An Oscar is supposed to be the ultimate accolade. If you have one next to your name, you’re “made” for life. That is why speeches are so emotional.
When Gwyneth Paltrow gushes or Roberto Benigni clambers over the backs of the audience to reach the stage, or Sally Field seems so overcome that people actually like her, it is because they realise the significance of what they have achieved.
“When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child, that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid,” Lupita Nyong’o famously declared after winning her Academy Award for 12 Years a Slave.
New roles will become available for actors who have the statuette on their mantlepiece. Producers whose pictures have won Oscars will find it that much easier to secure financing for future projects. The awards don’t just help you get bookings in popular restaurants. They provide opportunities for careers to blossom.
That, at least, is the theory. Look back at Oscar history, though, and you’ll see a surprising number of examples of former winners who’ve either faded into anonymity or seen their careers wobble and unwind.
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