Does the 'Oscar curse' still exist in the 21st Century for Hollywood actresses?
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By David NouNou
The
Oscar category I am speaking of is Best Actress. Now that September is
here and the summer popcorn movies are behind us, this is the time when
studios and indies start unveiling their serious Oscar contenders. In
looking at the roster of best actresses since 1997, when Helen Hunt won
for As Good As It Gets, one cannot help but wonder what happens to
the careers of these ladies of the cinema? One thing all the actresses
have in common before they win the Oscar is a formidable body of work,
and after they win this trophy, their movie career seems to stall or
flounder. With the exception of Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren (thank God
they are constantly working), it seems the rest of the winners stop
taking their movie careers seriously.
In the 1930s and 1940s for
some of the actresses who won this prestigious award and did not produce
successful movies, it was called the Oscar Curse; now is the award just a
goal to attain and then go on to pursue their goals in their personal
lives? Some get married, some divorce, and some have children, and some
have a combination of any of the two or more mentioned. However, there
are still some that must get caught up in the trappings of the days of
old that winning an Oscar meant to constantly seek the next
award-winning role and forget their roots; or in this case, their roles
that led them to their victory and thus failing. And some must just out
price themselves and they are no longer worth the high fees they
command, thus becoming a risk rather than an asset.
Most of these
winners are beautiful young ladies who won for roles that detracted
from their beauty and required them to delve within themselves to find
the right mix to define their part. Case in point: Halle Berry, Charlize
Theron, and Nicole Kidman. They are all still beauties (whether
surgically enhanced or still natural, that is debatable) and they are
still famous, but the focus on their movie career has shifted. Yes,
some were married, some got remarried and some had a significant other.
Their fame now is often due to endorsing products, being spokeswomen for
cosmetics and colognes, constantly being seen on those infernal red
carpets, being scrutinized and bashed for what they wore on what seems
on a daily basis, and being paparazzi darlings. Most of them have lost
their touch to find roles that highlight their talents. Every actress
who has won the Best Actress award since 1997 will be mentioned with a
description of their careers since winning and you, the reader, can be
the judge for the accuracy of this article, and we look forward to your
comments.
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| HELEN HUNT: After winning the Best Actress Oscar in 1997 for 'As Good As It Gets,' her career vanished. Photo: TriStar Pictures/Gracie Films |
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HELEN HUNT, 1997 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Ms. Hunt was a TV darling and winner of four consecutive Emmys from
1996 to 1999 as Jamie Buchman in “Mad About You.” She had a few
interesting parts in her early movie career in: Peggy Sue Got Married with Kathleen Turner and Nicholas Cage, Mr. Saturday Night with Billy Crystal, Bob Roberts with Tim Robbins, and Twister with special effects. Then bingo, she landed a role of a lifetime: Carol Connelly, the waitress in As Good As It Gets.
A Golden Globe came her way, then the SAG award, and finally the Oscar.
Since that win, she had a nice supporting role opposite Tom Hanks in Cast Away and dreary parts in Dr. T and The Women, Pay It Forward, Woody Allen’s abysmal Curse of the Jade Scorpion, and this year’s Soul Surfer.
An award-filled early career, then some wrong movie choices, and now
she is almost non-existent. In this case one has to wonder is it the
Oscar Curse, out-pricing herself, or too many bad choices?
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| 'SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE': Gwyneth Paltrow has never topped her career peak since winning the Oscar in 1998. Photo: Miramax Studios |
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GWYNETH PALTROW, 1998 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
Hollywood’s pedigree princess (the daughter of actress
Blythe Danner and producer Bruce Paltrow) has beauty, charm, wit, and
talent. In the early part of her career, she was a paparazzi darling
because of her high-profile romances and breakups with Brad Pitt and Ben
Affleck. Not too shabby. Her film career started to take off with roles
in Se7en, Emma, Sliding Doors, Great Expectations and A Perfect Murder. And then came Shakespeare In Love.
She also won the trifecta: Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar for Best
Actress.Thanks to Miramax’s publicists working way overtime, they
managed to garner the Oscar for Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan;
talk about injustice. Miramax managed to get Judi Dench a Supporting
Actress award as a consolation prize for an eight-minute cameo because
she lost the previous year to Helen Hunt for her role as Queen Victoria
in Mrs. Brown and even getting Roberto Benigni an Oscar for Best Actor for Life Is Beautiful.
Such was the power of Miramax. Since then, Ms. Paltrow has not had a
movie strong enough to be worthy of her talent. She was decorative in The Talented Mr. Ripley; in actuality the film belonged to Matt Damon and Jude Law. In Shallow Hal, she portrayed a fat girl (in a fat suit) with a heart of gold, quirky in The Royal Tenenbaums,
and an ambitious flight attendant in View from the Top. The film tanked
but was cute. Quirky in Running with Scissors and decorative again in
both Iron Man movies. In Ms. Paltrow’s case the choices she made, were
her own. She is happily married to Chris Martin of the British band
Coldplay and six months of the year she lives in England with him and
their two children. The movie choices she made are her own as well,
though not always the best, for why else would she have chosen to play
in 2010’s Country Strong? Without her name, this film would have
been a substandard Lifetime made-for-TV movie. I know she made the
rounds for an Oscar nod; however ill advised, the movie showed us that
she really is a good singer. As Holly Holliday in the hit TV series
"Glee," she is sensational. She’s been a spokesperson for Estee Lauder
and later this month she will be one of the stars in the all-star movie Contagion
with her former co-stars Matt Damon, Jude Law, as well as Kate Winslet,
Marion Cotillard and Laurence Fishburne. Let’s hope this role will put
her back in the inner circle again.
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| 'BOYS DON'T CRY': Hilary Swank gave a brilliant performance and won an Oscar, but never managed to become the major star she should have been |
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HILARY SWANK, 1999 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR BOYS DON'T CRY
Tough act to follow. Won again in 2004. See 2004.
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| 'ERIN BROCKOVICH': Julia Roberts won in 2000 for this film, but is not the box-office draw she once was |
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JULIA ROBERTS, 2000 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR ERIN BROCKOVICH
What does one say about Julia that hasn’t already been
documented in myriads of publications? With that gorgeous smile, hearty
laugh, wicked sense of humor and beautiful head of hair, she is
America’s Sweetheart. By Hollywood standards, she is rapidly approaching
America’s “senior” sweetheart; she is almost 44. Oy. She certainly had a
formidable career before winning. She had two prior nominations: for Steel Magnolias in 1989 and a Best Actress nomination in 1990 for Pretty Woman. However, it was Erin Brockovich
that won her the coveted trifecta and every other award under the sun
and deservedly so. Also who can ever forget that magnificent Valentino
black and white gown on Oscar night, which is now legendary? So what
happened to Julia since her win? Certainly no other nomination since.
Well, she broke up with Benjamin Bratt her then boyfriend and married
Danny Motor in 2002 and has three children and is ecstatically happy.
Away from the Hollywood madness until a role beckons her. Not
necessarily a great role, but a role she can have fun in and a cast she
is comfortable with. In this case Ocean’s 11 and Ocean's 12, she was decorative in them, gave it her best shot for a nomination for Mona Lisa Smile and Closer. However, her supporting cast ended up getting most of the acclaim. Valentine’s Day, was just a filler, in an all-star cast movie, and done as a favor to Gary Marshall, her Pretty Woman director. She was in 2007’s Charlie Wilson’s War and this year’s Larry Crowne,
both with Tom Hanks. Both actors are great individually but somehow
together, the audience just doesn’t buy them. Lesson to be learned here:
Julia, stay away from Tom Hanks. Not the best career choices, but she
doesn’t care; she is simply enjoying her life now. Here is an actress
that, at the top of her game, opted to leave the rat race, got married,
and had her family. She lives by her own rules, is not dictated by her
career, and is one of the very few actresses that can come back whenever
she pleases. Also she happens to be one of a 1,000 of Oprah’s closest,
dearest and nearest friends.
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| HALLE BERRY: Won Oscar for 'Monster's Ball', but has made endless flops since then |
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HALLE BERRY, 2001 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR MONSTER'S BALL
It was a proverbial hop, skip and a jump for Ms. Berry when she was
Miss Ohio and first runner-up in the 1986 Miss USA beauty pageant, to
her Oscar victory in 2001. Ms. Berry started in TV. with such series as
“Living Dolls” and “Knots Landing.” Next, came parts in movies like Jungle Fever, The Flintstones, Executive Decision, and Bulworth with Warren Beatty. All were roles that relied on her beauty rather than any real acting skills. Finally, in 1999, she landed Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,
an HBO movie about the African-American singing/acting legend that
earned Ms. Berry all the TV awards for best actress, and at last, signs
of acting chops started to show. X-Men and Swordfish followed as well as her role of a lifetime; Letticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball.
She now had the experience and confidence to shed her beauty, and be
among the first winners to delve within herself to find the heart of the
character and not rely on her beauty. For that she was rewarded with a
SAG and an Oscar. Then came the character Jinx (that should have been an
indication) in the James Bond movie Die Another Day, followed by X Men
2, Gothika, and the career-ending role, the dreadful and unwatchable Catwoman.
It was at that moment that the Academy should have recalled her Oscar.
Since then, her beauty made her a spokeswoman for Revlon, and her
divorce from Eric Benet in 2005 made her tabloid fodder. In the same
year, she met French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubrey, they met at a
Versace photo shoot (now there was a match made in narcissism
heaven).They had a daughter, Nala, in 2008 and then split in 2010, and
are still in a custody battle over her. In December 2010, she finally
released a movie Frankie and Alice, which played in Los Angeles and New York
to qualify for the Oscars, and this time both the Academy and the public
demanded a recall for that coveted 2001 Oscar. Since her win in 2001,
she has acquired the distinction of being one of the most beautiful
women on any red carpet, always in killer designer outfits with a killer
body for a woman her age and talked about ad nauseaum about how great
she looks at all times. Does anyone remember she ever had a movie career?
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| 'THE HOURS': Nicole Kidman won for this film, but did she really deserve the Oscar? |
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NICOLE KIDMAN, 2002 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR THE HOURS
The statuesque Australian beauty divorced Tom Cruise, freed herself
from Scientology, was finally able to wear high heels again and started
to get recognition as an actress in her own right and not just as Mrs.
Tom Cruise. A beauty indeed, talented for sure, dubious movie choices
after her win? – most definitely. She certainly had a respectable movie
career before her win. In 2001, she was nominated for Moulin Rouge and lost to Halle Berry (ouch). The Hours gave
her a second nomination and win, and all she had to do was shed her
beauty and don a prosthetic nose as classic English writer Virginia
Woolf. Did she deserve to win? Maybe not, for she is another actress
that wins an award for losing it the previous year. However, she proved
she had the chops but was she able to make the correct choices? She
signed for Cold Mountain before her win and she certainly gave it
her best shot. However, playing a Civil War-era Southern belle was
outside her grasp. The kudos for that went to Jude Law and Renee
Zellwegger. After that, it seemed that she took every role that came her
way. Were the scripts really that good on paper, or was it just to
capitalize on her fame and take the money and run? Because what other
reason would have propelled an actress who just won an Oscar to accept
so many mediocre roles? They included: Dogville, The Human Stain, The Stepford Wives, Bewitched, Fur, The Invasion, and the bomb Australia and more that were even worse and not worth mentioning. In 2009, she did Nine, a dreadful adaptation of the Broadway musical. An all-star fiasco thanks to Rob Marshall’s lack of vision. Rabbit Hole
in 2010 brought her a third nomination, but the movie’s lack of wide
release and poor direction, made the film go unnoticed. Since her win in
2002 her highly publicized marriage (and may I add a happy one this
time) to country singer and fellow Aussie Keith Urban and the birth of
their daughter, Sunday Rose, has kept her in the news along with the
speculation of how many face jobs she’s had as well as her “hit and
miss” fashion sense on the infernal red carpet has made her a media
darling. She can still be seen on the Channel No. 5 ads. However, her
curse seems to be in the many roles she chose since her 2002 win
that amounted to nothing.
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| 'MONSTER': Beautiful Charlize Theron got ugly & won an Oscar, but has struggled in Hollywood ever since |
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CHARLIZE THERON, 2003 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR MONSTER
Charlize is a gorgeous South African beauty who was gradually building
her movie career until she won for her unrecognizable role of the
runaway, lesbian murderer Aileen Wuornos (she reportedly gained 30
pounds for the part). She also won the trifecta in awards and every
award imaginable. A second, well- deserved nomination followed in 2005
for North Country, and then came the screeching halt. What happened? I know she did eight movies since her win, most notably In the Valley of Elah, but that was Tommy Lee Jones’ movie; and the sci-fi stinker, Aeon Flux.
Now that is an Oscar Curse. She has devoted a lot of her time to
humanitarian endeavors and charities: those being women’s rights, HIV
prevention in her native Africa, pro-choice causes, animal rights, and
same-sex marriage. Kudos for all that. Let’s hope that her 2011 film,
which is yet to be released, Young Adult, will lift off her Oscar Curse.
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| 'MILLION DOLLAR BABY': Hilary Swank won her second Oscar, but did the film typecast her? |
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HILARY SWANK, 2004 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR MILLION DOLLAR BABY
If there ever was a casting enigma, it would have
to be Hilary Swank. No one can deny that she is a talented and an
accomplished, intelligent actress. With the proper make-up and fashion,
she can be transformed into a beauty. She is not one but a two-time
Oscar winner, and both roles were of the utmost unconventional sort. In
1999, she won for Boys Don’t Cry, playing a transgendered man, Brandon
Teena. For this role, not only did she lose her looks, she had to be
transformed into a young woman passing herself off as a man in Nebraska,
of all places: A state that is not known for its tolerance. It paid
off in a grand way, winning everything imaginable. Her second Oscar win
came for portraying Maggie Fitzgerald, a female boxer in Million Dollar
Baby. Thanks to Clint Eastwood’s expert direction, he navigated her to
her second victory and, again, every award imaginable. In between her
two wins and even after her second win, her movie roles have been mostly
forgettable. Her attempt at romantic comedy in P.S. I Love You was a dud.
Portraying Amelia Earhart in Amelia was equally disastrous. Her only
other movie I can remember is last year’s Conviction. Had it been a hit,
it might have earned her a nomination, but it wasn’t. In 2007, she
ended her marriage of 10 years, divorcing her husband, Chad Lowe.
Bummer. Of all the working actresses today, she is the hardest to accept
in a movie role that isn’t gender- bending. To be a two-time Oscar
winner and not be able to carry a movie is a curse. I guess in order to
win a third Oscar, she will have to transform herself in yet another
remake of Scarface.
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| 'WALK THE LINE': Reese Witherspoon won out of default for this movie, playing June Carter Cash |
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REESE WITHERSPOON, 2005 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR WALK THE LINE
Certainly a successor to Julia Roberts’ title of
America’s Sweetheart. With her Southern charm, beauty, smile and
vivaciousness, it is easy to see why she is a sweetheart. She started
out with the cult classic Freeway (with Kiefer Sutherland) in 1996, but
that’s not a film most associate with Reese the mega-watt movie star.
From her hit Hollywood film debut, The Man in the Moon to Pleasantville,
Cruel Intentions where she met her first husband, Ryan Phillippe, to
Election, Legally Blonde 1 & 2 as well as Sweet Home Alabama, she
has captivated her audience and they loved her unconditionally. When she
played June Carter Cash in Walk The Line it was no contest (literally).
She won out of default. And she won big; not a crumb was left for any
other actress that year. Unfortunately all did not end happily after her
win. Her divorce with Phillippe was public and finalized in 2007. To
her chagrin, her custody battle of her two children was also front-page
news. As low a profile as she tries to maintain her other high-profile
relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal played out publicly. Unlike a lot of
other movie actresses or reality show people, she is not a media whore.
She expects her personal life and family life to remain private. In
March of 2011, she married talent agent Jim Toth at her California
country estate with as little fanfare as possible, with no visible media
or paparazzi; she paid for her own wedding and wasn’t paid to be
married on television. Now there is a classy lady getting married for
all the right reasons. After her win, she made a handful of movies,
mostly forgettable and regrettable. They consisted of Rendition, during
which she met Gyllenhaal, the God-awful Penelope with Christina Ricci,
which she also produced, Four Christmases – a holiday no treat, last
year’s epic disaster How Do You Know, with Jack Nicholson and this
year’s lackluster Water for Elephants, co-starring with the bland Robert
Pattinson, thus lacking any form of chemistry. Here is another curse
that needs to be lifted—and fast.
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| HELEN MIRREN: She won for 'The Queen' in 2006 & is one of the few working Oscar-winning actresses in Hollywood |
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HELEN MIRREN, 2006 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR THE QUEEN
One of Britain’s greatest exports, the
brilliant Dame Helen Mirren. Prior to The Queen, she had two previous
supporting actress nominations. In 1995, for The Madness of King George,
and in 2001, the all-star Robert Altman masterpiece, Gosford Park. Dame
Helen started her brilliant career as a stage and TV actress in her
native England. American audiences got to know her from her Emmy-winning
British series “Prime Suspect” and was a co-star in the 1984 sci-fi
movie 2010, as well as the 1985 movie White Knights with Mikhail
Baryshnikov and the late Gregory Hines. Countless other movies followed.
Finally a role that comes once in a lifetime: portraying Queen
Elizabeth II and dealing with the public’s reaction that followed after
Princess Diana’s death. Her resemblance to the Queen is uncanny and her
performance is mesmerizing. She received the trifecta awards as well as
international awards from every film festival around the world. She
received another nomination in 2009 for best actress in The Last
Station. This Dame exudes brilliance at all times and for all seasons,
and her sense of humor is addictive. Let’s just hope that the curse
doesn’t get her to do another piece of garbage like last year’s The
Tempest directed by—dare I say the name—Julie Taymor? Ugh, leaves a
bad taste in the mouth, followed by this year’s atrocious remake of
Arthur. On the bright side at least, here is one older actress who is
constantly working.
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| 'LA VIE EN ROSE': France's Marion Cotillard won in 1997 for playing Edith Piaf |
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MARION COTILLARD, 2007 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR LA VIE EN ROSE
The night she won her Oscar, Marion Cotillard was
unknown to the general public stateside. “Who is she?” was the general
question. The lines didn’t connect yet that, in 2001, she was in Pretty
Things; her English-speaking role was in Tim Burton’s 2003 all- star Big
Fish; the French movie A Very Long Engagement, followed by A Good Year
with Russell Crowe; and finally La Vie En Rose, a retelling of the
life of the French chanteuse Edith Piaf. Like Helen Mirren before her,
she won American as well as international film awards for this role.
Suddenly, a beautiful new star emerged, and a French one at that. In
2009, she played opposite Johnny Depp in Public Enemies, and the same
year she played Luisa Contini in the Hollywood musical adaptation of
Nine. She was one of the few worthwhile things in an otherwise listless
movie. 2010 showcased her in the brilliant Christopher Nolan movie
Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2011, she appeared in Woody Allen’s
Midnight in Paris and the all-star movie Contagion with Matt Damon,
Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Laurence Fishburne.
Interesting to see it for the cast alone, if nothing else.
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| KATE WINSLET: Won Best Actress for 'The Reader' but was more powerful in 'Revolutionary Road.' |
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KATE WINSLET, 2008 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR THE READER
Another talented
bundle from Britain who finally won the golden boy on her sixth time at
bat. However, I always felt that this role was more of a supporting role
than Best Actress. That same year, she should have had a seventh
nomination for the poorly received Revolutionary Road, co-starring with
Leonardo DiCaprio. Her character was more fleshed out in Road; however
Miramax pushed for Best Actress for The Reader and were able to defeat
Meryl Streep in yet another Oscar-worthy performance, this time for
Doubt, to finally land Winslet her Oscar. We first got to know her in
the 1994 New Zealand film Heavenly Creatures, followed by Ang Lee’s
Sense and Sensibility in 1995 with Emma Thompson, in which she garnered
her first Best Supporting Actress nod. She followed this with the
humongous 1997 mega-hit Titanic and her first co-starring role opposite
Leonardo Di Caprio as Rose DeWitt Bukater, earning her the first of her
best actress nods. Iris brought her a third nomination in 2001 this time
in as supporting actress. 2004 brought her the fourth nomination for
Best Actress for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opposite Jim
Carrey. 2006 earned her fifth nomination for Little Children and finally
Oscar came her way in 2008. In 2010, Ms. Winslet separated from her
husband, the Oscar-winning director for American Beauty, Sam Mendes
after seven years of marriage, and two children. However, 2011 has been a
good year for Ms. Winslet. She starred in the HBO remake of Mildred
Pierce, earning her an Emmy nomination. She will be seen later this
month in the film Contagion; and in December, Carnage, based on
Yasmina Reza’s hit Broadway play God of Carnage, which might just land
her a seventh nomination.
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| 'THE BLIND SIDE': Sandra Bullock won the Oscar shortly before personal scandal made her tabloid fodder |
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SANDRA BULLOCK, 2009 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR THE BLIND SIDE
In early 2009, if you would have said that Ms
Bullock would be an Oscar nominee, most people would have chortled and
laughed. To even ponder the thought that she would beat Meryl Streep in
an incredible performance as Julia Child in Julie and Julia was
preposterous and ludicrous. However, when The Blind Side opened in
November 2009, it turned out to be a blockbuster. To date, she is the
only female star to carry a film to over $200 million domestically
without using 3D glasses, and solely on her star power. She did it with
talent and likability. Did she really deserve the Oscar? Most people
might say no, especially if they had seen Meryl’s superb performance.
Over the years, she has been in many popular hits and her bankability is
undeniable. What was denied to her was her happy marriage. To add
insult to injury, at every award show she extolled the virtues of her
husband Jesse James, only to discover 10 days after winning the Oscar
that he had been cheating on her while she was making this film. In June
of 2010, her divorce from Jesse James was finalized, and she spent the
rest of the year in seclusion raising her adopted son, Louis.
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| 'BLACK SWAN': Portman won for this film, but only time will tell if she'll be a victim of the Oscar Curse |
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NATALIE PORTMAN, 2010 BEST ACTRESS
WINNER FOR BLACK SWAN
An impressive
resume from the get-go. She was in Woody Allen’s all-star Everyone Says I
Love You, the stellar cast of Mars Attacks, Star Wars Episode 1, 2
and 3, and Garden State. Her first nomination came in 2004 as supporting
actress for Closer with Julia Roberts and Jude Law followed by mediocre
movies like The Other Boleyn Girl with Scarlett Johansson and Eric
Bana, Brothers with Tobey McGuire and Jake Gyllenhaal; and capping it
with Black Swan, her Oscar-winning movie. Expecting a baby with her
ballet dancer/choreographer “fiancé” Benjamin Millepied during the
award season didn’t hurt her chances of winning. Recently she gave birth
to a baby boy. However, her three movies in 2011 have been less than
sterling. They were No Strings Attached with Ashton Kutcher, Your
Highness with James Franco, a total bomb; and Thor. Let’s just hope that
the curse doesn’t come knocking on the 30-year-old’s door in the near
future.
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Looking forward to 2011
& beyond for Best Actress Oscar winners
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2011: Who will it be? One can only hope Meryl Streep as
Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. It would be her 17th nomination,
more than any actor or actress ever received. Hopefully, it will also be
her long overdue third win. Dare one hope that in 2012 she will get her
18th nomination for the film adaptation of the Broadway saga August:
Osage County and her fourth win? What makes Meryl Streep so magnificent
and special is that she is the best actress of any generation. Whether
mastering accents, the stage, cinema, or music, she has conquered them
all. She has been married to Don Gummer since 1978 and they have four
children. Wife, mother, actress, and activist, she’s done it all, and
possesses a killer sense of humor. The perfect example of a woman being
able to have it all: a family and a career simultaneously
It is
amazing to see how many actresses get a divorce or separate from a long
term relationship after winning the Oscar. Let us review by year of
their victory: In 1997 Helen Hunt separated from long-term boyfriend Hank
Azaria. In 1999, Hilary Swank divorced Chad Lowe. 2000, Julia Roberts
broke up with long-term boyfriend Benjamin Bratt; 2001 Halle Berry
divorced Eric Benet. In 2003, Charlize Theron separated from longtime
boyfriend, Stuart Townsend after 10 years of being together. In 2004,
Hilary Swank, won twice during this term; in 2005, Reese Witherspoon
divorced Ryan Phillippe. In 2008, Kate Winslet separated from husband
Sam Mendes. In 2010, Sandra Bullock divorced Jesse James. She may have
been granted the fasted divorce for just reasons. The fate of 2010 winner Natalie Portman is not clear yet;
it is too soon to tell. She just had a baby boy with her Black
Swan choreographer boyfriend. Status unclear. Are all these separations,
breakups, and divorces, a curse or coincidence?
On a brighter note,
Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Reese Witherspoon
have all found their husbands (their real-life partners and are involved in
mature relationships that are not fueled by the media) and got married
after winning their Oscars.
Actors, on the other hand, have fared
much better. With the exception of Roberto Benigni (WHO?) for Life Is
Beautiful, Best Actor winner in 1998, thanks to the Miramax publicity
office working tirelessly during Oscar season; they helped Mr. Benigni
toward victory. Winning Foreign Film was unavoidable and sensible, but
winning Best Actor? What the hell was the Academy thinking that year?
This article is dedicated to my brother, Ernest Nounou, a fellow film aficionado, for his passion, persistence, and insistence.
Published September 6, 2011
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