February 2005 - Tribute.ca

Hilary Swank
Million Dollar Baby
Oh, what a difference a few years—and an
Oscar win—can make. Back in 2000, relative
unkown Hilary Swank (“that girl from
The Next Karate Kid”) was nominated for her role in
Boys Don’t Cry—and she won. Five years later she’s
the front-runner for Oscar glory thanks to a knockout
performance in a Best Picture-nominated film,
directed by a Hollywood legend. Swank transformed
herself physically for the role of a hungry
young boxer, training for hours each day and adding
19lbs of muscle to her slender frame. But it’s the
humanity behind the physicality that makes this film connect with audiences—and
Academy members. She’s already scooped up a Golden Globe for the role as well as
a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Her second Oscar might not be far behind.
user picks:
Hilary Swank *
54%
Kate Winslet
22%
Annette Bening*
16%
Imelda Staunton
5%
Catalina Sandino Moreno
3%
*Golden Globe winner
Annette Bening
Being Julia
It’s time for a rematch.
Annette Bening was favored
to win an Oscar for her role in
American Beauty at the 2000
Academy Awards, but the statuette
was scooped by newcomer
Hilary Swank for her role in
Boys Don’t Cry. Bening’s already won a Golden Globe
(in the Musical/Comedy category) this year for her tourde-force
performance as a theatrical diva of “a certain
age” who’s rejuvenated by an affair with a younger man.
She’s also been nominated by the Screen Actors Guild
for the performance. Bening has a history with Oscar—
in additon to her American Beauty accolade, she was
nominated for her supporting role in The Grifters.
Catalina Sandino
Moreno
Maria Full of Grace
An anonymous admirer discovered
Catalina Sandino
Moreno auditioning for a theater
role and sent her name to
the Maria Full of Grace casting
director. As the title character,
Moreno’s Maria agrees to be a mule and carry drugs
into the U.S. She knows she’s being exploited, but
turns the situation into an opportunity. Like her character,
Moreno believes in making her own opportunities.
“In Colombia, you live with your parents until you're
25, get a job and then get married. Now, I'm living in
New York. It's changed my point of view on everything.”
An Oscar nod will change things even more.
Imelda Staunton
Vera Drake
Imelda Staunton as Vera
Drake is a working class
wife, a loving mother and a
woman devoted to helping others.
She’s also a woman with a
secret. The film is set in 1950s
London, at a time when abortion
was illegal, and Staunton’s role is as complex as the
subject it deals with. It’s a part that’s already brought
her critical acclaim, including a Golden Globe nomination.
However, this is Staunton’s first nod from Oscar—
a fact that’s unlikely to faze the seasoned British actress.
Staunton once said, “People say to me, ‘Oh, but surely
you wanted to be a big film star when you were 21?’ My
answer is no, because I would’ve been rubbish.”
Kate Winslet
Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind
Kate Winslet plays against
Ktype in this gem of a film.
It’s no period piece, and there’s
not one corset in sight.
Instead, Winslet plays the
free-spirited, blue-haired,
impulsive Clementine alongside Jim Carrey’s straightlaced
Joel. While Eternal Sunshine was released early
in 2004, Winslet’s performance was memorable enough
to snag a Golden Globe nomination and a SAG award
nomination. Winslet’s had her share of Academy Award
nominations—for her leading role in Titanic
and
supporting roles in Sense and Sensibility and Iris—but
an Oscar win has proved elusive, so far.
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Tribute February 2005