Tomei's performance in MY COUSIN VINNY is genius. I agree she was robbed for IN THE BEDROOM though, well, her and Kate Winslet for her flawless supporting role in IRIS.

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I think some people take issue with the fact that Tomei wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe or BAFTA or other awards, but I concur that hers was well-deserved. Lisa's testimony kills me every time.

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Updated On: 1/28/08 at 12:26 PM

If the wrong name was read, that would have been settled by now...


Anyway. Though I loved Christie and think that she's completely deserving of the award, I would vote for Cotillard.

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Forget about In The Bedroom and My Cousin Vinny, how about Before The Devil Knows You're Dead? I would gladly hand her the oscar for her subtle, yet still comedic performance in that movie.