The Curse of the Best Actress Oscar?

By PopEater Staff Posted Mar 18th 2010 07:00PM

With the news of Sandra Bullock's husband's alleged infidelity and Kate Winslet's impending divorce from Sam Mendes, we realized that the last two winners of the Best Actress Academy Award both have had marital issues.

Looking back, it's more than just these two whose relationships disintegrated after they won the coveted award. Reese Witherspoon scooped up the honor in 2006, and lost husband Ryan Phillippe in 2007. And there are many more.

It may be every actress' dream to win a Best Actress Oscar -- but unfortunately, it may come at the cost of the men in their lives. We have to ask -- is the award cursed? Bonnie Fuller, Editor-in-Chief of HollywoodLife.com, believes it is.

"I absolutely think it's cursed. It's sad but true that in this day and age it's a rare treasure of a man who can handle being married to a hugely successful woman -- especially one who's more successful at the current time than they are," she tells PopEater.

More importantly, how does Oscar hurt relationships? "Many men feel emasculated by strong women and this can be an especially big problem if women are in very visible positions -- and what can be more visible than winning an Oscar. If the men are also in a competitive profession, i.e. they're also an actor or in a similarly artistic profession, they may feel insecure about their wife or girlfriend's success. And that can really damage their relationship," Fuller adds. (Watch Bonnie Address Jesse James Here)

See whom it's affected and what went wrong after the jump!

Sandra Bullock: 'The Blind Side,' 2010
Just weeks after she accepted her Oscar, rumors of husband Jesse James' infidelity reportedly led Bullock to move out of the home they shared together
Did Oscar play a role? James is a reality TV star and Bullock's the first woman to headline a movie that made over $200M. You do the math.

Kate Winslet: 'The Reader,' 2009
The same week that Sandra fled her house, Winslet announced she and husband Sam Mendes were separating. The couple married in 2003 and have one son, plus Kate's daughter from a previous marriage.
Did Oscar play a role? Mendes is an Oscar-winning director. But he's been much more inconsistent than Winslet. With six nods and one win, Kate is always at the top of her game, while Mendes has received mixed reviews for his post-'American Beauty' work -- including 'Revolutionary Road' with his estranged wife. (She won a Golden Globe for her role in that film, but the movie itself failed to click on the awards circuit.)

Reese Witherspoon: 'Walk the Line,' 2006
Over a year after taking home the award for playing June Carter Cash, Witherspoon filed for divorce from husband Ryan Phillippe, despite seven years of marriage and two children, amid reports he was cheating with his 'Stop Loss' co-star Abbie Cornish, with whom he later had a relationship.
Did Oscar play a role? Ryan's career has lagged way behind Reese's since 'Cruel Intention' -- he even lacks his own page on Box Office Mojo, a site that tabulates stars' box office ratings. (His latest star turn, 'Loss,' grossed just 10.9 million.) The Oscar highlights this disparity.

Hilary Swank: 'Million Dollar Baby,' 2005, and 'Boys Don't Cry, 2000
Swank and her husband of almost 10 years, Chad Lowe, announced their decision to split in January of 2006, finalizing their divorce later that year.
Did Oscar play a role? The last thing we remember Lowe doing is an episode of 'Bones.' That doesn't hold up well to a two-time Academy Award winner.

Charlize Theron: 'Monster,' 2004
Theron and longtime boyfriend actor Stuart Townsend, who had been dating for 9 years, broke up this past January.
Did Oscar play a role? Townsend who? Have you seen 'Maggie Hill,' 'Chaos Theory' or any episodes of 'Night Stalker'?

Halle Berry: 'Monster's Ball,' 2002
Berry and husband, singer Eric Benet, ended their four year marriage in 2003, allegedly due to his sex addiction.
Did Oscar play a role? Think of it this way. When was the last time you listened to Benet's music on your iPod?

Julia Roberts: 'Erin Brockovich,' 2001
Although they dated for four years, Roberts and Benjamin Bratt dissolved their union months after Julia's big Oscar night.
Did Oscar play a role? Sure, Bratt is recognizable from his 'Law & Order' days, but he's nothing compared to the tour-de-force that is America's sweetheart.

Gwyneth Paltrow: 'Shakespeare in Love,' 1999
The normally very secretive Paltrow thanked Ben Affleck in her acceptance speech, but a few months later, they permanently called it quits after three years of an on-again, off-again romance.
Did Oscar play a role? This could be the one exception. Affleck already had his own Oscar, and Paltrow and he were equally well-known. (And at the time, he may have been more so.)

Helen Hunt: 'As Good as It Gets,' 1998
Engaged in 1997 and married in 1999, Hunt's relationship with 'Simpsons' voice-actor Hank Azaria didn't last long after her 'Good' achievement.
Did Oscar play a role? When they first got together, Hunt was a small-screen star who became the first to be paid $1 million per episode for 'Mad About You.' Then, in her first leading big-screen appearance,' she wins an Oscar. Azaria, on the other hand, is best known for his 'Simpsons' characters.

Susan Sarandon: 'Dead Man Walking,' 1996
There was a significant amount of time between her win and the crumbling of their 23 year partnership, but Sarandon and actor Tim Robbins broke up in late 2009.
Did Oscar play a role? Robbins also has his own statuette. But it was for Best Supporting Actor. One could only imagine what would have happened if he'd won for lead actor.

Emma Thompson: 'Howard's End,' 1993
Married in 1989, director-actor Kenneth Branagh and Thompson were divorced in 1995, two years after Emma earned gold.
Did Oscar play a role? Branagh has four Oscar nominations, but zero wins to Emma Thompson's two. (She also won for best adapted screenplay in 1996.)

We'd like to believe that winning Best Actress doesn't automatically reduce the chances that your marriage or relationship will last. (We're rooting for Helen Mirren and Taylor Hackford to make it.) But 61% of the award's winners since 1993 have had troubles in their love lives after. Those just aren't great odds. In the end, however, it could just be one big coincidence.

Comments

(284)

Friday 19 March

By Jim Daugherty

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I love Sandra Bullock and have seen about all of her movies. I was really surprised when I heard that she married James, seemed like a mismatch to me, but to each their own I guess.
Recently I saw Sandra on Letterman and they talked a lot about her marriage and she seemed to really be in love with Jesse and she talked about his kids like they were her own. I really wonder if he cheated, if he did he deserves the loser tattoo girl.

By JODI

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NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK OF HIM....SHE OBVIOUSLY HAS DEEP FEELINGS FOR HIM. SHE WILL BE HEARTSICK. THERE ARE OTHER FISH IN THE SEA BUT MOSTLY SHARKS AND IT WILL BE HARD TO TRUST ANYONE FOR AWHILE. OF ALL THE HOLLYWOOD SNOBS OUT THERE, I DON'T THINK SHE IS ONE AND I WISH THE BEST FOR HER.

Thursday 25 March

By oc1345

The truth to the matters is good actress and not good oscar mayer winners!!!

By joe conway

James is just another in a long list of men who think they are allowed to do this because of who they married are what their fame is. It is a long line of men who's word mean nothing an a vow is just words of convenious at that time. As for James he is pig and one who's word mean nothing. In fact he is just like the low life he is decended from.

By Bill

George Clooney, the smartest person in Hollywood. He dates one model after the other but has never been married.

National statistics indicate 1st time marriages have more than a 50% chance of ending in divoirce within the first 3-5 years. 2nd marriages 75% chance of ending in divorce, 3rd marriages have even greater chances of ending in divorce.

You almost have better odds of winning the lottery than staying married!

By Matt

Interesting Theory - Woman wins oscar - man is intimidated and screws up relationship.....I remember Kevin Costner, Crocodile Dundee Guy, Mel Gibson all getting to be big stars and then getting divorced - It was popular to say they left the wife who got them there for the young new model, or they got too big and full of themselves and acted like jerks.

Why, when the successful woman has a marriage issue it is the man's fault and also when the successful man has a marriage issue it is the man's fault? Are we sure Mel Gibson was a jerk? How are we sure that these actresses, after their award, were not too big for their britches and walked around their husbands expecting to be fed grapes and applauded for every minute. This is not good for a relationship.

I don't know what is true as I don't know these people but the assumptions are interesting. Sandra Bullock appears very nice but she is an actress.

I will postulate that as long as people do not take responsibility for fault they cannot learn and grow. Blaming others is a sure way to be insecure and continue pointing fingers in righteous anger. It cannot be righteous because we don't know the whole story. Respect for others leads to self respect. Just holding women back with this type of view. Maybe this article is written to stir the pot and playing to an audience. If so I am the fool wasting my time to write about that type of journalist.

By Synclaire

Most of them male or female don't seem to work very much after winning but maybe they don't have to.

By mrbige47

maybe she should marry someone who can give her a baby instead, shes no spring chicken

By Jay

Best Actress Curse? Interesting..does that mean wife was far away from husband, working to many hours, and leaving her man home alone for to long? Leave a man alone for more than three days and see what happens.. Whose surprised?

By marc

i cant imagine the unthinkable pain she must be going through,at the awards you could feel her passion,i cant imagine that passion being directed at me for five minutes let alone the thought of a lifetime of it,god bless her

By MAGOOS

As a father of an all girl family I am so very proud that my girls achieved success and am happy to stand back and relish their moment. Being married to a successful, strong woman is an honor; to give them the same support they would undoubtedly give you is a joy. It is called partnership! Ms.Bullock is a strong, determined woman with a very generous side to her nature and intelligence to go further; that her trust has been betrayed will no doubt dent the success she has but will not deter her from doing what she thinks best for her future. As for James, like many other men who fail to enjoy and support the success of their wives, he will no doubt find lesser women who pander to his obvious insecurity and projected macho image.

By syl1969

I agree with you but he apparently was cheating long before she won the Oscar. Therefore, Connie is right on with the male preference! She was probably away making a great movie, and you know, a man has NEEDS... what a crock! Just an excuse to do what they do best! And the women who think their husbands never cheated are the biggest dopes. There are only 2 types of men: those who were caught, and those who haven't been caught yet!

By rocky

looks like the curse was broken 2007 and 2008 how ridiculous can the media get REALLY REALLY
How about relationships are just tough and most people in the public eye dont work very hard

By rob

I like Sandra and I think she is too good for the creep!

By Lee Morals

It's not the statue! Has to do with charecter, integrity, morals,& building a life together and sharing the same path day to day, week to week, month to month and you can't do that when not together and apart consistently. Men want sex ,women need love and when that is substitued by work some women don't need men, channel there emotions to that work. Men need two things sex and food that's how there made. Wiring is different!

By Paulie

Curse? What is this,the Middle Ages?

By eskieme1970

You know, I was giving this whole Sandra Bullock thing more thought than it probably deserved, but I came to the conclusion that most people cheat. Not even counting friends and acquaintances: both my brothers cheated on their wives; my dad on my mom; mom on my dad (they were on the outs); my husband on his ex-wife out of revenge for her cheating on him. These are all people I love and respect. I just never got the whole cheating thing- never.

By John

How many women have won Best Actress Oscars? How many of those women have not split up? What is the mechanism by which a "curse" works?

People, please! Thinking is still a valid human activity.

By Sylvia

Let's not forget to add Linda Hamiliton who won an emmy and less than a few weeks later lost Directr James Cameron to his actress in Titanic too that lead to divorce for his infidelity.

By Marc

Sounds silly... period.

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