Actors Struggle Despite Oscar Achievement
Golden moment doesn't necessarily make an actor a success.
Feb. 21, 2009— -- Winning an Oscar is the crowning glory for any actor, and it means even more for those whose stars have faded: no honor so clinches the ultimate comeback. But claiming a statuette from the Academy after a professional drought -- as Mickey Rourke or Robert Downey Jr. might this year -- is not an automatic guarantee of a career revival.
Louis Gossett Jr. won the Best Supporting Actor award in 1983 for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in "An Officer and a Gentleman." It was perhaps the biggest night of his career.
He recently recalled not really hearing his name. He said his agent nudged him and said, "They called you." His walk to the podium is still a little foggy. He knew it was and is the greatest honor for a screen actor and the beginning of even better things -- or so he thought.
"It changed my life dramatically -- but it didn't really change my career that much. I had expected that and I'm probably a little disappointed. But in the long run it comes to pass. And around the world it's immediate," said Gossett.
His Oscar certainly cemented his place in Hollywood history, but some of his roles since might not have been the best choices for an Academy Award winner. He played roles in B-movies such as Iron Eagle and Enemy Mine, before television proved to be a little more fruitful. He won a Golden Globe for his role in "The Josephine Baker Story" and an Image Award for "Touched by an Angel."
"People say you're going to win another one -- one day. That's not really why I do it these days. I look at the challenge of a part and put all of myself into it and say goodbye. It's for people to watch," said Gossett.
There have been so many actors before and since that have won Oscar gold, only to find themselves struggling to find critical or box office acclaim.
"You're being honored as being at the top of your game," says Whitney Pastorek, Sr., a writer at Entertainment Weekly. "So then do you wonder, 'Well, where do I go from there, how can I possibly get any better?' But time and time again you see people struggling to come back after a big Oscar win."
