by Nathaniel R
from Jessica Chastain's Instagram
They is kind. They is smart. They is important. They is winning Oscars. Have you noticed that the cast of The Help, one of 2011's biggest hits (just behind the first Captain America, no joke, that year) just keeps collecting golden statues?! The Help had detractors from the start but it was hugely popular with the public considerably raising the profiles of all of its cast members, except the ones who were already enduring stars (hey Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, and Cicely Tyson! xo). It's greatest legacy might now be the Oscar winners it shoved towards the Dolby Theatre stage...
Before The Help, Emma Stone was just 'the girl from Superbad and the promising dazzler from Easy A' and Viola Davis was only then a draw for theatergoers (*cough* it me) and prestige film fanatics (who loved her in Doubt, Solaris, and Far From Heaven) and so on. But what's been really been surprising in the years that followed is how many of its cast members (who shared the SAG win for "Outstanding Cast" that year) went on to win Oscars. It's hard to think of a film that is its equal in this regard in the past decade...
The Help cast winning the SAG Award
Six of The Help's cast members have received Oscars in the 11 years since its release
Octavia Spencer won for The Help (2011)
Viola Davis won for Fences (2016)
Emma Stone won for La La Land (2016)
Allison Janny won for I, Tonya (2017)
Cicely Tyson received her Honorary Oscar (2018)
Jessica Chastain won for The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
Who is next? Will it be...
Aunjanue Ellis? (Nominated for King Richard this season)
David Oyelowo? (Surprisingly snubbed for Selma)
Anna Camp?
Ahna O'Reilly?
Bryce Dallas Howard?
Mike Vogel?
Christopher Lowell?
Leslie Jordan?
... or a surprise new Oscar run for Sissy Spacek or Mary Steenburgen? Hey, we can dream! (Thank you to our reader Marcos who inspired this article by pointing this out to us!)