Do Genre Actors Ever Get Nominated For Oscars?

By Sara Bellum On October 9, 2012 In Sara Bellum No Comments

Dear Sara,

Is it true that no matter how big the box office is, actors never get nominated for Oscars for their performances in genre films?

Best, Bobby V.

Dear Bobby,

This is a falsehood that doesn’t get any truer with repetition. Sigourney Weaver was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her work as Ellen Ripley in “ALIENS” (1986). Ian McKellen was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Gandalf in “LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING” and a Best Actor Oscar for playing James Whale, director of the original “FRANKENSTEIN” film, in 1999’s “GODS AND MONSTERS’. And of course, Julie Andrews won the Best Actress Oscar for playing the title role in 1965’s “MARY POPPINS”. There are other examples, but these should do for starters.

-Sara Bellum

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Sara Bellum

Editor at Buzzy Multimedia Publishing

The name's Sara Bellum, and I'm the editor-at-large here at BuzzyMag - the hostess with the mostess, if you will. I like to think that my first calling is fighting crime and delivering a heaping dose of sweet, sweet justice to all manner of thugs, miscreants, hoodlums, ruffians, and ne'er-do-wells, but unfortunately, violent vigilantism doesn't exactly pay big bucks these days.

Times are tough, my friends, and I've got bills to pay, so I decided to put my encyclopedic knowledge of all things sci-fi & fantasy-related to use to help me land a day job. To tell you the truth, it's kind of a nice change of pace. My manicures have been lasting a bit longer lately.