Actors and Actresses: Stats, Careers and Trivia

Now that we have our lucky twenty (no double dippers this year) in those twenty most coveted positions for movie actors, let's do a little rundown. We'll go factual and then opinionated.


most frequently honored: Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) with 16 nominations and 2 wins. She's been nominated for 37% of her screen appearances.
least frequently honored: Captain Von Trapp himself, Christopher Plummer (The Last Station). This is his first nomination from 51 years on the silver screen.
widest stretch of honors: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) received the first of his five nominations way back in the 1971 race starring in Best Picture nominee The Last Picture Show, beating Streep to her first Oscar notice by seven years.

youngest: Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), a Leo, is 24. She's also two and a half months younger than Carey Mulligan (An Education), a Gemini.
oldest: Plummer, a Sagittarius, turned 80 this past December.
most represented star sign: rowwwwr, we have five Leos (Woody, Sandra, Helen, Anna and Vera). I guess that's not surprising given Leo's show off nature.
least represented star signs: no Aquarius, Pisces or Aries nominees
shared birthdays: George Clooney (Up in the Air) and Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe (Precious) were both born on May 6th. Best Actress competitors Sandra Bullock and Dame Helen Mirren share July 26th.

tallest: Morgan Freeman (Invictus) is 6' 2½"
shortest: Kendrick is 5' 1½". Teeny-tiny!!!
highest paid?: Bullock and Clooney both command around $15 million a movie last I heard. Streep and Damon are obviously well compensated, too, though exact salaries are hard to come by. What's more they fluctuate from project to project and some stars take less for more of the gross, etcetera.
lowest paid: who knows though I'm willing to bet that someone got scale. Money isn't everything... especially when the role is plum.

number of birth countries: 5. USA (most of them), England (Mirren, Mulligan & Firth) Spain (Cruz), Canada (Plummer) and Austria (Waltz). [see also: Map of the Oscar World]
most likely to appear in a Best Picture Nominee: Meryl Streep has 5 to her credit (The Hours, Out of Africa, Kramer vs. Kramer, The Deer Hunter and Julia). Runners up: (tie) Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby, Shawshank Redemption, Unforgiven and Driving Miss Daisy) and George Clooney (Up in the Air, Michael Clayton, Good Night and Good Luck and The Thin Red Line) have both been in 4.
number of collective offspring: 31. La Streep (4) Freeman (4) Waltz (4) Tucci (3) Bridges (3) Mo'Nique (3) Harrelson (3) Damon (2) Firth (2) Plummer (1) Farmiga (1) Gyllenhaal (1). Clooney, Bullock and Mirren didn't share their remarkable DNA with the world.
most famous of those offspring: "Honey Bunny" herself Amanda Plummer ...and up until this moment I never made the daddy connection. Runner up: rising actress Mamie Gummer, daughter of Meryl & Don.

And some opinions...

most deserving: Mo'Nique is just smashing... and I'm not talking about television sets.
least deserving: Stanley Tucci. He's been Oscar nomination worthy before and even this year (Julie & Julia) but not for this overlabored eeeeeeeeevil turn.
most likely to get a career boost with this nom: Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
most deserving of the plentiful "it's about damn time" nominations that were going on this season: Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
most likely to return again in the next year or two: Meryl Streep. Duh!... although one wonders how many more chances she'll get. She's getting the lion's share of roles for women over 55... but there's not that many of those roles to begin with. You could also make a case for Matt Damon who is almost 40 now and Oscar likes his men with some years on them. And Carey Mulligan may well be the next Oscar Default Girl if her management makes the right moves. [George Clooney & Penélope Cruz are hot-hot-hot Oscar regulars right now but Oscar tends to love movie stars passionately for short blocks of time and then move on. Will we see them again soon or is this the end of the romance for awhile?]
least likely to return: Gabby Sidibe. That's not as much of a knock as it sounds. She's great in the film and I'm so pleased she got nominated. But approximately 67% of acting nominees are never recognized a second time and there aren't that many roles for big girls.

most likely to wear something crazy: Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
most likely to make best-dressed lists: Penélope Cruz (Nine)
most likely to wear black: Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Can't wait to see what Vera, Maggie, Carey, Penélope and Dame Helen wear!

Want to add to or sound off about the trivia?
You know what to do.

Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress

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Oscar MythBusting: One Day They'll Be Nominated!

Most fans of established actors believe that one day their favorite will be nominated for an Oscar. In 2009 campaigns hopes are particularly high for Sandra Bullock, Alfred Molina, Colin Firth and Christopher Plummer. Fans of James McAvoy and Sam Rockwell still hold out longshot hope. But guess what? The odds are, generally speaking, against them on February 2nd (two months hence!) when the lucky 20 are called.


Most actors aren't ever nominated for the big prize. People seemed surprise to read in an old Oscar Mythbusting column I wrote years ago that the majority of nominated actors (approximately 67%) never receive a second nomination. But I did the research and it's true. Even less likely than a second nomination: a first one. Consider this...

The following (living) legends have still never been nominated despite rich bodies of work and several classic films or exuberantly praised performances: Mia Farrow, Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Plummer and Donald Sutherland. Outrageous, right?

Movie stars and/or respected actors who've never been nominated: Christian Bale, Drew Barrymore, Maria Bello, Paul Bettany, Gabriel Byrne, Steve Buscemi, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cusack, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Dakota Fanning, Colin Farrell, Bruno Ganz, Hugh Grant, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tobey Maguire, Catherine O'Hara, Mary Louise Parker, Robin Wright, Parker Posey, Charlotte Rampling, Christina Ricci, Mark Ruffalo, Kurt Russell, Meg Ryan, Peter Sarsgaard, Bruce Willis, Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright.


And that's just a sampling.

Moral of the Story: If you're rooting for any particular favorite this season, cross your fingers but never hold your breath.
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Christopher Plummer's Last Station Stand

Just woke from a dream in which Christopher Plummer had been placed into a medically induced coma merely to "rest up" for his dual Oscar campaign (lead for Parnassus, supporting for The Last Station). Subconscious, you are so very weird.


Whenever I wake from a dream involving the health of a celebrity, I rush immediately to the news feeds to make sure the celebrity is okay, no matter how unbelievable the dream is. Hey, they feel real when your eyes first take in the light. Do you double check when you wake up?

For what it's worth, the top news items were three: the AFI fest's upcoming tribute, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus opened in the UK and the 79 year old thespian will be performing The Tempest at Stratford next year. The latter makes a neat coincidence: the same year we'll see him performing the classic "Prospero" role onstage his Station co-star Helen Mirren will be performing the same role, gender-flipped, for Julie Taymor's film version.

As for the campaign, I imagine that the Doctor Parnassus half will be stillborn. The picture just wouldn't support that major of a nomination unless his career tributes take on an unusually robust life. I was really rooting for the picture and loved the opening scene or three... but it just doesn't cohere or showcase Plummer enough. So those hopes for an Oscar rest on The Last Station. I hope to see it tomorrow and I'm crossing my fingers that he's deserving. After 176 film and television roles, some of them quite acclaimed, it's way past time for a first nomination.
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We Can't Wait #8 The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Starring "Heath Ledger" (Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law), Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer, Lily Cole
Synopsis Traveling theater players, led by the 1000 year-old Doctor Parnassus, put on shows that includes a mirror where audience members can pass through and explore their own imaginations.
Brought to You By Lionsgate
Expected Release Date June 6th

Fox: I put Heath Ledger's name in quotes not out of any disrespect, but because I don't know how much actual face time he's given in the film. Regardless, this film will arrive with the weight of Ledger's last everything on it. I think it's kind of poignant that the film involves people going through a glass mirror... darkly or otherwise. I wasn't so fond of The Dark Knight, or the thought that Ledger will be remembered as The Joker. I'm not trying to ignite another TDK debate, I just think Ledger's talent deserves a better epitaph than it will likely get.

Also, I'm thrilled to see Terry Gilliam up on his feet again. I only saw part of his last movie Tideland, and it bummed me out. It was like watching an artist stewing in his own personal, horrible, dirty hell. I love his visions. Usually we get CGI blockbusters in the summer, so a production design extravaganza from Gilliam & Friends could be a refreshing break from that.

Verne Troyer??? I don't know. All I can saw is that Gilliam really likes dwarves.

Nathaniel: You know who else likes dwarves? David Lynch. Who, speaking of, also likes the multiple actors as one person and/or one actor as multiple people cinematic mind games. That's something else Parnassus will have given the Depp, Farrell & Law solution to the Ledger tragedy. Sight unseen and given the nature of the film, it seems like the best possible solution. If you have to have three other actors step in for you, could you do any better?

P.S. I hope Tom Waits sings. I can listen to him croon endlessly. Heavy rotation on the iPod y'all.

Whitney: I hope the revenue this movie sparks by being "Heath Ledger's Last Movie of All Time. Really. This is the Last One. Not Like 2Pac. This is Really The Last Movie" will finance his Don Quixote project that he's been trying to make his whole career. Ledger was really funny in Gilliam's last work, so I'm thinking four Ledgers will be even better.

Joe: Oooh, thanks to Whitney for reminding me how much I liked Heath in The Brothers Grimm. Which was otherwise disappointing. I tend to respect Gilliam's weirdness from afar; the films themselves are hit-or-miss. Given the circumstances, I hope this one pulls it all together.

Nathaniel: And now I'm sad again. 2005 was such an incredible year in Ledger's career. Think of the range displayed alone: The Lords of Dogtown, Casanova, Brokeback Mountain and The Brothers Grimm. Joe, I share your hope. I would love for Gilliam to have a success as big critically and commercially and Academy-ically (yeah I butchered the word to make a shiny gold man point) as The Fisher King again.

Matt Damon, Ledger and Gilliam on the set of The Brothers Grimm (2005)

JA: I still need to see The Brothers Grimm. A mad rush to Netflix! Parnassus would've made my list even without Ledger because of Gilliam alone. His floundering ability to get movies done drives me bonkers, so every one that makes it's way across the finish line is something to be cherished. I'm even one of the like ten people who defended and liked Tideland. But with this being the last footage we'll see of Ledger, absent a 2-Pac-or-Elvis-like ressurection, and with the actors stepping in to cover Heath being three of my absolute favorites, this became an even higher priority.

As for Troyer, to quote Colin Farrell's character in In Bruges, "They're filming midgets! They're filming midgets!" I share his enthusiasm.

Nathaniel: Where do you stand on Gilliam? Or are you seated? Reclining? Perhaps jumping up and down? Do tell in the comments.

In case you missed any entries they went like so...
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We Can't Wait:
#1 Inglourious Basterds, #2 Where the Wild Things Are, #3 Fantastic Mr. Fox,
#4 Avatar, #5 Bright Star, #6 Shutter Island, #7 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
#8 Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9 Nailed, #10 Taking Woodstock,
#11 Watchmen, #12 The Hurt Locker, #13 The Road, #14 The Tree of Life
#15 Away We Go, #16 500 Days of Summer, #17 Drag Me To Hell,
#18 Whatever Works, #19 Broken Embraces, #20 Nine (the musical)
intro (orphans -didn't make group list)
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