Oscar Winners Who Were Also In Billion Dollar Movies | ScreenRant
Today's cinema landscape is dominated by box office phenomenon, usually related to superhero's or colossal franchises like Star Wars, and there are more billion-dollar-plus box office hits than ever before, with the number quickly rising. However, this does not mean the movies are not full of quality, especially in terms of their performers.
So many of these box office smashes have casts filled to the brim with star power, and some of the world's most fantastic performers, many of whom have led acclaimed careers and taking home many rewards throughout their time, usually outside the big box office world, including the golden statue itself.
10 Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi is one of Hollywood's best talents today, crafting a great filmography both behind and in front of the camera, with the latter earning him spots in some of the highest-grossing movies ever.
Waititi's Oscar was not for acting; it was actually for Best Adapted Screenplay for his hit film Jojo Rabbit, which he wrote, directed, and starred in, showcasing all of his talents.
These, unsurprisingly, are from the MCU where he plays the beloved and hilarious Korg in two movies (thus far), Thor: Ragnarok (which he also wrote and directed) and Avengers: Endgame, and another to come soon in Thor: Love And Thunder with another shoo-in for a $1 billion-plus at the box office in The Suicide Squad.
9 J.K. Simmons
J.K. Simmons has been in and around box office smashes for nearly two decades, having appeared in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy. However, his total films that actually earned over a billion sits at, but will not remain at, two.
Simmons' Oscar came from one of the best performances in the 2010s, taking home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Whiplash, one of the most acclaimed films of the decade, and one which has Simmons at the core of its brilliance.
Those are Spider-Man Far From Home - which was simply for a cameo role as the iconic J. Jonah Jameson - and a key voice role in Zootopia. Considering the roles, Simmons has booked for the future already, expect more money makers from the skilled actor.
8 Whoopi Goldberg
In a sixteen-year span of her iconic career, Whoopi Goldberg became a member of the very exclusive EGOT club, winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony in her career.
Coming in 1991 for her supporting role in the movie Ghost, Whoopi Goldberg became the first Black actress to pick up the Best Supporting Actress Oscar since the famous win of Hattie McDaniel in 1931 for her great performance.
Goldberg's million-dollar movie appearance is a lot more obscure, though, despite coming in such a huge franchise. Goldberg had a voice role in the beloved Toy Story 3, voicing one of the tertiary villains, Stretch. Box Office Mojo also says The Lion King (1994) has made over a billion due to rereleases, adding another billion-dollar movie to Goldberg's resume.
7 Joaquin Phoenix
Undoubtedly one of the greatest talents of our generation, Joaquin Phoenix, has starred in many great movies over the years and has turned in some mind-blowing performances during his acclaimed career.
Phoenix finally picked up his golden statue at last year's Academy Awards after a long awards season where he was the heavy favorite for the entire time due to his incredible performance in Joker.
For all the movie's issues and its divisiveness, there was universal praise for Phoenix's portrayal of Arthur Fleck, and unlike most on this list, Phoenix actually picked up his Academy Award for his billion-dollar film, with Joker breaking records with its box office take.
6 Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman has racked up a lot of acclaim over her career and is no stranger to box office smashes, with billion-dollar movies undoubtedly in her future in the form of Thor: Love & Thunder.
The Israeli-American actress has an Oscar win in 2010, sandwiched between two nominations in 2005 and 2017, for her phenomenal outing in the psychological-thriller Black Swan, a well-deserved victory for such a great performance.
However, her billion-dollar movie did not contain the same acclaimed performance from Portman, with her role as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (in this instance, The Phantom Menace) being one that is still widely criticized to this day.
5 Brie Larson
From one MCU actress to another, Brie Larson looks to be set to be a crucial part of the new era of the MCU, which is upon us in the wake of so much changing with the last two installments of The Avengers.
Larson's Oscar victory comes from a movie far quieter and more nuanced than the MCU, coming for the contained and fantastic 2016 movie Room, for which she picked up the Best Actress Oscar.
Of course, her billion-dollar movies all come from the MCU, with Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame both raking in a colossal amount, a trend that will likely continue for the remainder of Larson's time in the universe.
4 Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks is undoubtedly one of the most beloved actors of all time, and across his career, he has starred in so many brilliant films, taking up a slew of iconic roles for which he is still well known.
Hanks has been nominated four times for acting Oscars, not including his two separate victories for Best Actor, one for Forrest Gump and the other for Philidelphia - in back-to-back years nonetheless.
Alongside Forrest Gump, the role Hanks will likely go down in history for will be a voice role, that of Woody from the Toy Story franchise, which has produced two billion-dollar movies with its third and fourth installment.
3 Lupita Nyong'o
Many feel like, for her outing in Jordan Peele's Us, Lupita Nyong'o was robbed of an Oscar nomination and win. Either way, though, the excellent actress still has one under her belt to go alongside a couple of billion-dollar movies and other acclaimed performances.
Nyong'o became the first African to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, the first Kenyan-born person to win an Oscar of any kind, and won it on her big-screen debut nonetheless for the unbelievable 12 Years A Slave, where she plays young slave Patsey.
She does not just produce consistently excellent performances; of course, she also rakes in the money. As Maz Kanata, Nyong'o starred in all three Star Wars sequel trilogy movies, which all raked in over a billion dollars, and one even taking in over two. She also starred in the beloved Black Panther, which famously became one of the MCU's biggest moneymakers.
2 Christian Bale & Heath Ledger
Christian Bale has an unmatched commitment to his craft and consistency in quality that is unbelievable. These are qualities he shared with Heath Ledger, who was one of the best in the world when he was with us.
It seems ludicrous that Bale has only won one Oscar, and it was for a supporting role, but alas, that is the situation, with Bale taking home the statue for his role in The Fighter. Ledger, meanwhile, famously won posthumously for one of the greatest acting performances ever, and probably the greatest performance in a billion-dollar movie, as the Joker in The Dark Knight.
Both of these men starred alongside each other in that movie as the hero and villain of the piece and truly helped it become the masterpiece that it is. While the supporting cast is flawless and Nolan displays immense genius, these two men are incredible. Bale also has The Dark Knight Rises under his belt, and likely the upcoming Thor: Love & Thunder when it comes to billion-dollar movies.
1 Leonardo Di Caprio & Kate Winslet
Cheating once again to include two actors in one spot, Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet are another iconic cinematic pair who both starred in the same billion-dollar movie and have won Oscars in their past.
Outwith her win in 2009 for The Reader, Winslet has six nominations thus far, including one for Titanic. Di Caprio finally got his Oscar glory in 2016 for The Revenant, after having four nominations before that film, as well as one after.
Their billion-dollar movie is obviously Titanic, one of the most successful and just one of the overall biggest movies of all time that immensely helped both the incredible performer's careers.