by Marcy Dermansky

Join the Discussion "Without a doubt, she was the biggest Oscar surprise" KSCollege Guy Poll

Related Resources • Pollock • Ed Harris

From Other Guides • About Painting Guide's Review of Pollock

Elsewhere on the Web • Pollock Official Site

Marcia Gay Harden went on the record as the most ecstatic Oscar nominee when she hugged her bewildered bell boy the morning she received her nomination.

It's hard to image her now. I think it's fair to say she stunned the film community by winning Best Supporting Actress for Pollock. The New York Times called Ms. Harden's performance as painter Lee Krasner, wife of Jackson Pollock, "uncompromisingly tough."

Remember Marcia Gay Harden as doctor Sara Holland in Space Cowboys? Probably not. Until Pollock, Harden's film career had been essentially stalled. "Members of the academy," said Harden during her acceptance speech, disbelief in her voice. "Thank you for taking the time to even view the tape and consider our film."

Though she is widely unknown, and has taken bit parts in unimportant films out of necessity (Flubber, 1997), Harden has also long been respected in the acting community. She studied drama at the University of Texas, New York University and at the Tisch School of the Arts and made her critically acclaimed debut in the Coen Brother's Miller's Crossing (1990). She travelled to New Zealand to play a marvelously wicked reporter in Alison Maclean's Crush.

Harden is also an accomplished stage actress. On Broadway, she earned a Drama Desk award and a Tony nomination for her work in Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Part I - Millennium Approaches. She won a Theatre World award for her work in Angels in America: Part II - Perestroika.

On television, Harden received an ACE nomination for her performance in the HBO production Fever.

Oscar gold opens doors. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving actress. Marcia Gay Harden is renowned for taking a two minute scene and lighting up the screen (The Day Trippers). Let's hope there are fewer bit parts as the doctor, scientist, or girlfriend and more meaty leading roles in her future.

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