What does winning an Oscar mean for an actor’s career – and what the heck is ‘Oscar’s Bump’?
There is a gender pay gap for Oscar winners: men reportedly get an 81 per cent salary boost for future roles, women get a lower increase – or fail to make a ‘statistically significant’ gain
Every nominee at the Oscars is already a winner, as they receive a coveted bag of goodies worth US$215,000. But winning an Oscar can transform an actor’s career.
The evening is the most prestigious awards ceremony in Hollywood; the highest validation, a seal of approval bestowed on the best actors, directors, screenwriters, producers, costume designers and make-up artists in the business. To clutch the iconic gold man is to savour years of hard work in honing the craft. It is the realisation of having made it in a demanding and unstable industry.
Winning an Oscar cements credibility, and the prestige that comes with it opens a door of opportunities. This holds true for Gwyneth Paltrow who won best actress at the Academy Awards in 1999 for her portrayal of Viola in John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love.
Twenty years later, she told Variety, about how the Academy’s recognition made her a global superstar. “It just changed my life,” she said. “I don’t think it ever went back to normal.”
The actors don’t get money for the award, but every nominee from Saoirse Ronan to Bong Joon-ho received a coveted goody bag worth US$215,000 (up from US$148,000 in 2019), courtesy of celebrity and product-placement company, Distinctive Assets, according to Forbes.
The luxury component of the bag includes a 12-day yachting holiday valued at US$80,000, a bath bomb with 24-carat gold and hyaluronic acid and an amethyst crystal, and a stay at Faro Cumplida lighthouse in Spain’s Canary Islands. To make it more exclusive, NME reports that each nominee took home a personalised stained glass portrait of themselves by artist John Thoman, a 24-carat gold vape pen, and a certificate for a one-of-a-kind cannabis-infused chocolate culinary experience valued at US$10,000.