It’s the biggest night of the year, with all eyes on Hollywood for the 96th Oscars on Sunday 10th March. As anticipation builds, we unveil some of the unique career histories behind this year’s nominees and uncover some of the paths they took before finding fame on the silver screen.
From exploring a career in basketball to studying opera at college, let’s delve into some of the more unusual careers.
Ready? Lights, camera, action!
Bradley Cooper
Nominated for: Actor in a leading role (Maestro)
Job before fame: Journalist
Average salary: $64,494
While at school, Cooper wrote for the Philadelphia Daily News, writing a piece about when friends cross the line – pretty embarrassing as it was about a classmate! He’d actually wanted to move to Japan and become a “ninja”, but instead entered the world of acting and never looked back!
This is far from the first time he’s up for an Academy Award either, he’s been nominated for 12!
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America Ferrera
Nominated for: Actress in a supporting role (Barbie)
Job before fame: Campaign manager
Average salary: $74,451
America Ferrera’s Gloria in the 2023 smash hit Barbie is deserving of an Oscar nomination. Her monologue about why it is literally impossible to become a woman cemented the film’s iconic status and was delivered perfectly by America.
Known more recently for television than film (Ugly Betty and Superstore), America is also very politically active. In 2008, she worked alongside Chelsea Clinton and Amber Tamblyn in support of Hillary’s presidential campaign and more recently has worked to encourage Latinos in the US to vote.
In 2017, Ferrera became active in the #MeToo campaign and was a founding member of the Time’s Up Legal Defence Fund.
America is an incredibly talented campaigner and activist as well as a multi-award-winning actress.
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Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Nominated for: Actress in a supporting role (The Holdovers)
Job before fame: Opera singer
Average salary: Dependent on experience
Da’Vine rose to prominence on Broadway, before becoming a critically acclaimed film star.
She studied theatre from a young age and went to Temple University where she was originally focused on vocal performance and opera. Although she switched her efforts to musical theatre in her junior year, it’s clear that her fantastic voice could have led her to a successful career in opera.
Nominated for her role in The Holdovers, you may also recognize her from The Lost City, High Fidelity, and Selena Gomez’s television series Only Murders in the Building.
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Robert De Niro
Nominated for: Actor in a supporting role (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Job before fame: Artist
Average salary: $52,190
This year’s awards are far from 80-year-old Robert De Niro’s first rodeo. He’s been nominated nine times and won twice. He was also the 56th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award which he was presented by Leonardo DiCaprio with whom he stars in Killers of the Flower Moon.
De Niro’s star was rising from a young age, and he’s been active in the film industry for 60 years! However, both of his parents were painters who met at art classes with renowned painter and artist Hans Hoffman. Some might argue that Robert followed the family path and became an artist too, albeit in moving pictures!
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Ryan Gosling
Nominated for: Actor in a supporting role (Barbie)
Job before fame: Non-profit worker
Average salary: $64,069
Ryan Gosling is more than Kenough. Barbie star and iconic Ken doll, Ryan Gosling is supportive of a variety of social causes. He’s worked with PETA to encourage fast food chains including McDonald’s to improve their methods of chicken slaughter in their factories, after Hurricane Katrina he volunteered in the clean-up efforts, and has worked with a variety of refugee groups.
Clearly, this Ken has a strong moral compass that would make him a fantastic charity employee.
He’s yet to secure a win at the Golden Globes, Oscars, or Screen Actors Guild Awards but this year could be the year!
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Annette Bening
Nominated for: Actress in a leading role (Nyad)
Job before fame: Cook
Average salary: $37,569
Perhaps best known for her staring role in American Beauty for which she won a BAFTA, Bening portrays long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad in the Netflix smash hit, Nyad.
Although Annette acted from a young age, she spent a year working as a cook on a private charter boat before attending college. During that time she would take fishing parties out to the Pacific Ocean and lead recreational scuba diving parties, useful skills for her most recent role!
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Cillian Murphy
Nominated for: Actor in a leading role (Oppenheimer)
Job before fame: Musician
Average salary: $38,033
Cillian Murphy probably didn’t expect that his starring role in Oppenheimer would make him meme fodder or spawn the “Barbenheimer” trend but it seems like he’s taking it in his stride.
Already in receipt for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Golden Globes, he’s tipped for yet more success at the Oscars.
Before starting his career in acting, Cillian was actually in a band with his brother in his native Ireland and they were even offered a record deal!
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Christopher Nolan
Nominated for: Director (Oppenheimer)
Job before fame: Camera operator
Average salary: $52,691
Another nomination for Oppenheimer comes for best director nominee Christopher Nolan. He’s arguably a bit of a mystery, preferring to leave film promotion activities to his leading actors. However, we do know that he worked as a script reader, camera operator, and director of corporate films when he first graduated from university in London.
Within just five years of graduating, he’d released his first feature, called Following which was made with a budget of just £3,000 (about $3,800). Rather a lot less than the $100 million budget for Oppenheimer!
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Sterling K. Brown
Nominated for: Actor in a supporting role (American Fiction)
Job before fame: Economist
Average salary: $96,168
Perhaps best known for being “number three” of the “big three” in This is Us, Sterling’s latest award nomination is his first-ever Academy Award nomination.
He attended Stanford University and very nearly majored in economics with a focus on business but fell in love with acting as a freshman. Three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award show that he made the right choice to switch majors!
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Lily Gladstone
Nominated for: Actress in a leading role (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Job before fame: Teacher
Average salary: $56,800
Lily became the first Native American to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture earlier this year for her role as Mollie in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Raised in the Blackfleet Reservation in Browning, Montana she is of Piegan Blackfeet (Siksikaitsitapi), Nez Perce (Nimíipuu), and European heritage.
She graduated with a BA in acting and directing and a minor in Native American studies where she became interested in the acting methodologies of the Theatre of the Oppressed. When she graduated she taught an acting method called “sculpture garden” as a form of violence prevention. More recently, she’s hosted a series of educational YouTube videos about film production.
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Yorgos Lanthimos
Nominated for: Director (Poor Things)
Job before fame: Creative director
Average salary: $100,000+
Greek filmmaker Yorgos has only been directing English language films since 2015 and has already been nominated for 23 Academy Awards.
Far from a linear career in the film industry, Yorgos played basketball for Pagrati BC in Athens while studying business studies at college. In 2004, he was part of the creative team that designed the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens before his first mainstream film, My Best Friend, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2005.
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Success in Hollywood is rarely a straight line, just like success in any other career. As we celebrate their achievements on Oscar night, let’s also celebrate the resilience, creativity, and dedication that have propelled them to this pinnacle of recognition in the world of cinema.
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