The Academy Award for Best Actress has been handed out every year since 1929 — it was initially awarded to star Janet Gaynor for her roles in 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans — and in the near-century since, it's been presented 97 times to 79 actresses. Winning that coveted statuette is unsurprisingly a dream come true for many a big-screen performer, but the award does come with added attention on the actress's next projects. Will whatever they work on next be as critically acclaimed or commercially successful? Here are 32 films that Oscar-winning actresses did after taking home the Academy Award, and how they were received.

Emma Stone

The whole La La Land Oscars brouhaha at the 2018 ceremony was quite memorable, but clearly so was star Emma Stone's performance as aspiring actress Mia Dolen opposite Ryan Gosling's jazz pianist Seb Wilder. One of Stone's best movies, the role earned the star her first Best Actress win (she would strike gold yet again with her 2024 victory for Poor Things). Her next performance also stirred up awards buzz: she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for portraying tennis legend Billie Jean King in the sports drama Battle of the Sexes.

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep's history with the Academy Awards is long and legendary: over her decades-spanning career, she's been nominated for a record 21 Oscar nominations, winning thrice. After taking home the Supporting Actress statuette for Kramer vs. Kramer, Streep got her first big Best Actress win for one of her most iconic performances: as the titular character of the devastating 1982 drama Sophie's Choice. Her next role was just as haunting: as Karen Silkwood in the 1983 thriller Silkwood, for which she earned yet another Best Actress nod.

Michelle Yeoh

Along with kicking major butt, Michelle Yeoh made history with her starring role as Evelyn Quan Wang in the 2022 action-dramedy Everything Everywhere All at Once, for she became the first Asian performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Following that notable win in 2023, the Wicked star lent her voice to the sci-fi flick Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as Airazor, a Maximal warrior who transforms into a peregrine falcon. That title earned largely mixed reviews, and it currently sports a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jessica Chastain

After losing out on the Oscar for Zero Dark Thirty, Jessica Chastain took the Best Actress trophy home for her transformative role as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in the 2022 bio-drama The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Her next project was far less successful with awards bodies — the action-spy thriller The 355 was both a critical and commercial bomb, reportedly losing Universal an estimated $93 million. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote: "Despite the strong cast, this is the film equivalent of a corn-syrup-based fizzy drink being passed off as chic in taller, slimmer cans."

Frances McDormand

Three-time Best Actress winner Frances McDormand took home her first Oscar in 1997 for her instantly iconic performance as Minnesota police chief Marge Gunderson in the classic Coen Brothers dark comedy Fargo. Later that year, the acclaimed performer joined a heavyweight lineup of actresses — including Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Ehle — in the World War II drama Paradise Road. However, despite that acting clout, the film received mixed reviews, with its approval rating at a lowly 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Brie Larson

Child actor turned Marvel superhero Brie Larson took her career to a whole new level with her performance as kidnapping victim Joy "Ma" Newsome in the 2015 survival drama Room, for which she swept the subsequent awards season and took home the Best Actress Oscar. In 2016, the Lessons in Chemistry lead starred in another survival drama, this time the Ben Wheatley-directed action-comedy Free Fire. CinemaBlend's own Gregory Wakeman wrote of the film: "Free Fire has enough gun blasts and violence to entertain, but ultimately lacks the requisite surprises or savvy to be anything more than a frivolous diversion."

Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman's Best Actress win for her portrayal of Queen Anne in the black-comedy period piece The Favourite was a deserved yet delightfully shocking moment at the 2019 Oscars. Her next role was equally strange, but less acclaimed: she appeared alongside Kaitlyn Dever, Jim Gaffigan and Walton Goggins as snake-handling fundamentalists in the horror mystery Them That Follow. Though it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, it earned mixed reviews from critics.

Cate Blanchett

One of the most versatile actors in the industry — she's played Queen Elizabeth I and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! — eight-time Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett secured her first Best Actress win in 2014 playing a neurotic former socialite in the Woody Allen-directed dramedy Blue Jasmine. And speaking of versatility, the Aussie star followed that awards win with a voice role in the animated fantasy sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2, which got its own Oscar nod for Best Animated Feature.

Sandra Bullock

Rom-com queen Sandra Bullock received her first Best Actress nomination and win in 2010 for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy in the biographical football drama The Blind Side. Her next film credit was the Stephen Daldry-directed 2011 drama Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which did manage to score a Best Picture nod but not without controversy. Chris Krapek of The Huffington Post called the film "not only the worst reviewed Best Picture nominee of the last 10 years, [but] easily the worst film of 2011."

Katharine Hepburn

Hollywood icon Katherine Hepburn earned four Academy Awards for Best Actress out of 12 nominations across her illustrious film career—a record for any performer. The leading lady's first Oscar win was in 1934 for the Pre-Code drama Morning Glory (the rest would come later in the star's life), which she followed up with John Cromwell's Spitfire. Some viewers found Hepburn miscast as "hillbilly" faith healer Trigger Hicks — the film has a 35% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman didn't win the Best Actress Oscar for one of her most beloved performances, as cabaret star Satine in Moulin Rouge! but she instead secured the big win only a year later for playing English writer Virginia Woolf in The Hours. The Babygirl star's first post-award project was the 2003 avant-garde thriller Dogville, written and directed by Lars von Trier. Though the film prompted quite a polarizing response from critics at the time of release, it did end up on several best-of-the-decade roundups, including The Guardian and Paste.

Jennifer Lawrence

If they didn't already love her from her work in the David O. Russell dramedy Silver Linings Playbook, the world certainly fell for Jennifer Lawrence when she charmingly tripped up the stairs to accept her Best Actress statuette in 2013. That fall, she would reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in the second Mockingjay movie, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is widely considered the best installment of The Hunger Games film series (it's got a solid 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating) and earned Lawrence a Critics' Choice nod.

Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren is a regal onscreen presence no matter what the role, but her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 docudrama The Queen welcomed her among the Hollywood royalty known as Oscar winners. However, despite the film title, she didn't strike gold with her next project: the Nicolas Cage-led adventure flick National Treasure: Book of Secrets, alongside Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris and Diane Kruger. Per Rotten Tomatoes, critic consensus said of the 35% "Rotten" movie: "A talented cast goes to waste in the improbable National Treasure: Book of Secrets."

Jodie Foster

One of Hollywood's most acclaimed child stars — she was only 12 years old when she starred opposite Robert De Niro in the Martin Scorsese masterpiece Taxi Driver, earning her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress — Jodie Foster successfully segued into more adult fare with the 1988 legal drama The Accused. As an assault survivor Sarah Tobias, Foster received a Best Actress win—it wouldn't be her last, with the star winning the same award for her next film release, one of the greatest horror movies of all time, The Silence of the Lambs.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry made Oscar history when she became the first African-American woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performance as a struggling widow in 2001's Monster's Ball. After becoming an Oscar winner, Berry became a Bond Girl — bikini-sporting NSA agent Jinx, to be exact — in the 2002 spy flick Die Another Day, opposite Pierce Brosnan as 007. However, the latter is widely considered to be the worst entry in James Bond's canon.

Julie Andrews

A legendary performer across both screen and stage, Julie Andrews won her Best Actress Oscar in 1964 for a truly iconic role: as the titular nanny extraordinaire in Mary Poppins. And she didn't stop there — the very next year, she would get yet another Academy Award nomination for an equally beloved character, as The Sound of Music's Maria, the sweet, singing governess to the Von Trapp family. Talk about an epic filmography!

Kathy Bates

One of the best Kathy Bates performances, as obsessive superfan Annie Wilkes in the 1990 Stephen King thriller Misery, earned the talented actress her first Academy Award nomination and win. (She would have three more Oscar nods across her decades-spanning career.) Bates' next film role was in the South African drama The Road to Mecca, based on the Athol Fugard play of the same name — the performer was praised for both her acting and her accent work.

Hilary Swank

Before there were transgender characters like Emilia Pérez (Emilia Pérez), Sin-Dee Rella (Tangerine), or Raymond Rayon (Dallas Buyers Club), there was Brandon Teena, the real-life trans man at the center of the 1999 drama Boys Don't Cry. Hilary Swank's harrowing, career-making performance as Teena earned the star her first Best Actress award, with critics like Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman calling the actress a "revelation" in the film. Reactions to her next movie, the 2000 supernatural thriller The Gift, were far more mixed. A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "The picture is saved from mediocrity by [director Sam] Raimi's smooth competence, and by the unusually high quality of the acting."

Renée Zellweger

After prior Best Actress nominations for two of her best movies, Bridget Jones' Diary and Chicago — plus a Best Supporting Actress win for Cold Mountain — Renée Zellweger finally got her big Best Actress win for her portrayal of Judy Garland in Rupert Goold's Judy. After taking a multi-year break from acting, Zellweger's much-anticipated next film credit will be a return to a beloved role, in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman was so convincing as a troubled ballerina in the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan that she thought the film was a docudrama while making it. So, it's no surprise, then, that her tour-de-force performance garnered the star an Academy Award for Best Actress. Ever one to keep you guessing genre-wise, Portman's next role was in the 2011 stoner fantasy-comedy Your Highness, which sadly was a box office bomb and received largely negative reviews from critics.

Cher

The "Goddess of Pop" Cher officially added the title of "Oscar winner" to her already legendary showbiz career with her 1988 Best Actress triumph for one of her best movies, the acclaimed rom-com Moonstruck. Her next movie role came two years later as Rachel Flax, the saucy single mom to young Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci in the 1990 dramedy Mermaids. The heartfelt title has been dubbed an "underappreciated 1990s coming-of-age gem" by The Guardian, which singled out Cher's performance as "nothing short of magical."

Kate Winslet

One of the greatest performers of her generation, it took Kate Winslet a whopping six Oscar nominations before she finally took home the Academy Award for Best Actress, for playing a former Nazi camp guard in 2008's The Reader. Her next onscreen role was in the 2011 black comedy Carnage, by disgraced director Roman Polanski. The film received positive reviews, with critics praising the performances of the cast, including Winslet's — she earned a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Motional Picture Musical or Comedy.

Julia Roberts

After a decade that solidified her as rom-com royalty, Julia Roberts proved her dramatic bonafides by winning the Best Actress Oscar for playing the title role in the 2000 legal drama Erin Brockovich, one of her best movies. America's Sweetheart returned to her romantic comedy roots with her next film, fittingly entitled America's Sweethearts, though critics weren't too sweet on the movie. It only holds a 33% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus reading: "Despite its famous cast, the movie lacks sympathetic characters and is only funny in spurts."

Susan Sarandon

After Oscar nominations for Atlantic City, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo's Oil and The Client, Susan Sarandon was finally named Best Actress by the Academy for playing Sister Helen Prejean in 1995's Dead Man Walking. Her next film was the decidedly lighter kids' flick James and the Giant Peach, in which Sarandon voiced the character of Miss Spider. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with Randy Newman's score earning an Oscar nod; however, the film was a box office failure, grossing $300,000 less than its budget.

Marion Cotillard

French movie star Marion Cotillard became the first actor to win an Academy Award for a French-language performance for her transformative turn as legendary singer Édith Piaf in the 2007 music biopic La Vie en Rose. Her next film credit was another biographical drama — this time, the Michael Mann-directed gangster film Public Enemies, alongside Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Though many critics praised the leading performances, reviews were mixed, with the title holding a 68% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin's acting debut in 1986's Children of a Lesser God saw the actress making Oscar history not once but twice: she became the first deaf performer to ever win an Academy Award, as well as the youngest winner in the Best Actress category. The CODA star followed up that momentous victory with the 1987 Western Walker, starring Ed Harris, Richard Masur and Peter Boyle. The historical drama was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival but received very polarized reviews and was a failure at the box office.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Fun fact: Gwyneth Paltrow wasn't initially supposed to star as Viola de Lesseps in the 1998 Bard-inspired romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love — Julia Roberts was. But Gwyn is no doubt grateful the latter ultimately left the production, as the role won her a Best Actress Oscar. Her next project was equally acclaimed: 1999's Anthony Minghella-helmed thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley scored five Academy Award nominations.

Audrey Hepburn

Screen legend Audrey Hepburn won her first Oscar in 1953 for her debut starring role, as Princess Ann in the classic black-and-white comedy Roman Holiday. The British beauty would later be nominated four more times for films like her first post-award project, the 1954 Billy Wilder-directed dramedy Sabrina, as well as The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Wait Until Dark.

Sally Field

The Academy likes her, they really like her — yes, Sally Field has won not one but two Best Actress statuettes, the first being for her inspiring performance in 1979's Norma Rae and the second five years later for another one of her best films, Places in the Heart. Following her first win, Field reprised her role as Carrie, or "Frog," in 1980's Smoky and the Bandit II opposite her real-life love Burt Reynolds. Though the sequel was a box office success, prompting a third film, it received almost entirely negative reviews from critics.

Charlize Theron

One of the best Charlize Theron roles was also the star's most remarkably unrecognizable: the South African-born actress earned a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of real-life prostitute and serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 crime drama Monster. Her next big-screen performance was the 2004 war drama Head in the Clouds, which saw Theron acting opposite her then-romantic partner Stuart Townsend. The film was a critical and box office failure; in the San Francisco Chronicle, Walter Addiego wrote: "If not for the presence of Charlize Theron, it's hard to imagine this film would have attracted anywhere near the kind of attention it's gotten."

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon proved she was more than just a musical sidekick with her Oscar-winning performance as June Carter Cash in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The Legally Blonde star was next seen in the harrowing 2007 political thriller Rendition opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep and Peter Sarsgaard. However, "the impressive cast cannot rescue Rendition, which explores complex issues in woefully simplified terms," reads the critics' consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, with the film at a paltry 47% approval rating.

Elizabeth Taylor

Through much of the mid-20th century, celluloid icon Elizabeth Taylor was one of MGM's most bankable stars. In fact, her final film for the studio — 1960's Butterfield 8, playing glamorous call girl Gloria Wandrous — earned the movie star her first Academy Award for Best Actress. Her next performance was just as iconic: as the titular Egyptian queen in the 1963 historical epic Cleopatra, which received nine Oscar nominations and four wins, though, alas, none for Taylor specifically.

Whenever we talk about the best ‘90s movies, it doesn’t take long before the conversation turns to the most iconic actors of the final decade of the 20th century and their most beloved performances. But what are Will Smith’s, Julia Roberts’, or Keanu Reeves’ best movies for the unforgettable and transformative 10-year stretch? 

We’re being totally subjective here (Because why not?), but here are the best ‘90s movies for these 32 actors. Best Picture winners, a handful of the best action movies of all time, and other films that turned up-and-comers into overnight megastars can all be found below.

Will Smith (Independence Day)

Will Smith was already a household name by the time Independence Day was released and became the biggest movie of 1996, but this massive sci-fi flick took him to new heights. Electric, magnetic, and charismatic beyond belief, the Fresh Prince became the King of the summer blockbuster with his portrayal of Captain Steven Hiller.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic)

Is there a bigger ‘90s movie than Titanic, both in terms of financial returns and cultural prominence? Yeah, James Cameron’s story of the ill-fated ship, his special effects, and the rest of the cast made this 1997 disaster movie a must-see, but Leonardo DiCaprio, with his “King of the World” moment, made this an all-timer. 

Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire)

Picking the best ‘90s movie for Tom Cruise is no easy task, considering some of the actor’s best performances took place that decade. However, despite Magnolia and Mission: Impossible being great in their own ways, this has to go to Cruise’s dynamic portrayal of the struggling sports agent in Jerry Maguire. “Show me the money,” is a quote we keep in our repertoire nearly 30 years later. 

Sandra Bullock (Speed)

Sandra Bullock put herself on the map with her performance in Speed, one of the most iconic 1994 movies. Though she was great in Demolition Man the year before, Bullock’s take on Annie Porter made her an overnight sensation and quickly became one of her best roles to date, even outside the ‘90s.

Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption)

How Morgan Freeman didn’t win an Oscar for his performance in The Shawshank Redemption is one of the biggest mysteries, and travesties, in Hollywood history. His portrayal of Ellis "Red" Redding in this spectacular Stephen King adaptation is so strong and so believable that you don’t see him as an actor playing an inmate, but more like an aging prisoner trying to “get busy living or get busy dying.”

Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction)

As much as we would have loved to argue for Jurassic Park being Samuel L. Jackson’s best ‘90s movie, Ray Arnold has nothing on the bad mother [redacted] that was Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction. Easily Quentin Tarantino’s best movie, this 1994 classic is essentially a master class in dialogue and non-linear storytelling.

Meg Ryan (Sleepless In Seattle)

A few years after leading the best romantic comedy of all time with When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan teamed up with Nora Ephron (who was directing this time around) for Sleepless in Seattle in 1993. The chemistry between Ryan and Tom Hanks as Annie Reed and Sam Baldwin, is incredible, even if they only share a couple minutes of screentime.

Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman)

It’s hard to imagine what Julia Roberts’ career and Hollywood in general would be like if the actress didn’t play Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman. Sure, Roberts already had some hits and would have gone on to land big roles, but this 1990 rom-com instantly made her one of the brightest stars on the planet and showed off her dynamic range and impeccable comedic timing.

Angela Bassett (What's Love Got To Do With It)

Angela Bassett’s best movie, What’s Love Got to Do with It saw the celebrated actress take on the role of the legendary Tina Turner in this 1993 biopic about the late singer’s life, career, and toxic relationship with husband and music partner Ike Turner. Bassett had some pretty iconic ‘90s roles throughout the decade, but this is at the tippy top of the mountain.

Keanu Reeves (The Matrix)

Picking Keanu Reeves’ best movie of the 1990s is more difficult than you’d think. Point Break, My Private Idaho, and Speed are all contenders, but none come close to the heights of The Matrix and his performance as Neo, aka, the One. Watching Reeves’ character develop throughout this great ‘90s sci-fi film never gets old.

Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting)

Robin Williams had SO many good movies in the ‘90s, but Good Will Hunting was in a league of its own, at least in terms of performances by the late comedian. The richness, range, and emotion found in his portrayal of Sean Maguire is something to behold. No wonder he took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense)

The ‘90s saw Bruce Willis play everything from his most iconic character in the second and third Die Hard movies to the leads in multiple blockbusters. However, none of those compare to his work in The Sixth Sense. There is just something so warm and refreshing about his portrayal of a child psychiatrist trying to help a young boy make sense of life and his strange gift.

Harrison Ford (The Fugitive)

Have you gone back and watched The Fugitive lately? If not, do so now. If you have, you’re all too familiar with Harrison Ford’s performance as Richard Kimble, the Chicago doctor trying to clear his name after being wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife. Air Force One and Clear and Present Danger are great, but this 1993 thriller is one of Ford’s career-best.

Frances McDormand (Fargo)

Frances McDormand’s portrayal of Marge Gunderson in the Coen Brothers' Fargo earned the actress the first of her three Academy Awards, and for good reason: she’s the heart and soul of the 1996 crime comedy.  

Gary Oldman (The Fifth Element)

Gary Oldman played some of the meanest ‘90s villains in movies like Air Force One, Leon: The Professional, and The Fifth Element, the latter of which features his best work of the decade. Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg is one of those characters that you love to hate and enjoy watching as much as the 1997 sci-fi film’s hero, which is saying something.

Wesley Snipes (White Men Can't Jump)

In the years following his breakout performance in Major League, Wesley Snipes became one of the dependable faces in Hollywood thanks to unforgettable turns in New Jack City, Demolition Man, and Jungle Fever. But let’s be real, Snipes’ take on Syd Deane is one of the most iconic ‘90s characters and essentially carries this all-time great basketball movie.

Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan)

Tom Hanks dominated the ‘90s with Oscar-winning performances in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump as well as other decade-defining films like Toy Story and A League of Their Own. But in terms of the BEST movie, that has to go to Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg’s harrowing World War II epic about heroism, survival, and the hope of a better tomorrow.

Robert De Niro (Cape Fear)

We could have listed Goodfellas, Heat, or even A Bronx Tale as Robert De Niro’s best movie from the ‘90s, but his performance as Max Cady in Cape Fear is on a whole other level. Easily one of the Oscar winner’s most menacing characters, the psychopathic ex-con with a bone to pick is a force of pure evil here.

Al Pacino (Heat)

After playing all-time great gangsters in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Al Pacino was on the other side of the law in Michael Mann’s 1995 crime epic, Heat. Sure, Scent of a Woman earned him that elusive Oscar for Best Actor, but his take on Lieutenant Vincent Hanna is the stuff of legend. Plus, we also got to see Pacino and Robert De Niro share a scene for the first time.

Anthony Hopkins (The Silence Of The Lambs)

Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs is one of the greatest performances of all time. That said, it should be no surprise that this great horror film gets the call here. Though there was some stiff competition.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Boogie Nights)

As much as we would love to break down all the awesome ways Philip Seymour Hoffman stole the show in Twister and My Boyfriend’s Back, the late actor really came into his own in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 drama, Boogie Nights. Hoffman’s sympathetic take on Scotty J. was nothing short of brilliant and showed what was to come.

Jodie Foster (The Silence Of The Lambs)

If you were to break down Jodie Foster’s best performances, her portrayal of Clarice Starling would be at or near the top of that list. A movie that has been quoted or referenced countless times over the years, this 1991 thriller remains one of the best ever made.

Brad Pitt (Seven)

David Fincher’s Seven is Brad Pitt’s best movie from the ‘90s for a variety of reasons: 1) the movie about a serial killer taking lives based on the seven deadly sins is violently unique, 2) it was the start of a partnership between actor and director, and 3) Pitt showed he was more than a pretty face and really had what it took.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (T2: Judgment Day)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is not only a decade-defining action movie or a landmark achievement in visual effects, it’s also Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best movie of the ‘90s and perhaps all time. James Cameron’s sequel is bigger and louder than its predecessor and epic beyond compare.

Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act)

Whoopi Goldberg won her first Academy Award for her role as Oda Mae Brown in Ghost, a film that kicked off an impressive decade for the comedian and actor. Her spiritual guide for Patrick Swayze’s ghostly Sam Wheat in this supernatural thriller helped anchor the film and turn it into the biggest movie of 1990.

Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting)

Matt Damon went from a relatively unknown actor to one of the brightest faces (and voices) in Hollywood thanks to Good Will Hunting. His tortured performance as a young math prodigy in South Boston is still captivating more than 25 years later.

Eddie Murphy (The Nutty Professor)

Eddie Murphy did a little bit of everything in the ‘90s, but The Nutty Professor shows off some of the comedian’s best work. Playing multiple characters (heroes, villains, and in between) really showed off Murphy’s dynamic range and varied comedic styles.

Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore)

Though Big Daddy proved that Adam Sandler could handle slightly more dramatic roles, there’s no denying the fact that Happy Gilmore is the former SNL star’s best ‘90s movie. His take on a failed hockey player finding new purpose (and fortune) in the world of golf was a game-changer and created one of the best sports characters of all time.

Denzel Washington (Malcolm X)

Denzel Washington is another actor who had more great roles in the ‘90s than we can count, but at the top of his “best” list is Spike Lee’s 1992 biopic, Malcolm X. The movie about the controversial civil rights icon was eye-opening, enchanting, and epic.

Joe Pesci (Goodfellas)

We could have talked about My Cousin Vinny, we could have talked about Home Alone, and we could have even made a case for Casino, but none of that is possible without Goodfellas. The movie, which introduced the world to Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito, is one of the greatest gangster movies of all time and an influential piece of cinema we still rave about 30-plus years later.

Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise)

Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, a movie featuring one of the best female friendships with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis’ titular characters, helped kickstart the decade back in 1990. Easily Sarandon’s best movie of the ‘90s, this crime drama about two friends on the run from the law is just so dang great.

Jim Carrey (Dumb & Dumber)

Jim Carrey absolutely dominated the ‘90s comedy scene, and the box office in general back in 1994. While Ace Ventura Pet Detective and The Mask both have their moments, we have to be real for a second and admit that Dumb and Dumber is some of Carrey’s best work.

Movie fans had lots to love in the '90s and these actors and their best movies of the decade will never be forgotten.

Considering just how hard it is to make in show business, it's remarkable how many celebrities have been good friends with other successful celebrities since before either was famous. Some going back to childhood. Here's our list of celebrities that have been friends for longer than they've been famous. 

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck

It’s probably the most famous friendship in Hollywood. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon grew up together in Cambridge, MA, and they’ve pretty much been besties ever since. They were even uncredited extras together in Field Of Dreams and both found early roles in School Ties together. Of course, in 1997 when they wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting together, their collective fame blew up. 

Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones

Another set of long-time friends are former Vice President Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones. They were roommates when they attended Harvard together. At the 2000 Democratic National Convention when the party nominated Gore to be its candidate for President, Jones said in a speech,

Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams were both taken from the world when they were too young. The two have more in common than tragedy though. Reeve and Williams forged a lifelong friendship after meeting as graduate students at Juilliard and rooming together while in school. Reeve even credited Williams with showing him that life would go on after a horse riding accident left him paralyzed. 

Madonna and Debi Mazar

Entourage star Debi Mazar and global superstar Madonna have been friends since the early ‘80s when they met in the hipster scene of the East Village and the dance clubs of New York City. They stayed friends since that time and Mazar has had Madonna’s back when internet trolls take shots at the pop music legend. Mazar also appeared in a number of Madonna’s early videos, like “Papa Don’t Preach.”

Ving Rhames and Stanley Tucci

Stanley Tucci and Ving Rhames were roommates as undergrads at SUNY Purchase. Tucci even gave Rhames his nickname, Ving, which is short for Erving. Rhames let the world in on that tidbit when he presented Tucci with a Golden Globe in 1998 for Tucci’s role in Winchell. The two have only worked on the same project together once though, 1995’s Kiss of Death. 

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler and Tiny Fey first met at the improv school Improv Olympic (now known as iO Theater) in the early ‘90s when they were both just starting out. In the years since, they’ve stayed friends and worked together a lot, including on SNL and hosting the Golden Globe Awards together. 

Brad Pitt and Sheryl Crow

Brad Pitt and Sheryl Crow have known each other since college. Pitt was a year behind Crow at the University of Missouri and according to Crow, they didn’t know each other well, but they did cross paths a lot, She worked with his fraternity during Greek Week and she was friends with his college girlfriend. She also jokes on the podcast that she dreamed she would marry Brad Pitt. 

Rick Moranis and Geddy Lee

Geddy Lee was the bass player and lead singer of Rush, one of the most popular bands of the last 50 years. Weirdly, his biggest hit wasn’t with Rush but was a song called “Take Off” that appeared on a Doug and Bob McKenzie album. He sang on the track because he’s been lifelong friends with Rick Moranis, who played Doug McKenzie. The two went to grade school together. 

Lauryn Hill and Zach Braff

Lauryn Hill attended Zach Braff’s bar mitzvah. You read that right. Braff told a story to Seth Meyers (whom Braff has known since college) about his bar mitzvah being “musical theater themed” and his partner in the games the kids played was none other than Ms. Lauryn Hill, who went to high school with Braff. 

Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand

Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand first met years before they both found success in Hollywood. They even roomed together in the Bronx. While they were roommates, McDormand met Joel Coen, of the Coen Brothers, and they started dating. Eventually, they would marry and Joel and Ethan Coen would cast both McDormand and Hunter in Raising Arizona, one of many roles the Coens have cast McDormand in. 

B.J. Novak and John Krasinski

B.J. Novak and John Krasinski were in the same class in high school at Newtown South High outside Boston. They were friends long before they both starred in The Office, though in high school, according to Novak, Krasinski was more of a jock, while Novak was a theater kid. Obviously, both ended up wildly successful as actors. 

Gwyneth Paltrow and Maya Rudolph

Maya Rudolph and Gwyneth Paltrow have been friends for years. Rudolph’s father, Richard, was best friends with Paltrow’s father, Bruce, and Maya and Gwyneth attended the same school, St. Augustine by the Sea School in Santa Monica.

Adam Sandler and director Judd Apatow famously shared an apartment in Los Angeles when they were both just starting out in the industry. When Sandler landed his gig with SNL and moved to New York, he continued to pay rent on the place because he was worried he’d immediately get fired from the show. He didn’t and the rest is history. 

Lisa Kudrow and Conan O'Brien

Conan O’Brien met Lisa Kudrow in 1985 when he moved to LA out of college and decided to take an improv class. According to O’Brien, he walked into the class on his first day and immediately identified Kudrow as someone that was going somewhere. 

Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson 

Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson first met in their sophomore year at the University of Texas. Both were in a playwriting seminar and Anderson immediately was intrigued by Wilson. They have stayed close over the years and Wilson is a regular player in Anderson’s films, starring in eight of them. 

Danny DeVito and Micheal Douglas

Starting way back in 1975 Danny DeVito and Micheal Douglas have been working together. Douglas produced One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest which DeVito had a supporting role in. The two have been friends for much longer, going all the way back to 1967 when they met on beach and immediately bonded. 

Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg

This might be the most surprising on the list. Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dogg went to Long Beach High School together. They've known each other since they were teenagers and, according to Diaz.

Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley

Before they were stars, Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley, as roommates, apparently would have contests to see who could go the longest without showering or shaving. Somehow, they were both still really, really good looking despite this. 

Laura Linney and Brooke Shields

Star of The Blue Lagoon, Brooke Shields, and star of You Can Count on Me, Laura Linney, have been counting on each other since they were children. Brooke Shields celebrated Laura Linney's 56th birthday in 2020 by posting a throwback of the two when they were just kids. 

Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance

Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett got married in 1997, which was well after both had become successful. Their friendship, however, goes much further back. They met at Yale Drama School in the '80s, though both were dating other people at the time. They would reconnect years later and they've been together ever since. 

Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton

Way before they found fame together on The Simple Life, Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton were friends. According to Hilton on the show, they've been best friends since they were two years old. In September 2023, Hilton celebrated Richie's birthday by posting a bunch of photos of them through the years, from childhood to the present. 

The Great Gatsby was not the first time Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire worked together. They appeared together in This Boy's Life back in 1993. Their friendship, however, goes back even further having met early on when they were both struggling to land their first roles and auditioning for the same parts. They are still close friends. 

Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts

Technically Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts were already working actors when they met on the set of Flirting back in 1991. Neither were famous yet, and the fellow Aussies became fast friends, and have stayed very close ever since. 

Adam Levine and Jonah Hill

Adam Levine and Jonah Hill have been friends since childhood. They've often joked about each other in interviews and really seem to have a close bond. They are so close that Jonah Hill even officiated Levine's wedding in 2016. 

Kate Hudson and Liv Tyler

Liv Tyler and Kate Hudson have a lot in common, starting with all of their parents being famous themselves. They also both grew up in Los Angeles and attended the same high school together, Crossroads School for Arts & Science, where they first became buddies. They starred in Dr. T & the Women together in 2000 and are still very close friends

Jamie Dornan And Andrew Garfield

Jamie Dornan And Andrew Garfield have been mates for almost 20 years. The two were roommates in the early days of their careers, running in a pack with the likes of Charlie Cox, Robert Pattinson, and Eddie Redmayne as they struggled to land auditions. It's safe to say they've all done pretty well since then. 

Timothée Chalamet and Ansel Elgort

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City is one of the most prestigious arts high schools in the country. It's no surprise that it has its fair share of famous former students. Two of those are Timothée Chalamet and Ansel Elgort, who were in the same class and have been best friends since attending. 

Scarlett Johansson and Jack Antonoff

Like so many others on this list, actor Scarlett Johansson and musician Jack Antonoff attended high school together. What makes them different is that they even briefly dated and went to the prom together at New York City's Professional Children’s School. They broke up after graduation, but they'll always have prom! 

Mel Gibson and Geoffrey Rush

The country of Australia is not all Mel Gibson and Geoffrey Rush have in common, When both were starving artists trying to make it early on, they shared an apartment that, according to Gibson, didn't have any furniture. A few decades later it's safe to assume both have plenty of places to sleep and sit down after all their success. 

Kristen Bell and Matthew Morrison

Kristen Bell attended the prestigious New York University's Tisch School of the Arts alongside Glee star Matthew Morrison. They were friends in college, and as Bell told Us Weekly in 2010, the two briefly dated. She told the magazine, 

David Lynch and Peter Wolf

In what might be the oddest pairing on this list, director David Lynch and musician Peter Wolf were once roommates at School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in the 1960s. Wolf, who is famous for being the lead singer of the great J. Geils Band told The New York Times that the living situation didn't last long, as he was way too messy for Lynch. 

Kirsten Gillibrand and Connie Britton

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of Massachusetts and actor Connie Britton first met on a study-abroad trip to China while both were in college at Dartmouth. The pair have remained friends in the decades since and often post about each other on social media and of course, Britton endorsed Gillibrand when she first ran for the senate.

Actors, musicians, politicians, roommates, childhood friends, and starving artists. Each pair on this list have unique stories, that are somehow also very similar. They say birds of a feather flock together and this list of celebrities who were friends before they were famous seems to prove that point over and over.  

Marc Maron has become one of the biggest names in comedy over the last decade with the success of his massively popular podcast, WTF with Marc Maron. While this has allowed him to release comedy albums and stand-up specials on a regular basis, such as the upcoming From Bleak To Dark on HBO, it’s also afforded him opportunities outside of the typical stand-up path, such as his critically acclaimed performances in shows like GLOW and films such as the Oscar-nominated To Leslie. Despite the praise, these performances are lacking in major awards love, which it turns out is fine by Maron, as he’s garnered the respect of a handful of Academy Award-winning legends. 

I recently caught up with Marc Maron to discuss From Bleak To Dark, and when the subject of awards races came up, he provided his unique perspective and a charming anecdote about an exchange he had with Frances McDormand during his run on GLOW (which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription):

A SAG Award nomination is nothing to scoff at, but getting props from the legend that is Frances McDormand is about as good as it gets. It’s charming to know that Maron still gets starstruck given that he interviews the biggest celebrities in the world on his podcast.

More recently, Maron is receiving rave reviews for his performance in To Leslie, which you can stream right now. His co-star Andrea Riseborough was nominated for an Oscar, and the grassroots campaign led to an investigation within the Academy that thankfully has been resolved. When it comes to Maron’s own performance, however, the lack of major awards nominations was countered by props from another legend, Kate Winslet. He went on to say this:

The list of 2023 Oscar nominees is stacked, so we’ll see if Andrea Riseborough and To Leslie can take this thing all the way. As for Marc Maron, he has some of the funniest comedy specials on Netflix, and From Bleak To Dark is a hilarious and poignant glimpse at grief through the lens of a comedic mind that you can see on HBO February 11 at 10 pm PST! The special will then surely be available afterward for HBO Max subscribers to stream.

Months after premiering at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, and weeks after opening in cities like New York and Los Angeles, Sarah Polley’s Golden Globe-nominated dramatic film, Women Talking, has finally made its way to theaters across the country with its long-awaited wide release. Set in 2010, the movie centers on a close-knit group of women in a small and strict Mennonite community as they come together and make a difficult decision after discovering the men in their lives have been drugging and raping them for years, with the core cast featuring one incredible actress after another.

If you have watched the new drama, or are planning to do so now that it’s playing across the country, there’s a good chance you’re wondering where you’ve seen the Women Talking cast before. Fear not, for we have put together a list of the major players in the 2022 book-to-movie adaptation of Miriam Toews novel of the same name.

Rooney Mara (Ona)

Leading off the cast is Rooney Mara, who takes on the role of Ona, a Mennonite woman pregnant with the child of one of her abusers. 

This is the latest in a series of tough and difficult roles taken on by the two-time Academy Award nominee (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Carol), which includes movies like A Ghost Story, Mary Magdalene, and Nightmare Alley. Since breaking out nearly a decade-and-a-half ago with roles in the likes of Youth in Revolt, the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and a small yet powerful performance in The Social Network, Mara has gone on to show up in titles like Side Effects, Her, and Lion to name a few. She’s next set to appear alongside her fiancé, Joaquin Phoenix, in The Island. 

Claire Foy (Salome)

Claire Foy appears in Women Talking as Salome, one of the Mennonite women determined to leave their community behind, no matter what it takes.

Fans of the sprawling Netflix historical drama series The Crown will instantly recognize Foy from her award-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II during the show’s first two seasons, though she did appear in flashbacks in later installments. Sticking with TV, Foy has also given notable performances on the likes of A Very British Scandal and Upstairs Downstairs. 

Just like co-star Rooney Mara years earlier, Foy took on the role of Lisbeth Salander in 2018’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web, the same year she appeared alongside Ryan Gosling in First Man. And, according to Variety, Foy will appear in the upcoming adaptation of Taichi Yamada’s Strangers. 

Jessie Buckley (Mariche)

Jessie Buckley shows up in the new drama as Mariche, one of the female members of the Mennonite colony who aren’t so keen on the idea of leaving everything and everyone they know behind.

Over the course of the past few years, Buckley has made quite a name for herself with attention-grabbing performances in movies like I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Men, and The Lost Daughter, the latter of which earned her an Academy Award nomination). She has also taken on roles in shows like The Woman in White, Chernobyl, and Fargo in recent years. 

Ben Whishaw (August)

Playing one of the few good men in Women Talking, Ben Whishaw takes on the role of August, one of the male members of the Mennonite community.

Fans of the Daniel Craig James Bond movies will instantly recognize Whishaw from his portrayal of gadget master Q, which started with his debut in 2012’s Skyfall. But the talented film, TV, and stage actor has much more to his filmography, including Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Lobster, The Hour, and Fargo. And, since 2014, Whishaw has been the voice of Paddington in two movies, and various TV shows and specials, including one for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. 

Frances McDormand (Scarface Janz)

Frances McDormand appears in the cast as Scarface Janz, one of the members of the community who would rather do nothing and let things die down.

McDormand, who has won three Oscars for acting (Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Nomadland), and one as a producer (also Nomadland), has spent the better part of the past 40 years giving one outstanding performance after another, including in multiple films directed by her husband, Joel Coen, such as Blood Simple, Burn After Reading, and The Tragedy of Macbeth. She has also appeared in the likes of Moonrise Kingdom, Almost Famous, Wonder Boys, and Primal Fear, to name only a few. 

Judith Ivey (Agata)

Judith Ivey appears in Women Talking as Agata, the matriarch of one of the families tasked with deciding what should be done once the revelations of abuse are made public. 

Throughout her career, Ivey has appeared in movies like The Devil’s Advocate, Mystery, Alaska, Flags of Our Fathers, and A Life Less Ordinary, as well as dozens of TV appearances. These include everything from Designing Women to The Critic, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to New Amsterdam. Ivey has also won two Tony Awards over the years, one for Steaming in 1981 and then several years later for her role in the 1984 run of Hurlyburly. 

Liv McNeil (Neitje)

Liv McNeil shows up in the film as Neitje, one of the younger members of the Mennonite community who has suffered abuse at the hands of the men in the colony.

Women Talking is the first major role for the young actress, who got her start writing and directing the 2020 short film, Numb.

Sheila McCarthy (Greta)

Sheila McCarthy appears as Greta, the matriarch of another one of the families tasked with deciding the future of the Mennonite colony.

Over the years, McCarthy has landed roles on shows like Picket Fences, Star Trek: Discovery, The Umbrella Academy, and most recently, The Good Doctor, as well as a list of movies that includes The Day After Tomorrow, The Lotus Eaters, Die Hard 2, and The Middle Man. 

Michelle McLeod (Mejal)

Michelle McLeod takes on the role of Mejal, another one of the younger victims of abuse rampant throughout Women Talking.

Over the years, the young actress has appeared in movies like My Spy, Honey Bee, and Don’t Talk to Irene, as well as shows like Grand Army, Tin Star, and the latest season of the Netflix series Workin’ Moms. 

Kate Hallett (Autje) 

Kate Hallett makes her feature film debut with her portrayal of Autje, another young member of the Mennonite colony at the center of the film’s narrative. 

Women Talking is currently playing in theaters nationwide. If you want to know what else is coming out this week or in the near future, check out our 2023 movie schedule for all the latest.

It has been a quarter of a century since Joel and Ethan Coen introduced audiences to the wild and crazy world (and characters) of their 1996 dark comedy Fargo. In that stretch of time, the movie has become a modern classic, spawned a successful anthology series on FX, and helped take the careers of its colorful cast of characters — led by Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and Steve Buscemi — to the heights of their respective careers in film, on television, and beyond. 

But, a long time has passed since we’ve first met the cast all those years ago (the movie can officially rent a car at this point), so now seems like the perfect time to take a break and look back on what the Fargo cast has been up to as of late...

Frances McDormand (Marge Gunderson)

Fargo is one of the best Frances McDormand movies, and turned the actress into a sensation and Academy Award winner following her iconic portrayal of the nice but no-nonsense Brainerd police chief, Marge Gunderson. Since taking on the role of the seven-months pregnant police officer with a knack for solving crimes and postage stamp painting, McDormand has gone on to win two more Oscars, one for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in 2018 and another for Nomadland in 2021 (she also took home Golden Globes for each of those performances). 

One of the best actresses of her time, McDormand continues to find success whether she’s appearing in her husband Joel Coen’s movies, like The Tragedy of Macbeth, working with Wes Anderson in the likes of The French Dispatch, or with just about anyone else. McDormand is set to star in Sarah Polley’s upcoming drama Women Talking, per Variety.

William H. Macy (Jerry Lundegaard)

William H. Macy’s portrayal of Jerry Lundegaard, the desperate and short-sighted car dealer who hires a pair of crooks to kidnap his wife, will forever go down as one of the Primetime Emmy Award-winning actor's best performances. 

In the years since appearing in Fargo, Macy has found success with roles in everything from Boogie Nights to Bobby, with dozens of memorable performances before and since. From 2011 to 2021, Macy portrayed Frank Gallagher on Shameless, the down-on-his-luck and substance-abusing patriarch of the Showtime series’ central family, which earned him multiple Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nominations throughout the show’s impressive 11-season run.

Steve Buscemi (Carl Showalter)

Things didn’t shake out all too well for Steve Buscemi’s Fargo character, Carl Showalter, but the same can't be said about the actor and the state of his insanely successful and fruitful career over the past 25 years. 

From 2010 to 2014, Buscemi portrayed Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, the corrupt, powerful, and dangerous Atlantic County official at the center of Boardwalk Empire, a performance that earned him a Golden Globe and four Screen Actors Guild Awards during the show’s run on HBO. More recently, Buscemi has appeared on comedy series like Miracle Workers and Rick and Morty, as well as a list of movies that includes The King of Staten Island, Hubie Halloween, and the soon-to-be-released Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.

Peter Stormare (Gaear Grimsrud)

Peter Stormare’s portrayal of the silent but deadly killer, Gaear Grimsrud, in Fargo adds a much-needed layer of danger and darkness to the offbeat nature of the Coen Brothers movie. 

In 1998, Stormare and his Fargo co-star Steve Buscemi appeared in the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski. Over the course of the past few decades, there have been multiple years in which Stormare has appeared in more than five movies (he appeared in 10 in 2013 alone), though he has slowed down just a little bit more recently. In 2020, he appeared in the pandemic thriller Songbird, which he followed up with two animated films in 2021 — Gift of Fire and Cryptozoo. He currently co-hosts the docuseries Secrets of the Viking Stone.

Harve Presnell (Wade Gustafson)

Wade Gustafson, Jerry Lundegaard’s father-in-law who gets caught up in the ill-fated kidnapping and ransom plan, was portrayed by Harve Presnell. The veteran character actor, who appeared on shows like Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Dawson’s Creek, as well as in movies like Saving Private Ryan and Mr. Deeds, passed away at the age of 75 in July 2009 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to the New York Times.

Kristin Rudrüd (Jean Lundegaard)

Kristin Rudrüd shows up in Fargo as Jean Lundegaard, the unsuspecting wife of Jerry Lundegaard at the center of the dark comedy’s doomed-from-the-start kidnapping and get-rich-quick scheme. Born and raised in the actual Fargo, North Dakota, Rudrüd appeared in a few more movies in the late 1990s and early 2000s before stepping away from acting. This includes Pleasantville, Drop Dead Gorgeous, and Herman U.S.A.

Tony Denman (Scotty Lundegaard)

Tony Denman shows up in the Fargo cast as Scotty Lundegaard, the only son of Jerry and Kristin Lundegaard, whose demeanor (and life) forever changes upon his mother’s kidnapping and murder. 

In the years since Fargo was released into the wild, Denman has appeared in a number of movies including National Lampoon’s Barely Legal, Transylmania, and, more recently, For the Love of Jessee. Denman has also popped up on numerous TV shows over the years, including King of the Hill, My Crazy Ex, and The 33rd: Sci-Fi Anthology in 2018. Denman is part of a comedy duo by the name of As a Matter of Fact.

Steve Reevis (Shep Proudfoot)

Taking on the role of Shep Proudfoot, the man who convinced Jerry Lundegaard to hire the men to kidnap his wife for the ransom money in Fargo, is Steve Reevis. Leading up to his appearance in the Coen Brothers dark comedy, Reevis had roles in movies like Twins, Dances with Wolves, and The Doors, and later went on to show up in The Missing, The Longest Yard, and Fishing Naked, his final film appearances. There were a number of TV shows to feature Reevis over the years, including Walker, Texas Ranger, Malcolm in the Middle, and Bones. Unfortunately, Reevis passed away at the age of 55 in December 2017, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Larry Brandenburg (Stan Grossman)

Larry Brandenburg shows up in Fargo as Stan Grossman, Wade Gustafson’s accountant who informs Jerry Lundegaard of his client’s decision to handle matters himself. Prior to the release of Fargo, Brandenburg landed small roles in movies like Field of Dreams and The Shawshank Redemption, as well as shows like Quantum Leap and Cheers. 

In the years following the film’s release, Brandenburg landed roles in some of the most popular shows of the early 21st Century including Monk, Grey’s Anatomy, and NCIS. Brandenburg’s final appearances came in the movie Last Harbor, and an episode of the successful animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, both of which were released in 2010.

John Carroll Lynch (Norm Gunderson)

In one of his early film appearances, John Carroll Lynch shows up in Fargo as Marge Gunderson’s husband Norm. Prior to working with the Coen Brothers in the duo’s dark comedy, Lynch had small roles in Grumpy Old Men and Beautiful Girls, with his film career taking off immediately after. 

Over the years, Lynch has had a rather balanced career with action spectacles like Volcano and Gone in 60 Seconds, right up there with thrillers like Zodiac (he played the prime suspect in the titular case) and Shutter Island. In 2020, Lynch portrayed David Dellinger in Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7.

It should also be pointed out that Lynch has had a successful career on the small screen, as well, with major roles in various entries in the American Horror Story franchise, Big Sky, and Veep, on top of dozens of other smaller roles dating back to a 1996 episode of Frasier.

Stephen Park (Mike Yanagita)

Mike Yanagita, Marge Gunderson’s high school friend who makes a dinner scene all the more awkward and uncomfortable in Fargo is portrayed by comedian and actor Stephen Park. Prior to landing the small, yet memorable, role in the 1996 dark comedy, Park made a name for himself with appearances in movies like Do the Right Thing, Kindergarten Cop, and Falling Down, as well as shows like In Living Color, Martin, and Friends. 

Since completing his duties in Fargo, Park has been in everything from A Serious Man to Snowpiercer, and The Gambler to The French Dispatch. Park’s recent television appearances include Warrior and Infinity Train. And, just like so many other big-name actors and actresses, Stephen Park will take on an unspecified role in Wes Anderson's upcoming (and mysterious) movie Asteroid City.

With electric and unforgettable performances from Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and the rest of the Fargo cast, it's easy to see why the 1996 Coen Brothers dark comedy remains such a treat for movie lovers of all ages. If this trip down memory lane has piqued your interest, check out the assortment of Fargo behind the scenes facts we gathered from the making of the movie. If you want to know more about everything coming out in theaters and on streaming services, check out CinemaBlend's 2021 movies schedule.

While Eternals has received a mixed reception, it is poised to be one of 2021’s biggest box office hits. Hopefully, the film’s success will lead to Marvel producing a sequel for the ensemble film. If a sequel is greenlit, maybe director Chloé Zhao will bring more of the Eternals into the MCU. There might even be a chance of her Nomadland connection to Marvel. Zhao recently spoke on the possibility of Frances McDormand joining the MCU.

The possible scenario of France McDormand joining the MCU came up during an interview for Eternals. Of course, Chloé Zhao would be asked this given she won an Oscar for directing McDormand in Nomadland. While no one has asked the Oscar-winning actress, Zhao may have hinted at the possible idea becoming a reality. The Eternals director responded to the question by saying:

Chloé Zhao backing up Frances McDormand’s addition to the MCU showed just how close the two women have become. Given her quality acting resume, McDormand has always been down for a challenge. It might be a change of pace for the Oscar winner given the lack of sci-fi and action fare in her lengthy filmography. After Zhao answered the question, the interview took a quick pivot as she was asked if the two had talked. The Nomadland director decided to play coy by replying:

As a prolific actress, Frances McDormand has never played the same character twice. The actress could be an untapped Eternal or another Marvel character. The possibilities are endless. So, having her join the MCU would be a major get for Disney and Marvel. Viewers have already seen other Oscar winners like Lupita Nyong’o, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Natalie Portman playing important roles within the universe. Just imagine all those powerful women coming together for a female-led Marvel film.

Given her connection to Chloé Zhao, the director could probably convince Frances McDormand to sign up for the right role. Zhao’s coy response played into McDormand becoming an MCU star. But given Marvel’s notorious secrecy surrounding their films, neither woman could ever reveal her casting until the official announcement is made. Keep your fingers crossed news of Frances McDormand joining Marvel comes across your timeline someday.

But it might be a while before Chloé Zhao and Frances McDormand have an MCU reunion. Zhao currently has multiple projects in the works, including a sci-fi western Dracula remake. McDormand’s acting schedule is full of multiple projects, including The French Dispatch and The Tragedy of Macbeth. While Marvel fans wait to hear the news, Zhao’s Eternals will arrive in theaters on Nov. 5.

When tremendous talent comes together, it’s hard not to always expect tremendous results, and The Tragedy Of Macbeth is a perfect example. Based on the play by William Shakespeare, the new film is written and directed by the brilliant Joel Coen, and playing the lead roles are the incomparable Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand. It is set to premiere this week at the New York Film Festival – but before the first wave of reviews rolls in, we now have this brand new trailer to bring our excitement to extreme levels.

Marking the first time that Joel Coen has shot a movie in black-and-white since 2001’s The Man Who Wasn’t There, The Tragedy Of Macbeth features Denzel Washington as the titular Scottish lord, whose journey begins in the story when he is told that he is destined to be crowned king. Filled with ambition as a result of this prophecy, Macbeth acts to ensure that the events in the divination come to pass, with his wife (Frances McDormand) supporting him all along the way – but in his quest to achieve great power he ultimately sacrifices his soul.

The Tragedy Of Macbeth is the first feature that Joel Coen has directed on his own, having spent his entire career working with his brother, Ethan. The last film that the siblings made together was the western anthology The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs, which hit Netflix back in late 2018. It is presently unclear what’s to come in terms of future collaborations (it’s been said by composer Carter Burwell that Ethan Coen “just doesn’t want to make movies anymore”), but for now we’re definitely excited to see what Joel Coen can do as a solo director – and this trailer suggests that he is plenty capable on his own.

This movie marks the first time that Denzel Washington has taken on the role of Lord Macbeth, though he has been forming Shakespeare since the start of his career. In 1979 he was in a stage production of Coriolanus that featured Morgan Freeman, Keith David, and CCH Pounder, and in 1993 he played the role of Don Pedro in Kenneth Branagh’s big screen adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. Washington has changed a great deal as a performer since then, but in this first look at this return to the work of The Bard it looks like he is going to be putting on a clinic.

Featuring a stacked supporting cast that includes Brendan Gleeson (as King Duncan), Harry Melling, Ralph Ineson, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Corey Hawkins, The Tragedy Of Macbeth will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival this Friday, but soon after will hit theaters courtesy of A24 – specifically on December 25 (it will be available on AppleTV+ starting January 14). Look for it to be a big player in this year’s awards season, and to see all of the features still to come in the rest of the year, head on over to our 2021 Movie Release Calendar.

No one ever knows what to expect when a new Wes Anderson film is on the horizon. Sure, the style and the humor are pretty much a given, but exactly how the writer/director weaves such talents in a film like The French Dispatch is always a mystery. Part of that enigma has now been revealed through a scene involving a naked Timothée Chalamet sitting in a tub, which has been released for your viewing pleasure.

After what’s felt like an eternity of waiting for The French Dispatch to give us another peek behind the curtain, we've literally been given a scene where that exact scenario was made possible. Here we see Chalamet and co-star Frances McDormand working through a scene that’s purely a Wes Anderson scenario. Awkwardly damp comedy rules a moment that could be considered as the best possible way to present Wes Anderson’s work in the form of a clip.

As seen throughout his filmography, which contains memorable tales like Rushmore, The Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel, there’s a rhythm to the humor that is presented in what can initially seem like an awkward, stilted view of the world. Frances McDormand’s Lucinda Krementz and Timothée Chalamet’s Zeffirelli embody that very energy, but as the scene progresses, that Wes Anderson rhythm presents itself. What starts as embarrassment turns into a small, but lighthearted back and forth about typos and the contents of Zeffirelli's manifesto.

As you can tell, it’s hard to “clip” from a movie like The French Dispatch, as well as from Wes Anderson’s filmography in general. So having a moment like this to show those of the viewing public who need a little more selling is a pretty fantastic coup. Though it probably also helps that The French Dispatch has also just had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, which is something that will also raise some eyebrows based on reactions and reports of a standing ovation coming from that event.

Several stories are part of The French Dispatch’s overall tapestry of humanity in all of its comedic and bittersweet glory. And we’re only seeing a portion of the madness that the film’s trailer promised audiences early last year; so even this is just the tip of the iceberg. Rewatching that first trailer, in light of seeing Timothée Chalamet’s awkwardly nude encounter with Frances McDormand, only hammers that home a little more. Which should make fans eagerly awaiting The French Dispatch’s arrival both happy they got another taste, but impatient to devour the entire confection.

Hot off the presses at last, The French Dispatch will be distributed to movie theaters far and wide on October 22. Though you can read all about the other movies headed your way in the coming year, through the 2021 release schedule, should you not be a Wes Anderson fan. And don’t forget to read ahead with 2022’s release schedule, as it's never too soon to start planning a proper night at the movies.

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I think few would disagree that Frances McDormand is one of our greatest living actors. I also am inclined to believe that that same few have likely never seen a movie starring the acclaimed 63-year-old (who is also married to Joel Coen) and had no interest in seeing Nomadland until after it won Best Picture at the 2021 Oscars. Well, that being said, now seems like as good a time as any to bear witness to the best Frances McDormand movies on streaming or available to watch elsewhere, starting with the latest film to earn her praise from the Academy.

Nomadland (2020)

After suffering a devastating financial collapse, Fern (Frances McDormand) joins an emerging subculture of middle-aged people living on the road and searching for work at every stop.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Based on the non-fiction book by journalist Jessica Bruder, Nomadland is a visually and emotionally striking, stunningly authentic, and a refreshingly human story which earned Oscars for director Chloé Zhao and lead actress Frances McDormand - both of whom also took home the Best Picture awards as producers.

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Fargo (1996)

The pregnant sheriff (Frances McDormand) of a small town in Minnesota investigates a murder linked to a struggling used car salesman’s (William H. Macy) botched scheme to have his wife kidnapped for the ransom.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Widely considered to be one of the greatest dark comedy movies ever made and one of the best movies on Amazon Prime at the moment is Fargo, which earned directors Joel and Ethan Coen their first Academy Awards for their inventive screenplay and Frances McDormand the first of her three Oscars for acting.

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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

A divorced mother (Frances McDormand) rents out three unused billboards outside of her small town to send a stirring message to the local sheriff (Woody Harrelson), after they fail to solve the case of her teenage daughter’s rape and murder.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: The second film to earn Frances McDormand a Best Actress Oscar was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is also a masterfully thought-provoking, rural crime thriller of darkly comic proportions from the engrossingly twisted mind of writer and director Martin McDonough.

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Blood Simple (1984)

A Texas bar owner (Dan Hedaya) hires a private investigator (M. Emmett Walsh) to find evidence that his wife (Frances McDormand) and employee (John Getz) are having an affair, and then hires him again, after learning the truth, to kill them.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: The grim Neo-noir thriller Blood Simple is not only the feature-length debut of writers and directors Joel and Ethan Coen, but the brotherly duo’s first collaboration with Frances McDormand, who also makes her acting debut in the stunning romantic tragedy.

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Raising Arizona (1987)

Desperate to have a child of their own, an ex-con (Nicolas Cage) and his ex-cop wife (Holly Hunter) kidnap the newborn son of a wealthy furniture salesman, which quickly puts their lives in tailspin.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Frances McDormand’s second collaboration with her husband and brother-in-law was Raising Arizona, yet another rural crime thriller that is much, much funnier than Blood Simple (and one of the best Nicolas Cage movies), in which she plays Dot, the nosy wife of Cage’s boss, Glen (Sam McMurray).

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The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

An emotionally lethargic, chain-smoking barber (Billy Bob Thornton) suspects his wife (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with her boss (James Gandolfini), which he sees as an opportunity to blackmail his way into the laundry business, until things take a turn for the worse in 1940s Sacramento.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Co-writer and co-director Joel Coen once again casts his wife as an unfaithful spouse involved in a deadly scheme in the old school film noir throwback, The Man Who Wasn’t There - one of the more somber, but still quite cheekily bizarre, Coen Brothers movies starring Frances McDormand.

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Burn After Reading (2008)

A disc belonging to a recently retired CIA agent (John Malkovich) falls into the hands of dim gym employee (Frances McDormand) and her even dumber co-worker (Brad Pitt), setting off a series of odd misunderstandings with unexpectedly grave consequences.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: There is nothing somber, but everything cheekily bizarre, about Burn After Reading - yet another shockingly dark but screamingly funny crime thriller from Joel and Ethan Coen in which Frances McDormand’s character becomes involved in a blackmail scheme which goes horribly wrong.

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Darkman (1990)

A brilliant scientist (Liam Neeson) uses a special synthetic skin of his creation as temporary disguises in an effort exact revenge on the criminals who tried to kill him, leaving him badly burned and disfigured.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Not many know that one of Joel Coen’s first jobs was as an assistant film editor on 1981’s The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi, who would later cast Coen’s wife, Frances McDormand, as Liam Neeson’s spouse in Darkman - the absurdist horror director’s inventive take on the superhero movie genre before making his Spider-Man trilogy and the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel.

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Mississippi Burning (1988)

A veteran FBI agent (Gene Hackman) and his younger partner (Willem Dafoe) come at odds with one other, while in a Southern county at odds with itself, while investigating the murder of three civil rights activists in 1964 Mississippi.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Loosely based on the real-life murder of civil rights activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, late director Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning is a powerful tale that attempts to shed light the true roots of bigotry, which is analyzed in Frances McDormand’s heartbreaking performance as the wife of a racist deputy sheriff.

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Almost Famous (2000)

A teenage aspiring writer (Patrick Fugit) gets the chance to tour with an up-and-coming rock band called Stillwater for a Rolling Stone cover story in the early 1970s.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Loosely based on the real-life experiences of writer and director Cameron Crowe before he became a filmmaker, Almost Famous is a winning tribute to a lost era of music and an inspiring coming-of-age story, especially in how main character William Miller defies his mother’s (Frances McDormand) objections to rock music and learns to let his passions be his guide.

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Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

The citizens of a small island off the coast of New England are thrown into a frenzy when an orphaned boy (Jared Gilman) and a young girl (Kaya Hayward) run away from home together after falling in love.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Frances McDormand once again plays the overbearing mother to a child following her passions (Hayward as Suzy Bishop) in Moonrise Kindgom - an irresistibly quirky and visually inventive tale of young love and my personal favorite of all the Wes Anderson movies I have seen.

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Isle Of Dogs (2018)

After a flu suspected of being linked to dogs spreads throughout Japan, all dogs in the country are banished to an island of garbage where one boy ventures out to find his beloved pet.

Why it is one of the best Frances McDormand movies: Another great Wes Anderson movie featuring Frances McDormand is the darkly funny but heartwarming stop motion animation tale Isle of Dogs, in which the actress voices a Japanese-to-English interpreter named Nelson.

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Frances McDormand’s third collaboration with Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch, was meant to come out in 2020 before the pandemic caused a delay to its debut. Yet, it is now one of the most anticipated 2021 new movie releases, if we are looking on the bright side. Hopefully, we can expect to add this next quirky period piece to our list of the best Frances McDormand movies once our binge of the favorites above is complete.

The 2021 Academy Awards was always going to be an odd year for the Oscars considering how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the film industry. Blockbusters were pushed back, more movies went to streaming than ever, and a majority of award ceremonies leading up to the industry’s biggest night largly took place over Zoom. The 93rd Academy Awards became the first major event during the season to happen in person, and while it wasn’t the most flashy of shows in the event's long history, it definitely had its share of moments to remember.

The award show will likely be remembered for Glenn Close getting down, more diversity in winners, and calls of social justice from Hollywood favorites. Let’s break down the most memorable parts of the 2021 Oscars:

Regina King Makes A Breathtaking Entrance Through Union Station

One Night In Miami director and Oscar-winning actress Regina King kicked off the night with a sleek opening moment that had the camera tracking her walking up to the stage at Los Angeles’ Union Station as the opening credits rolled for the show. It was a breathtaking reveal to the Academy Awards’ unique setup. Although King had a small trip on the stage, her tremendous presence in lieu of an Oscar host for the third year in a row more than made up for the small flub. The opening was simple, but started things off on a delightful note nonetheless.

Daniel Kaluuya Hilariously Tells Everyone His Parents Had Sex

Daniel Kaluuya took home one of the early Oscars of the night with his Best Supporting Actor win for his depiction of Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton in Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah. During his speech, the actor gave moving words about portraying the important social justice leader before showing a bit of his sense of humor. He capped off the speech by sharing his excitement to celebrate his win… and reminding everyone that his mom and dad had sex and “that’s amazing.” It created a hilarious reaction shot where his sister covered her face and his mom mouthing, “what is he talking about” in hilarious disbelief.

Chloe Zhao Makes Oscar History With Her Best Director Win

The Oscars have long been criticized for its lack of diversity among its nominees, with a particular emphasis in recent years being placed on the Best Director category. This year was already a historical one for the Academy Awards, with two female directors being nominated in the same year for the first time: Nomadland’s Chloe Zhao and Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell. Zhao took the prize, becoming the second woman to win the Best Director award ever, and the first woman of color to not only be nominated, but take home the prize. Before her, Kathryn Bigelow won for 2009’s The Hurt Locker.

Yuh-Jung Youn's Cute Moment With Brad Pitt

This year’s Best Supporting Actress category was packed with talent, including Olivia Colman, Glenn Close, Amanda Seyfried and Borat 2 breakout Maria Bakalova. The Oscar went to Minari’s Yuh-Jung Youn, a 73-year-old South Korean actress who has been performing for over 50 years. The award was presented by Brad Pitt and as she accepted the trophy she shared how excited she was to “finally” meet the famous leading man. She also gave a moving speech that had us all falling in love with her even deeper following her incredible performance in Minari.

Tyler Perry Urges People To ‘Refuse Hate’ During Honorary Award

Between his Madea franchise and the studio he founded in Atlanta, Tyler Perry has built his own empire within Hollywood over the past 20 years. At tonight's Oscar ceremony, he accepted the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award with a gripping speech about rejecting hate amidst a year that will be gravely remembered for social justice protests. In an especially poignant message during the telecast, he shared the following:

It was a beautiful moment for the writer, actor, producer and director as he accepted the prestigious humanitarian award.

Glenn Close Winning Oscar Trivia And Doing "Da Butt"

This year’s Academy Awards was lacking in comedic bits , but Lil Rel Howery did come out in the third act of the show to challenge Oscar nominees to some trivia regarding famous music from the telecast’s history. First, the comedian picked on Andra Day regarding Prince’s “Purple Rain,” which had her calling out the Oscars with a bleeped out response. After Daniel Kaluuya took a crack at the game, the mic then went to eight-time nominee Glenn Close who correctly remembered the "Da Butt" song from School Daze before shaking her own butt for the dance. It was an unexpected flex from the 74-year-old, but much respect.

Frances McDormand Gives Her Best Wolf Cry For Nomadland Winning The Night

The show closed out with two major wins for Nomadland, with Frances McDormand taking home her third acting Oscar for her role as Fern, along with sharing the Best Picture honor as a producer on the critically-acclaimed movie. While the actress was short and sweet during her acting speech, she took a moment during the Best Picture acceptance to let out a glorious wolf howl into Union Station. It was a lovely moment and fitting considering the movie had the most wins of the 2021 Oscars.

What did you think of the ceremony? Vote in our poll below and check out where you can watch this year’s highlighted films here on CinemaBlend.

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Actors can be a very particular lot, especially when it comes to what they decide to do in order to make a role feel real. In writer/director Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, the reality of the stories from Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction best-seller is anchored by two very important fixtures. Part of that winning formula comes from the casting of some of the real-life subjects of Bruder’s work, such as acting newcomer Linda May. But the other part comes from the fact that acting legend Frances McDormand not only connected with her co-stars on a very personal level, but she dove head first into tasks like cleaning very “grody” camp toilets without pretense.

I learned these facts firsthand when I was given the honor of interviewing Linda May for CinemaBlend. Covering the Nomadland press day shortly after the film’s big Golden Globes wins for Best Director and Best Picture in the Drama category, those successes were even more of a delight to behold. With Chloe Zhao’s quiet examination of McDormand’s protagonist Fern in the world of nomadic living, the organic approach to the subject matter helps the audience connect with the material all the better. And as Ms. May told me during our talk, Frances McDormand’s approach was just as personal:

Some of Nomadland’s most powerful moments are the ones where we get to see Fern going through everyday life with the slightly fictionalized versions of real nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells. The fictional narrative of Frances McDormand’s character drifting through life after loss weaves through some extremely personal accounts from the actual figures that the 2017 source text makes its home in. By extension, McDormand the “housewife” is the glue that makes the entire project work as well as it does, as we don’t see the Academy Award-winning actor on screen in Nomadland, but rather, we see Fern.

The friendships between Fern and her fellow campers is certainly a crucial component to making Nomadland’s efforts to straddle the line between fiction and reality work. Which makes the fact that Frances McDormand wasn’t given a lot of time ahead of shooting to prep with her reality based co-stars even more impressive. As she and Linda May had such an excellent rapport on screen, I had to know just how they became such great friends on and off screen. May credits that authentic nature to a couple of things; the first of which she describes below:

If you’re a first time actor, and you’re diving into actual chores beside an award winning actor who isn’t afraid to get dirty on camera, that feels like a shortcut to getting to know an actual person as your co-worker. Which, to be completely honest, doesn’t fee like a surprise, as Frances McDormand isn’t the type that buys into the usual hype and pomp that a Hollywood production carries with it. Nomadland benefits from that fact above all else, because McDormand sells Fern to audience member and co-star alike with only the utmost verisimilitude.

But perhaps the greatest symbol of Frances McDormand’s giving nature as an actor has to come through how she aided the performance of her co-star. Seeing as Nomadland is Linda May’s first feature film role, the fact that she’s playing herself doesn’t mean it was just going to be a walk in the park. As such, this led to the greatest bonding opportunity for May and McDormand, as the latter helped the former with her performance through an act of kindness:

Acting is rarely ever a solo quest, as casts need to collaborate, no matter how great the size of their role, in the name of making the entire piece come to life. Nomadland proves this point in one of the most spectacular examples of reality making for better, more believable fiction. In both employing real people like Linda May to portray themselves on screen, as well as top notch actors like Frances McDormand and David Strathairn to play a similar reality through fictionalized personas, everything meshes together into one of the most memorable film experiences from 2020. You can see the finished product for yourself, as Nomadland is in theaters where available, as well as streaming through Hulu.

WARNING: The following article contains specific details about the ending to Nomadland. Unless you have you seen the film or simply prefer to remain free from fear of SPOILERS, we recommend seeking the film in theaters or streaming on Hulu before continuing.

Throughout Nomadland, director Chloé Zhao takes the audience on a journey through the heart of the American West through the eyes of Fern, a recently widowed and out-of-work middle-aged woman struggling to find her place in a country that has seemed to have forgotten her and the various nomads she meets along the way. Played masterfully by Frances McDormand, the film’s central character embarks upon a transformative odyssey where she crosses paths with some of the most likable, empathetic, and unchained characters on the road. All of this leads to the fitting, gripping, and awe-inspiring Nomadland ending.

But after those final moments spent with Fern and the unique nomadic characters she meets on the road to her new life, we are left wondering where does each go from there. And even though the fates of some characters are wrapped up by the time Nomadland ends, some, specifically Fern, find themselves facing a journey that while difficult and without guarantees, is free nonetheless. Below we will break down where each of those characters go after the credits roll in Nomadland.

What Happens To Fern At The End Of Nomadland

When we first meet Fern in the opening moments of Nomadland, the recently widowed and out of work US Gypsum plant worker is sent packing from the town in which she and her late husband called home and made a life for themselves. With nothing more than a few belongings, her van, and the open road, Ferm embarks upon a personal odyssey to find herself, and meaning in life. Along the way, Fern (and her properly named van, Vanguard) searches through the American West and even Pacific Northwest to find herself and feel whole, even if that means depriving herself of a second chance at love with fellow nomad, David (David Strathairn).

As the months pass and she bounces from one seasonal job to the next, Fern accepts her new place in the world, a place with no ties to material possessions or roots planted firmly in the ground. On her transformative journey, Fern comes to realize that she requires no home, no zip code, or physical reminders of her husband to hold on to her love and memories of her past.

In those final moments, after Fern returns to her former home to get rid of what’s left of her old self, she looks fondly and warmly to the horizon with its unknowns and prospect of a freer and more fulfilling life.

What Happens To David, Linda, Swankie, And Bob At The End Of Nomadland

Throughout Nomadland, Fern comes across and gets to know several nomadic characters, each of whom have a profound impact on her personal journey whether it be helping her better understand the physical demands of the lifestyle or the ways it can affect one’s mind and soul. And while each and every person Fern strikes up a conversation with helps her grow in one way or another, there are four that stick out the most.

We meet David at multiple points during Nomadland as he becomes the closest thing Fern has had as companion since the death of her husband. And while it appears at times that Fern will abandon her nomadic lifestyle to share David’s love (and family with his new grandson), we last see him playing piano with his son the night before Fern continues her journey.

Linda (played by real-life nomad Linda May) could be considered Fern’s best friend as the two work together and share stories all across the West. All roads lead somewhere, and Linda’s leads to a plot of land in Arizona where she hopes to build a self-sustainable “earth ship” in hopes of having roots to pass down to future generations.

Swankie (played by real-life nomad Swankie) is introduced early and quickly becomes central to Fern’s growth and acceptance of all life has to offer. When a cancer diagnosis leaves her with months to live, Swankie decides to get the most out of her final days and makes new memories before resting her eyes one final time.

Bob (played by American vandweller Bob Wells), the ever-optimist appears on occasion to help guide Fern, providing meaningful and impactful words when needed the most. We last see Bob at the rendezvous where he and Fern talk about his dead son, saying he knows he will see him again and that Fern will see her husband later on down the road.

Where The Supporting Nomadic Characters Go From Here

As Nomadland pushes towards its final moments and Fern’s decision to let go of her past to make way for a new future, we’re left wondering what will become of those people who welcomed her into their hearts and helped her find her place in this new and unknown world. And while Swankie’s story ends near the final moments of the movie, the other characters’ respective journeys are far from over.

David, who’s trying out his hand at a more stable lifestyle, seems to have found something worth holding onto, something worth planting roots for as he surrounds himself with family. No matter how hard we try to run from our families and escape into our own, solitary ways of living, some of us need those familial ties to ground us and make us feel whole. The same thing can be said in regards to Linda, who wants something to hold onto and pass on as she approaches the end of her road.

And Bob, the prophet-like character in all of this will surely continue his lifestyle of passing on information and wisdom to those who in need. Whether it be a middle-aged widow coming to terms with her husband’s death and being forgotten by the world or possibly even a young traveler like the one Fern meets along the way, Bob will see them down the road.

Where Fern Goes Now That She’s Without The Burden Of Her Past

The act of Fern giving away what was left of her possessions and closing the chapter of her life in Empire, Nevada, in the final moments of Nomadland has freed her of the burden and restraints of her past. Having said goodbye to the home she held dear in her heart, she’s accepted that her current chapter is not a temporary situation, but a new, freer life that can play out on her own terms. These interactions, personal connections, and experiences on the road in the months following the death of her husband and the upheaval of her life has helped Fern grow and become a happier more focused person who finds the joy in the unknown.

And while we don’t know exactly where the road will take Fern, we do know that she now has something that no imbalanced and unfair economy, government, or societal standards can rip from her. After being tied to the past and its structures, the road and nomadic lifestyle have allowed Fern to transform herself from a grieving widow concerned about where she fits in society to someone who has found a way to break the chains that once held her down and find a more fulfilling and simpler life of survival.

Above all, Nomadland is a movie that shows its audience the strength, resilience, and determination of the human spirit. There are times in the movie in which each of the characters can call it quits and let the events of their past dictate their futures, but unlike the rest of society who has cast them aside and forgotten them, Fern and the rest of the nomads aren’t ones to throw in the towel. And in that strength, Chloé Zhao has come along and given us another great American story.

Part of being a celebrity is having to live in the limelight from time to time. While some love it, there are a number of famous actors who would prefer to not get that kind of attention. Nomadland lead Frances McDormand recently revealed that she is a member of the latter group, as her Oscar-winning Fargo performance led to a lengthy hiatus from the press.

During a recent interview with the New York Times, Frances McDormand revealed that she took a decade-long break from the press after skyrocketing to fame for her performance as Marge Gunderson in the Coen brothers' 1996 hit Fargo. Said the actor,

Rather than deal with all of the extra-curricular activities that come with being a famous actor, Frances McDormand revealed that she specifically chose to avoid the spotlight after her success with Fargo. According to her, the decision paid off. I’m inclined to agree since she went on to win another Oscar, in addition to a pair of Emmy’s and a Tony award. Talk about an impressive career.

She’s once again back in the awards spotlight this year for her performance as Fern in Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland. McDormand has already been nominated at both the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards, and it’s looking like she has a clear path to her sixth Academy Award nomination.

The sense of mystery that Frances McDormand was going for is harder and harder to come by these days. Almost every major celebrity has a Twitter account, Instagram or another form of social media where fans can stay up to date on their latest projects. If not, there’s a good chance that they will be a part of the lengthy press tours that Hollywood is known for. But McDormand managed to opt out of all of that for a surprisingly long time, and her career didn't suffer in the slightest.

It’s kind of cool, no? There’s a bit of old-Hollywood intrigue that goes into the enigma of a major star. McDormand has nailed that mystique over the past couple of decades, bouncing from the big screen, to television and even the stage, all while picking up a number of impressive awards along the way.

Frances McDormand’s latest film Nomadland is now available on Hulu. While we won’t know if she’ll be competing for another Oscar until the nominations are announced on March 15, it wouldn’t be surprised if she is considered a front runner for the prize. Don’t expect her to be campaigning extra hard for a win, though, because she’s just doing her job here.

Today is a pretty big day for Hulu and Searchlight Pictures, as the debut of director Chloe Zhao’s awards season hopeful Nomadland sees the film hitting theaters and streaming simultaneously. The heartfelt neo-western epic starring Academy Award winner Frances McDormand has been racking up recognition for some time, and now the reviews are in for public consumption. The result is nothing short of epic, with resounding praise, and a couple of negative reactions, making up the movies’ current critical consensus.

Our own Eric Eisenberg starts us off with the official CinemaBlend review, and he gave Nomadland an impressive 4.5 out of 5. In particular, he latched onto a common thread that runs through a lot of the film’s rave reviews, which happens to be Frances McDormand’s performance as the central character, Fern.

Recently nominated for a Golden Globe thanks to her work in Nomadland, Frances McDormand looks like she might be on track for a sixth Academy Award nomination in the near future. And if this tide of praise keeps up, she could be a prime candidate for her third Best Actress win, after bringing home such honors for 1997’s Fargo, and most recently for 2018’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Lindsay Baher from The AP helps fuel these hopes, as her reaction also highlights McDormand’s work as follows:

Sitting at a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, there’s naturally going to be some critics that aren’t taken by Nomadland’s charms. Charles Koplinski, one half of Reel Talk with Chuck and Pam’s reviewing team, sees the right approach in Chloe Zhao’s approach to the film, but feels a little disconnected from the finished product. The result is a mixed to negative review that includes this:

Richard von Busack with SF Weekly was another critic that saw Nomadland as a miss. However, his reasons play to a very specific set of criticism that any film based off a novel finds itself subject to: faithfulness to the text. As a reader of author Jessica Bruder’s original narrative, von Busack had this to say about its cinematic incarnation:

If you’re an audience member that’s looking for a short but sweet version of why you really should see Nomadland, The AV Club’s Katie Rife has you covered. Our last reaction comes from her A- rated review, where she gives the movie an accurate summation in what it’s trying to do, and where its heart lies:

Nomadland is set to impress audiences as it has critics and awards voters, thanks to its large debut into the world. Be sure to check your local showtimes if you’re looking for a theatrical experience, but don’t forget that this film is also to stream at this very moment. Either way, be sure to have tissues on hand, as Nomadland is definitely a bit of a tearjerker.

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It was announced, as of early February 2021, that Frances McDormand has earned her seventh Golden Globe nod for a drama that not many general audiences have yet had the pleasure of seeing. However, Nomadland will soon be available for streaming on Hulu on the same day that it officially makes a wide theatrical release.

The film, which was also nominated for three other Globes including Best Picture, is inspired by journalist Jessica Bruder’s book Nomadland: Surviving American in the Twenty-First Century. Published in 2017, it chronicles the author's own journey into a subculture of middle-aged Americans living on the road in search of employment after the financial collapse of 2008. Writer and director Chloé Zhao, who is also helming the MCU’s upcoming Eternals movie, crafts the award-winning non-fiction book into a dramatized reflection of its still timely topic as told through the eyes of Frances McDormand’s character, Fern, that also features real “nomads” appearing as themselves.

The thought-provoking and critically acclaimed festival darling is something that must be seen to be believed and, thankfully, after Covid-19 that chance is not too far down the road. The following is a quick and convenient guide regarding how to watch Nomadland when the opportunity arises, starting with the how, when, where.

Where Is Nomadland Available Streaming?

Early February 2021, Nomadland is currently playing in select IMAX theaters and after a week of virtual screenings at New York’s Lincoln Center in December 2020. For the drama’s wide theatrical release, Searchlight is taking a cue from Warner Bros’ HBO Max plan and simultaneously releasing it on Hulu on Friday, February 19. There is no word at the moment on if or when the film will get a VOD release on platforms like Amazon, where you could, however, purchase or digitally rent Jessica Bruder’s original book to pass the time.

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Will Nomadland Be On Netflix?

While I can understand why some households would prefer to stick with just one streaming service, if the sole platform you subscribe to is Netflix and you were hoping to watch Nomadland from here, you might be out of luck. Hulu is the only place that the drama will reportedly be available to stream from in late February and it does not seem likely that it will transition over to its rival platform anytime soon. However, Netflix customers can see Frances McDormand in the Coen Brothers comedy Hail, Caesar!, as well as her Nomadland co-star David Strathairn in three of his films (An Interview with God, November Criminals, and The Spiderwick Chronicles) and on Seasons 2 and 3 of The Blacklist as well.

If You Have Seen Nomadland…

If you happen to be one of the lucky ones who was in New York for the Lincoln Theater’s virtual Nomadland screenings or caught it at your local IMAX theater, check out our own Eric Eisenberg’s stellar review of the film and see your thoughts match up. We also have plenty of juicy details about what has been going on with Frances McDormand (such as her involvement in Wes Anderson’s upcoming The French Dispatch), countless updates on Chloé Zhang’s highly anticipated Eternals adaptation, and you can certainly count on us to keep you informed on Nomadland’s chances at the Golden Globes, and the Oscars, too.

It is nice that, in the wake of Covid-19, the Hollywood Foreign Press amended their rules for eligibility at the Golden Globe, allowing Nomadland the chance to be recognized. Does its awards attention make you more interested in seeing or, if you have caught a screening already, do you believe it deserves its recent nominations?

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Fargo is turning 25 years old in 2021, don’t ya know. The classic Coen Brothers movie that stars Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi and more is beloved by many for its memorable characters and mix of dark humor set against the snowy white backdrop of Minnesota. That love has been extended to include four seasons of the popular FX series Fargo. But here, we’re going back to the 1996 original for some behind-the-scenes facts about how Fargo became the crime classic it is today.

Fargo Was Shot During One Of Minnesota’s Warmest Winters

One of the most iconic things about Fargo is its setting - the snow-covered terrain of Minnesota. With filming scheduled to take place in the heart of winter, I’m sure snow was something that Joel and Ethan Coen thought that they would have plenty of to work with. Mother Nature, however, was not ready for her close-up.

Many of the film’s stars and crew, including William H. Macy and frequent Coen Brothers cinematographer Roger Deakins, said in interviews that snow often eluded the shoot, as Minnesota was experiencing one of its warmest winters on record. The production kept traveling further and further north to find some snow, trucking some in or using snow-making equipment, according to Macy. Macy also said that in one scene he had to drink hot tea so that his breath would be seen.

However they did it, the white landscape covering most of the film is striking and one of its best calling cards.

Fargo Was Almost Called Brainerd

Fans love to dig deep into many of the hidden meanings in Coen Brothers movies, from Barton Fink to The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou to A Serious Man. Fargo is no exception, with one particular interest being the film’s title.

Fargo is a city in North Dakota, which during the opening scene of the movie William H. Macy’s Jerry Lundegaard goes to meet Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare’s criminals to set his kidnapping scheme into motion. That is the only sequence that actually takes place in Fargo the entire movie.

Many fans have posited theories, including one Redditor who offers a very philosophical possibility that the title is a metaphor for a place outside your normal existence that changes your life.

The answer may be simpler than that. During an interview with Charlie Rose in promoting Fargo, Joel and Ethan Coen essentially say that the title choice was between Fargo and Brainerd, the two most important locations in the film in their opinion. They thought Fargo sounded better.

The Coens Insisted That The Film Was Indeed Based On A True Story

Fargo opens with the text “This is a true story” of events that took place in Minnesota in 1987, with names changed but the events occurring as they happened “out of respect for the dead.” The Coen Brothers were sticking to that story all the way through filming and promoting the movie.

In the Charlie Rose interview mentioned above, the Coens confirmed that they did base the film on real events, and they would do the same in a number of different interviews.

In actuality, while the film does take bits and pieces that are similar to actual murder cases, the events of the film and the characters have long been confirmed as fictional. But the creative choice, and possibly their commitment to the bit for an extended period, gives the film its uniqueness, something that has been continued in the FX TV series. It also inspired the independent film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter.

Carter Burwell’s Score Was Inspired By A Norwegian Folk Song

Carter Burwell is one of the most prolific film composers working today and has long been a staple of Coen Brothers films - he has scored every one of their films except O Brother, Where Art Thou and Inside Llewyn Davis. For Fargo, he opted to find inspiration in another snow-filled land from which many in Minnesota have roots.

In a Vulture article looking back at his most iconic scores, Burwell recalled what inspired him for Fargo:

Surprisingly, despite all of his work with the Coens, neither of Burwell’s two Oscar nominations come from any of their collaborations.

Bruce Campbell Makes A Cameo Via An Old Soap Opera

Bruce Campbell, best known as the star of cult classics The Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, is not unfamiliar with the Fargo franchise. He had a cameo in the show’s second season as Ronald Reagan while he was campaigning for president. However, to eagle-eyed viewers, he actually shows up in the movie Fargo thanks to an old TV set.

After kidnapping Jean Lundegaard and transporting her to their cabin hideaway, Carl and Gaear attempt to pass the time by watching some TV. But the only thing that appears to work is an old soap opera. Gaear becomes hooked to the soap, or perhaps to its charismatic leading man, who happens to be none other than Bruce Campbell in Generations.

According to The Atlantic, Campbell hoped to be in Fargo, but the only way was by donating some “bad footage,” which he was happy to do.

Prince Nearly Had A Cameo In The Movie

Another interesting cameo story surrounds one of the Coen’s contemporary Minnesota legends, Prince.

The symbol that Prince often used as his logo appears in the credits as one of the victims in the field in the triple homicide that occurs early in the movie. The body is not Prince, however, but rather storyboard artist J. Todd Anderson.

However, Peter Stormare told Huffington Post that Prince was angling to show up in a small part for Fargo:

Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare Got Pulled Over In Real Life During Filming

The triple murder that starts the whole bundling of the kidnapping central to Fargo’s plot is set off when Buscemi and Stormare’s characters Carl and Gaear get pulled over by the police with Jean tied up. According to Stormare, life would imitate art for the two actors that very night.

Detailing it for Huffington Post, Stormare says that after shooting the cop killing scene, the crew decided to get some early morning pancakes. Buscemi drove his costar, but Stormare says he wasn’t the best driver. Buscemi apparently missed the turn for the restaurant, performed an illegal U-turn and then went down a one-way street. Cops saw this and pulled them over.

Just like in the movie, Buscemi is not able to provide the officer the car’s registration because it is a rental. Thankfully the similarities end there.

Stormare says that somehow Buscemi managed to get out of the situation without a ticket, though they were baffled by it all, wondering if it was a prank by the Coens. It was not.

William H. Macy Threatened To Shoot Ethan Coen’s Dog To Get His Part

Actors will often go to great lengths to get a part. William H. Macy was no different as he pursued the role of Jerry Lundegaard, even going so far as to (jokingly) threaten Ethan Coen’s puppy.

Macy has detailed his audition process for Fargo multiple times. It essentially breaks down like this: At first he was reading for a small part as an officer interviewing Jerry, though he was immediately drawn to the character of Jerry. The Coens liked what he did and asked if he wanted to read for Jerry. Macy said “yeah,” read the part and got a call back for the next day. He impressed the brothers again in the call back, but found out that they were going to New York to audition more actors. So Macy hops on a plane and crashes the audition, telling the brothers essentially they will screw up their movie if they don’t give him the part of Jerry. Then he took it a step further:

Perhaps the play to the Coen’s dark sense of humor was what won them over, but Macy proved inspired casting. He earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and it was the part that really got his career rolling to what it is today.

The Reason Joel Coen Is The Only Credited Director

The Coen brothers are a duo. However, until they made The Ladykillers in 2004, Joel Coen was the only credited director on all of their films; they would share writing and producing credits, though. But everyone who worked with them knew that the directing of their movies was a partnership, so why did it take so long for Ethan to get his due? Thank the Directors Guild for that.

In 1978, the DGA put in a provision into its collective bargaining agreement with studios that there be only one director assigned to direct a motion picture at any given time. Directing duos could apply for a waiver of this rule, however, the DGA says the Coens never did until The Ladykillers, instead opting to let older brother Joel take top billing.

They’ve been using the co-directing credit since 2004, and the DGA rule is now defunct. We are however, getting a solo Joel Coen-directed film in the near future, an adaptation of Macbeth.

Edie Falco Starred In A '90s Fargo TV Pilot

I’ve mentioned FX’s Fargo TV series a few times in this post already, but that was not the first time that an adaptation of the movie made its way to the small screen.

In 1997, Edie Falco was cast to lead a Fargo pilot that would follow Marge Gunderson (Falco replaced Frances McDormand), still pregnant as the story picks up about a month after the events of the movie. The Coen brothers had nothing to do with the show.

Ultimately, nothing came out of the pilot. It didn’t even air on TV until 2003 as a TV movie. The more recent Fargo TV series did get the approval of the Coens - they serve as executive producers - and has aired for four seasons.

Fargo officially turns 25 on April 25. Celebrate with a rewatch or see where it ranks in my fellow CinemaBlend writer's ranking of their entire filmography (minus The Ballad of Buster Scruggs).

Nothing sounds nearly as cool as traveling the country with a rock band and writer and director Cameron Crowe actually does know what that is like from following Led Zeppelin for a Rolling Stone cover article in his teens. That journey would inspire 2000’s Almost Famous, an instant classic about a young aspiring journalist who joins fictional up-and-coming musicians on tour in the 1970s, with a Grammy-winning soundtrack as stellar as its cast.

The Academy Award-winning period piece would be a breakout hit for some (such as Kate Hudson), yet another glowing resume entry for others (like Philip Seymour Hoffman), or might be one movie you forgot Jimmy Fallon was in years before hosting The Tonight Show. However, every member from the cast of Almost Famous would bring something memorable to the story and most would go on to live up to the film’s title, even if some were already pretty close to fame to being with.

In celebration of two decades since the release of Almost Famous, we look back on the legacy it has led through the legacies it helped to create. The following are 14 of its main cast members, who they are they portrayed and how they have made a name for themselves since.

Patrick Fugit (William Miller)

After making his big screen debut as Cameron Crowe’s onscreen counterpart in Almost Famous, Patrick Fugit reunited with the filmmaker for 2011’s We Bought a Zoo and would additionally show up in other notable films (Saved!, First Man) and TV shows (Jason Bourne spin-off Treadstone, Robert Kirkman comic book adaptation Outcast on which he played the lead). He more recently voiced the character Owen in the hit video game The Last of Us: Part II and will star in the pilot for Thirtysomething(else), which focuses on the grown-up children of characters from the late 1980s drama Thirtysomething.

Kate Hudson (Penny Lane)

Other than being known as the grown-up child of Goldie Hawn and stepdaughter of Kurt Russell, Kate Hudson won a Golden Globe for playing a free-spirited, fictionalized version of band promoter Pennie Lane (with the spelling altered) in Almost Famous. 

She has also been known to associate with musicians in real life, too, having once wed The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson and later dated Muse frontman Matt Bellamy amongst other rock star romances. The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star has led an eclectic acting career that will next include Music, the directorial debut of Sia, fantasy thriller Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, and Michael Shannon-led comedy Shriver, which is still currently filming.

Billy Crudup (Russell Hammond)

He has lent his voice to music onscreen twice as Stillwater’s lead guitarist in Almost Famous and alongside the late Anton Yelchin in Rudderless in 2014. You might also recognize Billy Crudup’s voice from those “priceless” Mastercard ads years ago. He also starred in two DC movies (Dr. Manhattan in 2009’s Watchmen and The Flash’s dad in 2017’s Justice League), portrayed lawyer Eric MacLeish in the 2016 Best Picture winner Spotlight, played the captain of a doomed colony vessel in Alien: Covenant, and recently scored an Emmy nomination for playing a slimy network executive in the Apple TV+ original The Morning Show.

Jason Lee (Jeff Bebe)

You might also recognize Jason Lee’s voice as Syndrome in The Incredibles or his face from his Golden Globe-nominated title role on sitcom My Name is Earl. Before playing Stillwater’s lead singer Jeff Bebe in Almost Famous, the skateboarder turned actor broke out as Brodie in 1995’s Mallrats by Kevin Smith, for whom Lee reprised his Chasing Amy character, Banky Edwards, a third time in 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. He also recently voiced a Sasquatch named Charlie on the Cartoon Network original We Bare Bears and its 2020 feature-length TV movie, which you could argue is a step up from playing Dave in the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies, and he also moonlights as a restauranteur in Denton, Texas.

Anna Paquin (Polexia Aphrodisia)

Her role as Flora McGrath in The Piano made her the youngest Best Supporting Actress Oscar recipient in history at 11 years old in 1994 and, in 2000, Anna Paquin had a tremendous year, both starring in Almost Famous as Polexia Aphrodisia and debuting as Rogue in X-Men. The Canadian actress also has a Golden Globe for the hit HBO vampire series True Blood and her most celebrated performance recently was as Robert DeNiro’s estranged daughter in The Irishman, despite having one line of dialogue. She has also appeared on the acclaimed Showtime drama The Affair and as a publicist for troubled celebrities in the Pop TV original series Flack.

Fairuza Balk (Sapphire)

Prior to playing Stillwater groupie Sapphire in Almost Famous, Fairuza Balk also had a notable child acting career, making her film debut as Dorothy in the twisted Return to Oz and later landing a scene-stealing role as teenage witch Nancy in The Craft. One of her more recent notable characters was a sex worker named Ginger on the third season of Ray Donovan and she will make her return to the world of the music business (on screen, at least) in Paradise City, a series spin-off of the 2018 film American Satan, which is now in post-production.

Noah Taylor (Dick Roswell)

Some modern audiences may recognize English actor Noah Taylor, who played Stillwater’s manager Dick Roswell in Almost Famous, as Mr. Bucket in Tim Buton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or as Phibs in Paddington 2. However, most people would more likely recognize him from his remarkable television as of late, which includes playing Locke on Game of Thrones, Daryl Sabini on period crime drama Peaky Blinders, and, most recently, on AMC’s DC Vertigo comic book adaptation Preacher, which is, believe or not, the second time he has portrayed Adolf Hitler.

Mark Kozelek (Larry Fellows)

Making his feature film debut in Almost Famous was Mark Kozelek, who played Stillwater bassist Larry Fellows - a very fitting role for him a he has made a career out out it. The musician only has four total acting credits to his name, including Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky, leader of a band called Hot Tears in the Steve Martin-penned drama Shopgirl, and an appearing as himself against Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel in 2015’s Youth. Any other contribution of his to entertainment has been in the music department on various and films and TV shows or rocking out onstage or a recording studio.

John Fedevich (Ed Vallencourt)

It was actually per Mark Kozelek’s suggestion that John Fedevich, a studio session drummer since the late 1980s, got the part of Ed Vallencourt, Stillwater’s drummer. In fact, the musician has never been in a movie that did not also star his bass player friend Kozelek, including Almost Famous, a wordless reprisal of the Vallencourt role in Vanilla Sky, and playing the drummer for Hot Tears in Shopgirl. Fedevich is still active in the music business touring with various artists, including Billy Joel, to name one.

Michael Angarano (Young William Miller)

Michael Angarano’s career as a promising child actor was already on the up-and-up when he was cast as a younger version of William Miller and his career has since continued to evolve with no sign of stopping. He played the super-powered son of his Almost Famous co-star Kate Husdon’s stepfather, Kurt Russell, in Sky High, reprised his role as Eliot, Jack’s (Sean Hayes) son, on NBC’s reboot of Will & Grace more recently, and his stint as Jack Pearson’s younger brother on This Is Us earned him an Emmy nomination in 2019. He also appears in the second season of Hulu’s PEN15 and is pre-production for a CBS sitcom pilot called To Whom It May Concern.

Zooey Deschanel (Anita Miller)

Like her onscreen younger brother, Zooey Deschanel would become a sitcom star after playing Anita Miller in Almost Famous, after appearing in several other high-profile films, of course. The 40-year-old star of Elf, 500 Days of Summer, and M. Night Shyamalan’s infamous The Happening, who is also a singer for indie duo She and Him, retired her role as Jessica Day on New Girl after seven seasons in 2018 and recently reprised the voice of Bridget in Trolls World Tour. Otherwise, Deschanel has spent much of 2020 in quarantine with her beau, Property Brothers’ Jonathan Scott.

Frances McDormand (Elaine Miller)

Playing the overprotective Elaine Miller in Almost Famous was just one of the many stages of Frances McDormand’s portrayal of many kinds of mothers, including her Oscar-winning roles in 1996’s Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in 2017, among others. The 63-year-old actress will appear next as an free-spirited cross-country traveler in Nomadland, a trailblazing journalist in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, and as Lady MacBeth opposite Denzel Washington in the title role of her husband, Joel Coen’s, interpretation of Shakespeare’s 17th Century tragedy.

Jimmy Fallon (Dennis Hope)

Few remember Jimmy Fallon having the most successful career outside of his Saturday Night Live stint and eventually becoming a leading late night talk show host, but those are also the same people who might not have recognized him in his feature film debut as professional touring manager Dennis Hope in Almost Famous. While his acting career was, admittedly, underwhelming to most (from 2004’s Taxi and Fever Pitch the following year) before taking over Late Night from Conan O’Brien and later The Tonight Show from Jay Leno, he has done quite well lately by making cameos as himself, such as in Jurassic World, Amazon Prime’s darkly funny superhero satire The Boys, and the upcoming comedy Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez, which is expected for release in 2021.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Lester Bangs)

Never one to underwhelm on screen was the great Philip Seymour Hoffman, who played real life music critic Lester Bangs in Almost Famous as well as countless other scene-stealers since the late 1980s, including Brandt in The Big Lebowski, Scotty J. in Boogie Nights, and his Oscar-winning performance in the title character of Capote. His final role was as undercover resistance leader Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games franchise, which he was mostly able to finish before he passed away of a heroin overdose in 2014. Hoffman was 46.

What do you think? Did the cast of Almost Famous indeed live up to the film’s title or do you believe they deserved better? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the Cameron Crowe classic, as well as even more inside looks at the cast members of your favorite movies and TV shows, here on CinemaBlend.

What comes to mind when you think of a Wes Anderson film? If you said pastels, a twinkly musical score and one hell of a cast, then you’re absolutely correct in your beliefs. Should anyone question your Anderson acumen, then you have plenty of evidence to provide to back up your valid hypothesis, especially when the trailer for The French Dispatch features such stars as Timothee Chalamet and Bill Murray in its full cast list.

As luck would have it, we have that cast list provided below, which shows off the pretty extensive lineup that Anderson has assembled for The French Dispatch.

Before we dive into a deeper breakdown of the cast, it’s particularly notable that we have a classic Wes Anderson narrator at large in The French Dispatch. Anjelica Huston, a long time Anderson player, is the omniscient voice that will bring the entire package to live. And here are the players she’ll be commentating on throughout the film:

The Staff Of The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

Bill Murray

One of the many veterans of the Wes Anderson Repertory Company is none other than comedy legend Bill Murray! In their latest collaboration, Murray will be playing the role of Arthur Howitzer Jr, the editor of The French Dispatch that ties the universe together. So basically, Murray is almost playing the exact same role he provides to the world at large.

Owen Wilson

Also rejoining the ranks of Wes Anderson’s frequent flyer club is Owen Wilson, someone who’s been in almost all of the director’s films. Herbsaint Sazerac is Wilson’s new character, a writer on staff at The French Dispatch who can be counted on for witty conversation and bicycle repair prowess, as well as sterling copy.

Jason Schwartzman

How could a Wes Anderson movie not have Jason Schwartzman attached, even in the slightest capacity? Another longtime friend and employee in the Anderson orbit, Schwartzman’s Hermes Jones looks to be the cover artist for The French Dispatch. Here’s hoping his quips are as crazy as his hair.

Elisabeth Moss

Rounding out the staff members of The French Dispatch who are displayed outside of individual vignettes is Elisabeth Moss, a newcomer to the wild and crazy world of Wes Anderson’s work. We don’t know her character's name yet, but it looks like Moss’ dry and wry sensibilities from Mad Men will make this follow-up to her work on The Invisible Man a nice change of comedic pace.

We’ll now move onto the three stories that The French Dispatch tells at the heart of its very last issue in print. With each story is a journalist from the staff at its heart, recalling events from various time periods and moments of turmoil in this film’s thematic structure.

Story 1: The Concrete Masterpiece, By J.K.L. Bernesen

Tilda Swinton

Providing the lecture that details the story within “The Concrete Masterpiece” is The French Dispatch’s journalist J.K.L. Bernesen. Artistically inclined, and ever fashionable, Berensen is brought to life by the impeccable Tilda Swinton. Her track record in the Wes Anderson Repertory Company stretches back to 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom, and has endured ever since.

Benicio Del Toro

Another first timer comes to the fold in The French Dispatch, as Moses Rosenthaler, the artist at the heart of “The Concrete Masterpiece” is played by Benicio Del Toro. Just watching his banter with co-star Adrian Brody is enough to convince even the most casual observer that Del Toro clearly belongs in this motley crew of acting talent.

Lea Seydoux

The muse for Rosenthaler’s work, and subject of a painting that’s of particular importance to The French Dispatch, is the alluring and mysterious Simone. Seen as both muse and prison guard, this part is played by Spectre’s Léa Seydoux. No stranger to Wes Anderson’s work, Seydoux previously worked with the director on 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Adrien Brody

Seeking to purchase Moses Rosenthaler’s un-buyable “Simone, Naked, Cell Block J, Hobby Room (oil on sackcloth)” is the persistent art dealer, Julien Cadazio. As previously mentioned, this bickersome character is played by Adrien Brody, best known for his roles in Anderson’s previous films The Darjeeling Limited and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Bob Balaban and Henry Winkler

In order to aid his art savvy empire, Julien Cadazio has the help of two ‘business-partner uncles’ at his disposal in The French Dispatch. Playing one of those two uncles is comedic stalwart Bob Balaban, who, much like Tilda Swinton, has been an Anderson disciple since Moonrise Kingdom. The other Cadazio uncle is the big surprise though, as the legendary Henry Winkler is playing him, making his debut in the Wes Anderson three ring circus!

Story 2: Revisions To A Manifesto, By Lucinda Krementz

Frances McDormand

Story 2 of The French Dispatch, Lucinda Krementz’s “Revisions To A Manifesto,” focuses on two crazy kids who happen to be in love during a tumultuous student revolution. The journalist telling this story is played by Frances McDormand, last heard bringing the news to the Wes Anderson created world of Isle of Dogs.

Timothee Chalamet

It was only a matter of time before Timothee Chalamet and Wes Anderson crossed paths. Nature basically dictated it, and it’s only fair that Chalamet be the one to play Zeffirelli, a revolutionary student in The French Dispatch. Looking like a prodigious chess player to boot, this young man could put that knowledge to political usage as well.

Lyna Khoudri

Making her major motion picture debut with The French Dispatch is actor Lyna Khoudri. Playing Juliette, the girlfriend to Timothee Chalamet’s Zeffirelli, their pairing was destined based on their character names. With a motor scooter and a bad attitude, her fire matches that of her fellow activist and boyfriend.

Story 3: The Private Dining Room Of The Police Commissioner, By Roebuck Wright

Jeffrey Wright

Our final story in The French Dispatch's catalog of whimsy is entitled "The Private Dining Room Of The Police Commissioner, By Roebuck Wright." Wright, played by Westworld and No Time To Die actor Jeffrey Wright, is the resident food journalist at the film's titular magazine. Reporting on something called "Police Cuisine," he becomes embroiled in a story that looks like it leads to a hostage standoff, and a lot of symmetrical gunfire.

Liev Schreiber

Part of Roebuck Wright's story looks to be told through his appearance on a TV show of some sort. Cast as the presenter of that show is Isle Of Dogs voice actor Liev Schreiber, making this his second Wes Anderson film. We don't know his character's name yet, but The French Dispatch looks like it's going to make the most of pairing Schreiber with Jeffrey Wright.

Willem Dafoe

While not all of the star studded cast members of The French Dispatch may play larger than life characters, it's nice to see Wes Anderson continue to reward previous collaborators with spots in the lineup. Willem Dafoe is one such fixture in this cast, as his prisoner character doesn't have a name yet, and is only seen briefly in the film's trailer. A sporadic presence in Anderson's universe, Dafoe was most notably present in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzou, but also in the casts for Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Mathieu Amalric

Cast as "a policeman with a kidnapped son,” Mathieu Amalric won't just be enjoying food alongside Jeffrey Wright's Roebuck Wright. As this third story centers around said kidnapping, Amalric's policeman will undoubtedly be excusing himself from dinner a little earlier than expected. This marks the actor's second Wes Anderson film, as The Grand Budapest Hotel was Mathiew Amalric's appearance in an Anderson picture.

Edward Norton

The voice on the other end of that phone Mathieu Amalric is holding was quite recognizable upon the first viewing of The French Dispatch's trailer. Edward Norton has one of those distinct vocal ranges that automatically pegs him in any film he shows up in, and as the kidnapper behind the insidious plot of "The Private Dining Room Of The Police Commissioner, By Roebuck Wright," he's even easy to spot in a group of dissidents firing at will upon authorities. And before you ask, yes, Norton is another cast member that's been a part of the Wes Anderson Repertory Company since Moonrise Kingdom.

Saoirse Ronan

Rounding out the cast of characters partaking in the kidnapping of a policeman's son is a rather mysterious woman. So mysterious, we don't know her character's name. However, we do know that she's played by Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan, who was previously spotted in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel. With The French Dispatch, Ronan looks to be playing against type, as a figure on the side of evil.

Stephen Park

Last, but not least is Stephen Park's Lieutenant Nescafier, the chef behind the gorgeous meal that "The Private Dining Room Of The Police Commissioner, By Roebuck Wright" looks to be serving. But Park's character also happens to be listed as solving a kidnapping in The French Dispatch. Which is pretty handy, considering how fast things shift from a table of smiling guests gushing over cuisine to exchanging bullets and phone calls.

The French Dispatch has a huge cast, three stories and a boatload of ambition to potentially become the next, best Wes Anderson film. We'll see if it pays off when the film opens in theaters on July 25. Though should that release date be delayed, due to the ever shifting release calendar affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we'll report such an update as it occurs.

The frame is centered and the picture has a vintage tinge – it must be time for another Wes Anderson film! Whispers of the quirky, Oscar-nominated director’s next project have been floating around, and now some official details have now been revealed. Anderson’s next film will be called The French Dispatch and feature an impressive cast of actors – including frequent collaborators Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Tilda Swinton.

The French Dispatch will be a love letter to journalists and be set in a fictional French city at an American newspaper outpost. The collection of stories published in the titular “French Dispatch” magazine will be brought to life through Wes Anderson’s vision. Fox Searchlight officially announced its acquired rights, along with a 2020 release date.

Benicio Del Toro, Frances McDormand, Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Léa Seydoux and Timothée Chalamet have each been cast in roles in The French Dispatch. Additionally, French actors Mathieu Amalric (also in Grand Budapest Hotel) and Lyna Khoudri have joined, along with newcomer Stephen Park.

The movie is currently in production and will follow Wes Anderson’s second stop-motion film, Isle of Dogs, released in 2018. Fans of the filmmaker will be excited to hear Bill Murray will continue his streak and once again grace an Anderson film. It’s also no surprise Tilda Swinton and Owen Wilson are amongst the cast. The latter started out as his writing partner and star in his first movie, Bottle Rocket, and has appeared in many of Anderson's movies since then.

The upcoming release certainly marks tons of talented actors in first-time roles with the established filmmaker as well. Benicio Del Toro has yet to work with Wes Anderson between his work Paul Thomas Anderson, Denis Villenueve and so forth. It should be fun to see how Del Toro translates into Anderson’s aesthetic along with The Goldfinch’s Jeffrey Wright and 23-year-old Timothée Chalamet, who will soon be seen in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and Villenueve’s Dune.

Fans of the filmmaker certainly can expect a certain tone and whimsy going into a Wes Anderson flick. The writer/director is an expert at bringing together ensemble casts and giving them sharp dialogue to work with. The French Dispatch looks like no exception.

The movie will be produced by Wes Anderson, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, a team who previously worked on Isle of Dogs, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Darjeeling Limited.

Other big names such as Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, Jason Schwartzman and Willem Dafoe have been attached to the cast, but are not among those who have been confirmed by Fox Searchlight.

The studio behind The French Dispatch has an Anderson-esque release coming soon in the form of Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, which is getting Oscar buzz ahead of its release on October 18.

The 2019 Academy Awards has come and gone, and while there were plenty of serious moments throughout the night, there were also some laughs to be had as well. The world wanted to know if the Oscars could find the funny without a host, and still get a laugh, and while the masses will decide for themselves tonight and tomorrow, here we're here to highlight some of the funnier moments of the show in chronological order.

Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey, And Amy Poehler Open The Show

The Oscars kicked its host-less night with three women that could've hosted - and they let the world know. It didn't take long for the former Saturday Night Live cast members to get the laughs rolling, as they riffed on the night, each other, and other topical humor much to the delight of the audience. After a stunning performance by Queen, it seemed as though the Oscars could survive without a host.

With that said, Hollywood, let's go ahead and get these ladies an invitation in advance for next year's show. The run time improved significantly, but the jokes this year felt few and far between when compared to the past. Starting off with these three was a smart move, but maybe set the bar too high for the rest of the night comedy-wise.

Melissa McCarthy And Brian Tyree Henry Look Amazing

Physical comedy and deadpan humor are tough to do in an Oscars sketch, so full credit to Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry for absolutely knocking it out of the park. Of course, they had a lot of help in their amazing costumes, which really elevated the whole bit immensely.

Anyone who doesn't think McCarthy has some of the best comedic chops in Hollywood should try to give that same speech while making a rabbit puppet move. As for anyone who thought that about Brian Tyree Henry, they just need to start watching Atlanta - although viewers probably already got their fill of Donald Glover listening to one of his songs repeatedly during the Oscar broadcast commercial breaks.

Keegan-Michael Key Makes A Mary Poppins Entrance

Keegan-Michael Key got the Oscars stunt of the night, descending from the ceiling with an umbrella in a clear homage to Mary Poppins Returns. The actor was really living in the moment on his way down, and had both arms and legs locked as the crowd cheered him on the way down.

The star stuck the dismount, but stumbled a bit with the umbrella, and, honestly, that unplanned bit may have been the funniest part of the whole segment. Of course, it didn't appear as though it was planned in the slightest. Just proof that funny people like Keegan-Michael Key are good at comedy even when they aren't trying!

Trevor Noah Takes A Shot At Mel Gibson

Leave it for The Daily Show host to take a shot at riskiest joke of the night. Trevor Noah took the stage to talk about Black Panther, and in the process reminded Hollywood that one of its own has a seriously checkered past. Noah took a risk for cheers - would he be rewarded with a fair amount of jeers for taking a shot at the actor?

Turns out there were no jeers tonight, as Trevor Noah got the audience rolling with his joke. It wasn't a complete surprise, although similar jokes at award shows like these have been met with criticism before. It was a gamble, but one that seems to have paid off for the man who people don't immediately realize is in Black Panther.

Paul Rudd Being Paul Rudd

At the award shows mid-point, the jokes started to wear a bit thin. Needless to say Paul Rudd was like finding an oasis in a dry dry desert. It was a simple joke, just a riff on visual effects being utilized to make him appear to be an actor, but it was enough to get the crowd going again after a long period of quiet.

From a comedy standpoint this may have been a point where a host would've been missed. That's not to say having a host would've absolutely kept the laughs going in that lull period, but it wouldn't have put the burden on actors who don't necessarily have the funny bone to attempt to get a laugh when it didn't feel like it was going to happen. Fortunately, Paul Rudd isn't one of those actors.

Samuel L. Jackson Delivers An NBA Update

Once you get to a certain point in Hollywood, sticking to the script is optional. Samuel L. Jackson proved that today when he took the stage with his Captain Marvel co-star Brie Larson and decided to go rogue. Jackson, in a room full of Hollywood elite likely wound so tight with nerves they can't stand it, decided to inform everyone, specifically his friend Spike Lee, that the Knicks won today.

The moment may very well go down in the show's history, as Samuel L. Jackson would minutes later award Spike Lee with his very first Academy Award. In the words of Lee, it was about time the institution did "the right thing." Lee is probably also hoping the Knicks continue to do the right thing and keep that win streak alive! He might have better luck just crossing his fingers for another Oscar, though.

Frances McDormand Has No Comment

Frances McDormand had Hollywood talking following her 2018 acceptance speech, as the actress' went on a passionate rant and ended on a term that had folks talking inside and outside Hollywood. Her call for inclusion riders inspired many, and made some waves that might've led to that Oscar of hers being stolen temporarily. Okay, that last bit probably isn't true, but who doesn't love a good Hollywood conspiracy?

It was a wild night, so obviously when Frances McDormand strolled out on stage, there was a certain expectation she might have something else to say. That expectation made it that much funnier when McDormand was stone cold silent on stage, other than to say she had "no comment." The crowd loved it, and surely quite a few folks watching at home did as well.

So, did the Oscars manage to keep the humor up without a host? Be sure to sound off in the comments below, and let us know if you think the show had more laughs or was lacking and could've been different had someone hosted. For more on the award show, read up on which studio made history during the night, and be sure to check out the full list of winners as well.

While superhero movies and cinematic universes are everywhere, the DC world is a unique beast. Despite major blockbusters approaching with Aquaman and Shazam!, the overall plan for the cinematic universe is largely a mystery to the public. DC has big plans for Batman villain The Joker, including Todd Phillips' upcoming origin story. A project separate from the greater DCEU, the film has recently begun assembling a cast, led by Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime. While most of the project is a mystery, a new report indicates that Phillips is casting the Joker's mother, and has Oscar winner Frances McDormand in mind. There's just one hitch: it looks like she passed on the project.

This new report comes to us from a reporter from The Wrap, who claims that not only is the Joker's mother a character in the upcoming movie - but Frances McDormand decided not to join the cast. While plenty of actors are dying to get involved in a superhero project, the Three Billboards actress unfortunately decided against it.

Frances McDormand may have reportedly passed on a role in the Joker origin movie, but this report indicates that director Todd Phillips may be looking for big names to play the role. McDormand is one of the most celebrated actresses of the past year, so one has to wonder what other stars Phillips will approach to play Mr. J's darling mommy.

This new report, while unconfirmed by the studio, is sure to get the attention of hardcore DC fans out there. Feelings surrounding Todd Phillips' Joker movie have been mixed. While Joaquin Phoenix seems like a great actor to play the beloved villain, the idea of exploring and explaining Joker's intentions goes against the grain. Part of what made The Joker terrifying in most comics and certainly The Dark Knight was that he had no rhyme or reason to his madness. He was an agent of anarchy, and there was no getting into his head or explaining his terrifying actions. An origin story gives the character a heart, which may result in Joker being far less scary than normal.

Todd Phillip's Joker movie isn't the only project being developed about the Clown Prince of Crime. Among DC's myriad announced movies, there's going to be a solo movie starring Jared Leto's version of the character, which debuted in David Ayer's less than stellar Suicide Squad. There were also talks of Joker/Harley movie being made, and there's always the possibility that Mr. J will have a role in Suicide Squad 2. There's a lot up in the air over at DC, and Batman's ultimate nemesis seems to be at the center of it.

The next installment in the DCEU will be James Wan's Aquaman on December 21st, 2018. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Frances McDormand won her second Academy Award at last night's Oscars for her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. When she took the stage to accept the award, the brilliant actress delivered the most impassioned and talked about speech of the night. But after she stole the show, someone apparently decided to try and steal Frances McDormand's Oscar at the Governors Ball. Thankfully, the thief was deterred and Frances McDormand got her Oscar back. I know everyone in Hollywood wants an Oscar, but stealing one seems a bit extreme. Take a look below to see the Oscar thief who allegedly tried to make off with the coveted golden statue.

Based on the Twitter post from New York Times reporter Cara Buckley, a heroic photographer got the Oscar back from the thief who then disappeared back into a sea of penguin suits. Well, apparently he wasn't that great at disappearing, because right when I was about to call for a few prominent billboards with this photo to help catch the suspect, there came news that the would-be thief has already been caught. According to Deadline, the man has been identified as Terry Bryant, who was arrested late last night and is facing a charge of felony grand theft. His bail has been set at $20,000.

Now, I would say that he might have gotten away with it if it weren't for that pesky photographer, but Terry Bryant shot a video of himself with the award at the Governors Ball, wherein he tells everyone within earshot that the Oscar is his and he can't believe he won. Not the best strategy if he wanted to actually get away with it. The man apparently had a ticket to the event, but if I had to guess he will not be invited back next year. This whole thing is quite baffling (and idiotic to be honest). Dude steals an Oscar that he didn't earn and claims it's his, which is easily refutable, to what, get some social media traction or get invited to an Oscar party? He also did seemingly everything in his power to get caught. An _Ocean's 8-_level heist this was not.

It's a shame that such nonsense came out of a night meant to honor the magic of movies and the amazing artists who bring them to life. While Frances McDormand may have brushed the whole situation off when it happened -- she reportedly said to let him go -- it is great that she got her Oscar back. No doubt the Academy would have gotten her another one, but it's still the principle of the thing. In a statement to various outlets, a rep for Frances McDormand noted that the actress was reunited with her well-earned statue and that the two were enjoying some In-N-Out, so all's well that ends well.

For all the latest in Oscar coverage and criminal masterminds that would fit well in the Fargo universe, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

The Oscar race is a marathon, not a sprint. And along the way, there are mile markers that tend to point in the direction of the final Academy Awards outcome. While we're nowhere near ready to declare the race over -- or to even nominate a clear-cut frontrunner -- the Screen Actors Guild awards winners can go a long way to pointing out who's likely to take home an Oscar when the 2017-18 campaign draws to a close.

When you start to hear the same names revealed over and over at ceremonies like the Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice Awards and the SAGs, you begin to conclude that these same names will triumph at the Oscars. If that's the case, then your current Best Actor and Actress frontrunners appear to be Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour and Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. McDormand's co-star, Sam Rockwell, has been cleaning up on the path for Best Supporting Actor nods. And Allison Janney is parlaying her venomous turn as Tonya Harding's stage mom into awards gold for I, Tonya. Let's break down the key awards each has won up to this point:

Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

Critics' Choice: Best Actor

Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

SAG: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics: Best Actor

Iowa Film Critics: Best Actor

Nevada Film Critics: Best Actor

New York Film Critics Online: Best Actor

NC Film Critics: Best Actor

Oklahoma Film Critics: Best Actor

Online Film Critics Society: Best Actor

Southeastern Film Critics: Best Actor

St. Louis Film Critics: Best Actor

Washington D.C. Film Critics: Best Actor

Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Critics' Choice: Best Actress

Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

SAG: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Detroit Film Critics: Best Actress

Las Vegas Film Critics: Best Actress

St. Louis Film Critics' Association: Best Actress

Toronto Film Critics' Association: Best Actress

Washington D.C. Film Critics' Association: Best Actress

Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Critics' Choice: Best Supporting Actor

Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Southeastern Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor

Online Film Critics Society: Best Supporting Actor

Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor

Florida Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor

Houston Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor

Las Vegas Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor

San Diego Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor

Washington D.C. Film Critics' Association: Best Supporting Actor

Allison Janney, I, Tonya

Critics' Choice: Best Supporting Actress

Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

SAG: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

Detroit Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

Florida Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

Houston Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

Nevada Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

New York Film Critics Online: Best Supporting Actress

Philadelphia Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

Phoenix Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

San Diego Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress

As you can see, the SAG winners from Sunday fit into a pattern, and we expect all four to be named as Oscar nominees when those are announced on Tuesday morning. Will that make them frontrunners? Right now, because no one else has consistently stepped up and interfered with their clear path to victory, I'd say that they are close to being the Oscar winners we expect to hear on March 4. But a lot can happen between now and then, as final Oscar ballots aren't even due for another month.

Still, I'd feel better throwing some more weight behind a Shape of Water or The Post upset if Sally Hawkins, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep or Richard Jenkins had surprised us with a one-off victory at one of these precursor awards programs. But right now, we are hearing the same four names. Will we hear all four of them again on March 4 at the Oscars? Or are one of these four vulnerable to an upset? Let us know in the comments.

Martin McDonagh works with three types of film-making clay when he writes and directs a film, and they are as follows: creative obscenities; measured but brutal violence; and laser sharp focus on the human condition. In his plays and films alike, people find themselves in absurd situations that somehow wind up with very human results, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is certainly no exception. While the film isn't as tightly put together as his previous films, it is still very much a must see in the race up to the finish of 2017.

After her daughter is raped and murdered, and a police investigation hasn't yielded any solid leads, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) officially declares war on the police department of Ebbing, Missouri. Singling out Chief Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) as her target of ridicule, she rents three billboards on a stretch of road that barely ever gets used outside of town. But what starts out as being a stark contrast to the environment around it turns into a rapidly escalating situation, one that eventually draws more of the townsfolk into its path as it progresses.

In particular, you're going to be hearing a lot of folks crowing about Frances McDormand's commanding performance as Mildred, and that's something I can totally get behind. McDormand's command over a scene has always been something you could count on her bringing to any film she's ever worked on. But when it comes to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, there are several points where the narrative weaves between lanes of emotionally draining material and darkly comic wonder, with her protagonist serving as the axis to the film's shifts. Just like the script she's working with, Frances McDormand manages to walk both sides of the line with equally devastating effect.

But while Martin McDonagh's latest dramedy is undoubtedly commanded by Mildred and her actions, the effects they have on other characters around her lead to equally stellar performances from the supporting cast. In particular, Woody Harrelson's even-handed police chief, and his hot-headed deputy played by Sam Rockwell, are of special interest. Not only are both men returning collaborators of McDonagh's, but they're also representative of the two sides of the modern police officer's archetype. Harrelson plays the stoic lawman who truly lives the law and order he believes in, while Rockwell is the more damaged cop who isn't afraid to bend the rules to get the job done.

As much as folks are going to be talking about Frances McDormand come Oscar season, they'll more than likely speaking towards Sam Rockwell's portrayal of Officer Dixon. As his battle of wits with Mildred Hayes escalates to further levels of anger and one-upmanship, the events only serve to show just how alike both participants are when pursuing what they believe to be justice. In a lesser movie, we'd totally be on Mildred's side, but in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, we're forced to consider both sides of the matter, as the film shows us both sides in humane detail.

While all of McDonagh's signatures are definitely on display in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, it feels like this round is a little off. The over-arcing story in this small community doesn't seem as tuned or taut as either In Bruges or Seven Psychopaths, and because of that, some characters and story points don't seem as strongly connected to the central narrative as those previous films would have. That having been said, the finished product is still very much a Martin McDonagh production, and it's still as engaging, amusing, and effecting as his fans would have hoped.

If Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri isn't making you cry, it's making you either laugh or think in equal measure. Martin McDonagh's eye for timely drama and thoughtfully offensive comedy is as keen as it's ever been. Sure enough, there's some memorable one-liners, well drawn characters, and an ending that'll have folks debating what truly happened after the screen has gone dark. In short, it's the dark comedy that this awards season really needs, in a time and place that can truly understand it.

There are few filmmakers out there today as exciting as Martin McDonagh. The Irish playwright first got into the game with his Oscar-winning short Six Shooter in 2004, and since then has delivered two movies that can be called nothing short of genius: 2008's In Bruges, and 2012's Seven Psychopaths. Now he's back with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and the trailer makes it look like yet another piece of dark comedy gold.

This debut trailer was posted online by Fox Searchlight, and after watching it I feel the need to see the film immediately. The incredible ensemble alone is enticing (Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, John Hawkes, Abbie Cornish, Caleb Landry Jones, Peter Dinklage, and more), but this footage also includes multiple laugh-out-loud moments... and not all limited to McDormand kicking teenagers in the crotch.

Based on an original script by McDonagh, the movie picks up months after the death of a young girl named Angela Hayes. The case has gone cold and the police have all but completely stopped investigating, but Angela's mother, Mildred (McDormand), is not willing to stand by and do nothing. Her first act of rebellion is to purchase ad space on three local billboards, not only loudly asking why her daughter's murder hasn't been solved, but also directly calling out Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). Soon a full blown conflict erupts as Mildred does everything in her power to keep the cops' mind on finding her child's killer.

In addition to having some wonderful familiar faces from Martin McDonagh's past work (Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, and Zeljko Ivanek were all in Seven Psychopaths), what really makes this movie sing is just the writer/director's auteur voice. Few filmmakers use profanity quite so elegantly, and Frances McDormand's delivery is simply perfect. We may not get a better line this year than "This didn't put an end to shit, you fucking retard; this is just the fucking start. Why don't you put that on your Good Morning Missouri fucking wake up broadcast, bitch?"

Truly the only disappointing part of this Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri trailer is the fact that it doesn't feature the movie's release date - but that's mostly tied into the fact that Fox Searchlight hasn't announced one yet. We're likely seeing this trailer now because Woody Harrelson stars in Fox's Wilson, which is out this weekend, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the film is coming out soon. McDonagh's past features have been released in February and October, respectively, so there's no real pattern to grasp on to there. If there winds up being hope that the movie could bring home a few Academy Awards, it's possible that we may not get to see the dark comedy until some point in the fall.

Are you as excited as we are for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri? Hit the comments section below with your thoughts, and be on the look out for release details.

It’s been known for quite some time that Pixar’s upcoming The Good Dinosaur experienced a bevy of behind-the-scenes creative clashes. The studio made an abrupt director swap and overhauled the entire script, creating delays that cost the film its original 2014 release window. In the latest development, it has been revealed that the extent of its changes went even further, replacing nearly every member of its voice cast.

According to an official reveal, the voice cast that we knew of The Good Dinosaur is now as extinct as the film’s titular clade. Save for Frances McDormand, the vocal performances that previously included Lucas Neff, Neil Patrick Harris, John Lithgow, Bill Hader, and Judy Greer have been nixed. It’s actually a rather shocking revelation, especially considering that, apparently without this critical piece of context, the film’s debut teaser trailer hit just one week ago.

As of now, the official cast for The Good Dinosaur centers on 13-year-old Raymond Ochoa, replacing Lucas Neff as the film’s 70-foot-long Apatosaurus protagonist named Arlo. Coming from a quartet of brothers who are also working actors, Ochoa has made a number of live-action television appearances on shows like The Night Shift and Rizzoli & Isles. He is primarily known for voice work in notable animated features like Monsters University, Mars Needs Moms, and Disney’s A Christmas Carol, however, this role as the titular character in a major Pixar feature is clearly a step up in noteworthiness.

Filling out the rest of the cast, we have Jeffrey Wright as Poppa, Arlo’s father, Anna Paquin as a T-Rex named Ramsey, Sam Elliott as a T-Rex named Butch, Steve Zahn as a pterodactyl named Thunderclap, AJ Buckley as a T-Rex named Nash, Marcus Scribner as Arlo’s brother Buck, and Jack Bright as Arlo’s adopted human pet/friend, Spot. Additionally, in what appears to be the only remaining original cast member, Frances McDormand voices Arlo’s mother.

This surprising cast replacement seems to be the culmination of what was a creative crisis at Pixar over The Good Dinosaur that saw previous director Bob Peterson removed, later replaced by current director Peter Sohn. Yet the project also proved to be exceptionally difficult for a number of big brass at Pixar, rendering it somewhat of a hot potato, passed around from one creative maestro to the next. In fact, the delays were so egregious that the deferment of its 2014 date caused the studio to actually sit out a whole year without a new release; something that they had not done since 2005.

Based on what was said last year by now-former cast member John Lithgow, the script went from simple alterations to the point of being rewritten entirely, requiring the voice cast to re-record their performances. How little did we know. In fact, Lithgow seemed to have every intention on returning to voice what he called a "completely reimagined" story and even expressed excitement over the new, completely altered script. Today’s reveal confirms that these encore performances never came to fruition.

Of course, Pixar has every intention making up for their 2014 inertia, starting with the buzz-worthy, psychologically satirical journey into the mind of a young girl, Inside Out, which hits theaters next week on June 19. Five short months later, The Good Dinosaur looks to prove the old adage, "better late than never," when their hypothetical world of extinction-avoiding dinosaurs hits theaters on November 25.

HBO’s last miniseries, the AIDS drama The Normal Heart, was a critical darling before it even aired, thanks to a stellar cast and creative team. (Although it was barely recognized at this year’s Emmy Awards.) I get the same feeling about the network's upcoming comedic drama Olive Kitteridge, a sprawling character study of a woman trying to make sense out of the lives of the people surrounding her in the small town of Crosby, Maine. The always impressive Frances McDormand is quite possibly at her most repressed here, as evidenced by these three new clips.

The four-part Olive Kitteridge will cover a span of 25 years, and the clip above comes from later in Olive’s life, as she meets up with Jack Kennison, a haughty Harvard grad played with grizzled grace by Bill Murray. Both characters are widowed at this point in their lives, and they eventually begin to date. You wouldn’t think it from this meeting though, as Jack is clearly not meant to be bothered from his concrete-backed faint slumber.Will we have to watch these actors make out? Stay tuned.

Now check out this clip, in which Olive is riding in a car with her husband Henry, played by the equally impressive thesp Richard Jenkins, when she suddenly has to pee, and she handles the situation with more veracity than a drill sergeant. It’s takes a certain kind of person to think of “emergency room” as an option when seeking out an immediate public restroom.

And then there’s the clip below, in which the Kitteridges have dinner with Denise Thibodeau (Zoe Kazan), Henry’s pharmacy assistant, and her husband Henry Thibodeau (Brady Corbet). It’s all worth it to hear Jenkins say that he used to be able to tell if a doe was in heat or not by smelling its droppings. If that’s not proper dinner conversation for everyone out there, you’re clearly living too hard.

These clips, via IndieWire, are our first good look at this miniseries, as it will soon make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, months before debuting on HBO. The clips thankfully set a nice middling tone, not always a certain at HBO, where subject matter can sometimes become quite extreme. Not that Olive Kitteridge doesn’t go to some extreme places in its stories of affairs, crimes and tragedies, but it will hopefully be handled with the same amount of wit and vigor as the 2008 novel from Elizabeth Strout.

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids are All Right), Olive Kitteridge has a cast that also includes Rosemarie Dewitt, Peter Mullan, John Gallagher Jr., Martha Wainwright and more. Find it on HBO when it airs on Sunday, November 3 and Monday, November 4.

We've long since passed the days when Pixar was famous for casting little-known character actors to be the main voices in their features, but at least the animation studio continues to know how to pick actors we adore anyway. At today's D23 animation presentation-- which Eric has been liveblogging here-- director Peter Sohn announced the voice cast for The Good Dinosaur, the animated film that's due May 30 next year. A family of dinosaurs is at the center of the story, with the youngest named Arlo as our hero, voice by Lucas Neff. His father, Poppa, is voiced by John Lithgow, with Momma brought to life by Frances McDormand. Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris and Judy Greer round out the cast as Arlo's siblings, and Neff, Greer and Hader were all onstage at the presentation to talk about the film. The film takes place in a world in which the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs never happened, and humans live alongside dinosaurs. Still, just like the toys in Toy Story or the bugs in A Bug's Life, the dinosaurs of The Good Dinosaur are still the focus of this world that also includes humans. In the footage shown off at D23 the dinosaurs were depicted like farmers, or more like farm equipment, digging ditches and clearing down trees and otherwise participating in the way humans transformed the earth. In a bizarre twist from the footage that seems impossible to understand without actually seeing it, Arlo discovers a bug that is terrorizing his crops… and finds out the bug is actually human?

After sequels like Cars 2 and Monsters University, and particularly this weekend's lame spinoff Planes, an original, possibly bizarre Pixar movie sounds like exactly what we need to fall in love with the studio all over again. The concept behind The Good Dinosaur is intriguing, and maybe even a little surreal… and the superb voice cast doesn't hurt. Neff is the only really unknown of the bunch, but with a role on the critically beloved Raising Hope-- and the Pixar stamp of approval, of course-- we'll grandfather him with the rest of the cast we want to hang out with every single day for the rest of our lives.

Stay tuned for more updates from D23 and more detailed info on what we learned about The Good Dinosaur!

Though I wouldn't trade his The Fantastic Mr. Fox for anything, it's been far too long since Wes Anderson made a live-action film, which makes his new effort Moonrise Kingdom even more hotly anticipated than it might be otherwise. Starring a lot of his regular cohort, including Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, it also adds the likes of Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis and Frances McDormand to the list, giving us a chance to see even more talent adapt to the cock-eyed world that Anderson creates in his films. And from the looks of the first trailer, which debuted today at Apple, there's plenty for us to look forward to from all of them. Watch it there in HD or embedded below to see exactly what I mean.

From the golden colors to the dead-center framing in the camera to the slightly anachronistic clothing, everything about this feels purely Wes Anderson-- and man, does it feel good to have him back. There's definitely an element of magical realism going on up here, with a house perched precariously high in a tree, something called Khaki Scouts dispatched to hunt down one of their own who went missing, and the entire fantastical notion of two kids who run away together and apparently get to just hang out on a gorgeous beach the whole time. If you saw this trailer from just about anybody else you might wonder if they could pull it off, but Wes Anderson has done a lot to earn our trust over the years, especially with the cheerful and wonderfully ambitious Mr. Fox. This movie looks more like a live-action version of that film than anything else Anderson has made in the past, but if it nails a sweet tone with genuine comedy the way that film did, we can be 100% fine with that.

Moonrise Kingdom is set for release on May 25, which is amazingly soon given the usual autumn releases you expect from high-profile directors like Anderson. Think of it this way: it opes opposite Men In Black III, and a weekend after Battleship. Don't you know which one of those choices you really want to see?

Transformers 3 has added a couple new faces, and they aren’t robots. According to director Michael Bay, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, and the Ken Jeong (the answer to what’s in the trunk in The Hangover and El Tigre on Community) have been added to the cast.

No word yet on what role these three will play in the film, here’s hoping Ken Jeong is naked. Michael Bay does have a thing for vaguely racists accents though, and Ken’s also pretty good at that. We’d know more about what they’re doing in the movie, but before he could get to that, Bay got distracted and started bragging about his association with Ferrari. He’s more Michael Bay than you could ever possibly imagine.

Bay did, however, confirm a full list of Transformers 3 shooting locations. Here it is: LA, Chicago, Washington DC, Florida, Texas, Africa, Moscow, and China.