You’d think that an Oscar win for an actor/actress would the the big steeping stone to major Hollywood success. After all, now that actor will be taken seriously… be offered much better, more lucrative and challenging roles to really take off in their careers. They’ve now moved up a couple of notches on the ladder and will start appearing in better films… right? Well… not always.
I came across a neat little article in the Houston Chronicle about a phenomenon they call Post-Oscar Career Suicide Syndrome. It’s basically a medical condition where an actor/actress who wins an Oscar then goes on to really blow it by taking stupid roles in bad films and squandering their golden opportunity. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Think Halle Berry, who followed her Oscar win in 2001 for Monster’s Ball by becoming a Bond girl (Die Another Day) and a generic horror movie hysteric (Gothika) before ascending into the POCSS (Post-Oscar Career Suicide Syndrome) stratosphere in the abysmal Catwoman.
Or Gwyneth Paltrow, who followed Shakespeare in Love in 1998 with a series of supporting roles in lackluster or just plain silly movies. Her first major part after Shakespeare was as a karaoke singer in Duets. Her most memorable role in that time was in Shallow Hal, in which she spent much of the movie in a fat suit.
At least (Charlize) Theron ameliorated the damage by having North Country already in theaters when (Aeon) Flux flopped. If she wins an Oscar nomination for it, maybe people will forget her comic-book role.
The article does go on to point out that some performers have been able to recover from bad cases of Post-Oscar Career Suicide Syndrome. Like Hilary Swank who developed a bad case of POCSS and then a few years later made a full recovery with another Oscar win for Million Dollar Baby.
It’s a fun little read, I suggest you go on over and take a look at it. Is there anyone else that you can think of that developed Post-Oscar Career Suicide Syndrome?
