Frances McDormand, Vogue Cover Girl!
Thursday, December 10, 2020 at 3:49PM by Nathaniel R
Whoa. Frances McDormand is the cover star of Vogue's January issue (the profile is up now). It's not every day you see a 60something woman on the cover of a legendary fashion magazine! But Frances McDormand is hardly an every day kind of woman. She's more of the 'only a few times a generation' sort. The only other 60something woman to make Vogue's cover in the past twenties year was Meryl Streep...
So let's just say this is major major get for the awards team on Nomadland. Since, like Meryl, Frances is not exactly known as a fashion icon (though she looks super stylish in the photoshoot).
As Murtada reminded us on Twitter, Vogue usually but not always gives their January cover to an actress in an Oscar hopeful. That semi-tradition stretches back to around 2009 when Anne Hathaway graced the cover during her Rachel Getting Married campaign though it didn't happen in 2010. After that it's pretty steady: Natalie Portman (Jan 2011 Black Swan), Meryl Streep (Jan 2012 The Iron Lady), Cate Blanchett (Jan 2014 Blue Jasmine), Sienna Miller (Jan 2015 American Sniper), Alicia Vikander (Jan 2016 The Danish Girl), Ruth Negga (Jan 2017 Loving), Lupita Nyong'o (Jan 2018 Black Panther), and Greta Gerwig (Jan 2020 Little Women).
There's a lot of fine lines and observations in the beautifully written profile by Abby Agguire but here's one my favourites:
SOME CHARACTER ACTORS GET typecast. Others are chameleons. McDormand falls into the chameleon category, though she is never physically unrecognizable. When she disappears into a character, she does so through the force of her acting. And yet the women she embodies are so distinctive, so idiosyncratic, and sometimes so strange, I tend to remember them as though they were real people. Her performances are indelible the way a Diane Arbus photograph is indelible—a snapshot of an individual, utterly unique and alive.
Reader Comments (27)
Soon everyone will have to get used to "the three-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand". Love It.
Twice.
I cannot wait to see Nomadland. It's my most anticipated this year.
I still think Frances is the frontrunner, even if she's already a 2-time winner.
3-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand... I like the sound of that. And remember... Three-6 Mafia... 1 Oscar... Glenn Close... 0! *cackles*
And Dolly Parton is Marie Claire. :-D
Gotta say, McDormand’s appeal has always eluded me. But I’m also one of those people who have never understood why Fargo is considered a masterpiece. The only nomination of hers that’s made sense to me is for Almost Famous, and even then, she wouldn’t make it my ballot (nor would Hudson, though, let’s be clear, haha).
Still, good on her for NEVER being anyone but herself. THAT I do thoroughly enjoy, especially in awards shows. :)
I cannot wait to see Nomadland. I like Frances more and more all the time. Sight unseen, I'm rooting for this film for Best Picture, Actress and Director. Normally I don't like repeat winners but "3x Best Actress winner Frances McDormand" wouldn't bother me at all.
Nomadland sounds like a good departure for her but you have to admit she’s been playing a variation on the exact same character for the last 10 or so years. She is talented but it’s been boring. Three Billboards was a terrible win.
I'm with Manny,I like her no bull persona but she to me she is overrated in Fargo and Three Billboards how she won over some great actressing in both those years nominated and unnomminated eludes me.
I have to say it's refreshing to see someone of her stature and calibre on the cover she's just not an Actress I warm to.
Marvellous though in Mississippi Burning.
No, thank you.
They'll sell me a copy. Good job, Vogue.
Diana Vreeland is rolling like a rotisserie. Awful.
And, can we all confidently say that she is the least accomplished/versatile Triple Crown winner ever?
I don't know about "confidently." McDormand is as accomplished and as versatile as several of her fellow Triple Crown winners. I'll be diplomatic and not mention any names, but here's the list:
Helen Hayes
Thomas Mitchell
Ingrid Bergman
Shirley Booth
Melvyn Douglas
Paul Scofield
Jack Albertson
Rita Moreno
Maureen Stapleton
Jason Robards
Jessica Tandy
Jeremy Irons
Anne Bancroft
Vanessa Redgrave
Maggie Smith
Al Pacino
Geoffrey Rush
Ellen Burstyn
Christopher Plummer
Helen Mirren
Jessica Lange
Viola Davis
Glenda Jackson
Nomadland is the first time i really LOVED McDormand: it's a subtle and haertbreaking performance, a real departure for her. I was completely blown away. If she hadn't won for Three Billboards (Hawkins or Ronan were more deserving) she would be the potential winner this year without any doubt. But i think Viola is now in a better position. Personally I'm rooting for Pfeiffer - the trailer is out and she is fabulous - but I'm afraid it's never going to happen.
That list of Triple Crown winners will always be incomplete without Glenn Close.
She’s lucky to be such a muse to directors. Projects that fit her like a glove come around pretty regularly—more than you can say about a lot of great actresses. Also kudos to the Coens for keeping her out front whenever they can, I’m sure that’s a big piece of her longevity.
Ferdi -- yeah, I agree she'd be a lock to win without Three Billboards. I'm having trouble seeing Viola win either though tbh since Chadwick Boseman owns that movie. Would be great to see Pfeiffer in the running again -- unlike other pundits I do think it's possible this season. but I suspect the tide is going to shift to newer actresses (as it often does) once the films are all out -- like Vanessa Kirby and Andra Day or maybe Carey Mulligan (who is inbetween the older legends and the fresh-faces in career terms.
we shall see.
Diana Vreeland probably hasn't stopped rolling since Beverly Johnson became the first Black woman to grace the cover of Vogue. Let's all celebrate the fact that female standards of beauty have progressed since the 1960s.
Can't wait for this one. In a way, she's like Tilda Swinton, weird and wonderful, and I'll watch her in anything.
@jules - Comparing Beverly Johnson's Vogue cover to this one is such a false equivalency and you know it.
Ah, but unlike Swinton, she's not believable as a sex symbol AND as a despicable corporate monster, AND as a campy villainess on a post-apocalyptic train. ;)
@ Manny
See The Man Who Wasn’t There, Laurel Canyon, Transformers 3, Madagascar 3...
@Manny and @Working stiff - But, we will be able to see BOTH of them in The French Dispatch.
Hahaha! Indeed!
And as for Working stiff... Sure, not saying she's got ZERO range, I just find the distance between Swinton's "ranges" much more measurable than McDormand's.
Anyway, they're both alive and clearly still in their prime, so we can both be happy. :)
@ Manny
I'm actually much more of a Swinton fan than a McDormand fan, I just like to be fair...sometimes. ;-) (I prefer Swinton as an artist, but I think McDormand's a better actress.)
Oh! That’s so interesting to me (that you find McDormand the better actress). Claims can be made for Swindon being equally tied to tics or mannerisms or “sameness” too. I’m all about fairness too, heh.
Sigh... this is why I love talking about actresses. The possibilities are endless!
I agree with you Nathaniel about Davis in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It is definitely Boseman 's movie. He's magnificent. She's good but there's no character arc to speak of. Plus I feel she is Supporting. Right now I think it's between Mulligan and Kirby with Zendaya and Day waiting in the wings.
If she does win she will have the distinction of winning her Supporting Actress Oscar for a Lead performance and vice versa.