Oscar nominations are based on the performances of the actors and actresses, but Hollywood is a bottom-line business, so we checked up on how this year’s stars have done at the box office as the races wind down to the March 2nd Academy Awards.
There are some numbers that will probably surprise you, because most of these actors and actresses cut their biggest box-office swaths with films other than the ones that earned them their nominations.
Also read: Ranking Oscar Best Picture Nominees as Investments: Which Film Made Back the Most Money?
This list is very unscientific, because it has to be. How, for example, can you really compare the career of Bruce Dern, who has been in at least 85 movies, with that of fellow Best Supporting Actor nominee Barkhad Abdi, who made his film debut in “Captain Phillips”?
The cumulative totals are based on numbers from Box Office Mojo. There’s no accounting for inflation unless mentioned, however. That means that some of the films listed as a performer’s “lowest grossing wide release” — we didn’t count limited release films — may well have been hits in their day.
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett ("Blue Jasmine")
Her turns as Lady Galadriel in the hugely successful “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” movies make Blanchett by far the queen of the box office among this year’s Best Actress Oscar nominees. Outside of Middle Earth, her biggest payday was 2008’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” The 1998 drama “Elizabeth” is her top grossing film as a leading lady.
No. of movies: 33
Top grossing: “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” ($1.1 billion) 2003
Lowest grossing wide release: “Elizabeth the Golden Age” ($74 million) 2007
Cumulative: $5.8 billion
Best Actress: Judi Dench ("Philomena")
Like Blanchett, it’s her recurring roles in a blockbuster franchise – Dench has played “M” in seven James Bond movies – that make the venerable British actress a very heavy box-office hitter. Her biggest hit when not in Her Majesty’s Secret Service was 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love,” for which she won the Supporting Actress Oscar. This year’s “Philomena” – which is at $78 million globally and counting – is her biggest score in a leading role.
No. of movies: 30
Top grossing: “Skyfall” ($1.1 billion) 2012
Lowest grossing: “J. Edgar” ($84 million) 2011
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock (“Gravity”)
Her career got a big boost with “The Blind Slide,” the 2009 football movie for which she won the Best Actress Oscar that went on to make $309 million worldwide. Since then she’s starred in “The Heat” with Melissa McCarthy ($229 million worldwide) and “Gravity” ($700 million). She’s been a box office force since “Speed” took in $350 million in 1994 and her breakout role as a top banana came in 2000’s “Miss Congeniality.”
No. of movies: 33
Top grossing: “Gravity” ($700 million worldwide), 2013
Lowest grossing wide release: “All About Steve” ($40 million), 2009
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