Best Actress 1998: Thin, Pure, Virginal

2012 has been a very strange year for the Best Actress category, especially considering what a competitive year 2011 was. Jennifer Lawrence arrived out of the blue as a weakish frontrunner in September, only to be possibly usurped by surprise contender Jessica Chastain. What's unusual is that you have two rising ingenue-types battling out, verses it being a race with only one against someone of more veteran status. While it's not that rare for a twentysomething or early thirtysomething who hasn't been around Hollywood that long to take home an Oscar for Best Actress, it's not that common for her to have serious competition from someone who fits the same mold. The last year that happened was 1998. It seemed pretty clear that Gwyneth Paltrow, then aged 26, was going to walk up to the podium in her Pepto-Bismol-colored dress, acknowledge her four competitors, and talk about how much she loved her father, all thanks to Harvey Weinstein.  Paltrow had quite a year and career in a relatively short amount of time.  Five years before, she made a splash in Flesh and Bone and subsequently took small roles in tiny, prestige projects.  She generated attention as the love interest in The Pallbearer the same summer she headlined the arthouse hit Emma and hit paydirt.  People seemed to like the young actress at least at low levels.  In 1998, she released five films of varying genres: Big Hollywood thriller, rural mystery, a Charles Dickens update, a modern double-billed drama, and the 16th-century Shakespeare in Love.  For Paltrow, there was simply a perfect storm brewing, and she had benefited from her connections, age, and looks.

Daddy's Little Girl

Of course, it didn't hurt that her film, Shakespeare in Love, was a period romance that showcased her doing a British accent, dabbling in drag, appearing nude, and looking absolutely gorgeous thanks to cinematographer Richard Greatrex (who now does TV mini-series) and director John Madden (the Tom Hooper of his day?).  She also played an ambitious actress who was ahead of her time and desired to take the stage when it simply wasn't acceptable for her gender.  Though, if we judged this film on its politics alongside its successor, the more sincere and provocative Stage Beauty, it would surely pale in comparison.  Thanks to the well-calculated timed platform release during holiday season, with the awards circuit, nomination announcement, and Oscar night, the $25M production eked over the magical domestic box-office mark with $100.3M (and nearly $300M worldwide).  Paltrow won recognition as the Best Actress of the year from various critic groups including Florida, Kansas City, and San Diego.  She was also nominated by Chicago, Online, BAFTA, and Satellite.  Of course, it was winning the Golden Globe (Comedy) and the SAG that truly sealed the deal, along with, as competitor Fernanda Montenegro (Central Station) would put it, her having a "thin, pure, virginal appearance."  (Not one to mince words, Montenegro also said that Robert Benigni was incorrectly awarded Best Actor also that year.)   She went on to comment how this "rare" commodity was an investment for Hollywood, though looking at the returns, smart stockholders jumped ship pretty quickly.  After her capital gained her admission into a couple of auteurist visions, she delivered one flop after another: Bounce, Shallow Hal, Duets, Possession, View from the Top, and Sylvia.  

I traded in Brad Pitt for this

A Golden Globe (Drama) nominee herself, Montenegro won awards from several critic groups and film festivals: LA, NBR, Berlin, Ft. Lauderdale, Sao Paulo, Havana.  She was also nominated by National Society, New York, Satellite, and Chlotrudis.  Her film grossed an impressive $5.6M, but her age and lack of name recognition didn't play in her favor.  

More competitive that year was newbie Cate Blanchett for her iconic turn as Queen Elizabeth ($30M budget, $30.1M domestic, $82.2M worldwide), her third major feature in a relatively short period of time.  She would lose, ironically enough, to Paltrow's Elizabethan role, whose costar Judi Dench played the same Queen (later on in life) in Shakespeare.  Winning the Golden Globe Drama, Chicago, Las Vegas, Southeastern, Toronto, Broadcast, Online, Satellite, Chlotrudis, BAFTA, Blanchett would also be nominated by SAG, National Society, and Boston (as an actor, she would also develop a more devoted fan base than Paltrow).  Blanchett has gone way beyond the promise she has shown, eventually winning an Oscar, as well as being nominated three more times.  And, at age, 43, she shows no signs of slowing down; in fact, the demand for her abilities has only increased.  

The Other Nominees

-Emily Watson, Hilary and Jackie (AMPAS, SAG, Golden Globe Drama, Chicago, Online, Satellite, Chlotrudis, BAFTA nominee), $4.9M.  Fresh off a nod from two years previously, having wowed audiences with Breaking the Waves, she was again a formidable, but didn't quite fit into that Hollywood mold.  I can't imagine she's smarting for losing twice, though, a win could have done wonders for her career.  

-Meryl Streep, One True Thing (AMPAS, SAG, Golden Globe Drama, Satellite nominee), $23.3M.  If there was ever any doubt that the AMPAS are careful about who they dole out nods to and let into "the club," this would be another example of cock-blocking a newbie, for a perennial nominee they love to just nominate for doing an accent, learning an instrument, or playing a disease.

The Near-Misses

-Jane Horrocks, Little Voice (SAG, Golden Globe Comedy, Boston, Chicago, Satellite, BAFTA nominee), $4.6M.  Probably just missing out on an Oscar nod, she was probably too eclectic (and maybe even too British) for The Academy.  

-Ally Sheedy, High Art (LA, National Society, Independent Spirit winner; Chicago, Chlotrudis nominee; Boston 2nd), $2.0M (Summer release).  Probably a little less pure and virginal than Paltrow, and a little higher up in age, the AMPAS had no interest in recognizing Sheedy's raw, heralded performance.  

The rest of the competition for that year:

-Cameron Diaz, There's Something About Mary (New York winner, Golden Globe Comedy nominee), $176.5M (Summer release).

-Susan Sarandon, Stepmom (San Diego winner, Golden Globe Drama, Satellite nominee), $91.1M.  The AMPAS used to love to nominate her, until she finally won.  And, considering she was "playing cancer," Streep already had that base covered.  

-Christina Ricci, The Opposite of Sex (Satellite winner; Golden Globe Comedy, Chlotrudis nominee), $5.9M.

-Renée Zellweger, One True Thing (New York nominee), $23.3M.

-Samantha Morton, Under the Skin (Boston, Gijón, Angers winner, British Independent nominee), $0.1M (Summer release).

-Holly Hunter, Living Out Loud (Chicago, Satellite nominee), $12.9M (Fall release).

-Meg Ryan, You've Got Mail (Golden Globe Comedy, Satellite nominee), $115.8M.

-Helena Bonham Carter, The Theory of Flight (Satellite nominee), $0.1M.  

-Drew Barrymore, Ever After (Chlotrudis nominee), $65.7M (Summer release).

Paltrow has never been nominated for an Oscar since, though she put out some feelers a few years later with Proof and Country Strong (her best work has been in Two Lovers).  She has been unlucky in finding common ground with audiences or critics, let alone both.  If it weren't for Robert Downey, Jr handpicking her for Pepper Potts in Iron Man, her mini-music career would have never taken place, maybe not even her GOOP newsletter.  But, in 1998, Paltrow no doubt appeared to be a winner, with help from a Weinstein generated hit and a fawning press, and for having, as Montenegro put it, "thin, pure, virginal appearance," which she used to her advantage at exactly the time it mattered.  

Can we make an informed prediction about his year's race through the prism of 1998?  It doesn't seem that way.  Lawrence is quite vocal about how she refuses to thin down to a toothpick and prefers a healthier frame.  And the character she plays is a nymphomaniac.  However, there is a wholesomeness to Lawrence--the actress.  And, unlike Paltrow, Lawrence, who is a product of her times, has a huge franchise behind her.  Hollywood is very invested her career.  Currently, her Silver Linings Playbook is struggling at the box-office.  It's still too early to tell, because the holidays are right around the corner and the awards circuit could help coast it along.  Yet, Playbook, which, for a hot second was considered the lead horse in the Best Picture race, can't just go home empty-handed, can it?  Not when Harvey Weinstein is on the watch.  And Best Actress is its best bet at this point.  Also too early to tell is how Chastain's Zero Dark Thirty will fare.  Despite the massive critical attention, I do wonder if American audiences will cotton to the Osama Bin Laden assassination picture starting the next few weeks.  Political action thrillers seldom do well, and only when they do, do they seem to have a chance at catching Oscar's eye.  Like Paltrow and Blanchett before them, both actresses have a shallow history in Hollywood.  As far as these things go, youth has the edge, and Lawrence is at least a decade younger than Chastain (who remains gloriously mysterious about her age).  

One thing seems likely, though.  Just like Montenegro landed an Oscar nomination for Best Actress having starred in a Foreign Language film, there are two French actresses waiting in the wings for a similar fate.  And perhaps, like Watson, another London-born actress, recent New York Film Critics winner Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea), may also have a shot at a nod.  Meryl Streep, however, only having superbly played middle-aged in a sexless marriage (Hope Springs), may have to sit this year out.

poll by twiigs.com