PT 2 - Who Should Be the Next Amy Madigan?
Sunday, April 12, 2026 at 1:00PM by Team Experience
BARBARA HERSHEY made our Top Five. But who else did? Read on!
In Part 1 of this Oscar-fantasy exercise we laid the groundwork for the actress-obsessive question of the moment and shared thoughts on several actresses we are rooting for in terms of an unexpected / winning Oscar comeback. Now on to the tippity top vote-getters from our Team member polling. Tomorrow in Part 3 we'll talk about the collective vote from the 100+ readers who took the poll.
A quick catch up from Part One of our 'Top Dozen Desired Comebacks' after a single nomination...
11 (tie) Jennifer Tilly
11 (tie) Sharon Stone
10 Kristin Scott Thomas
09 Catherine Deneuve
08 Mare Winningham
07 Juliette Lewis
AND NOW THE TOP SIX...
PATRICIA CLARKSON in "Pieces of April"... she was having a big year in 2023
06 PATRICIA CLARKSON - 26 points from 6 ballots
First and only nomination: Pieces of April (2003)
Closest she's come to returning? N/A
It would be much easier to feel content with Clarkson's previous nomination if it had been for one of her most memorable performances (Far From Heaven, anyone? The Station Agent? Lars and the Real Girl?). We can all be grateful she's an Oscar nominee while acknowledging we've barely given Pieces of April a thought since it came out in 2003.
She can play anything, though, so why not extend her more acting challenges? She'll be appearing in the upcoming Scorsese film starring Leo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence - let's hope she has the screen time to get invited back to the awards circuit. Let's be honest, though - with her versatility, she could return to the race as anything from the lead in a humanitarian biopic to a Bond villain. It would feel correct for her to have a little gold man to keep her Emmys company.
-EUROCHEESE
Eurocheese hit the nail on the head with the theme of dissatisfaction when it comes to Clarkson's Oscar record. In a perfect world she would have already followed up an Oscar win (for her devastating lesbian heroin addict in 1998's High Art) with a second nomination for her absolutely delicious work in 2002's Far From Heaven -- you know an actress is firing on all cylinders when she can channel the spirit of iconic scene stealers like Agnes Moorhead or Rosalind Russell in an homage film to a highly specific cinema (Douglas Sirk) without once feeling derivative or lesser than. By the time Patty scored her first and only nomination, it felt like both a career award and an apology. A better apology from the industry would have been continued juicy roles for directors of that caliber. Patty is now 66 and absolutely deserves another run like she had from 1998 through 2003. Time is a wasting. I'm about ready to call her agent to lodge a complaint.
-NATHANIEL R
MARIANNE JEAN-BAPTISTE in "Secrets and Lies". How close did she come for a return nomination for her recent reunion with Director Mike Leigh?
05 MARIANNE JEAN-BAPTISTE - 32 points from 4 ballots
First and only nomination: Secrets & Lies (1996)
Closest she's come to returning? Hard Truths (2024)
Can we just say it as it is? Hard Truths was done injustice during its Oscar season. None for Mike Leigh's terrifically layered writing, none for Michele Austin's incisive supporting work, and especially and egregiously none for Jean-Baptiste's tour-de-force. Colossal in emotional scope and yet frighteningly intimate at the same time, Jean-Baptiste fearlessly embraces the uncompromising depth of this character, excavating the hurt underneath all the rageful havoc she unleashes to the world. It's fearless work from an underappreciated gem of a performer. Let's correct that mistake.
-JUAN CARLOS OJANO
BARBARA HERSHEY finally scored a nomination (after many acclaimed performances in the 1980s) for "Portrait of a Lady"
04 BARBARA HERSHEY - 34 points from 6 ballots
First and only nomination: Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Closest she's come to returning? Black Swan (2010)
By the time Barbara Hershey received her first and only Oscar nomination, she could have proudly worn the “overdue” label and nobody would’ve judged her for it. In the three decades that preceded that honor, she’d already amassed a filmography to strike envy in the heart of most thespians. Consider that Hershey remains the only person in history to win two consecutive Best Actress awards at Cannes – for Shy People in 1987 and A World Apart in 1988 – had starred in such seminal pictures as The Right Stuff, Hoosiers and Beaches, and won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the proto-true crime TV Movie of A Killing in a Small Town. Hell, in my book, she’d already been Oscar worthy in The Stunt Man, Hannah and Her Sisters and The Last Temptation of Christ.
Since her single nomination, she hasn’t stopped, even though good roles dwindled as they always do for actresses in the mainstream after they hit a certain age. If she has found less prestigious fare to sink her teeth into, Hershey persevered in other ways, on the big and small screen, in drama, comedy, and a good amount of horror. The latter genre proved a good home for an actress whose flinty gaze and tonal slipperiness have always predisposed her for playing enigmas that can make you lean closer or away, intrigued or terrified, all depending on what notes Hershey foregrounds. In that sense, she’s the most primed to get the Amy Madigan treatment, only requiring an Aunt Gladys-style showcase. Heaven knows she’s earned it.
- CLÁUDIO ALVES
An argument could be made that Hershey should have already had her Madigan moment. After her first Oscar nomination in 1996 for Portrait of a Lady after a multitude of snubs, Hershey had the juicy role as the unpredictable mother of a bonafide star in a Best Picture nominee. Low and behold, her monumental performance in Black Swan never materialized to awards attention, but she is still the textbook definition of overdue. Much like Madigan, you don't realize how much you've seen her throughout the years and how much good work she continues to put in, most recently in the horror/thriller world with the Insidious films and Strange Darling. All Hershey needs is that one meaty role to put her back into the critical spotlight, which could very well end up with her on the Oscars stage.
-BEN MILLER
AND THE TOP THREE... WAY OUT FRONT
KATHLEEN TURNER, who should have already won an Oscar, finally got nominated for "Peggy Sue Got Married". Her first was sadly also her last!
Kathleen Turner would have every right to give the Oscars the middle finger after one measly nomination for her 80s run: Body Heat, The Man With Two Brains, Crimes of Passion, Romancing the Stone, Prizzi's Honor, The Accidental Tourist, and finally The War of the Roses.
03 KATHLEEN TURNER -44 points from 6 ballots
First and only nomination: Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Closest she's come to returning? The War of the Roses (1989)
Kathleen Turner was one of the biggest female stars of the 1980’s. Both a great actress and a box office draw, her indisputable beauty, no nonsense attitude, and husky voice was likened to the legendary Lauren Bacall. Her run of success lasted the entire decade from 1981’s neo-noir classic Body Heat to 1989’s marital black comedy The War of the Roses, but Oscar called only once for her fantastic work in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1986 fantasy dramedy Peggy Sue Got Married inbetween them. It was a notoriously weak year and she probably should have won (I need to recheck. Will watch again this evening).
Her imperial phase ended with the decade. A notorious flop with the intended franchise V.I. Warshawski (1991) and serious health problems meant that her days as an A-List leading lady were at an end. A brief hurrah in the much-beloved cult classic Serial Mom (1994) did not return her to her former status and by the turn of the century she was guest starring on Friends as Chandler’s dad!!!
She’s never stopped working but is now more Shelley Winters than Lauren Bacall; A first rate character actress not afraid to speak her mind. In a time when movie stars are a dying breed, we need to celebrate those that were the best in the business. One measly Best Actress nom isn’t enough. A juicy Supporting role and outspoken Kathleen Turner Oscar campaign would be a riot. We need a Kathleen Turner comeback. The reTURN if you will.
-BABY CLYDE
Not only is it insane to think Turner didn't score more nominations during her legendary 80s run - how are we not constantly framing a reTURN (love that) for a comeback? Her pointed personality makes her a perfect shoe in for a no-nonsense, brazen character that storms into a major awards film with bravado. I can just picture what some of our modern greats, like Scorsese or Tarantino, could do with her fiery presence. Todd Field or Sean Baker could build massive storylines around her character, even playing with the historic love of silver screen fanatics like us, and can you imagine her walking into a juicy role in a Lanthimos film? So many brilliant options, and I have to imagine the Oscars would be eager to embrace her and hand her a golden statue as a legend of massive films reminding us of her cinematic power.
-EUROCHEESE
The incomparable TONI COLLETTE still only has one nomination to her name? For "The Sixth Sense"
Collete's next brush with a high profile campaign was for "About a Boy"
Many felt she deserved the win (NOT EVEN A NOMINATION) for "Hereditary" (2018)
02 TONI COLLETTE - 52 points from 7 ballots
First and only nomination: The Sixth Sense (1999)
Closest she's come to returning? About a Boy (2002)
Toni Colette surely ranks so high in our list because she's missed tons of nominations for undeniable performances within given years (her work in 2018's Hereditary and 2002's The Hours are the times she was definitely robbed). But the real reason it would be thrilling for her to roar to Oscar victory is because she's just such a phenomenally talented actress, and Hollywood has never quite known what to do with her. She just has never gotten THE role that would really let her soar. TV gave her The United States of Tara, which she devoured gloriously and won an Emmy for. Broadway gave her The Wild Party, where she was a knockout, one of the toasts of that season, and only lost (to Heather Hedley) because her show was such a dud. But while she's worked in the cinema continuously for over thirty years, we've still rarely gotten to see her firing on all cylinders or get that perfect match of the right role and the right movie to pull her to victory. She's fantastic in The Sixth Sense, but she played in a very narrow lane and she just didn't get quite enough screen time or quite the right balance of scenes to make her the frontrunner. I'm always hoping someone will gift her with that just-right big thing so we could see her holding her Oscar.
-ERIC BLUMEI often think back to the rumor -- was it ever verified? -- that Toni was the first choice for Chicago's "Roxie Hart" until the studio demanded someone more bankable and Renée Zellweger was gifted with that rotted amoral delight of a star vehicle. I've seen Toni sing and dance on the Broadway stage and let's just say she would have brought the house down the same way that Catherine Zeta Jones managed in that movie musical. Oh, what could have been! Later I obsessed loudly over why Toni Collette would be the perfect choice for a Liza Minnelli biopic. That both of these thought trains got stuck as fantasies rather than realities -- and that Toni's intricate, heightened, and fabulous character creations ever since The Sixth Sense have brought her little in the way of carefully tailored vehicles or awards attention is a condemnation of Hollywood's limited imagination. How can they be confronted with one of the most singular talents of the past 25 years of English-language cinema -- someone who can do comedy, horror, comedy, drama, contemporary and period characters with not just aplomb but true flair - and stick her into so many thankless roles or minor films? Where are the auteurs with juicy parts written just for her? Ah well, Collette will keep shining as bright as any golden statue on her own.
-NATHANIEL R
ALFRE WOODARD's only nomination came from her role in "Cross Creek" - she lost to Linda Hunt in "The Year of Living Dangerously"
Given the size of the role and Mary McDonnell's nomination for "Passion Fish" we suspect Woodard was in the dread sixth spot in 1992 for Best Supporting Actress
Her role in "Clemency" (2019) was her most recent brush with an Oscar campaign
01 ALFRE WOODARD - 66 points from 8 ballots
First and only nomination: Cross Creek (1983)
Closest she's come to returning? Passion Fish (1992)
Woodard has had a stacked career in film and probably even more so in television after her Oscar nom back in the 80s. She was fantastic opposite Oscar-nominated Mary McDonnell in Passion Fish and had a brief but memorable appearance in the Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, but nothing could have prepared me for the haunting complexity of her work in the 2019 film Clemency. It's a towering performance from this acting titan. By this point, Woodard has shown that her genius shines both in lead roles as well as in supporting ones. Now where's her Oscar-winning vehicle?
-JUAN CARLOS OJANO
There’s no greater subject for the movie camera than the face, no more fascinating landscape or richer canvas. Doubt that? Go do a cursory search through Alfre Woodard’s filmography and you’ll surely be disabused of such notions. Her titanic work in Clemency should do the trick, though you might prefer something less miserable, in which case Passion Fish could make do. Or maybe that bristling combination of maternal warmth and protective prickliness in Crooklyn, the complexities she finds in Maya Angelou’s Down in the Delta, the glorious way she makes James Baldwin and August Wilson sing, the elevated melodrama of The Family That Preys. Better yet, there’s that galaxy of tiny roles she’s taken on TV and film, proving that there are no small parts and a goddess might convey a novel’s worth of meaning in just one scene. All this and I haven’t even mentioned the Oscar nomination she got for Cross Creek way back in 1983. In the scope of all that, it’s almost insignificant. Hell, the Academy would be so lucky to have this queen on their stage.
In conclusion, let me put forward a question. Is there a more underrated actress in contemporary American cinema? I don’t think so. At least, there’s none I love more dearly than Alfre Woodard.
-CLÁUDIO ALVES
That was so much fun. Thanks Brian! Tomorrow night we'll discuss the robust reader's poll on the same topic but first...
TRIVIA ABOUT TEAM EXPERIENCE VOTING
• No actress appeared on every single ballot. The closest was Alfre Woodard, who missed only two of our ten ballots, securing a decisive victory in the ranked poll; Toni Collette did put up a fight throughout and like Alfre Woodard placed near the top of most of the ballots that included her.
• In the end 35 of the actresses from that eligibility list of 75 received votes from our team (of 10 voters). That means a smidgeon over half of the eligible players went unloved... but 10 ballots is not a lot. 100+ readers also voted so we'll find out how widespread your love was tomorrow for those 75 actresses.
• The actress with the lowest vote total to manage an appearance on more than two ballots was Carol Kane who received her one and only nomination back in 1975 for her incredible performance as an orthodox Jewish immigrant in late 19th century NYC in Hester Street. She received 9 points from three individual ballots.
• The actress with the highest placement on any individual list that missed our top twelve was Chloe Sevigny who was #2 on one of the two ballots that included her.
That was so much fun. Thanks Brian! Tomorrow night we'll discuss the robust reader's poll on the same topic.
Reader Comments (4)
I was sure that Woodard and Collette would have been the top 2.
Woodard's work in Clemency is sublime. I have goosebumps just thinking about it.
Collette gave so much excellent proofs through the years. Aside the titles mentioned above I would add Juror n2. Would have been such a lovely nomination.
For as many times Oscar has scored double nominations for the same film in Supporting Actress, it boggles my mind that BLACK SWAN wasn't one of them!
Barbara Hershey and Mila Kunis both deserved nominations for that film and both were egregiously snubbed. Hell, even Winona Ryder's small cameo lands a punch.
Can we please fix the came closet for Collette hello ! Hereditary and Woodard Clemency
Patricia Clarkson should have been nominated in 1998 and maybe should have won but for a sublime Kathy Bates,maybe Marty can do it for her,I think she'd playing the faded chanteuse from the logline of the film.
Baptiste sorry but I was glad she was snubbed for Hard Truths,I found her one note playing really monotonous,no shading,I don't get what people see in this role.
Hershey should have won in 1996,it's my favourite nominated/winning supporting actress role in the history of the Oscars,she just doesn't do a whole lot in Black Swan apart from get angry at canvases,nails and cakes.
Turner has an actress ever had a run like hers in the 80's,even Julia in the 90's had some notorious flops,I think Kathleen's only flop was Switching Channels but either she chose the wrong projects and 90's Hollywood pivoted younger Demi Sharon Julia Meg Sandra,I wouldn't have nominated her in 86 she hasn't got the lightness of touch that roles needs,I'm a Sigourney voter.
Collette has been wondrous in soooo many things from Muriel's Wedding to Velvet Goldmine to The Hours to Japanese Story to In Her Shoes to Herediataty to Juror No 2,she does have plenty of time and i'm confident after the 2018 snub the Academy is aware they did her dirty.
Woodard yeah she was 6th in 92 or HBC another actress waiting for that right Oscar role,she's my winner in 2019.
Not a big Turner fan (heard too much dirt), but I wouldn't have argued against a nomination for Serial Mom.