Best Actress 2003: She Got Ugly

I had such a fun time writing the last post on the 1998 Best Actress race, I thought I'd try doing another one.  The impetus was placing the 2012 race between Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain (as it appears right now) into the context of Gwyneth Paltrow's win over Cate Blanchett (two fairly new ingenues going head to head) in 1998.  The Paltrow win speaks to an increased profile that may have not otherwise happened (perhaps Chastain), as well as, by a small margin, youth (Lawrence).  With 2003, we had another starlet on the rise, Charlize Theron, but in an incredibly baity performance where she had all kinds of boxes ticked off.  She played a real-life person (Aileen Wuornos) with a very unusual story (female serial killer), who had a devastatingly horrible upbringing that led to a tragic adult life, including rape, abuse, and prostitution.  Monster also shed a sympathetic angle to the script and the glamorous Theron completely transformed herself, gaining a hefty percentage of her body weight, shaving off her eyebrows, frying her hair, and wearing prosthetics   At the time, there was a healthy debate on style vs. substance.  There were some in the camp who believed her Wuornos rode off the superficial changes she made to her body.  Others, including myself, bought into the performance and believed her internal work lived up her physical modifications.  The $8M Monster grossed a remarkable $35M domestic, $60.4M overall. Theron won additional awards from SAG, Golden Globe (Drama), Satellite, Berlin, Broadcast, National Society, Independent Spirit, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas-Forth Worth, Las Vegas, Central Ohio, and Vancouver.  She was recognized by LA (2nd), New York (3rd), Seattle (2nd) and was nominated by BAFTA, London, Online.  Basically, Theron came as close to nailing it as just about anyone in Best Actress history.

Excuse the malnourished look,
I'm still recovering from my transformation,
but look what I have!

In some ways, she had the final word on "going ugly."  A noticeable amount of Best Actress wins were attributed to that process at the time, where normally beautiful actresses played impoverished characters that were less attractive and/or physically different from themselves, and/or endured unbearably traumatic events like being raped.  Hilary Swank and Jodie Fosters' first Oscars make this group and some even place Halle Berry here.  Even the nose Nicole Kidman wore as Virginia Woolf places her in this company.  While Swank would do it again for another kind of physical transformation just a year later and other baity choices remained in play (learning a musical instrument, art form, an accent, glamming it up, and, especially, playing a real-life person), Theron kind of sent the practice packing, at least, for now.  She left such an impression on the Academy with her balls-out performance, that sometimes I joke that it got her and Frances McDormand nods two years later for North Country.  But, where one trend was ending, Theron also blazed a trail by producing herself to her Academy Award.  While the feat hasn't been repeated since then, more recently Nicole Kidman, Michelle Williams, and Glenn Close have all produced themselves to nominations.  Theron was also the fourth or so woman to be directed by another female to a Best Actress Oscar.

To say the least, Theron's rise in Hollywood was shrewd.  While she scored a few leading roles in dubious films early on, she was not beneath taking whatever role she could while working alongside the industry best (Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, James Gray, John Frankenheimer, Taylor Hackford, Lasse Hallstrom, Woody Allen twice), opposite all of the hot leading men at the time (Johnny Depp, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg twice, Keanu Reeves twice).  Yet she flew under the radar just to knock everyone out with Monster.  Despite getting some positive attention for North Country, she laid low after laying an egg with huge loser Aeon Flux.  The movie proved she had limited drawing power, particularly with films nobody wanted to see or asked for.  Again, she hunkered down and took on smaller projects and roles, which included producing.  She rode on Will Smith's coattails in the inexplicably bad, but profitable Hancock (which may eventually lead to a sequel).  Her exposure increased again in the last year, thanks to a smart turn in Jason Reitman's Young Adult, as well as involvement in Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman, and the upcoming Mad Max sequel.

Sometimes, wins like Theron's come at the cost of casting a shadow over more veteran actresses--former winners--in less showy, but admired performances that aren't such awards grabs.  Theron's main competition that year was Diane Keaton.  She headlined Nora Ephron's Something's Gotta Give as a woman who craves an emotional relationship with a man older than her, yet closer to her age, but can't help but be entertained by the advances of strapping gent young enough to be her son.  It was also Keaton doing Keaton's thing (which she does quite well).  The $80M production (when I saw that audacious figure, I nearly jumped ... in a good way) grossed a spectacular $124.7M and over double that worldwide. Keaton would surely be rewarded for her nuanced comedic work and she was.  She won a Golden Globe (Comedy), Satellite, NBR; as well as being recognized by Southeastern (2nd), Dallas-Fort Worth (3rd); and nominations from SAG, Broadcast, Washington D.C., and Phoenix.

As far as 2012 is concerned, there aren't really any parallels to draw from 2003, other than the obvious: 13-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes got nominated for the $3.5M Whale Rider (she was 11 when it was filmed).  The summer release grossed $20.8M, and $41.4M worldwide.  Quvenzhané Wallis is 9 years old and was 5 when she auditioned for Beasts of the Southern Wild.  The bayou-set movie, which released this past Summer originally, debuted at Sundance almost a year ago, yet, despite not quite measuring up financially to Whale Rider, the slightly less traditional tale is still on most pundit's shortlists for Best Picture.  This has to strengthen Wallis' chances, considering the weak year (as was 2003).  In the competitive category, Castle-Hughes only picked up nominations from Chicago, Washington D.C., and, Chlotrudis, as well as a supporting bone from SAG.

It was a funky year of actresses, not clear-cut in the nomination possibilities by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact, it seems it would have been pretty impressive for someone to have guessed beyond Theron, Keaton, and maybe Naomi Watts.  The main precursors SAG and Golden Globe (Drama) didn't line up neatly with The Academy and were all over the map.  And, unlike another meager year 1994, Oscar couldn't even turn to leading dramatic performances in high-grossers like The Client and Little Women.  There was, however, a slew of hardly seen independent turns, a good chunk of which straddled both lead and supporting categories.

The Other Nominees:
-Naomi Watts, 21 Grams: LA, Online, Washington D.C., Florida, San Diego, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Southeastern Venice winner; National Society (3rd), New York (2nd), Boston (2nd); SAG, Broadcast, Satellite, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, BAFTA nominee.  Watts' ugly-lite performance was her first and only time at the Oscars and the AMPAS don't appear eager to ever single her out if they don't recognize anyone else from her movies.  We'll see what their temperature is on her if she manages to grab their attention with The Impossible.  ($20M / $16.3M / $60.4M)

-Samantha Morton, In America: Satellite, Broadcast, Independent Spirit, British Independent nominee.  Morton, a previous nominee, proved in a weak year, you don't need the stamp of approval from the Globes or SAG in order to get in good with the AMPAS.  ($15.5M / $25.4M)

The Also-Ran's:
-Evan Rachel Wood, Thirteen: SAG, GG Drama, Satellite, Washington D.C., Phoenix nominee.  She managed to land two of the biggest mentions, but it was her onscreen mother Holly Hunter who ended up getting in (the supporting category).  ($2M / $4.6M / $10.1M; Summer release)

-Nicole Kidman, Cold Mountain: Las Vegas (2nd); GG Drama, Broadcast, London, Dallas-Fort Worth nominee.  Fresh off a win from the previous year, the AMPAS took notice of the criticism aimed at Kidman looking like she stepped out of a spa everyday while playing a frontierswoman.  She also quite possibly got caught up in the Harvey Weinstein backlash against the Minghella film, which ended up collecting an esteemed seven nomination total and one win anyway.  ($79M / $95.7M / $173M)

-Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation: LA, Boston, Palm Springs, BAFTA, Venice winner; GG Comedy, Chlotrudis, Online, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Vancouver nominee; Satellite, Broadcast (supporting) nominee.  Unlike Clarkson and Hunter, Johansson, with two competitive lead bids (one a baitier role and the other part in a Best Picture nominee), couldn't land in either category. ($4M / $44.6M / $119.7M; Fall release)

The Also-Nominated (for Supporting): 
-Patricia Clarkson, The Station Agent (sometimes with Pieces of April and other films): SAG nominee, Central Ohio (2nd) (lead); Sundance, San Diego winner; NBR, National Society, Boston, Florida, Kansas City, Chlotrudis winner (supporting); Satellite, Broadcast nominee (supporting).  **Clarkson ended up getting nominated, but for Pieces of April in the supporting category.  ($5.7M / $8.7M; Fall release)

-Holly Hunter, Thirteen: London (lead) nominee; Las Vegas (supporting) winner; Southeastern (2nd); AMPAS, SAG, Golden Globe, Online, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Satellite, Broadcast, BAFTA, London nominee (supporting).  **Hunter ended up getting nominated, but for the supporting category.  ($2M / $4.6M / $10.1M; Summer release)

The Rest of the Competition:
-Cate Blanchett, Veronica Guerin: GG Drama, Washington D.C. nominee.  ($17M / $1.6M / $9.4M; Fall release)

-Jennifer Connelly, House of Sand and Fog: Kansas City winner; Satellite, Broadcast, Vancouver nominee.  ($16.5M / $13M / $17M)

-Hope Davis, American Splendor: New York, Seattle winner; National Society (2nd); Satellite, Chlotrudis, Chicago, Phoenix, GG (supporting) nominee.  Like Johansson, she was unsuccessful at capturing her first Oscar nod.  ($6M / $8M; Summer release)

-Scarlett Johansson, The Girl with the Pearl Earring: LA, Palm Springs winner; GG Drama, Phoenix, BAFTA, London, British Independent nominee.  ($11.7M / $31.5M)

-Charlotte Rampling, Swimming Pool: Seattle (2nd), Chlotrudis nominee.  ($10.1M / $22.4M; Summer release)

-Sarah Polley, My Life Without Me: Chlotrudis, Vancouver winner.  ($0.4M / $9.7M; Fall release)

-Frances McDormand, Laurel Canyon: Independent Spirit, Chlotrudis nominee.  ($3.7M; $4.4M; Winter release)

-Zooey Deschanel, All the Real Girls: Independent Spirit, Chlotrudis nominee.  ($0.6M; Winter release)

-Uma Thurman, Kill Bill Vol. 1: GG Drama, Online, BAFTA nominee.  ($30M / $70.1M / $181M; Fall release)

-Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday: GG Comedy, Satellite nominee.  ($20M / $110.2M / $160.9M; Summer release)

-Helen Mirren, Calendar Girls: GG Comedy, Satellite nominee. ($10M / $31M / $96.6M)

-Toni Collette, Japanse Story: Satellite, Chlotrudis nominee.  ($0.7M / $4.1M)

-Diane Lane, Under the Tuscan Sun: GG Comedy, Satellite nominee.  ($18M / $43.6M / $58.9M; Fall release)

-Katie Holmes, Pieces of April: Satellite nominee.  ($0.3M / $2.5M / $3.3M; Fall release)

poll by twiigs.com