# Movies Where the Wrong Actor/Actress Won The Oscar **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708 "2013-09-01T03:33:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/21 "2013-09-03T15:30:42Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Oh, and Sam Jackson lost to Martin Landau for Ed Wood. That was a career Oscar more than a “actual movie” Oscar. Like **MovieMogul** , I disagree strongly. Landau won for playing Bela Lugosi (and he was fantastic), not for a career the most memorable roles of which were on TV. I didn’t care for _ **Philadelphia** _, but if you want to give anyone an award, it’s Denzel Washington, not Tom Hanks. He was the guy that changed, that made you like an ambulance-chaser lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/22 "2013-09-03T15:45:17Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > While watching the film I thought she was a little wooden Wood don’t jiggle like that. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/23 "2013-09-03T16:01:14Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > I saw “Silver Linings Playbook” only recently, and was amazed to look it up and see that Jennifer Lawrence had won Best Actress. I say only half-jokingly I think she won for her performance in _ **The Hunger Games** _. You can’t give an Oscar to a movie like that (except cinematography or music score or something), so _ **Silver Linings Playbook** _ was a makeup call. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/24 "2013-09-03T16:52:23Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I didn’t care for _ **Philadelphia** _, but if you want to give anyone an award, it’s Denzel Washington, not Tom Hanks. He was the guy that changed, that made you like an ambulance-chaser lawyer. This was what I came in here to say. After watching the movie, I was convinced that Denzel would win the Oscar. I was very surprised that it went to Tom Hanks. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/25 "2013-09-03T17:02:32Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > This was what I came in here to say. After watching the movie, I was convinced that Denzel would win the Oscar. I was very surprised that it went to Tom Hanks. I’ve never seen the movie, but even before it was released, I think EVERYONE knew Hanks would get the Oscar, because it was a “courageous” performance. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/26 "2013-09-03T17:27:18Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I say only half-jokingly I think she won for her performance in _ **The Hunger Games** _. You can’t give an Oscar to a movie like that (except cinematography or music score or something), so _ **Silver Linings Playbook** _ was a makeup call. She didn’t win for _HG_, but being in a huge box-office success didn’t hurt show that she wasn’t just an arthouse ingenue but had a larger industry foothold that the Academy thought was worth recognizing (remember, this was her second nomination, after _Winter’s Bone_). ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/27 "2013-09-03T19:10:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But no other actor in that film won an Oscar. > > The idea in this thread is movies where one actor DID win an Oscar, but you feel a different actor in the same film should have won an Oscar instead. That’s a trick of my imagination, I guess. I thought Oprah won Best Supporting. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/28 "2013-09-03T19:23:48Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I think that Billy Bob Thornton should have won an Oscar rather than Halle Berry in _Monster’s Ball_, although she was quite good too. Agreed, although her breasts certainly deserved a Best Supporting Actor nomination… ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/29 "2013-09-04T20:33:30Z")
No one in the film _Cleopatra_ won anything…well, maybe cinematography or something, but everyone in the business at the time swore to me that Roddy McDowell should have gotten one if only his role wouldn’t have been virtually cut out of the film. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/30 "2013-09-04T20:49:26Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > No one in the film _Cleopatra_ won anything…well, maybe cinematography or something, but everyone in the business at the time swore to me that Roddy McDowell should have gotten one if only his role wouldn’t have been virtually cut out of the film. Actually, the story goes that the studio submitted his role as Best Actor in all the FYC (For Your Consideration) ads, so while the Academy membership can go whichever category they please, all the loyalists at Fox would’ve gone the way the studio wanted, in a far more competitive field, tilting the odds against him. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/31 "2013-09-05T12:12:22Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > That’s a trick of my imagination, I guess. I thought Oprah won Best Supporting. If I am not mistaken, “The Color Purple” holds the all time record for the most nominations without winning any of them. I think an argument could be made that Clint Eastwood’s performance in “Unforgiven” was more impressive than Gene Hackman’s. Hackman won the Oscar, though. I was also of the opinion that Joaquin Phoenix was better in “Walk the Line” than Reese Witherspoon was. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/32 "2013-09-05T14:00:57Z")
I thought that Eddie Redmayne, in Les Miserables, was equally deserving and had a bigger role than Anne Hathaway, but he didn’t get an Academy nomination. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/33 "2013-09-05T15:18:56Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If I am not mistaken, “The Color Purple” holds the all time record for the most nominations without winning any of them. You’re not mistaken, but \*\*\*The Color Purple \*\*\*shares that distinction with the ballet picture _ **The Turning Point.** _ Both movies got 11 nominations but didn’t win any Oscars. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/34 "2013-09-05T15:20:12Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I thought that Eddie Redmayne, in Les Miserables, was equally deserving and had a bigger role than Anne Hathaway, but he didn’t get an Academy nomination. Anne Hathaway did a great job with her role and I have absolutely no problem with her winning the Oscar- but I thought her co-star, Samantha Barks, was equally wonderful as Eponine, and got almost no attention. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/35 "2013-09-05T15:26:57Z")
Oh, how did I forget? Even though I said earlier that Marlon Brando got an Oscar his co-star Al Pacino deserved, I should add that Brando delivered the best performance by far in\*\*\* Streetcar Named Desire\*\*\*, and yet he was about the only person in the cast who DIDN’T win an Oscar! Seriously, his co-stars Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and Kim Hunter all won Oscars, while Brando lost out to Humphrey Bogart, who got a sort of lifetime achievement award for \*\*\*The African Queen. \*\*\* Mind you, Bogart WAS great in that film, as in many others, and I’m fine with him winning. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708/36 "2013-09-05T18:01:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I was also of the opinion that Joaquin Phoenix was better in “Walk the Line” than Reese Witherspoon was. Yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-wrong-actor-actress-won-the-oscar/667708.md?page=1)