Mark Rylance Wins Best Supporting Actor: 5 Things to Know About the Star
He's a Tony winner!
— -- Many expected Sylvester Stallone to win Best Supporting Actor at the 2016 Oscars tonight. Those people were wrong.
Mark Rylance, best known for his work in theater, picked up the award for his role as a captive Soviet KGB spy in "Bridge of Spies."
"I want to just say thank you to my fellow nominees," he said in his acceptance speech. "I don’t know how they separate my acting from your glorious acting in these wonderful films that you’re in, which everyone must see. I don’t know how they separated the five of us from all the other supporting actors who are making films at the moment. It’s a wonderful time to be an actor and I’m proud to be part of it."
Here are a few things to know about the actor:
1. He's a Tony winner: This may be Rylance's first Oscar, but he knows his way around an acceptance speech. He's won two Tony Awards for Best Actor, for his roles in "Boeing Boeing" and "Jerusalem," and Best Featured Actor for "Twelfth Night." He was also nominated for a Best Actor Tony for his role in "Richard III."
2. He had two Golden Globe nominations this year: Though he didn't win either, Rylance was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Bridge of Spies" and Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Film for "Wolf Hall." His role in "Wolf Hall" also earned him an Emmy nomination.
3. He has real admiration for Steven Spielberg: Rylance paid tribute to the "Bridge of Spies" director in his acceptance speech, and he's gushed in the past about Spielberg in the past. The two are now working on "The BFG" together, based on the Roald Dahl book. Rylance plays the big friendly giant himself. "He’s lovely. He’s such a storyteller. Such an active man in the world too, you know. So active and thoughtful," Rylance told the New York Times. "He’s the real BFG behind it all."
4. He has collaborated with his wife: Rylance is married to playwright Claire van Kampen and recently appeared in her play, "Farinelli And The King."
5. "Mark Rylance" is a stage name: His real name is David Mark Rylance Waters.
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