Nobody likes a try-hard: cinema’s five most laughably unsuccessful Oscar bait performances
Every actor dreams of winning an Oscar, which is understandable given that it’s deemed the pinnacle of anybody’s career, regardless of their position in the industry.
However, some stars make it a lot more obvious than others that they’ve got designs on filling out their trophy cabinet, seeking out roles that seem precision-engineered to win over the Academy. In a lot of cases, those instincts are spot on, but there are more than a few instances when the overpowering stench of blatant Oscar bait has blown up in their faces.
Movies are often singled out as potential frontrunners long before anyone has had a chance to see them, an assessment that’s usually based on a combination of creative talent and subject matter. If it’s an important story with big names attached, then common sense dictates that it’s got everything required to make an awards season splash.
Of course, it doesn’t always work that way, and the following five actors found out the hard way. The ingredients were all there for a delicious Oscar-baiting dish, but on every occasion, the recipe left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
Five snubbed Oscar-bait performances:
Jared Leto (Chapter 27, Jarrett Schaefer, 2007)
It almost seems too easy to invoke Jared Leto when looking at Oscar-baiting performances gone awry, even if it’s fairly transparent what everybody involved with Chapter 27 was hoping to achieve.
A biographical drama about an event seared into the public consciousness for decades? Check. A shocking incident that rocked the world to its core? Check. One that involved a cultural icon who left behind an indelible imprint on their chosen vocation? Present and accounted for.
Leto went all out to embody John Lennon’s killer, Mark David Chapman, gaining so much weight in such a short period of time that he developed a bad case of gout and ended up in a wheelchair. He was no doubt dreaming of being showered in statues, only to end up with nothing but another anecdote about his method antics when the film was largely trashed by critics and swept under the rug by audiences.
Nicole Kidman (Grace of Monaco, Olivier Dahan, 2014)
On paper, Grace of Monaco was exactly the kind of movie that usually has members of the Academy falling over themselves to cast their votes in virtually all of the major categories. Unfortunately, the biopic’s fatal flaw was that it was utter shite.
Hollywood loves to pat itself on the back, so in theory, one of the best actors of their generation playing an industry icon with a fascinating life story helmed by a filmmaker who’d previously directed Marion Cotillard to a ‘Best Actress’ gong in La Vie en Rose seemed locked, loaded, and ready for success.
Grace of Monaco was even selected as the opening film of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, which was the wrong call in hindsight. Grace Kelly’s children slammed it, and director Olivier Dahan voiced his frustrations dealing with Harvey Weinstein’s heavy-handed interference during post-production, even if there was no way to save such an odorous stinker so bad it wasn’t granted a theatrical release in the United States.
Cuba Gooding Jr (Radio, Mike Tollin, 2003)
Cuba Gooding Jr never failed to capitalise on his newfound momentum after winning an Oscar for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ in Cameron Crowe’s Jerry Maguire, and in a strange way, he can’t be faulted for at least trying to get himself on the podium again.
That said, director Mike Tollin’s decision to read directly from the big book of both sports flick and biopic cliches backfired when the only recognition Radio‘s leading man received from any noteworthy awards body was a Razzie nomination for ‘Worst Actor’.
Syrupy, saccharine, sentimental, cloying, and so determined to win Oscars that it was borderline offputting; Radio may have thought it was being progressive, only for Gooding Jr to veer queasily into caricature with his on-the-nose depiction of a genuinely inspiring subject.
Naomi Watts (Diana, Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2013)
Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman have been joined at the hip for decades, so it seemed fitting for the Antipodean best friends to each headline an awards-baiting prestige drama focusing on a beloved figure with ties to a monarchy within close proximity of the other.
Kidman could be forgiven for getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, though, knowing that her Grace of Monaco was set to premiere just months after Watts’ Diana. Like watching a cinematic car crash unfold, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s drama presented a handy manual on how to make a paint-by-numbers biopic while simultaneously conspiring to get everything wrong.
Earning a well-deserved Razzie nod for ‘Worst Actress’, Watts was immediately consigned to the history books before being embarrassed by Kristen Stewart, who showed her how it should have been done by gaining an Oscar nomination for playing the exact same person less than a decade later.
Colin Farrell (Alexander, Oliver Stone, 2004)
It sounds preposterous knowing what happened, but Colin Farrell was genuinely convinced after wrapping production on Oliver Stone’s Alexander that it was only a matter of time before he was required to throw on the gladrags, hit the red carpet, and bask in the awards season adulation.
“We all had our tuxedos ready. I’m not even joking,” he admitted with more than a tinge of regret. “We were all like, ‘Right, lads, we’re off to the Oscars. This is a sure thing’. And then it came out.” When it was released, the end result was nothing but a commercial disaster and a critical evisceration.
Stone unveiled another three versions of Alexander, only to prove that some turds can’t be polished. As for Farrell, his Razzie nomination for ‘Worst Actor’ became a turning point in his career, with the leading man making a concerted effort to reinvent and rehabilitate himself in the face of soul-crushing despair.
