by Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Oh, to be an Oscar winner, standing
on stage, holding a golden statuette, Hollywood at your feet
and shiny stars in your eyes.
It would seem to be the start to an ever-rising career — but don't count on it.
For every Benicio del Toro, who burst onto the world stage
on Sunday winning an Oscar for best supporting actor playing an
incorruptible Mexican cop in “Traffic,” there is a Timothy
Hutton, who won 1980's best supporting actor for “Ordinary
People” then saw his career nosedive.
Marisa Tomei, too, suffered the same basic fate after her
best supporting actress win for 1992's “My Cousin Vinny,” and
has only recently seen a bit of a comeback with a meaty role in
last year's hit, “What Women Want.”
Sure, last night's Oscarfest made an even bigger star out
of Australian Russell Crowe and strengthened the reign of Julia
Roberts as America's box office queen and top female star, but
Hollywood agents and insiders doubt the Oscar will boost their
paychecks because they already are at the top. Roberts is a
member of the exclusive $20 million club of top earners.
“I just think it's a great recognition for their work, it
certainly helps establish them maybe a little more firmly, and
… maybe it just solidifies their place in film history,” said
John Lesher, partner at United Talent Agency.
For an actor like the 34-year-old del Toro, who was
established in Hollywood but relatively unknown to mainstream
movie audiences, an Oscar can add some cash to a paycheck
because the telecast — which was seen by some 800 million
people worldwide — helps boosts an actors name recognition.
ALL SORTS OF FACTORS
The amount by which the actors' or actress's asking price
goes up, however, is more a function of the film's budget, size
and the actor's or actress's desire to be cast in it, than it
is based on whether he or she won an Oscar.
Talent agents and managers said that maybe the asking price
goes up $1 million, maybe more or maybe less, depending on the
particular movie, for whom it's targeted and whether a
particular actor is especially popular with that target
audience. Leonardo di Caprio, for instance, is a huge star
among teenage girls and could command a bigger paycheck for a
movie aimed at those young shopping mall dwellers.
Or, if Marcia Gay Harden, who won a best supporting actress
Oscar portraying Jackson Pollock's wife in low-budgeted
“Pollock,” wanted to take another low budget part, she might be
willing to take less than her asking price. By contrast, if she
was a “must-have” actress for a major studio in a major
blockbuster film, she would ask for more.
For a rising star like Del Toro or a veteran like Harden,
what an Oscar really means is more and better scripts coming
their way with a wider variety of roles to play.
Del Toro eluded to greater choice backstage after his
victory when he told reporters: “I think (Oscar) means a little
more freedom” in the roles he chooses.
Harden had much the same reaction to whether or not the
Oscar would boost her career.
“This means more to me, personally, than it does in terms
of my career,” she said. “I'm a New York theater actress and
now I'm here with Oscar.”
Dick Delson, a partner in publicity and advertising firm
Weissman/Delson Communications who engineered the successful
Oscar campaign for James Coburn in 1999's “Affliction,” said
new scripts came pouring in for Coburn after his victory and
they were for specific roles that Coburn might not have been
considered for until winning the award.
“It certainly jump-started Jimmy's career again,” Delson
said. “It reminded Hollywood who this was, that he had a
history and that he was a damn fine actor.”
And that seems to be the key to whether or not an Oscar
really helps a career. It's not the award, but the work that
goes into getting the award.
(For a full list of winners from Sunday's 73rd Annual Academy Awards, please proceed to the next page).
Winners of 73rd Annual Academy Awards
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The following is a complete list of
winners of the 73rd Annual Academy Awards, the film industry's
top honors, presented Sunday by the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences.
BEST MOTION PICTURE
“Gladiator”
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Steven Soderbergh, “Traffic”
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Russell Crowe, “Gladiator”
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Julia Roberts, “Erin Brockovich”
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Benicio Del Toro, “Traffic”
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Marcia Gay Harden, “Pollock”
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Traffic”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Almost Famous”
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” Taiwan
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
“Traffic”
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Things Have Changed” from “Wonder Boys”
Music and Lyric by Bob Dylan
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the
Kindertransport”
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“Big Mama”
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“Father and Daughter”
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Quiero Ser (I want to be)”
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
“Gladiator”
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
“Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
“Gladiator”
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EFFECTS EDITING
“U-571”
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
“Gladiator”
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