Angelina Jolie (‘Maria’) to follow the same Oscars path as Renée Zellweger (‘Judy’)?
According to the current combined predictions of Gold Derby users, Angelina Jolie (“Maria”) is in fourth place for Best Actress with 17/2 odds at this year’s Oscars. The movie itself just debuted at the Venice Film Festival, earning an eight-minute standing ovation. That could be a sign of how strong a force she’ll be in the upcoming awards season. If she goes all the way, it would be similar to the Oscars path of another recent Best Actress winner.
In 2019 Renée Zellweger starred as actress and singer Judy Garland in Rupert Goold‘s biographical film “Judy,” which took place during the final year of the showbiz legend’s life in London, shortly before her death in 1969. Zellweger had previously been very active in Hollywood in the 1990s and 2000s, during which she received three consecutive Oscar nominations: 2001’s “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” 2002’s “Chicago” and 2003’s “Cold Mountain.” The last of those resulted in a win for Best Supporting Actress.
After Zellweger spent several years under the radar “Judy” marked her grand return to the spotlight. She ultimately swept the awards season, winning Best Actress prizes at the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, SAG and BAFTA Awards, all before going on to win the Oscar.
This year Jolie stars as Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín‘s biographical film “Maria,” which is set during the legendary opera star’s final years in the 1970s when she was living in Paris. Like Zellweger, Jolie had a very active career in the late-1990s and 2000s. During that time she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in 1999’s “Girl, Interrupted” and was later nominated for Best Actress for starring in 2008’s “Changeling.”
In recent years Jolie has sporadically appeared in films. But this year is shaping up to a big one for her. She dabbled in Broadway producing with the stage musical adaptation of S.E. Hinton‘s classic novel “The Outsiders,” which won her a surprise Tony for Best Musical back in June. Now she’s back in the Oscar conversation with “Maria.” It remains to be seen whether she can achieve the same awards dominance Zellweger achieved with “Judy,” but history shows it’s certainly a possibility.