Wolf Queen Frances McDormand Howls After Winning Nomadland Oscar
Immediately after a night largely lacking twists, the 2021
Oscars switched up the format by announcing Best Picture for
Nomadland before the lead acting categories. Then, it ended with a double surprise for the remaining two awards, announcing wins for Anthony Hopkins for Best Actor for his efficiency in
The Father and
Frances McDormand for Best Actress in
Nomadland.
With this win, McDormand joined the elite club of actresses like Meryl Streep and Ingrid Bergman who have won three acting Oscars. She previously won Best Actress for 1996's
Fargo and 2017's
Three Billboards Outdoor Ebbing, Missouri. Once McDormand reached the stage to accept her award she made a short speech saying, "I have no words. My voice is in my sword. We know the sword is our work, and I like work. Thanks for knowing that and thanks for this." Earlier in the night, as soon as accepting the award for
Best Picture, the actress howled like a wolf as a brief tribute to Michael Wolf Snyder, a sound mixer on
Nomadland who died earlier this year.
While earlier in the Academy Awards telecast
Nomadland had collected six awards, including Best Director for Chloé Zhao and Best Picture, McDormand wasn't a frontrunner for The ideal Actress category with several
calling the category a "toss-up." She ended up beating out other nominees Viola Davis (
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Andra Day (
The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Vanessa Kirby (
Pieces of a Woman), and Carey Mulligan (
Promising Young Woman).
Though she didn't win, Davis became the Academy's most-nominated Black actress with four nominations, including one win for Best Supporting Actress in 2017 for
Fences. Mulligan had been nominated once before for
An Education, while Day and Kirby were first-time nominees. Additionally to McDormand's win,
Nomadland director Zhao also made Oscar history by becoming only the second woman — and first of color — to win
Best Director.
Find all of the 2021 Oscar winners right here.
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