Seriously?
These stars are actually Oscar winners
What do Nicolas Cage and Anna Paquin have in common? That’s right: With both stars you often forget that they already have an Oscar to call their own.
© imago/Newscom / AdMedia / imago/ABACAPRESS
Some stars are surprised that they don’t have an Oscar yet. But there are also some well-known examples of the opposite case.
In recent years you have either hardly appeared in the cinema at all – or have you increasingly appeared in films that were more likely to call for a Golden Raspberry award than an Oscar? Some stars sometimes seem to have collectively forgotten the fact that they have already won an Academy Award – the most coveted trophy in acting.
Nicolas Cage
Indeed, even as “Best Actor”. Even before he mutated into an action hero in the mid-1990s with films like “Con Air” and “In the Body of the Enemy”, he showed tragic and sometimes comedic flair in the drama “Leaving Las Vegas” – a combination worthy of an award.
He almost even got a second Oscar in 2003 – he was also nominated as a leading actor for “Adaptation – The Orchid Thief”.
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly (53) was last seen in the cinema with her role in “Top Gun: Maverick” or on television in the series “Snowpiercer”. What is probably not remembered by everyone is that she has also had an Oscar for over 20 years.
She received the golden boy award for “Best Supporting Actress” for the role of Alicia Nash in Ron Howard’s (70) “A Beautiful Mind – Genius and Madness”. Howard also won Best Director and his work was named Best Film. Meanwhile, the leading actor Russell Crowe (59), who was also nominated, went away empty-handed.
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Gooding Jr. has recently only caused a stir with silly comedies and recently even with scandals and court appearances. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to molestation charges and avoided prison. Artistically, however, he rarely makes headlines anymore; his last feature film to date was from 2014 (“Selma”).
It’s easy to forget that he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1997 for his role in “Jerry Maguire – Game of Life”.
Mira Sorvino
A year before Cuba Gooding Jr.’s career peak, in 1996, Mira Sorvino (56) also won the Oscar for “Best Supporting Actress” thanks to “Beloved Aphrodite” by Woody Allen (88).
Like many other actresses, Sorvino is certain that the convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein (71) deliberately sabotaged her career. Sorvino was most recently seen in the controversial but immensely successful film “Sound of Freedom” (2022), especially in the USA.
Geena Davis
Geena Davis (68) was the star of the adventure film “The Pirate Bride” (1996), one of the biggest financial flops in cinema history. This fact is more permanently burned into the memory of film fans than the fact that Davis was already an Oscar winner at this point. In 1989 she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for “The Travels of Mr. Leary”.
Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin (41) had great success, especially with the series “True Blood”. Many people have probably forgotten that she won an Oscar for her supporting role in “The Piano” at the age of eleven, making her one of the youngest people ever.
This may also be because the now 41-year-old hardly ever goes to the cinema anymore. Her biggest role was in the “X-Men” films, but the last one, “X-Men: Future is Past”, was ten years ago.
Marisa Tomei
Fans of the new “Spider-Man” films with Tom Holland (27) as the friendly neighborhood spider probably know Marisa Tomei (59) primarily as his Aunt May. While Peter Parker has his superhero costume in the closet, it is there an Oscar at Tomei – and has been for over 30 years!
In 1993 she received it for her supporting role in the comedy “My Cousin Winnie”. She could have even gone further in 2002 and 2009: She was also nominated in the “Best Supporting Actress” category for the drama “In the Bedroom” and seven years later for “The Wrestler”.