by Sybol Beard

Created on: March 16, 2010   Last Updated: March 17, 2010

What makes an actress an Academy Award winning actress? Is it her training, her friends, her love for the work, her size, her weight, her color, her background, or her hair? Or could it be her actual performance? Does she make the character believable? Is she in harmony with the other actors in their roles? Does she make you feel the emotions of her character?

Much of what has been written and spoken about the nominated actresses and the winning actresses of the 2010 Academy Awards would cause you to wonder. Did any of the nominated actresses for best actress in a leading role and for best actress in a supporting role deserve to win an academy award?

Yes! Sandra Bullock deserved to win best actress in a leading role for “The Blind Side,” and not because she wore the academy down. However, if that were the case, is it a bad thing? How many actors and actresses are wearing down the academy? That statement says that her talent is great enough to be acknowledged often. Her performance was a great performance. She made us feel and understand her character. We may not agree with the character’s perspective but that is not the role of the actress. Sandra has been noted by the academy many times because she usually gives a great performance.
BRAVO Sandra Bullock.

Yes! Mo’Nique deserved to win best actress in a supporting role for “Precious.” The mixed emotions that her performance demanded you to feel was overwhelming. Would it have been better if she looked like a model from the 1960’s on a run way or similar to the actual character? Looks are very important. If she had the appearance of a black Barbie the role would not have been believable and there goes the Oscar. Mo’Nique’s confidence and high self esteem have helped her to become a grand, illustrious, and celebrated actress. YOU GO GIRL.

Looking back through the years at previous winners of best actresses in a leading role and best actresses in a supporting role, there is clear evidence of the necessity for an actress to look the part. Renee Zellweger, winner of best actress in a supporting role for “Cold Mountain” in 2003, undoubtedly illustrates this necessity. What if Sissy Spacek, who won best actress in a leading role for “Coal Miner’s Daughter” in 1980, had looked like Vivien Leigh, who won best actress in a leading role for “Gone With The Wind” in 1939? Would the story have been believable? Her appearance would have discredited the performance. Shelly Winters, who won best actress in a supporting role for “Diary of Anne Frank” in 1959, Jane Darwell, who won best actress in a supporting role for “Grapes Of Wrath” in 1940, and Shirley Booth, who won best actress in a leading role for “Come Back Little Sheba” in 1952 were not, young, small, glamorous, or sophisticated women in their roles in these films that they so deservingly won an academy award for, nor should they have been. The world is made up of people who are all sizes shapes, colors, and ages. These people have many different personality types, different backgrounds, and different stories. There is no mold.

Mo’Nique summed it up in her acceptance speech. She said, “first, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics."

It is about the performance.

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