Best Actress 1987: Loretta Castorini

They both cleaned up well, both peaking looks-
wise; but, to Cher's credit, he had practically
a two-decade advantage

The frontrunner for Best Actress with the critics groups in 1987 was newcomer Holly Hunter for Broadcast News, James L. Brooks peak inside the workings and politics of primetime news.  She delivered a memorable serio-comic performance as a producer in the middle of a love triangle, Jane Craig, a more likable answer to Faye Dunaway's Oscar winning Diana Christensen in Network.  More liberal virtue, less blood-hungry ratings grabbing, Broadcast News was earnest, but more superficial than it was probably willing to admit.  A theatrical commitment would prevent Hunter from participating fully in the awards season (who was having a great year also having released the hit Raising Arizona).  She was up for the Golden Globe in a Comedy or Musical and when she lost to Cher, her chances for an Oscar win almost evaporated entirely.  A win in this category often leads to an Oscar nomination, sometimes not, sometimes more.  But, a loss in this category seldom bodes well for the actress. A nomination is still possible, if the Drama side isn't so competitive, but a win for lead?  Only Hunter's old roommate and Raising Arizona costar Frances McDormand has pulled it off since for Fargo.  She lost the Globe to Evita's Madonna, whom the HFPA worship, but the Oscars relish in ignoring.

She couldn't steal one
just like a baby, so Oscar,
like motherhood,
would have to wait

But, Cher, another musical icon, had more going for her than Madonna.  With her respected film debut in Come Back to the Five and Dime, a nomination for Silkwood, and a perceived snub for Mask, Cher had built up an immense amount of good-will in the movie industry with only a handful of films (Moonstruck was also her final bow for the year, with three well-received films in 1987).  Not only that, but Moonstruck (which according to commenter Robert A. had Sally Field attached to the project) was an even bigger box-office sensation than Broadcast News.  A Best Picture nominee in its own right, it would go on to prove to have been a formidable candidate winning three Oscars after the evening was finished.  By comparison, currently, Moonstruck is one of the basic positive indicators of Jennifer Lawrence's chances at a win for Silver Linings Playbook.  The Oscar winner is culled from the Golden Globe Comedy/Musical category about 30% of the time.  If you specify modern romantic-comedy, it's less than 10%.  To complicate matters further, Lawrence is not the lead like Cher, and Playbook is idling along at the box-office and may not even eke out the $45M Harvey Weinstein's The Artist managed to do.

The Three Faces of Sally

One of her other main competitors was Sally Kirkland for Anna, who had invested a great deal of time and emotion into getting an Oscar.  Decades later, her reaction to the loss would become a small internet meme.  After twenty-five years of countless movies, plays, auditions, learning Czech, everything rested in this moment for the actress.  But, alas, Hollywood did not want to turn her into a star and she would have been better being thankful for having gotten nominated.  After Paul Newman read Cher's name, if Kirkland's look could kill, she would have keeled over on the spot that night.  The moment mirrored her title character in a plot that was a hat-tip to All About Eve.  It was only a split second later that she realized the camera was on her that she joined in the applause for the victor and painted a smile on her face. Ever the actress that she is, she exposed a vulnerable and real side to the business that often gets painted over with a broad glitzy brush.

You give the performance of a lifetime and the AMPAS
shit on you

Even though she was playing a villain, a character type The Academy doesn't generally cotton to in the Best Actress race, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction had delivered one balls-out amazing turn as batshit crazy singleton book editor Alex Forrest.  A role that originally was turned down by Miranda Richardson, as well as several other actresses including Debra Winger (and sought after by tons of other notable names), Close fought hard for the part, and with costar Michael Douglas' support, eventually won it.  The movie made mad money and became a touchstone in debates regarding feminism, fidelity, and casual sex, especially in the age of AIDS; it also kicked off Douglas unofficial Persecuted White Male Trilogy that would continue with Basic Instinct and Disclosure.  Perhaps Close was never a player for the win, but it's difficult for me to imagine otherwise.

This is how it's done ...

The closest this category has come to a four-way race in modern history, the fifth slot went to Meryl Streep, as she sometimes surfaced as a placeholder.  As for the also-ran's, I've never seen The Whales of August, so I can't speak to the performances, including Lillian Gish's.  I do remember talk of "another shutout" towards Barbra Streisand for Nuts, though I imagine her chances were right down there with Faye Dunaway's, who, herself, had become somewhat of a joke.  Young Emily Lloyd had also made an impression on Siskel & Ebert with her turn in Wish You Were Here.  Perhaps with two comedies in the race already, Diane Keaton didn't have a shot with Baby Boom, but it certainly did some healthy business at the box-office. Sarah Miles was the matriarch in Hope and Glory, but it was the only Best Picture with a lead actress who didn't make it into her respective race. Rachel Chagall (whose costar was nominated) was one of the only lower profile actresses in contention to secure a Golden Globe Drama slot, as well as having a pretty baity role.

The very first year I really began to pay any real close attention to Oscar, 1987 was truly a great year for the Best Actress race, perhaps even my favorite. I would have voted for Close, but I certainly can't begrudge Cher, Sally Kirkland notwithstanding.

The Nominees:

... bitches

-Cher, Moonstruck: GG Comedy, Kansas City winner; BAFTA nominee (Domestic: $80.6M; 94% RT)
-Holly Hunter, Broadcast News: LA, New York, Boston, NBR, Berlin winner; GG Comedy, National Society (3rd) nominee ($51.3M / Worldwide: $67.3M; 98%)
-Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction: GG Drama nominee ($156.7M / $320.2, Fall; 79%)
-Sally Kirkland, Anna: GG Drama, LA, ISA winner ($1.2M)
-Meryl Streep, Ironweed ($7.4M; 65%)

The Competition:
-Rachel Chagall, Gaby: A True Story: GG Drama nominee ($0.1M, Fall)
-Sarah Miles, Hope and Glory: BAFTA nominee ($10M, Fall; 94%)
-Emily Lloyd, Wish You Were Here: National Society winner; BAFTA nominee ($3.3M, Summer; 83%)
-Barbra Streisand, Nuts: GG Drama nominee ($31M; 38%)
-Christine Lahti, Housekeeping: New York (2nd) nominee ($1.1M; 100%)
-Lillian Gish, The Whales of August: NBR winner; ISA nominee ($1.3M, Fall; 63%)
-Maggie Smith, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne: BAFTA winner ($0.5M)
-Diane Keaton, Baby Boom: GG Comedy, National Society (2nd) nominee ($26.7M, Fall; 81%)
-Faye Dunaway, Barfly: GG Drama nominee ($3.2M, Fall; 78%)
-Anne Bancroft, 84 Charing Cross Road: BAFTA winner ($1.1M, Winter; 86%)
-Julie Walters, Personal Services: BAFTA nominee ($1.7M, Spring)
-Bette Midler, Outrageous Fortune: GG Comedy nominee ($52.9M, Winter; 50%)
-Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing: GG Comedy nominee ($6M / $63.5M / $214M, Summer; 68%)

poll by twiigs.com

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Best Actress 1993: A Female Oscar Triple

Holly Hunter, Anna Paquin,
Jane Campion

While I feel the 2012 race will eventually break for one actress in the next couple of weeks, I've been doing a pedestrian analysis of past Best Actress Oscar races in the runup to the showdown between Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence based on the last twenty-five or so years.  The last edition was 1992.  The film year 1993 was a battle between Holly Hunter and Angela Bassett.  Bassett, playing Tina Turner, could have gone on to becoming the first black actress to win this category (instead of Halle Berry).  I grew up on fortysomething Private Dancer Turner after all the drama and physical abuse depicted in What's Love Got To Do With It was behind the singer, so I didn't connect with Bassett's performance as much as I would have liked.  Hunter, however, had a lot more going for her.  She played piano and learned sign language as Ada McGrath, for beginners.  While I usually get perturbed by award grabs, they don't bother me so much when the actor has had at least one go-around with Oscar.  In 1987, Holly Hunter came very close to winning for Broadcast News.  It was payback time and she did it in style.

Additionally, she appeared in auteurist's vision, which is rare to lead to an Oscar for any actor.  New Zealander Jane Campion presented The Piano in black and white with an intoxicating score.  It was a period movie, but it was also very "cool" and cutting edge, in a way.  The fact that the movie was directed by a woman, who was nominated for Best Director and won for writing the screenplay for the Best Picture nominee only bolstered Hunter's chances.  The "girl-power" element certainly helped, but, when you break it down, it was just a piece of the bigger picture.  There have been subsequent Best Actress wins directed by females (Boys Don't Cry, Monster, The Iron Lady).  I haven't seen Children of a Lesser God from 1986, but if I may draw a difference between the aforementioned films and The Piano, it's that there is a rather brash and unapologetic femininity to Campion's work.  With the others, there is an overly obvious element of a woman in a man's world (i.e. transgender woman trying to be a man; one of the only female serial killers; first female ruler of England up against a boy's club).  That isn't to disparage the films and say Hunter's Ada didn't have to deal with sexism, but her story just struck me as more universal and less gender-specific, yet told from a female point-of-view.  Successful artistic films directed by females are rare, even today.  But, for them to be decidedly feminine is even more obscure.  It takes an already moving performance and places it in a greater, more encompassing context with a distinct voice.

The film was the maid of honor in the wedding that was being thrown for Schindler's List.  I like to think The Piano would have had a shot in another year, but its scope was probably too small.  On the surface, Zero Dark Thirty, being directed by a well respected female in the industry is a parallel one can draw from this race.  Kathryn Bigelow may also give the frontrunner Lincoln a run for its money similar to the way Campion gave Spielberg in 1993.

It wasn't too competitive of a year for a nomination, though.  Michelle Pfeiffer, who had been in the Oscar game more often than not for the last five years, was left out in the cold and never to be nominated ever again (to date).  Newcomer Ashley Judd made a splash with Ruby in Paradise also came close to getting in the race, but, alas, she would never make her way into The Academy's competitive fray.  However, she may soon make a professional move reminiscent of two-time winner Glenda Jackson and enter the world of politics.  God help Kentucky.

The Nominees:
Holly Hunter, The Piano: GG Drama, LA, New York, Chicago, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Southeastern, National Society, NBR, Cannes, BAFTA winner  ($40.2M; 90% RT)

Angela Bassett, What's Love Got to Do With It: GG Comedy winner; Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth (2nd) nominee.  ($39.1M; Summer release; 97% RT)

Emma Thompson, The Remains of the Day: Kansas City winner; GG Drama, Chicago, BAFTA nominee.  ($23.2M; 97% RT)

Debra Winger, Shadowlands: BAFTA, LA (2nd) nominee.  ($22M / $25.8M; 96%)

Stockard Channing, Six Degrees of Separation: GG Comedy, Chicago, National Society (3rd) nominee.  ($6.4M; 88% RT)

The Also-Rans:
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Age of Innocence: Venice winner; GG Drama, Dallas-Fort Worth (3rd).  ($34M / $32.3M; Fall release; 82% RT)

Ashley Judd, Ruby in Paradise: ISA winner; New York (2nd), National Society (2nd) nominee.  ($1M;  Fall release; 93% RT)

The Rest of the Competition:
Juliette Binoche, Blue: Venice, César winner; GG Drama nominee.  ($1.3M; 100% RT)

Debra Winger, A Dangerous Woman: GG Drama, LA (2nd), Chicago, Tokyo nominee.  ($1.5M; 67% RT)

Meg Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle: GG Comedy nominee.  ($21M / $126.7M / $227.8M; Summer release; 71% RT)

Angelica Huston, Addams Family Values: GG Comedy nominee.  ($48.9M; 76% RT)

Diane Keaton, Manhattan Murder Mystery: GG Comedy nominee.  ($11.3M; Summer release; 91% RT)

Tilda Swinton, Orlando: Seattle winner.  ($5.4M; Summer release; 79% RT)

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Happy Birthday Suit: Holly Hunter

In some ways, Georgian peach Holly Hunter was trailblazing.  She was one of the first actresses of her generation to make it big in the movies and bypassed any ego that may have prevented others of her stature to work in television when the role was right.  (Now, you're hard-pressed to find an Emmy-nominee in the Best Actress field who didn't make her name in features first.)  She’s kind of British that way.  But, it’s understandable, considering that she’s barely five feet with a regional accent she never shook and an explosive energy.  Hollywood probably couldn’t handle her just on the silver screen.

Armed with a drama degree from Carnegie Mellon, she got her start in New York theatre.  Her first film was slasher movie The Burning.  She soon started running in circles with Frances McDormand and the Coen brothers, which led to a lead part for McDormand in the neo-noir classic Blood Simple, as well as a small role for Hunter.  They switched seats in Coens' critically and commercially successful madcap comedy (one of my favorites) Raising Arizona.  The same year, she would be nominated for her role as Jane Craig in James L. Brooks much beloved Broadcast News.  After her monumental year that was 1987, two years later, she opened the underperforming Miss Firecracker, as well as Steven Spielberg's Always opposite Richard Dreyfuss.  As a movie star, Hunter returned to TV to play the woman at the center of Roe vs. Wade, for which she won her first Emmy.  Having had little success with Dreyfuss, Hollywood would pair them together again in the even less successful romance Once Around. 

In 1993, Hunter would top her career milestone from six years previously, with not only an Emmy win for The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, but an Oscar, as well as a cascade of other awards, for wowing audiences with her mute Ada McGrath in Jane Campion’s highly cinematic The Piano (Hunter in real life is deaf in one ear).  Not only was she mesmerizing as Ada, but she also provided her skills as a trained ivory player.  Many consider her work in that film to be one of the best acting turns in the 1990's, if not cinema history.  That same year, she was one of few actors to ever be nominated in both acting categories, the other being for supporting in The Firm.  (It was also the only year ever that two actors managed to do it; the other being Emma Thompson)  She used her capital to play opposite Sigourney Weaver in psychological thriller Copycat and under the direction of Jodie Foster in Home for the Holidays.  She was originally slated to reunite with James L. Brooks and Jack Nicholson in As Good as It Gets, but relented the Helen Hunt role when she couldn't negotiate a paycheck equal to her much older male costar (Nicholson was old enough to be her and Hunts' father). 

Hunter took on less mainstream fare with director David Cronenberg’s Crash (the first Crash, before THAT other Crash) and Danny Boyle in A Life Less Ordinary.  Never that easy to market, Hunter would soon be out-of-demand and/or less interested in bigger ticket items.  But she is always at the top of Coen brother’s list when they need her talent (O Brother, Where Art Thou?)  and landed voice work on the successful animated feature The Incredibles. 

She continues to get recognized for her work both in film (Thirteen) and television (Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Harlan County War, When Billie Beat Bobby and the TV show Saving Grace), often serving as a producer.  While I am guessing here, I would surmise that very few actors working today have such diversity in recognition amongst the Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys.

For six years, she was married to famed cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning DP since Schindler's List, incidentally preceded by Always starring Hunter).  She is currently in a long-term relationship with British actor Gordon MacDonald, with whom she has twin boys.  They costarred together on her Saving Grace.  With her TV series in the can for two years now, she is trying her hand with another show under the direction of Piano helmer Campion in drama mystery Top of the Lake.  She will also be seen opposite the van Houten sisters as their long-lost mother and title character in Netherlands production Jackie.  And she’s currently attached to appear in Diablo Cody’s directorial debut.  Today, she's turns 54.

Previous Actress Retrospectives:

Jennifer Aniston     Drew Barrymore     Glenn Close     Jessica Biel     Juliette Binoche     Geena Davis     Goldie Hawn     Holly Hunter     Eva Mendes     
Rosie O'Donnell     Lena Olin     Meg Ryan     Rachel Weisz

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