Frances McDormand is an American actress and producer who made her film debut in the Coen brothers' neo-noir Blood Simple (1984) and also made her Broadway debut in the revival Awake and Sing! in the same year. [1] [2] In 1985, she starred in the crime drama series Hunter and played a police officer on the procedural drama Hill Street Blues . [3] For her performance as a sheriff's wife in Mississippi Burning (1988), she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. [4] [5] In the same year, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for playing Stella Kowalski in the revival A Streetcar Named Desire . [6]
McDormand received critical acclaim and won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a pregnant Minnesotan police chief in the Coen brothers' black comedy Fargo . [7] [8] In the same year, she played a psychiatrist in legal thriller Primal Fear . [9] In 1997, McDormand garnered a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her role as a mechanic in the television film Hidden in America . [10] [11] She was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as an overprotective mother in Almost Famous (2000). [12]
McDormand starred with Charlize Theron in both drama North Country and science fiction action film Æon Flux in 2005. [13] For the former, McDormand received a nomination for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. [14] She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as a single mother in Good People (2011). [15] McDormand garnered critical acclaim and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for playing the title character of an abrasive schoolteacher in Olive Kitteridge (2014), which she also produced. [10] [16]
McDormand won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and her second Best Actress Oscar for her role as a mother seeking justice in the Martin McDonagh-directed crime drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). [17] [18] [19] For her performance as a vandwelling nomad in the Chloe Zhao-directed 2020 drama Nomadland , she received her third Best Actress Oscar and second BAFTA for Best Actress. She also produced the film and received both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Film. [20] [21]
Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Blood Simple | Abby | [22] [23] | |
1985 | Crimewave | Nun | [24] | |
1987 | Raising Arizona | Dot | [24] | |
1988 | Mississippi Burning | Mrs. Pell | [24] | |
1989 | Chattahoochee | Mae Foley | [24] | |
1990 | Darkman | Julie Hastings | [24] | |
Miller's Crossing | Mayor's Secretary | Uncredited | [24] | |
Hidden Agenda | Ingrid Jessner | [25] | ||
1991 | Barton Fink | Stage Actress | Voice only; Uncredited | [26] |
The Butcher's Wife | Grace | [27] | ||
1992 | Passed Away | Nora Scanlan | [24] | |
1993 | Short Cuts | Betty Weathers | [24] | |
1994 | Bleeding Hearts | Woman on TV | [28] | |
1995 | Beyond Rangoon | Andy Bowman | [29] | |
Palookaville | June | [24] | ||
1996 | Fargo | Marge Gunderson | [30] | |
Primal Fear | Dr. Molly Arrington | [9] | ||
Lone Star | Bunny | [31] | ||
1997 | Paradise Road | Dr. Verstak | [32] | |
1998 | Johnny Skidmarks | Alice | [33] | |
Madeline | Miss Clavel | [34] | ||
Talk of Angels | Conlon | [35] | ||
2000 | Wonder Boys | Dean Sara Gaskell | [36] | |
Almost Famous | Elaine Miller | [37] | ||
2001 | The Man Who Wasn't There | Doris Crane | [38] | |
2002 | Laurel Canyon | Jane | [24] | |
Searching for Debra Winger | Herself | Documentary | ||
City by the Sea | Michelle | [39] | ||
2003 | Something's Gotta Give | Zoe Barry | [40] | |
2005 | North Country | Glory | [24] | |
Æon Flux | The Handler | [13] | ||
2006 | Friends with Money | Jane | [24] | |
2008 | Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day | Guinevere Pettigrew | [24] | |
Burn After Reading | Linda Litzke | [24] | ||
2011 | This Must Be the Place | Jane | [24] | |
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Charlotte Mearing | [24] | ||
2012 | Moonrise Kingdom | Mrs. Bishop | [24] | |
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | Captain Chantal Dubois | Voice only | [24] | |
Promised Land | Sue Thomason | [24] | ||
2014 | Every Secret Thing | Newscaster | Voice only; Uncredited; Also producer | [41] |
2015 | The Good Dinosaur | Momma Ida | Voice only | [42] |
2016 | Hail, Caesar! | C. C. Calhoun | [43] | |
2017 | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Mildred Hayes | [44] | |
2018 | Isle of Dogs | Interpreter Nelson | Voice only | [45] |
2020 | Nomadland | Fern | Also producer | [46] |
2021 | The French Dispatch | Lucinda Krementz | [47] | |
The Tragedy of Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | Also producer | [48] | |
2022 | Women Talking | Scarface Janz | [49] | |
2024 | Wolfs | Pamela Dowd-Henry | Voice only | [50] |
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year(s) | Title | Role(s) | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | Hunter | Nina Sloan | Episode: "The Garbage Man" | [51] |
Hill Street Blues | Connie Chapman | 6 episodes | [3] | |
1986 | Spenser: For Hire | Mary | Episode: "A Day's Wages" | [52] |
The Twilight Zone | Amanda Strickland | Segment: "Need to Know" | [53] | |
Vengeance: The Story of Tony Cimo | Brigette | Television film | [54] | |
1987 | Leg Work | Willie Pipal | 10 episodes | [24] |
1992 | Crazy in Love | Clare | Television film | [55] |
1995 | The Good Old Boys | Eve Calloway | [56] | |
1996 | Hidden in America | Gus | [57] | |
1998 | Sesame Street: Kids' Guide to Life: Big Bird Gets Lost | Herself | Short film | [58] |
2001 | American Experience | Victoria Price | Voice only Documentary Episode: "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy" | [59] |
2001–2002 | State of Grace | Narrator / Adult Hannah | Voice only 39 episodes | [60] |
2006 | The Simpsons | Melanie Upfoot | Voice only Episode: "Girls Just Want to Have Sums" | [61] |
2014 | Olive Kitteridge | Olive Kitteridge | 4 episodes; also executive producer | [62] |
2019–present | Good Omens | God | Voice only 7 episodes | [63] |
Year(s) | Title | Theater | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983–1984 | Painting Churches | Lamb's Theatre | Margaret Church | Understudy; November 22, 1983 – May 20, 1984 | [64] [65] |
1984 | Awake and Sing! | Circle in the Square Theatre | Hennie Berger | March 8 – April 29 | [2] |
1988 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stella Kowalski | February 20 – April 17 | [2] | |
1992–1993 | The Sisters Rosensweig | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater | Pfeni Rosensweig | October 22, 1992 – February 28, 1993 | [64] |
1993 | The Swan | The Public Theater | Dora | November 9 – December 12 | [64] |
2002–2003 | Far Away | New York Theatre Workshop | Harper | November 11, 2002 – January 18, 2003 | [64] |
2006 | An Oak Tree | Barrow Street Theatre | Father | Each performance has a different guest actor playing Father | [64] [66] [67] |
2008 | The Country Girl | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre | Georgie Elgin | April 27 – July 20 | [2] |
2011 | Good People | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre | Margaret | February 8 – May 29 | [2] |
2016 | Macbeth | Berkeley Repertory Theatre | Lady Macbeth / Weird Sister | February 19 – April 10 | [68] |
Joel Daniel Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen, together known as the Coen brothers, are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).
Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver is an American actress. Prolific in film since the late 1970s, she is known for her pioneering portrayals of action heroines. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, four Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.
Frances Louise McDormand is an American actress and producer. In a career spanning over four decades, she has gained acclaim for her roles in small-budget independent films. McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and one Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". Additionally, she has received three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McDormand's worldwide box office gross exceeds $2.2 billion.
Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.
The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress is an award given out at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The awards are presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), and was first presented in 1995. There were no official nominees announced until 2001. There are currently six nominees annually, and there have been three ties in this category. The record for most wins is three, held by Cate Blanchett, and six other actresses have won the award twice.
Lisa Cholodenko is an American screenwriter and director. Cholodenko wrote and directed the films High Art (1998), Laurel Canyon (2002), and The Kids Are All Right (2010). She has also directed television, including the miniseries Olive Kitteridge (2014) and Unbelievable (2019). She has been nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe and has won an Emmy and a DGA Award.
Sally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film. She has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film.
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead was one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding lead performance in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Geraldine Page being the first recipient of the award for her role as Carrie Watts in The Trip to Bountiful. It was last presented in 2022 with Taylour Paige being the final recipient of the award for her role in Zola.
Peter Spears is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing Nomadland (2020), and for producing film Call Me by Your Name (2017). He directed the underground cult-favorite short film Ernest and Bertram, which portrayed Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie as gay lovers, and developed the television series Nightmare Cafe and John from Cincinnati.
American-born Australian actress and producer Nicole Kidman has appeared in numerous film and television projects, as well as in theatre productions. She made her film debut in the Australian drama Bush Christmas in 1983. Four years later, she starred in the television miniseries Bangkok Hilton, for which she received the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama. Her breakthrough role was as a married woman trapped on a yacht with a murderer in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. She followed this with her Hollywood debut opposite Tom Cruise in Tony Scott's auto-racing film Days of Thunder (1990). Her role as a homicidal weather forecaster in Gus Van Sant's crime comedy-drama To Die For garnered Kidman a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical in 1996. She worked with Cruise again on Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992) and Stanley Kubrick's erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut in 1999.
Natalie Portman is an Israeli-American actress and filmmaker. She made her film debut in Luc Besson's action thriller Léon: The Professional, which starred her as the young protégée of a hitman. She followed this by appearing in Michael Mann's crime thriller Heat (1995), Ted Demme's romantic comedy Beautiful Girls (1996), and Tim Burton's science fiction comedy Mars Attacks! (1996). Three years later, her supporting role as the precocious, responsible daughter of a narcissistic mother played by Susan Sarandon in the drama Anywhere but Here earned Portman her first Golden Globe Award nomination. In the same year, she played Padmé Amidala in the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogyStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which brought her international recognition. She reprised the role in its sequels Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).
American actress Scarlett Johansson made her debut in the 1994 comedy-drama North. Her first lead role was as the 11-year-old sister of a pregnant teenager in Manny & Lo (1996), for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. Johansson starred in Robert Redford's drama The Horse Whisperer (1998), and appeared in the black comedy Ghost World (2001). Two years later, Johansson played a young woman in a listless marriage in the Sofia Coppola-directed Lost in Translation, and also played a servant in Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer's household in Girl with a Pearl Earring with Colin Firth. She was nominated at the 61st Golden Globe Awards for both films, and received the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the former.
Julia Roberts is an American actress and producer who made her debut in the 1987 direct-to-video feature Firehouse. She had her breakthrough the following year by starring in the coming-of-age film Mystic Pizza (1988). For her supporting role in the comedy-drama Steel Magnolias (1989), she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Roberts' next role was opposite Richard Gere in the highly successful romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy. In 1991, she appeared in the psychological thriller Sleeping with the Enemy, and played Tinker Bell in the Steven Spielberg-directed fantasy adventure Hook. Two years later, Roberts starred in the legal thriller The Pelican Brief, an adaptation of the John Grisham novel of the same name. During the late 1990s, she played the lead in the romantic comedies My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), and Runaway Bride (1999).
Chloé Zhao is a Chinese-born filmmaker. She is known primarily for her work on independent films.
Nomadland is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand as a widow who leaves her life in Nevada to travel around the United States in her van as a nomad. A number of real-life nomads appear as fictionalized versions of themselves, including Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells. David Strathairn also stars in a supporting role.
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century is a 2017 nonfiction book by American journalist Jessica Bruder about the phenomenon of older Americans who, following the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009, adopted transient lifestyles traveling around the United States in search of seasonal work (vandwelling).
The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021, rather than its usual late-February date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the ceremony, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 23 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Steven Soderbergh, and was directed by Glenn Weiss. For the third consecutive year, the ceremony had no official host. In related events, the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards were presented by host Nia DaCosta on February 13, 2021, in a virtual ceremony.
The 74th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFTAs, were held on 10 and 11 April 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2020 and early 2021. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 2020 and early 2021.