109 days 'til Oscar. And the FBI Agent nominees are...
Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 3:00PM by Nathaniel R
This year marks the 109th anniversary of the FBI. They were founded in 1908 during the Roosevelt administration. This anniversary begs the question -- at least for us Oscar freaks -- of how many actors have been nominated or won Oscars for playing FBI agents? The only one that pops immediately to mind is Jodie Foster as Agent Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs a movie we dug deep into here at The Film Experience last year.
But one can't be the right number. Working for the FBI is a rarity in real life but on the screen it's a different story; FBI agent is up there with doctors, cops, waitresses, lawyers, actors, serial killers, superheroes, and assassins as ubiquitous career goals...
And yet nearly every FBI agent character I could think beyond Clarice, even the famous ones, did not lead to Oscar nominations though some of them came close. No nominations for Kevin Costner in The Untouchables, Jimmy Stewart in The FBI Story, Keanu Reeves in Point Break, Emily Blunt in Sicario, John Travolta in Face/Off, Leonardo DiCaprio & Armie Hammer in J Edgar, Johnny Depp in Donnie Brasco, etcetera... Sandra Bullock has been an FBI agent twice in Miss Congeniality and The Heat but had to make do with one Golden Globe Comedy nomination for the former.
So after a bit of research the following three-person list is all I could come up. This can't be right. Perhaps you could fill in any gaps?
Oscar Nominated FBI Agents
1988 Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning (BEST ACTOR NOMINEE)
1991 Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs (BEST ACTRESS WINNER)
2013 Bradley Cooper, American Hustle (BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR NOMINEE)
Is that really all there is?
Reader Comments (8)
I think DiCaprio-lead and Hanks-supporting (the FBI guy) should have been nominated for Catch Me If You Can. It's been in rotation on HBO lately. Such an entertaining movie.
Also, Tommy Lee Jones? But, oh, he was a U.S. Marshal
At least the only winner is one of the most atypical performances to get noticed by the Oscars, and one of the top 10 (top 5?) best actress winners.
Wait..are we saying Keanu should have an Oscar nomination for Point Break? seriously?
Whoa.
I will continually argue that Cooper was the MVP of American Hustle
Tom: If Swayze got a category fraud Supporting Actor nomination (sorry, he IS co-lead in Point Break), I'd buy it. Kevin Costner in The Untouchables wouldn't even be in my top 12 Lead Actors that year, let alone top 5.
Ballot:
Bruce Campbell, Evil Dead 2
Nicolas Cage, Raising Arizona
Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon
Richard E. Grant, Withnail & I
Ed Harris, Walker
(6-12: Robin Williams, Good Morning Vietnam, Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride, Michael Douglas, Fatal Attraction, Leslie Cheung, A Chinese Ghost Story, Paul McGann, Withnail & I, John Lone, The Last Emperor, Danny Glover, Lethal Weapon.)
I love it how someone can bring up a year here and someone else is readily packed with their own best of lists that year.
Tom -- in no way did i qualify that any of that llist SHOULD have gotten a nomination. In fact i dont much like some of that list. Just pointing out that none of them did (even ones that were really famous (like Keanu) or the ones that came really close to a nomination -- like Leo DiCaprio)