Play your cards right, and you might just win the Oscars without winning an Oscar. The history of Hollywood’s biggest night is littered with larger-than-life figures who dominated awards season with their oversize charisma, infectious enthusiasm, wide-eyed joy, and furry bellies. (Maybe that was just Uggie, better known as “that dog from The Artist.”) And then there are those who pull the biggest coup of all: becoming the most talked-about personality of Oscar season while also taking home a little gold man of their very own.
We’ve combed through the Oscar archives to determine which actors, directors, musicians, concepts, moments, and, yes, dogs, can rightfully be dubbed the MVPs of every Academy Awards ceremony and season since 1992—literal winners and also-rans alike. It’s an honor just to be nominated, but these are the folks who really made the most of their moment.
Courtesy of Warner Bros./Universal.
2024: Barbenheimer
Maybe you’ve heard of her? The double feature phenomenon that saved theatrical moviegoing has shown no signs of slowing down as awards season marches toward its conclusion, with both movies making continual headlines—Oppenheimer for winning, like, everything, and Barbie for… not. Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel’s first promo is a painstaking recreation of Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster; Oppenheimer is so popular it drove Warner Bros. (which, for the record, released Gerwig’s movie, but not the biopic) to rerelease Christopher Nolan’s twisty pandemic-era puzzle Tenet. Both films are nominated for best picture at the 96th annual Academy Awards. But while only one will win that prize (and let’s be real: it’ll almost certainly be Oppenheimer), both movies are sure to be referenced frequently throughout the show, sometimes individually and sometimes in tandem. Plus, Ryan Gosling has confirmed he will be singing “I’m Just Ken” during the telecast. Who knew that all these months later, Barbenheimer would continue to be the gift that keeps on giving?
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2023: Ke Huy Quan
Call it a comeback. As a child, Ke Huy Quan made a memorable impression in ’80s classics Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies. But as a teenager and young adult, he learned that late-20th-century Hollywood had few opportunities for an Asian actor. So Quan spent years as a stunt choreographer, until Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert cast him as Michelle Yeoh’s multifaceted husband in their genre-busting film Everything Everywhere All at Once. Quan instantly made an impression in the crowd-pleasing movie, riding waves of goodwill from allies old and new. And in interview after interview, he conveyed an infectious sincerity and enthusiasm for getting a second chance he never thought he’d see—not losing his earnestness even after bagging enough precursor awards that an Oscar seemed inevitable. Or even after bagging the Oscar itself: “I spent a year in a refugee camp, and somehow I ended up here, on Hollywood’s biggest stage,” an emotional Quan said after finally securing best supporting actor. “They say stories like this only happen in the movies—I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This, this is the American dream.”