Summary
Annette Beninghas been a movie star almost from the moment she began appearing in films, and she’s never slowed down. Multiple Oscar nominations, Emmy nominations, and Tony nominations mean that Bening is one of the few movie stars to have been nominated for the Triple Crown of Acting and still not won any of those awards. Winning and losing trophies does not seem to be of much concern to Bening however, because year after year, Bening provides audiences with a new, startling, and beautiful performance, or performances.
A master of television and the stage, it’s in movies that Bening has showcased the extreme breadth of her talents. There’s a reason thisHollywood legend’s presence in an MCU movieis such a momentous casting job. A theater actor for most of her career, Bening appeared in her first film,The Great Outdoors, in 1988. Only two years later, Bening received her first Academy Award nomination. Since then,she’s racked up five Oscar nominations, 10 Golden Globe nominations with two wins, and seven SAG nominations with two wins, but every movie performance by Bening is award-worthy.
Nancy Kovack: The Star Trek Actor’s 10 Best Movies & TV Shows (& Where She Is Now)
Nancy Kolman appeared in numerous TV shows and movies during her career, which is a surprise considering she only acted from 1958 to 1976.
10Richard III (1995)
Queen Elizabeth
Laurence Olivier’sRichard IIIfrom 1955 may be the most critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, but the 1995 version is perhaps better known. Set in a fictional version of 1930s Great Britain,Richard IIIstars Ian McKellen as the titular king, and Annette Bening as Queen Elizabeth. A mesmerizing and unique take on the play,Richard IIIis an impressive adaptation for modern audiences.
Richard IIIis one of the few times Bening has been able to showcase her comfort and confidence in delivering Shakespeare’s lines.
Bening had her start on the stage, earning two Tony nominations, the first for Best Featured Actress in a Play in the 1987Coastal Disturbances, and working with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival company.Richard IIIis one of the few times Bening has been able to showcase her comfort and confidence in delivering Shakespeare’s lines. Her American accent works for the role, helping the character to feel more like an outsider.
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Cast
When Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame discovers she has a terminal illness, she seeks out her ex, who takes her to Liverpool for three weeks. Based on real events.
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpoolis based on the memoir by Peter Turner, about his relationship with Academy Award-winning actress, Gloria Grahame. The film begins in 1979, towards the end of Grahame’s (Annette Bening) career, when she develops breast cancer and meets the much younger actor Turner (Jamie Bell). Their relationship is traced until 1981 when Grahame passes away after her cancer returns.
Gloria Grahame was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category in 1947 forCrossfireas Ginny Tremaine and in 1952 forThe Bad and the Beautifulas Rosemary Bartlow, the latter of which she won.
Bell and Bening’s chemistry is fantastic.Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpooldoesn’t shy away from the sticky issue of Grahame’s and Turner’s age difference, but the relationship the actors create feels so honest, that it’s hard not to get wrapped up in it.Bening’s performance captures all aspects of Gloria Grahame, showcasing her dignity, flirtatious side, and fear. While the movie is a standard biopic, Bening’s performance elevates it.
Bugsy
Bugsy chronicles the tumultuous life of notorious gangster Bugsy Siegel and his role in the establishment of modern Las Vegas. Directed by Barry Levinson and featuring Warren Beatty in the titular role, the film explores Siegel’s ambition, turbulent relationships, and enduring impact on the American criminal underworld.
Annette Bening and Warren Beatty wed in 1992 and have been married since. In 1991, they costarred as the romantic leads in the gangster epic,Bugsy, and their real-life relationship clearly influenced their performances astheir chemistry is arguably some of the best ever seen in movies. A classic ofthe organized crime movie genre,Bugsytells the story of historical gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (Beatty) and his affair with Hollywood star Virginia Hill (Bening).
The film earned 10 Academy Award nominations, winning in two categories, and Bening earned her first Golden Globe nomination, Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
The film earned 10 Academy Award nominations, winning in two categories, and Bening earned her first Golden Globe nomination, Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. This is one of Bening’s most electric and fun performances. She’s allowed to cut loose as the tough and fearless Hill, who has no qualms about dating a famous Jewish mobster who rubs shoulders with Meyer Lansky and the like.
Nyad
Based on the true story of athletic swimmer Diana Nyad, Nyad is a biographical sports drama by directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Decades after shifting careers to a prolific sports journalist, Diana partners up with her best friend to coach her to tackle the 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida that she always wanted to tackle, now at the age of sixty.
As if to prove she still has many years of acting to go, Annette Bening starred in the 2023 sports biopicNyadas Diana Nyad and earned an Oscar nomination, Golden Globe nomination, and SAG nomination in the Best Actress categories.Nyadis a true storyabout Diana Nyad’s many attempts to swim the Straits of Florida between the Sunshine State and Cuba. Taking place over multiple years, Diana overcomes obstacles and setbacks with her trainer and former partner, Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster).
It’s a physically and mentally demanding performance from Bening, who plays Diana with a determination that borders on obsession. Foster and Bening play the friend/trainer/former lovers dynamic with heart and authenticity. It’sa brave and open performance from Bening, who never tries to play up Diana as a young, powerful athlete. She keeps the character dignified but restricted by her age and strength.
6The American President (1995)
Sydney Ellen Wade
InThe American President, popular president and widower Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) meets Sydney Wade (Annette Bening), an environmental lobbyist whom he begins to fall for, all while working to be reelected. The film was nominated for six Golden Globes, including Best Actor for Douglas and Best Actress for Bening. Likemany works by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin,The American Presidentis an idyllic look at government and institutions of power.
Bening once again has amazing chemistry with her co-star and a relationship that could feel trite in someone else’s hands is heartwarming and nostalgic in hers.
It was such a success, that the film directly led to Sorkin’s series,The West Wing, with characters, ideas, and even scenes taken wholesale from the movie. Bening once again has amazing chemistry with her co-star and a relationship that could feel trite in someone else’s hands is heartwarming and nostalgic in hers. It’s a grounded performance that ensures the more unbelievable parts ofThe American Presidentstill feel possible.
Being Julia
Being Julia is a drama following the life of Julia Lambert, an accomplished and celebrated actress. As she seeks to reignite passion in her life amidst professional success, her involvement with a young admirer presents unforeseen challenges, ultimately reigniting her career with renewed vigor and spontaneity.
Being Juliastars Annette Bening as the titular Julia Lambert, an actress in 1930s London. Julia has been feeling discontented with her successful stage career and dreams of retiring, but a tryst with a younger man (Shaun Evans) reinvigorates her interest in life. The role earned Bening an Academy Award nomination and a SAG nomination for Best Actress, and she received her first Golden Globe win for Best Actress.
Being Juliais based on the novelTheatre(1937) by English writer W. Somerset Maugham.
It’sa light, funny, and energetic movie brightened by Bening’s fantastic performance.It’s one of the few comedic performances in Bening’s filmography, and she switches between a steely, haughty, grand actress figure and an overemotional, bubbly starlet with ease. She’s a joy to watch and her final scene on stage as she turns the tables on her rival is an example of why she is such a celebrated theatre actor.
420th Century Woman (2016)
Dorothea Fields
In20th Century Woman, Annette Bening plays Dorothea Fields, a 55-year-old single mother of 15-year-old Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann). Having trouble connecting with her son, Dorothea asks her younger tenants and Jamie’s friends, Abbie (Greta Gerwig) and Julie (Elle Fanning) to help raise him. It’s a complex and deep look at motherhood, relationships, and trying to give a child a better life than the parent ever had.
Bening was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as an aging woman filled with contradictions. Dorothea is an authentic character who rarely makes the correct choices, but she can’t be blamed for them because of just how human those choices are.Bening is heartbreaking, funny, and even a little inspiring as a mom trying her bestto do what she can to take care of her teenage son.
3The Grifters (1990)
Myra Langtry
The Grifterswas only Annette Bening’s third film role, but her performance as Myra Langtry wasimpressive enough to garner her her first Academy Award nomination. In the film, Myra (Benning) and her boyfriend, Roy Dillon (John Cusack) are a couple of con artists who run into Dillon’s mother, Lily (Angelica Huston), another con artist, after not having seen her for years. What results is a backstabbing, double-crossing feature-length con that gets more disturbing the longer it goes.
Bening was a young actress when she appeared in the movie, but she stands out among an impressive roster of talents. Myra is a wry and edgy femme fatale character, and it’s never easy to tell if she’s working with or playing someone. On the outside, Myra is a kind and loving girlfriend, but on the inside, she’s a dangerous individual, and Bening can handle both sides with equal aplomb.
American Beauty
American Beauty, released in 1999, is a drama film directed by Sam Mendes. It follows the life of Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey, a disillusioned suburban father undergoing a profound midlife crisis. Annette Bening co-stars as his ambitious wife, Carolyn. The film explores themes of beauty, desire, and existential ennui within the confines of American suburbia.
American Beautyisa movie that defined ’90s cinema, which makes it such a shame that the film is now overshadowed by Kevin Spacey’s critical involvement. If a viewer can get past the unfortunate pairing of actor and story,American Beautyis still an incredible tale about a man, Lester (Spacey), having a midlife crisis and becoming infatuated with his daughter’s best friend. Annette Bening plays Carolyn Burnham, Lester’s wife, a materialistic and overambitious real estate agent who has long since fallen out of love with her husband and barely acknowledges his existence.
Bening was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actress, and she won the SAG in the same category. Her performance is fierce, upsetting, and ultimately pitiful.There is a seething suburban anger and rage underneath Carolyn’s prim and proper, go-getter surface, and it’s frightening when she lets it peak out. It’s the best type of overacting performance and makes her devastation at the end of the movie hit all the harder after seeing her be so cutting and mean beforehand.
The Kids Are All Right
The Kids Are All Right is a 2010 film directed by Lisa Cholodenko, centering on a married lesbian couple, Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore), whose teenage children seek out their biological father, Paul (Mark Ruffalo). The family’s dynamic is tested as Paul becomes involved in their lives, leading to complex and emotional interactions. The film explores themes of family, relationships, and identity.
The Kids Are Alrightstars Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as Dr. Nicole ‘Nic’ Allgood and Jules Allgood, respectively, a married couple with two children, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson). When Joni and Laser find their biological father, Paul Hatfield (Mark Ruffalo), they get to know him, upsetting the balance of the family. Bening earned an Oscar nomination and a SAG nomination for Best Actress andwon a Golden Globe in the same category.
Nic is a completely realized character with all the foibles, eccentricities, and tendencies of a real person. Bening straddles the line of making Nic loveable and unlikeable, and therefore creates an extremely human character threatened by a newcomer in her family but also guilt-ridden by how she’s caused her family pain. Her discovery of Jules' affair is emotionally devastating both because of the performance and for how staidAnnette Beninghas played the character up until that point.
