Best Actress 1991: Special Agent Starling, FBI

One of the few Best Actress wins of recent memory that obviously cry out in favor of Jessica Chastain's chances at winning this February is Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling.  Her FBI-agent-in-training instantly became a modern icon and was the rare (at the time) female who filled the hero archetype in movies.  (Recently, I caught Christine Lakin's brilliant sendup of Foster in Silence! The Musical.)  The film detailed the plight of a woman on the hunt while reconciling childhood memories.  Certainly, she was green behind the ears, but she was smart, capable, and relied on her instincts.  She saved the day, when others who underestimated her chased other distractions.  Sounds kind of like "Maya" from Zero Dark Thirty, without the specific political baggage, though I haven't seen anything other than that one clip leaked on the internet that I don't recommend watching out of context.  How will it fair at the box-office once it opens?  Initially, its platform release will benefit from the high critical praise and awards circuit timing, but, once it breaks for the masses in January, will it sustain the momentum and secure Chastain a win?

Foster had already won an Oscar for The Accused three years previously, which legitimized the former child star's career as an adult.  Lambs was the first film she made after her Oscar win, thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer turning down the opportunity to reteam with director Jonathan Demme.  This classic movie hit big at the beginning of the year, scaring audiences and drawing them in droves.  Foster's second film of 1991 would be her directorial debut Little Man Tate.  Her one-two punch would nab her Entertainment Weekly's Entertainer of the Year.

Though there was little doubt that she would win for her performance in the high-grossing eventual Best Picture winner, her main competition, Thelma & Louise, had a built-in vote split the lead acting categories haven't seen since.  There was no Terms of Endearment dilemma here.  Like Foster, Geena Davis had just won an Oscar in 1988.  And Susan Sarandon was just getting started on a litany of nominations that would culminate in a win four years later.  The race was pretty straight forward with no real surprises, though Mrs. Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, came awfully close to joining the field of Oscar nominees that year as that tough broad Virginia Hill in Bugsy.  (This would have been the sixth year in-a-row--that would end the next year--that the Golden Globe Comedy winner would attain entry into the final Oscar race.)

After winning Oscar again, Foster would solidify her reputation for being selective about her projects, making one movie every year or two.  Aggravating for fans, it helped build up her box-office cache.  And, in an age where most actors will take a paycheck for anything, she turned down another go as Starling in Hannibal, the inferior, forgettable, unnecessary sequel.  And she did it for the right reasons (the story just wasn't right).  She could get Nell, a film about a backwoods woman who speaks her own language, passed $30M (in 1994), as well as single-handedly bring films like Contact, Panic Room, and Flightplan at or near the magical $100M mark.  While Julia Roberts may have been the Hollywood Queen for her commercial power, none of her films in her heyday ever contained much cerebral content or style.  These days, Foster hasn't drummed up quite the numbers, but still commands great respect in the industry.  Will Chastain enjoy a similar fate?  We shall see.

The 1991 Best Actress Nominees:
Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs: GG Drama, New York, Chicago, Kansas City, BAFTA winner; National Society (2nd), London (2nd) nominee.  ($19M / $130.7M / $272.7M; 96% RT)

Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise: NBR, London winner; GG Drama, New York (2nd), Chicago, National Society (3rd), BAFTA nominee.  ($16.5M / $45.4M; Summer release; 91%)

Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise: Boston, NBR winner; GG Drama, LA (2nd), New York (2nd), Chicago, BAFTA nominee.

Bette Midler, For the Boys: GG Comedy winner; Chicago nominee.  ($40M / $17.9M; $38% RT)

Laura Dern, Rambling Rose: GG Drama, Chicago nominee.  ($7.5M / $6.3M; Fall release; 100% RT)


The Also-Ran:
Annette Bening, Bugsy: GG Drama, Chiago nominee.  ($49.1M; 88%)


The Also-Nominated (for Supporting):
Mercedes Ruehl, The Fisher King: AMPAS (supporting), GG supporting, LA (supporting), Chicago (supporting), Boston (lead), Venice (lead) winner.  ($41.9M; Fall release; 84% RT)

Jessica Tandy, Fried Green Tomatoes: AMPAS, GG supporting nominee; BAFTA (lead) nominee. ($82.4M / $119.4M; 83% RT)

The Other Competition:

Kathy Bates, Fried Green Tomatoes: GG Comedy, BAFTA (supporting) nominee.

Angelica Huston, The Addams Family: GG Comedy nominee.  ($30M / $113.5M / $191.5M; 60% RT

Lily Tomlin, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe: Seattle winner; ISA nominee.  ($0.6M, Fall release;

Alison Steadman, Life is Sweet: National Society winner.  ($1.5M; Fall release; 100% RT)

Anne Parillaud, Le Femme Nikita: Chicago nominee.  ($5M; Spring release; 88% RT)

Juliet Stevenson, Truly Madly Deeply: BAFTA nominee.  ($1.6M; Spring release; 72% RT)

Michelle Pfeiffer, Frankie and Johnny: GG Comedy nominee.  ($22.8M; Fall release; 78% RT)

Ellen Barkin, Switch: GG Comedy nominee.  ($15.6M; Spring release; 33% RT)