Yahoo Movies 30 Things You Never Knew About The 2016 Best Supporting Oscar Nominees
They’re all super-talented actors, but who stars in a CBeebies kids’ show and who chopped the top of his finger off? Find out below.
Tom Hardy - ‘The Revenant’
He won a breakfast show modelling competition
Tom Hardy may be an intense, award-worthy star these days, but everyone’s got to start somewhere. For Hardy, it was winning a model competition on Channel 4 morning show, ‘The Big Breakfast’.
He can’t properly straighten the little finger on his right hand
The actor accidentally severed the tendon in a kitchen accident and it required three operations to fix it.
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His acting hero is Gary Oldman
The pair had a solid on-screen history with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’. That winning streak came to an end with flop ‘Child 44’.
Mark Rylance - ‘Bridge Of Spies’
He’s a CBeebies hero
Your kids won’t care that Mark Rylance is nominated for ‘Bridge of Spies’, but they will know him as the voice of Flop in CBeebies show ‘Bing’.
He’s a Shakespeare authorship denier
He may be famous as one of the great Shakespeare interpreters, but Mark Rylance is also renowned as one of the people who doesn’t believe Will wrote all his own plays.
Rylance’s brother is a sommelier
Not everyone in the Rylance family is in the family business. Jonathan is a wine guru at famous California restaurant Chez Panisse.
Mark Ruffalo - ‘Spotlight’
Ruffalo dabbled in soft-core porn
He’s brilliant in ‘Spotlight’, but his movies haven’t always been so salubrious. Early in his career, he featured in rude B flicks ‘Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance’ and its sequel, ‘Mirror, Mirror III: The Voyeur’.
Even a brain tumour can’t bring down the Hulk
Ruffalo did have to drop out of ‘Signs’ when he was diagnosed with a benign growth on his brain, but recovered completely.
The Ruffalos have a tragic family history
His brother Scott was murdered outside his house in 2008. The case remains unsolved.
Sylvester Stallone - ‘Creed’
Stallone also got started doing rude movies
Ruffalo isn’t the only one on this list to tap into his naughty side when trying to make it. Sly Stallone’s first movie was sexy 1970 drama ‘The Party at Kitty and Stud’s’ (he was Stud), which was re-released after he became a star as ‘Italian Stallion’.
Tyrone Stallone?
Sylvester Stallone might never have been – his mum wanted to call him Tyrone, but when his dad went to get the birth certificate he changed the name without her knowing.
Sly could have played Superman?
It might have happened back in 1978, as the actor pushed hard for the role which eventually went to Christopher Reeve.
Rooney Mara - ‘Carol’
Mara got a real nipple piercing for ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’
She’s been nominated for her role in ‘Carol’, but Rooney Mara became a star thanks to winning the part of Lisbeth Salander in the crime thriller remake. She was so committed to the character that she got a real nipple piercing, keeping it long after filming stopped in case they did a sequel.
She almost quit acting before getting her role in ‘The Social Network’
She credits David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin with rejuvenating her career.
Mara’s family is absolutely loaded
Her mother’s family founded NFL team the Pittsburgh Steelers, while her dad’s side created fellow franchise New York Giants.
Christian Bale - ‘The Big Short’
Bale’s stepmother is iconic feminist Gloria Steinem
There’s no chance that ‘The Big Short’ nominee did any mansplaining at home while growing up. His dad, who sadly died in 2003, was married to the legendary writer and activist.
Rowan Atkinson and Christian Bale – acting dream team?
The unlikely pair starred together in the latter’s 1984 stage debut ‘The Nerd’.
His dickie finger
Next time you see Christian Bale take a good look at his digits and see if you can see which one’s top was re-attached after a motorbike accident.
Alicia Vikander - ‘The Danish Girl’
Vikander learned Danish for her first big movie role
The Swedish actress is the toast of Hollywood for her performance in ‘The Danish Girl’, but you should be more impressed by her previous Danish-centric movie. For her breakout role in ‘A Royal Affair’, she actually learned the Danish language from scratch.
She’s a trained ballerina
The actress studied at the Royal Swedish Ballet School as a child.
She’s had tea at the House of Lords
In order to get inside the character of Vera Brittain, who she played in ‘Testament of Youth’. Brittain’s daughter is Lib Dem Dame Shirley Williams.
Rachel McAdams - ‘Spotlight’
McAdams used to be a competitive figure skater
There’s a reason she looks so poised on the red carpet having been nominated for ‘Spotlight’. The actress was a competitive figure skater in her native Canada.
She’s a conscientious woman
Her house is powered by renewable energy.
She worked at McDonald’s
It would have been good to know the star as a teenager – she would have been able to sneak you free Maccy D’s as she worked there for three years during the summer holidays.
Kate Winslet - ‘Steve Jobs’
She sewed her own costume in ‘The Dressmaker’
Is there nothing she can’t do? The Brit learned seamstressing and helped sew her own garments for the 2015 movie.
She won a Grammy
She’s up for an Oscar for ‘Steve Jobs’, but in 2000, she scooped the recording gong for Best Spoken Word Album for Children with ‘Listen to the Storyteller’.
She danced with the Honey Monster
The actress’s first gig was sashaying in a Sugar Puffs cereal advert.
Jennifer Jason Leigh - ‘The Hateful Eight’
The star’s father was killed in an on-set helicopter accident
‘The Hateful Eight’ actress has a tragic past – her father was Vic Morrow, infamously killed by the rotors of a helicopter on the set of 1983’s ‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’.
She went to the same theatre camp as Robert Downey Jr.
The pair both attended Stagedoor Manor in upstate New York.
She named herself after Jason Robards
She added the Jason after family friend Robards, himself a Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for ‘All the President’s Men’.
Image credits: Rex_Shutterstock, CBeebies, Channel 4, Stallion Releasing
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