When an actor wins an Oscar, it’s not just something that falls into their lap. Huge campaigns are planned. Massive public relations companies are employed. And lots of time is spent rubbing elbows with the more influential members of the Academy. In order to win one of these awards, one has to be talented, certainly, but there are a whole series of awards leading up to the Oscars that create a kind of yardstick to see how popular an actor is with their peers and if they’re worth the Academy’s time. An actor is expected to attend this series of award ceremonies on a trail that winds its way all across America and into the massive ballroom that seats every notable person in the entertainment industry. It’s a dog and pony show that parades an actor in front of their fellow performers, and it often takes just as much work as making a movie.
formerly Mad Cornish Projectionist.