10 Surefire Routes to Oscar Glory

Hint: Those comedy roles aren't gonna do it for you
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 1, 2010 9:00 AM CST
10 Surefire Routes to Oscar Glory
Gay/transgendered: “If you're a famously straight guy like Sean Penn, nothing says you've stretched your boundaries" like "a big onscreen kiss with James Franco.” See: Hilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry.   (AP Photo/Focus Features, Phil Bray)

Been in the biz for a while but still lacking an Oscar for the mantel? Pay heed to the Daily Beast’s list of 10 roles—complete with a plethora of examples for each—sure to land you that Academy Award:

  • Someone with an accent: “What says range better than being able to take on an accent (or speaking mannerism) not your own?” See: Frances McDormand, Fargo.
  • Piano player: “Popular American musical tastes may veer more towards Britney Spears than Mozart, but the academy loves a thespian who can play the keys.” See: Jamie Foxx, Ray.

  • Someone fat or ugly: If you’re a woman, play a prostitute or a nun; if you’re a man, “pile on the pounds, get your face smashed up like Mike Tyson, and get a really, really bad haircut.” See: George Clooney, Syriana.
  • A true villain: “Playing a serial killer or an otherwise deplorable human being with sociopathic tendencies has long been a way to get in the good graces of Academy voters.” See: Charlize Theron, Monster.
  • Civil War or Holocaust survivor: “While most Americans hate Nazis in real life, we love them onscreen.” See: Kate Winslet, The Reader.
Click here for more paths to Oscar.
(More Oscars stories.)

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