Entertainment
How to Win an Oscar, Depending on Your Gender
There are some things that will probably always be separate for men and women: Public restrooms. Gym locker rooms. The acting categories at the Academy Awards.
But what does it take to win one of the coveted gold statues if you're a woman? History suggests the key to taking home the gold is different for men than it is for women. For women, winning the top acting prize in the last decade has typically involved taking on deeply disturbed characters, like addicts and sufferers of mental illness.
For men, winning the same honor in the last ten years has hinged almost entirely (superficially, that is) on whether or not the character was a historical figure. The second most common trait of Best Actor winner? Being an artist. (Also, even better if you're gay.)
And this is to say nothing of the Best Supporting Actor traits. Take this year as an example: Lupita Ny'Ongo played a slave and rape victim, while Jared Leto played a transgender woman suffering from AIDS.
The ages of the winners have also been telling. While most Best Actor winners in the last decade have been in their 40s or 50s, most of the Best Actress winners have been in their 20s or 30s — (unless they are Helen Mirren or Meryl Streep).
Just check out the winners over the last 10 years and let the winning roles speak for themselves.
2004
Best Actress: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby .
Winning Characteristics: Changed Body for Role, Tough Woman, Disabled, Tragic Death
Swank won for her role as a strong, female boxer whose boxing career [SPOILER ALERT] ends in a paralyzing knockout.
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Blind
Foxx won for his portrayal of Ray Charles. Best Actor winners typically play historical figures.
2005
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Artist
Witherspoon took the biopic route to her Oscar, playing June Carter. Witherspoon's role is actually something of an outlier for Best Actress winners.
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Artist, Addict
Art imitated life when Hoffman portrayed Truman Capote, an artist who famously struggled with drug addiction. Historical figure? Check. Artist? Check. Hoffman hit two of the most common traits of a Best Actor winning role with this one.
2006
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Political Leader
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Political Leader
Whitaker, like so many of his Best Actor brethren, won for portraying a real life figure. He and Mirren both won for playing political leaders this year.
2007
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Artist, Addict, Tragic Death
Cotillard also took a page from history books, playing famed French singer Edith Piaf, who struggled with addiction. Historical figure, artist, and addict? Talk about a triple threat.
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood .
Winning Characteristics: Intensity
Day-Lewis is always an awards season staple when he releases a film. His performance in There Will Be Blood was intense and powerful, but avoided many of the Oscar-baity traps.
2008
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader .
Winning Characteristics: Nazi, Statutory Rapist
Winslet didn't fall into the usual tropes of an Oscar-winning role for her turn in The Reader, but she did play a Nazi and statutory rapist ... so there's that.
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Political Leader, Gay, Tragic Death
Another year, another character ripped from the history books for the Best Actor winner. Penn won for his role as Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.
2009
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side .
Winning Characteristics: None that follow the trends.
In her acceptance speech, Bullock asked the crowd if she really earned the award or just "wore them all down." It's a cute, Sandy thing to say, but it's also worth asking, since her role as a crusading mom doesn't fit the typical Oscar-winning mold.
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart .
Winning Characteristics: Artist, Addict
The Academy also bucked its own trend for the male winners this year, awarding the top prize to Jeff Bridges, who played someone who was actually fictional. Still, his character was an artist and an alcoholic, so the win wasn't totally out of left field.
2010
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan .
Winning Characteristics: Artist, Mental Health Issues, Trained/Lost Weight For Role
Portman got the chance to get her crazy on with some gut-wrenching hallucinations and frigidly type A behavior in Black Swan. The prima ballerina performance earned her the Oscar.
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech.
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Political Leader, Mild Disability
Firth knew how to please the Academy. After his snub for A Single Man, Firth played it safe, playing King George VI (overcoming a speech impediment) to take home Oscar gold.
2011
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Political Leader, Serious Illness (Dementia)
Meryl Streep has, as of the most recent Academy Awards, been nominated a record-breaking 15 times. She earned her second Best Actress win in 2011 for her role as historical figure and political leader Margaret Thatcher. The filmmakers also included Thatcher's present day struggles with dementia, giving Streep the illness card to play as well.
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist .
Winning Characteristics: Artist
Dujardin won for his role as, well, an artist, in the silent film The Artist.
2012
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook .
Winning Characteristics: Mental Health Issues
Jennifer Lawrence won for getting her crazy on in David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook. Being young (she was 22 when she earned her statue) didn't hurt Lawrence's case; the Academy is more likely to award younger women and older men.
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln .
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Political Leader
Day-Lewis went historical to snag his second Oscar in 10 years for Lincoln.
2013
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine .
Winning Characteristics: Addict, Mental Health Issues
Blanchett won her Best Actress trophy for playing a pill-popping woman in Blue Jasmine.
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club.
Winning Characteristics: Historical Figure, Gay, Sick, Lost Weight for Role
McConaughey pulled out all the Oscar-winning stops for his role as real-life AIDs patient (he lost an almost-unbelievable amount of weight for the role) Ron Woodroof.
